Sea & Sea Sea Arm 7 Ball Head size & compatibility

[mikeyru2]

Hey Everyone,

I have 2 YS-110a strobes on the Sea Arm 7 (VII) tray and arms. Does anyone know what size the ball head is on this setup?

I am interested in purchasing a new base b/c I would like one with dual handles that I can then attach the arms/strobes to the top of. I think this would be much easier to grip underwater, however I do not want to spend another $500 for new arms when I already have the whole dual setup for the Sea Arm 7, therefore I am hoping to find a tray with grips that are compatible with the Sea Arm 7.


I have seen that the industry standard is 1" and have heard that the Sea Arm 7 has a 3/4" ball head and also heard elsewhere that it has a 1.25" ball head, so really Ihave no idea what the true size of the ball head is. Any clarification would be very helpful.


Thanks for your help everyone


Michael

 

[fisheater]

Take it to a hardware store and measure it with calipers?

 

[mikeyru2]

Take it to a hardware store and measure it with calipers?

I plan on doing so when I get home but I'm traveling for work for the next couple of weeks so was hoping I could find an answer so I can order a new base before I get home. Once I finally get home to measure I only have a few days before I leave on my next trip so ideally hoping to find a solution earlier than that. Feels like I've reached the end of the internet and so far come up with nothing.


Thanks

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

The arm VII is NOT the standard 1" ball mount. I think they are 1 1/4" but not sure. They are noticeably bigger and a 1" ball on one side and the VII ball on the other side will not work in any clamp. So, you must either stick with your VII tray and arms, or get a new tray, get rid of the VII arms and go to standard 1" ball arms.

When I moved to a new system (om-D) I got rid of the tray and arms and kept the clamps. I will say that the VII clamps are the very best in the business, even with 1" balls. They are precise and so you can adjust the tightness of the arms over a considerable range, and the circular rubber knob allows serious tightening. I got rid of my ULCS clamps and use the VII clamps on my rig. So, you can save a little that way.

 

[Furnari]

Just out of curiosity, are older Sea and Sea arms the same size?

 

[mikeyru2]

To those of you who are curious I did find a solution that worked well for me. I found the Sea & Sea Camera Tray & Grip with extra grip and tray extension on ebay for a great price. I then got the Sea & Sea Bracket Shoe (S20100) which screwed onto the top of the tray grips. I was then able to connect the slide on base connectors that I had already but was not using for the Sea Arm VII to the bracket shoe and continue to use my old Sea Arm VII arms.

I have not yet used the setup but this solution works perfectly and allows me to keep all my Sea Arm VII arms, which is great since the ball size on those are in fact 1.25" (I measured with calipers - thx for the idea fisheater). Sea Arm 8 tray is good but not as thin or comfy as some of the other rounded off ones but shouldn't be a big deal. I still get the grips and strobe positioning I want.