Which LocLine Arms to pair with GoPro?

Which size LocLine arms do you recommend?

  • 1/2"

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • 3/4"

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • Total voters
    3

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RJP

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Interested in what folks think/like/recommend in terms of which LocLine size to best pair with a GoPro set-up and why. I understand that the answer is largely "it depends" but all other things equal... which would you choose and why?

For additional context, feel free to add some color commentary regarding your actual experience with either/both sizes:
- have you actually used both sizes?
- Pros/cons?
- What kind of tray do you use?
- Which lights do you use (or intend to use)?
- How would you characterize the physical size of the lights you use/intend to use? (Small, Medium, Large)
- How many lights do you use (or intend to use)?
- What length arms do you recommend?

Thanks - Ray
 
I had 1/2" arms on my gopro with 2 Sola 2000 lights. The 3/4" arms are meant for bigger lights. I bought some of them too (for a different camera) but ended up going to float arms/clamps for my Sola's on my nauticam tray and housing.

The Smaller locline arms move really easily which is both good and bad. With the tiny Sola's they will stay put while shooting but if you drop the camera to your side, swim hard into current etc, you may have to reposition your lights. On the other hand the 3/4" is really stiff.. it aint going anywhere. But takes a bit more effort to position the lights and may strain the connector.

You can go half and half... 3/4" at the bottom for a nice thick grip, then the reducer, then a length of the 1/2" since it is the only size that connects to the Sola's anyway.
 
This is the rig I'll be taking on the Spiegel tomorrow. Hero 3 black, backscatter dive filter, Mako Spearguns transformer tray with a pair of Mako's 860 video lights. Haven't tried these lights out yet. Should be interesting.
 

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Can I make a suggestion? More expensive, but skip the Loclines and go with ball arms. I changed over for my Snake River Prototyping bracket and never looked back.
Plus, now I have arms to use on my Nauticam housing. I can mount the Go-Pro on the housing, but sometimes I just want to grab and go without all the extra gear.
 
As mentioned, the size of lights is what would determine the size of the locline arms you need. There is a happy medium for size of lights and the amount of light you get. You don't need a zillion watts of lights as even though it throws more light, the further away your subject gets the more backscatter you tend to have.

They also fill the arms with a substance that makes them have more rigidity.

To add more detail, I've used a couple different size lights. The last was a set of two Sola 2000 2000 lumen lights. They were great lights but really overkill most of the time, compared to the cost.

1. How many lights: you must have two lights. Not because of amount of light but because you need to point the lights from two different angles to eliminate shadows. One light would be enough to light your subject, unless really wide angle, but then you would get big shadows in the background.

2. Size of light: for a set of two lights, I think that 1200 lumens of light per light is plenty for day and night shooting. More than that, and I was really overexposing things. If you have a high quality camera with the ability to adjust exposure, etc, then perhaps you could utilize it, but with a GoPro, that was not my experience. You could probably go down to maybe even 600 lumens per light but better would be 800-1000 lumens. That will cover most needs. As for the sheer size of the light, you want as small as possible because this just adds to all the junk you have to lug on vacation no matter how much you love it. The Sola lights are great small size compact lights with lots of output. Fiji where viz is typically clearer than many places but not as clear as it could be, I found I usually had them set to about 50% power. Also note that you don't want to be blasting eveything at night because it just flees. I recently bought iTorch lights and they are a little bigger but still a good light.

3. Hot spot: Extremely important in choosing lights for video is that they should have no hotspot in the center of the beam. You want a nice flat uniform light across the beam of light with no hotspot at all. Otherwise you get overexposure and underxposure going on in the same shot, Essentially you want the light to not be noticeable to the viewer.

4. Battery and charging: some lights have an integrated battery and some have removeable batteries. Consider that a removeable battery can be charged while you are using battery #2 on your current dive. Also consider the size of the charger because it's another thing you have to carry and you need 2. A removeable battery could also be replaced in the future when charging becomes a problem. However, with removeable battery comes the concern that now you have a seal that could flood your light. So pros and cons.

Be certain to thoroughly test anything before going on the big trip. The whole lights and camera set has to have the right relatively neutral buoyancy. Too much or too little and it screws with you the whole dive and makes it very difficult. You still need a red filter for when not using the lights.
 
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Went out to the Spiegel Grove with Ocean Divers to try the Mako Spearguns lights and tray. I need to work on positioning the arms better. I only see black, white and some grays so I hope the color came out decent. I think the 1 inch arms could be downsized, but I didn't have any real issues with them. I also used the backscatter filter any time below the surface. I shot at 1080P/60 and edited in final cut pro7. I don't get paid by Mako at all, I'm just a big fan, eventhough I don't eat and shoot fish. I really appreciate the fact that Dano is there to pick up the phone and answer any questions or discuss any ideas you may have,
[video]https://youtu.be/C19AcPTUF8M[/video]

Here's the tray, housing and lights broken down after cleaning
IMG_1209.jpg
 
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I agree with Shasta on all points, specifically #4.

As the username suggests, I am using pair of Epoque lights - very well made from Japan and have removable batteries and you can cheaply buy new batteries and chargers. Its true about the flooding though but the Epoque has 3 O-rings and touch wood ...! 1000 lumens a piece and no hotspot at all. 106 degrees beam angle. Awesome value for money.

Set up is Ikelite tray, pistol grip, quick-release handles and Locline with YS coupling to clog handles. I also went for the Backscatter Flip filter and top filter too. Really good quality.
 
You get two 5.5" arms for thirty bucks.

What a deal. You can get two 5.5" LocLine arms directly from LocLine for $6.83. Or four for $13.66.

Loc-Line 51801 Hose Segment

So SRP (and every other company) has divers paying an extra $23 for a 25-cent allen key and four screws.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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