What size arms to get??

[junior2725]

A few months ago, I purchased the ikelite housing and two ds-125 strobes for my Canon D20. I am upgrading my package ikelite arms to buoyancy arms from 4th Generation Designs - Products. I have decided that these seem the best way for me to go as my setup is extremely heavy underwater. My question is: what size arms should I get that will suffice me for both wide angle and macro. I just don't want to spend the money on two different size systems. I was thinking about either one 6in arm and one 9in arm on each side or two 9in arms on each side. They also sell 4in, 12in, and 15in. I use a 100mm macro lens and the canon 10-22mm wide angle lens with the 8in dome port. Also, does anyone have any ideas on what size floats I should get for the arms. Currently my setup is pretty darn heavy (but don't know actual oz). It messes a lot with my buoyancy, if I move the rig to one arm, my whole body tilts that way. One time I handed the camera to my sister and I immediately started ascending way too fast and she started sinking like rock. I haven't found any specs on how heavy the ike arms and ds-125's are underwater. Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks,

Michelle

 

[Warren_L]

I think it's going to be difficult to find one system that will work optimally for both, as the two types of photography require very different strobe positioning.

For wide angle, you definitely need a fair bit of reach to allow a reasonable distance from the camera to minimize backscatter. How far you need, to a great extent, depends on the quality of water you're going to be shooting in. The worse it is (i.e. more particles and things in the water, lower viz), the further the reach. You will, however, run into practical limitations regarding how far this reach is. For a lot of the wide angle stuff I do in the great lakes, the reach of my buoyancy arms is over 3 feet per strobe, simply because a lot of sites I dive have reduced visibility.

For macro, what I look for is not so much reach, but the flexibility in strobe placement, not only in terms of ability to have versatile positioning, but quick ease of adjustment.

I have twin Ike DS125s as well, and they tend to be fairly negative.

 

[junior2725]

I think it's going to be difficult to find one system that will work optimally for both, as the two types of photography require very different strobe positioning.

For wide angle, you definitely need a fair bit of reach to allow a reasonable distance from the camera to minimize backscatter. How far you need, to a great extent, depends on the quality of water you're going to be shooting in. The worse it is (i.e. more particles and things in the water, lower viz), the further the reach. You will, however, run into practical limitations regarding how far this reach is. For a lot of the wide angle stuff I do in the great lakes, the reach of my buoyancy arms is over 3 feet per strobe, simply because a lot of sites I dive have reduced visibility.

For macro, what I look for is not so much reach, but the flexibility in strobe placement, not only in terms of ability to have versatile positioning, but quick ease of adjustment.

I have twin Ike DS125s as well, and they tend to be fairly negative.

I know it will not work optimally for both. I was hoping to find something that would work relatively well for both. Usually the water is not too murky here. The only time is when I am shore diving, but I usually bring my macro lens then. I just don't have the money for two arm setups. It would be great if I could use the pieces from this set to later have two different sets.

 

[Warren_L]

I would consider then perhaps the two 9 inch segments per side. That should be relatively easy to manage and adjust as you go. You can always add a third segment later on if you find the reach is not enough to suit your needs for wide angle, but I suspect should do a reasonably good job in water that's not too bad in way of visibility.

 

[Papa_Bear]

I use a 6 and a 9 on each side! It seems to work well and does allow you to reposition for macro very nicely! I am pleased with mine!

 

[JackConnick]

I would recommend a 6 + 8" segments and maybe an extra 4" segment. I have lightweight arms on my site that are pretty inexpensive and very strong. There's an Ike adapter from the YS mount as well. It's good to have a shorter and longer arms as you have the width of the strobe on one arm. If you squeeze up the arms vertically, you can almost use any length arms for macro.

Jack