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Hi all -- I've recently purchased my first compact system (an LX10 in Nauticam housing+flexitray) and I'm hoping to get some advice on the steps and options for making it neutral for both a macro and wide angle video set-up. In case helpful, these are the components I have for each: Macro -- housing + tray, UCL-05L +6 lens, two small video lights, quadripod Wide angle -- housing + tray, Inon UWL-09F lens (just using ambient light) Here are my specific questions: What steps do you take to figure out how much buoyancy you need / amount of negative buoyancy to compensate for? For wide angle, should you aim to make it perfectly neutral? For macro, I understand you want it to be slightly negative -- how much? How can you most effectively test out your solution before going on a dive? I've seen some people in other threads say they tested in a pool, but others have said that the different densities of fresh vs. salt water will make a difference. Any suggestions for the most flexible and affordable floats for adding buoyancy and how best to position them? If there are any other thoughts beyond the above, I'll take any and all advice I can get! I've searched through the forums, but if I'm missing any gems, please do point me in that direction as well. Many thanks!

Ultralight Double-Ball Buoyancy Arm (Large, 12") x 2, used condition, been on few dives. Price $100 for both + shipping from Chicago IL, USA

Ok, so I'm curious if someone will talk me off the ledge on a hair -brained idea of mine. The cheapo / tinkerer in me looks at the $40-90 for little blocks of strobe-arm buoyancy foam and cringes. So my idea is to buy a $13 USD swimming noodle like these and cut sections as needed for buoyancy. Looks like I could slip it onto the strobe arms and have different sizes for various strobe configurations. So...has anyone done something hacky like this? Will I regret it at the worst possible time?

For sale Ultralight Buoyancy Arms as follows Two DB-BL08-08″ double ball buoyancy arm, used for about 30 dives. New price $140, my price - $80 for both and I will cover shipping Two DB-BL12-12″ double ball buoyancy arm-$69.95, only used few times. New price $140, my price $80 for both and I will cover shipping

Hi all, I found a buoyancy setup that works very well on my Nauticam EMWL, as well as some accessories making my life easier shooting it, this post is to share my setup, answer questions if you have. The problem to solve The EMWL is very negative (and tends to all on its - expensive - front lens, at least on the 100 degrees one). For buoyancy, several photographers have been using very large carbon float-arms, and pushing them closer to the subject to help balance the front of the EMWL assembly. I wasn’t too keen to go that route, for 2 reasons: Cost of buying additional large float arms (my finances took a hit with the EMWL itself!) In-flexibility to change my setup underwater: I wanted to be able to take on/off the EMWL (and clip it away), which would have suddenly made the whole rig very floaty. Also, I wanted to be able to move my arms around for different lighting techniques. With big floats up-front, that would have imbalanced the rig. To my great pleasure, I found a company called E-Ocean (https://eocean.eu), had designed a bunch of photographer-friendly accessories, including a few EMWL-specific bits. The purpose of this post is to share my (very positive) thoughts on these accessories. To be clear, I am not paid to write this, but I find the E-Ocean solutions solutions made my life easier and are reasonably priced, so keen to spread the word. They are based in France, but shipping worldwide. 1/ Buoyancy solutions E-Ocean offer two floats for the EMWL: A +750 grams buoyancy collar, which mounts around the relay unit. The version I bought is meant to be assembled on-land (it’s a set of 6 half-cylinders), but E-Ocean are going to release an upgraded version that will make it easier to fiddle with floats underwater. The rationale being: you might find yourself limited in subject approach, due to the diameter of the whole thing. So far, I haven’t been too constrained, although for muck-dives where you crawl on sand, it can happen. A +200 grams collar for the focusing unit. E-Ocean’s owner Lionel recommended to use the 200g piece only with the heavier 130 degrees lens (with just the 750g float, the whole assembly would be slightly negative when using the 100 degrees lens). I chose to use it the 100 degrees lens (the only one I have), which does make the EMWL positively buoyant (now the 100 degree piece points upwards), but once connected to my D810 housing and arms, it stands much neutral. Pros: much easier to handle the EMWL underwater, less chances to let the front lens “drop” onto the bottom, a rock, etc. Cons: it increases the volume of the EMWL significantly (see below photo to get a sense of how it compares with the housing size), would restrict getting into some tight spaces (hasn’t happened to me yet) and possibly makes the EMWL a bit more intrusive/intimidating for skittish critters. In practice, I haven’t noticed a difference (mind me: I dive a rebreather, so some critters just don't care about me getting close). 2/ Lanyard/transport solution In addition, I was after a solution to easily un-mount and clip away the EMWL. Here in Sydney, we often shore dive walking among rocks (crawling sometimes…) and one one particular site, we have quite a hairy giant stride: no way I would jump that high or crawl onto rocks with the EMWL attached to my flat port. Lionel (E-Ocean’s owner) was nice enough to listen to my needs and came up with a system of 2 collars, which would attach onto the relay lens, and through which I could run a cord. They are made of a flexible but sturdy sort of plastic, and so far worked like a charm. I have no concern walking long distances (shore diving…) with the EMWL clipped to one of my D-rings on the rebreather harness. Underwater, it takes me 2-3minutes (I guess) to mount the EMWL to my DSLR (taking the time to clear off bubbles, to store the caps safely, etc). It is easy enough that I would alternate between traditional macro and WAM by clipping it back as needed. This lanyard will be in E-Ocean catalogue soon. 3/ Caps and hood I was nervous to loose the small rubber cap which came with the 100 degrees lens, and I needed a hood. 2 accessories there: A lens cap, which comes with a bungee look (have it on your wrist, clipped on harness…), has holes to let water drain, and is actually big enough to protect the front lens without touching it: extra safety against bumps. A lens hood, which can also serve as cap (though I prefer the dedicated cap when transporting the rig clipped-on): I have found the 100 degrees lens on the EMWL is very prone to flare, so I find myself attaching that hood often. Also on night dives where I need a bit more confidence against bumps, I have it on most of the time. A video is worth a thousand words so here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgR7sS-Ts9Y Not great visibility that day, but you’ll see me going through my routine of picking up the clipped-on EMWL, and attaching it to my housing. If you want to see more photos of that equipment underwater, or just some photos I took with the EMWL, follow our Instagram account or Facebook account: https://www.instagram.com/nicolaslenaremy/ https://www.facebook.com/nicolaslenaremy Safe diving! Nicolas

Multiple Items for Sale - All items were originally purchased through Backscatter. Macro / Super Macro Set Up for Nauticam Users Buy the SMC + Multiplier + Holder Set for $700 or individually @ $100 | Nauticam Flip Multiplier Holder for SMC ($160 New) In Mint Condition $300 | Nauticam SMC Multiplier Lens - ($450 new) In Mint Condition - Come with neoprene bag $350 | Nauticam SMC Lens - ($480 new) In Mint Condition - Come with neoprene bag Aquatica Macro Port & Macromate Multiplier Buy the set for $375 - individually @ $200 | Macromate Flip Lens for Aquatica Flat Port ($599 new) - Couple small signs of wear on Plastic but glass is flawless $125 | Aquatica Flat Port for Macro - ($495 new) - Some signs of wear but it great condition -Comes with extra o-ring. $100 | Aquatica Port Extension 28.5mm - 1.12" ($295 new) Some signs of wear but it great condition $15 | Macro Port Float Collar + 4 large floats for ultralight arms. ($50 new) ** Note you will need a focus gear for your lens - My understanding is will work on either Canon or Nikon Aquatica Viewfinder Mounting Ring $50 | Aquatica Viewfinder Mouting Ring for Aquatica - ($100 new) You can use Nauticam 90 degree and 45 degree viewfinder on an Aquatica Housing Ultralight Triple Clamps $35 | for the pair ($35 each new) - In great condition. . . . - Buyer assumes shipping charges - I have sold, Keldan Lights, Misc Equipment & Housings on Wetpixel - Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions. I want to ensure you are getting the right equipment for your next underwater adventure.

I'll upload a picture of mine today. I am a bit negative with my rig set-up. I have two options so far. One with the floats going straight across the top of the camera (4x) other with the floats on the arms. Any of you go from Salt to freshwater. how do you compensate. What do you do for your monitor. can you adjust trim in the water. Adjust arms position to have the camera float in a different orientation? I can't help think a good engineering choice would have been give the option to have buoyancy built into the handles. No? Your thoughts?

Folks I have for sale two Inon Mega Float Arms. They are as good as new, seldom used (they have more buoyancy lift than, it turned out, I needed) and with the original boxes, instructions etc. I'd like €125/£115/$150 for the pair plus shipping from Netherlands or UK. The arms are 200mm (7.9") long and 97mm (3.8") in diameter. They weigh 295gms (10.4oz) in air; and -650gms (-22.9oz) underwater. So plenty of buoyancy lift. They are rated down to 70m(230'). PM me if interested. Happy New Year!

10Bar Buoyancy Floats for strobe arms 4 packets of large (i.e. 8 floats) and 2 packets of small (i.e. 4 floats) plus locking rings Unused - packets were only opened to take photos (unwanted gift) High density foam Large Length is 7cm Outer diameter is 9.7cm Inner diameter is 2.5cm Bouyancy lift is 560 grams each float Small Length is 5cm Outer diameter is 5.5cm Inner diameter is 2.5cm Bouyancy lift is 100 grams each float AUD$150 for the lot plus buyer pays postge

I am selling two ULCS DB-BL14 Double Ball Buoyancy Arms by Ultralight Control Systems with 14 inch in length, 2 inch in diameter and 14.8oz buoyancy offset. The ends show some small signs of usage, which are normal for Ball Arms. Original price was 190€ for both. I would like to get 140€ for both. Please ask me for the international shipping price. Cheers

Hi, I´m selling: 2*ULCS-DB BL12 with 3 clamps: 130 € 2* Inon Mega Float Arm S: 90 € YS-D1: 420 € Plus shipping and paypal fees. (Located in germany) More details/ pictures are here: http://www.ebay.de/sch/a.my/m.html?item=331922694759&hash=item4d48226267%3Ag%3AfQEAAOSwH3NXm11s&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 Kind regards, Andreas

Hi there, I am writing in regards to getting underwater photography gear neutral underwater. After a recent housing change i find my current set of arms and arms accessories unadequate, and before i order anything else, i'd like to give all this a decent thought, and hear some advice from others. I started shooting in 2008 with regular ULCS strobe arms (2x 8" and 2x4"), which i completed with 4x large Stix floats and 4x jumbo Stix floats. My feedback on this setup: obviously getting closer to housing neutrality made my whole shooting experience much better. Only painpoint was that those Stix floats take a lot of time to dry, but that's minor. Moving to another housing in 2013 (NA-EM5 + 45 degrees Nauticam viewvinder + subsee +10 diopter), these weren't sufficient anymore, so i put the Stix floats aside, and replaced the 2x 8" ULCS arms by 2x Nauticam carbon fiber float arms (200mm x 60mm). My feedback on this setup: benefits were getting the right amount of buoyancy & arms drying easily, but i wasn't totally satisfied as i felt strobe arms manipulation to be trickier than with the Stix floats: i had to screw the clamps very tight to avoid the float arms from going up, and then strobe repositioning got unpractical. Also, i must say my gear wasn't symetric: i had a flexitray left handle, but no right handle (handstrap), meaning the right arm was closer to the optical axis than the left one. I believe this contributed to the un-practicality. Now (2016) i am moving to a Nauticam DSLR housing (NA-D300s), complemented by my 45 degrees viewfinder. Photo here: When shooting with 60mm macro + focus light, i don't have adequate equipment to make my rig neutral: -my 2008 setup with Stix floats doesn't provide sufficient buoyancy, but i felt it provided great comfort in strobes repositioning. I tested it yesterday. Here's how it looks like one one arm: -my 2013 nauticam float arms make the housing (too much) positive One idea i have is to buy 4 extra jumbo Stix floats, and add them to my ULCS strobe arms (2x 8" and 2x4"), replacing some of the large floats possibly. I tested (on land) that i could squeeze 4 jumbo Stix floats on a 8" ULCS arm + 1 jumbo & 1 large Stix floats on the adjacent 4" ULCS arms, and this would bring extra buoyancy, hopefully enough! Here's how it would look like on one arm: Thinking/questions: Have any of you got the same feeling that very large float arms (like my 200mm x 60mm Nauticam carbon float arms) make strobes re-positioning too cumbersome, because they are just too buoyant? Would i workaround this problem and get a more user-friendly gear by spreading lots of Stix floats over the 4 arms sections? Any other solution(s) to offset the weight of a large DSLR rig while keeping strobe arms easy to re-position? thanks!! Nicolas

Hello everyone, I'm buying the new diving equipment. I'm making the jump from compact to mirrorless camera. I chose Olympus om-d E-M5 with Nauticam na-EM5. I also choose Nauticam Flexitray II brackets. I ask you some advice about the buoyancy of a configuration like this: - Olympus omd EM5 - Nauticam na EM5 + Flexitray II and right handle. - 2 x Inon flash s2000 - 2x arms Nauticam 8 " - 2x arms Nauticam 5 " - 6x Nauticam Clamp - Lens olympus 9-18 - Nauticam semi-dome port 4 " As per your experience it might be negative in the water? How do I balance the weight? floating arm? Thanks to all

Looking for a Gates Foam Buoyancy Collar for my SWP44 lens. Must be in good condition. I have also a USA address for possible sellers in the US Thanks fxvideo@upcmail.nl

Hi all, Now that I have changed to a more compact gear (Nauticam housing for OM-D EM-5), I find my Stix large&jumbo floats unsufficient: I am still far from neutral, and I don't have much remaining room on my ULCS basic arms. Several brands now offer buoyancy arms that are empty on the inside (ULCS, Inon, Nauticam...), and I'd need your advice to pick the right one. What I've read on the Nauticams sounded good: made of carbon fibre for even smaller density, very robust etc. etc. Your advice on quality & cost effectiveness would be very welcome cheers Nicolas

Hi All! I just started a new series on getting started in underwater photography. The first chapter is about the importance of good buoyancy, and how to practice it. Without the skill to remain stationary in front of the marine life to be photographed, no quality shots will ensue. The following chapters, appearing weekly, will deal with everything from chosing the right camera, housing and strobes, to exposure, approaching fishes and finding the right exposure. Enjoy! Klaus