Mounting UK Light Cannon to Housing??

[rimward]

Wow that is pretty cool. Mle_OSU thank you so much, that was an excellent write up. You should post that in the How-to section. That looks better then the rig I had on mind.

Mle_OSU, so the second filter in the UK cannon made a noticeable difference? Explain these differences please. I may just buy another one before my trip.

Guess what? One shop finally emailed me back regarding the ULCS arms inquiry. The shop that responded was Backscatter. They told me that the list I provided of parts appeared to be appropriate for my housing, and suggested that I buy an additional arm for added adjustability. However, they did not provide me a quote???

So I emailed ULCS directly to inform them of the difficulty I was dealing with, and attached the response above. They apologized for the hassle and told me that I could order directly through them. $165. per arm. Yikes!!

I may just go ahead and buy the ULCS arms, since I plan to travel with it and don't want to carry too many tools or have to make major adjustments at the last minute while on vacation.

mle_osu 's MOM: I only carry a small crescent wrench packed away in my suitcase. In my carry on I take my housing, plate, camera, both UK lites and the arms i made. They are probably lighter than ulralite arms. it's the UK lites that are heavy! My UKs came with 2 "wide angle diffusing filter"s with each light and with pistol grip handles. I bought the lantern handles from Scuba Toys. Just unscrew the cap on the UK and insert two filters inside the lens in the cap. Screw it back together. Careful or you will wind up dumping out the bulb and housing and 8 batteries etc. (I AM GLAD I did a DIY on this.) Try it... even in your bathtub or a swimming pool. Sure wont cost you much.
Good shooting (I HAVE BEEN ASSUMING YOU ARE SHOOTING VIDEO!)

 

[mle_osu]

Mle_OSU, so the second filter in the UK cannon made a noticeable difference? Explain these differences please. I may just buy another one before my trip.

Forgive my mom, she is mindless sometimes She says the difference in using the 2nd filter widens and softens the area so it is not so spotlighted. I noticed when we returned from the dives and watched the videos that when she didnt have the 2 filters on that there would be a washed out spot in the picture (that would be where the lights were aimed). The 2 filters spread the light across the whole picture... not to wash out any one thing (and not washing out the whole picture)

Hope that answers your question! Let us know if you build your own arms! We'd love to see pictures of your set up!

 

[vdubmixer]

Great thread guys and gals! The light canons are great lights. Anyone have any DIY ideas for the amphibico phenom.

 

[Padipro]

What about just using Loc-Line modular hosing? I used a set of these to attach a pair of custom built lights to my DIY housing. The system works pretty well and is adjustable in any direction. I attached them to the handles with a mount and then covered them with a set of spongie rubber bike handle grips. To attach the lights to the arms I epoxied a bolt to the light and then attached one of the joints to the bolt and snapped it back together.

Oops, I see where someone has already suggested the Loc-Line tubing. Oh well, here's a pic of what it looks like. BTW Loc-Line makes a mount that can be screwed or bolted to any surface.

 

[PeaceDog]

I've long-since lost or thrown away those diffusing filters for the Light Cannons....can they be purchased individually, and which of the two filters it came with are you doubling up on? My memory is that there was one that was a bit more opaque than the other.

 

[rimward]

(mle-osu 's mom: rimward) bummer. I will have to see if I still have the wrapper for the part number.

 

[Detonate]

Ryan from Reefphoto never disappoints, and you can order them from him online.

http://www.reefphotovideo.com/

 

[Taxgeek]

http://www.digitaldiver.net/lib_docs/loc_line_arm.pdf

I'm probably going to do it this way.
Hope that helps.
Taxgeek

 

[ronrosa]

http://www.digitaldiver.net/lib_docs/loc_line_arm.pdf

I'm probably going to do it this way.
Hope that helps.
Taxgeek

The LocLines going to be strong enough to support the light cannon ?

 

[miket]

Loc-Lines alone are not strong enough. Fill them with silicone rubber once assembled (the cheap pink bubble gum stuff) to stiffen them up. Along with the bicycle handle foam it Works great and can easily hold a UK Light Cannon above water!

I have this kind of setup for my Ocean Images housing with two UK Light Cannons.

- Cheers,
MikeT
http://www.socaldivevideos.com