Dive light arms

[Chris C. Corfield]

Hello

What length of light arms do you use with your camera/housing underwater? Just trying to get a sense of what is needed and what is overkill.

Thanks
Chris

[Troy E Parker]

Originally Posted by Chris C. Corfield

Hello

What length of light arms do you use with your camera/housing underwater? Just trying to get a sense of what is needed and what is overkill.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris,

This is a really good question and one that there is not a hard and fast rule. For general diving (reef, wrecks etc) with a SD video camera with a wide angle port on the housing, I would recommend a dual light setup with 16" arms.

There are two basic styles to look at here.. Sectioned arms ( ultralight: http://www.ulcs.com/) or the flexible system offered by Light and Motion. (http://www.uwimaging.com/).

Having extensive experience and owning both (this is part of my job) in a variety of diving conditions, I prefer the Flexible arms for general diving and interior wreck work as they are easy to setup and adjust, fairly bullet proof and reliable. You may also add or remove sections to adjust the length as needed.

For working in heavy currents, or more extreme conditions the stiffer sectioned arms may prove to be a sturdier solution. Other factors include do you have lights that are powered from a remote battery or intergral to light head, or extremely wide angle lights that will need a larger spread to provide optimal lighting.

Note: While the use of lights at night and on wreck interiors is mandatory, with a properly setup camera and filter one can achive remarkable results that avoid the 'Hot Spot' effect of camera mounted lights during the day as they only provide a limited illumation area with a clearly defined limit on the picture (Big productions may use multiple light rigs to light an entire scene). While sometimes required during the day, the choice will largely be determined by subject matter (wide angle big fish / schools vs macro & closeup), water clarity and similar. Bottom line here is to experiment with various looks during the dive to get the best results.

I hope this helps and please let me know if I can assist further.

Regards,
Troy

[Chris C. Corfield]

Thankyou for your reply

The setup I will be using is a Canon GL2 in an Equinox housing. With two UK Light Cannon 100 HID lights, with two diffuser disks in each light. The lights take 8 C size batteries each and they are in the light housing. The LocLine arms do not seem to be sturdy enough to hold the heads up. So you suggest 16" arms? is that total length or two sections of 16" length?

Thanks again
Chris

[Troy E Parker]

Originally Posted by Chris C. Corfield

Thankyou for your reply

The setup I will be using is a Canon GL2 in an Equinox housing. With two UK Light Cannon 100 HID lights, with two diffuser disks in each light. The lights take 8 C size batteries each and they are in the light housing. The LocLine arms do not seem to be sturdy enough to hold the heads up. So you suggest 16" arms? is that total length or two sections of 16" length?

Thanks again
Chris

For that configuratoin, I agree the flexible arms will not be sturdy enough for the job, and would go with sectioned arms. I would start with the a 12" and a 8" section for each side giving you both a decent wide angle and close-up kit. Make sure you get good quality arms as the lesser quality do not have an o-ring on the ball to help in smooth and positve adjustment. Without the O-ring you have to really tighten the clamps and this can be quite a hassle, plus the higher quality arms will better withstand the harsh marine environment.

Regards,
Troy