My rig is too heavy underwater

[Fota]

Hi,

My D-SLR macro rig (Ikelite system with dual strobes and a rather heavy focus light) is way too heavy underwater. I'm having major problems holding it with one hand (especially with the trigger hand while shooting). I don't want to replace any of the strobes or the focus light.

Anyone have any ideas how to make it lighter in the water?
Adding cork or other materials? etc


Thanks,
Fota

 

[JeffG]

Tubular Strobe arms. (adds + buoyancy)

 

[fisheyeview]

Have you thought about bouyancy arms? This is one way that you can add some bouyancy to your rig without removing any of the things you have added.

ULCS DB-BL10 10x2 Double Ball Buoyancy Arm [ulc.db.bl10] - $66.95 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

 

[fisheyeview]

Tubular Strobe arms. (adds + buoyancy)

Beat me to it.

 

[JeffG]

Beat me to it.

Yea..but you gave a linky. I was to lazy to find one.

 

[fisheyeview]

Yea..but you gave a linky. I was to lazy to find one.

When in doubt Reef Photo works every time. It's where I get all my stuff.

 

[Mo2vation]

Pool Noodles and Zip ties work too at about one-zillionth of the price of buoyancy arms. If you want black you can use that foam pipe insulation on your current arms.

---
Ken

 

[junior2725]

Pool Noodles and Zip ties work too at about one-zillionth of the price of buoyancy arms. If you want black you can use that foam pipe insulation on your current arms.

---
Ken

Thanks. I am actually having the same problem with my ike housing for D20 and two ds-125 strobes. I was wondering how well something like pool noodles works? Are the pool noodles too big in diameter? Is there something that works better? I'm sure eventually I will invest in new arms that will be better, but for now I already just spent almost 4K for everything and can't bring myself to spend more on new arms. Any advice would help.

Thanks,

Michelle

 

[Teamcasa]

This is how I solved the problem with my video rig.
The tubes I made added just under two pounds of lift. I'm not sure if you can do the same thing but I would imagine you could adapt it to a tray system as well.

 

[JTemple]

If you already have ULCS arms, you can purchase these Stix floats to slip on. More expensive then the pool noodle solution, but they will not compress at depth, and will last longer than the pool noodles. I don't have them myself, but I'll be getting a set soon. They've been extensively field tested, with very positive results.

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