Best solution for a balanced macro rig

[nortoda1 13]

As the title suggests I am wondering what solutions people are using for balancing/bouyancy control of their rig when shooting macro. I have been shooting u/w slr for about the last 8 years, but typically shoot w/a. When shooting wide angle I have used to date a 4" ikelite arm, in conjunction with an 8" ultralight bounacy arm for each strobe (z240s). I've used this set up over the last 8 years for w/a on the d70, d300 and now d800 and it works for me for w/a.

When shooting macro in the past it was with the 60mm and sea and sea standard port. Now on FX I have moved to the 105VR, with a more compact port (less bouyancy) and have started to use the nautical smc. Wooooww, it is negative in the water when I used the 4" ikelite arm, in conjunction with an 8" ultralight bounacy arm for each strobe, and very front heavy. I see that there are solutions that fit foam on the port 9 (which I guess would solve the front heady issue) and other floatation arm systems.

What are you using? How well does the floats on thye port work?

 

cheers

 

Darragh

[TimG 62]

Hey Darragh

 

On my Subal housing for macro (105VR) and W/A (Nikkor 17-35 or Sigma 15mmFE) I use the same setup: 5" plus 8" ULCS arms on each side with Inon Z240s. All 4 arms have Stix foam on them.

 

With either an 8" or 9" domeport the buoyancy is slightly negative (less so, as you'd expect, with the 9"). With the 105VR and the Subal FP-FC105 macro port it is definitely negative! But no so bad that I find it hard to use - although I do use about a 12" tether between my BCD and the housing in case of slippery hands. I've just got a Subsee 10+ and haven't had it out in water yet (two weeks time) and I guess that will add to the negative buoyancy.

 

I've not tried the foam-on-the-port thing yet and will see how it goes with the Subsee. For the moment, as I say, Stix foam on the 5"+8" arms is about enough - or, at least, manageable.

[coinee 17]

I have the same situation as you with a compact port and the 105, and the solution for me was to get a buoyant piece of strobe arm )Nauticam 90x200mm carbon fibre float arm (Buoyancy 655g)) that I'm attaching to the 'hot shoe' with an adapter. Much better!

[nortoda1 13]

Tim, the subsee may make enough of a difference. For me it was addiing the SMC that was the tipping point (excuse the pun). With the SMC it is challenging enough holding the camera where you want to focus without wrestling with the housing.

 

Coinee, interesting. I do use the hotshoe on the housing for holding a focus light, but this could be moved with a 3 pint bracket to one of the arms. Another thing I did consider is using a bouancy arm as a "crossbar" running between the 2 housing handles, though this may interfer with the focus light position.

[TimG 62]

I have the same situation as you with a compact port and the 105, and the solution for me was to get a buoyant piece of strobe arm )Nauticam 90x200mm carbon fibre float arm (Buoyancy 655g)) that I'm attaching to the 'hot shoe' with an adapter. Much better!

 

Hey that's a cunning plan, Fabian. Have you got a pic of that?

[coinee 17]

Coinee, interesting. I do use the hotshoe on the housing for holding a focus light, but this could be moved with a 3 pint bracket to one of the arms.

AHA! So do I. I just put the focus light on top of the buoyancy arm. I'll post a pic of the set up.

[nortoda1 13]

Never thought of that, sounds like a solution. Look forward to the picture if your set up

[coinee 17]

For some reason I can't post pictures from Google Photos directly, some security setting in IP Board... Oh well, here's a link: https://goo.gl/photos/KryRuJWVECuLTjPS8

[TimG 62]

For some reason I can't post pictures from Google Photos directly, some security setting in IP Board... Oh well, here's a link: https://goo.gl/photos/KryRuJWVECuLTjPS8

 

 

 

Thanks for that! Neat idea..... I may try something like that on my system - I'm off to the Red Sea in two weeks Will give it a go.

[nortoda1 13]

Thanks Coinee.

[JamesR 26]

Nikon DSLR (last time i shot macro was D7000, will be D810 next time)...

 

4 arms, each with two StiX jumbo floats & a StiX macro ring float around the port.

 

I removed the velcro strap from the ring float, and took a length of 1/8" bungee folded in half and threaded it through so it had, in effect, two lengths of bungee running around it. Loop the bungee over the focus light mount on the port and it doesn't go anywhere.

 

 

 

 

[nortoda1 13]

Looking at other posts on the forum, Stix do seem to be a popular solution. I also like the ring float, as it is out of the way

[TimG 62]

Looking at other posts on the forum, Stix do seem to be a popular solution. I also like the ring float, as it is out of the way

 

 

 

Yep, the Stix are good. I've had mine about 5 years. Inexpensive (relatively!), light weight, hard-wearing and effective.

[eyu 27]

Stix are easy to use, you just put them on your arms until you are pleased with the buoyancy.

The only draw back is that they compress some with depth.

I have since switched to carbon fiber float arms, they look cooler.

 

Elmer

Edited June 18, 2015 by eyu

[TimG 62]

Ahhhh, here we go, "they look cooler"....

 

Gotta say, Elmer, you have to be at some depth to get them to compress. Mine have been down to around 32m many, many times and I've seen no compression on them.

 

Perhaps we should start a new thread: "At What Depth do Stix compress? And did you compress too?"

[eyu 27]

Tim,

 

I do not think the compression is a big deal for either the Stix float or the diver.

 

But look at your Stix floats on the surface and look again at them again at 30 meters. Note that the gap between them has gotten larger and their shape is more compressed/wrinkled. Also note that your rig is heaver at 30 meter than it was at 5 meter.

But they do regain their shape upon surfacing.

John at 4th Generations changed to the current black Stix floats, they are a marked improvement from the original 4th Generation white floats in regards to compression.

 

Carbon fiber float arms look "very cool" and do not change buoyancy with depth

 

Elmer

Edited June 19, 2015 by eyu

[nortoda1 13]

Ordered some Stix floats for my macro set up. Not too worried about compression as I don't normally do macro below 30m.

I do however regularly do w/a to 60-80m. My consider looking at the nauticam carbon fibre for w/a.

Which size nauticams you using eyu, and for what setup

[eyu 27]

Nortoda1

 

I have found the best way to figure out buoyancy is to weigh your rig with all its accessories in water with the specific setup (WA vs macro).

From this you will know what you need for buoyancy. Each setup wide angle vs macro is different. Don't forget to take in account the difference in specific gravity of salt vs fresh water.

 

I shoot a Nikon D800E in a Subal housing with 45 degree viewfinder, two Inon Z240 strobes, Sola focus light, ULCS clamps.

For macro using the 105 mm VR I use two Nauticam 90 x 200 arms with two 8" ULCS arms. I have used Stix floats, other Nauticam and H2O tool carbon fiber float arms, but I like two 90 x 200 next to the housing. This give me better balance. It is easier to tilt my rig forward and turn it sideways vs four floatation arms.

 

Elmer

Edited June 20, 2015 by eyu

[JamesR 26]

For my camera/housing, Zen 170mm dome, Sigma 15mm fisheye, two inon z-240 just the 8 floats on the arms pictured above works great in the ocean.

[twinner 5]

The float rings made for macro ports (like the one in the image that James posted) are the best solution I have found for balancing a DSLR macro rig. One of those plus some float arms should get you close to neutral.

[nortoda1 13]

Weighed my macro rig (d800 s&s housing, port, 2 x 5" ike arms, 2 x 8" ul float arms, focus light, 2 z240s and nauticam smc) last night - 1700g in fresh water.

W/a set up with sigma 15mm and 10" s&s dome is about -650g

Decided to go for a Stix float ring and 2 x nauticam carbon fibre 150 x 90mm. Went with the nauticam arms as I can replace the 5" ike arms for w/a as they can handle the depths of up to 100m.

Edited June 20, 2015 by nortoda1

[pointy 4]

As the title suggests I am wondering what solutions people are using for balancing/bouyancy control of their rig when shooting macro. I have been shooting u/w slr for about the last 8 years, but typically shoot w/a. When shooting wide angle I have used to date a 4" ikelite arm, in conjunction with an 8" ultralight bounacy arm for each strobe (z240s). I've used this set up over the last 8 years for w/a on the d70, d300 and now d800 and it works for me for w/a.

When shooting macro in the past it was with the 60mm and sea and sea standard port. Now on FX I have moved to the 105VR, with a more compact port (less bouyancy) and have started to use the nautical smc. Wooooww, it is negative in the water when I used the 4" ikelite arm, in conjunction with an 8" ultralight bounacy arm for each strobe, and very front heavy. I see that there are solutions that fit foam on the port 9 (which I guess would solve the front heady issue) and other floatation arm systems.

What are you using? How well does the floats on thye port work?

 

cheers

 

Darragh

Hello Darragh,

 

My problem with floatation for macro set-up was that floats on the strobe arms interfered with strobe positioning. That led me to make floats that suspended the rig from above. I spent a lot of time, and used a lot of Divinycell foam, to get the buoyancy just right for different set-ups. Now I have a better version of above-the-housing floatation that allows me to vary buoyancy much more efficiently. By adding or subtracting floats on a string, I can easily get close to neutral buoyancy. If I want to make it perfect, I stick a few quarter ounce (7 gm) tire weights to the bottom plate.

The Flickr link below describes this solution.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pointymccracken/sets/72157634002354975

 

John

[JamesR 26]

I haven't had any issues with the floats being in the way of putting the strobes where I want them. Just put them on so that the fat sides of the blocks face away from the other arm. The standard clamps are long enough that the arms can be nearly side by side.

[pointy 4]

I haven't had any issues with the floats being in the way of putting the strobes where I want them. Just put them on so that the fat sides of the blocks face away from the other arm. The standard clamps are long enough that the arms can be nearly side by side.

 

Hello CamelToad,

 

I can see why arm floats work better for you than they do for me. You have longer strobe arms, with an extra section, compared to my set-up. That allows you to keep the floats above the housing, even when you bring the strobes in towards the camera. If you take a look at the first picture in my Flickr link, you will see why that doesn't apply to my set-up. Sometimes I have to pull the clamp up or down to direct the strobes as I like. Even if arm floats didn't bump into each other, I could never pack enough floatation on them to make my rig as buoyant as I want it to be.

 

https://www.flickr.c...157634002354975

 

Should I convert to longer strobe arms, or should I be glad to have floatation that lets me get by with short strobe arms? What are the advantages of using long strobe arms versus short ones?

 

My Ikelite strobes, with NiCad batteries, are really heavy, and my plastic dome is very light. Without floatation, my rig has a tendency to turn upside down, so any floatation on the port would be counter-productive for me. Floatation on your port though, might be a good thing. Good floatation options are different depending on the equipment you are using.

 

I looked at your Flickr link - very nice pictures you got in Socorro. You did much better than I did when was there. However, I don't think longer strobe arms are the thing that would have improved my results.

 

John Mccracken

[JamesR 26]

First, thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it.

 

Okay, personally, I think having two arms on each side is a huge advantage vs one like in your image-- especially shooting wide angle. For Socorro I used even longer arms than the image above, usually keeping the strobes wide, behind the port, and facing out a bit.

 

For macro the above arms work fine. Having two on each side allowed me to put the strobes anywhere I wanted them. FWIW the arms pictured above are 9" and 7" in length. Adding one more arm and clamp per side of your rig wouldn't cost much and, I think anyway, would help you.

 

Best,