Control Arms
Ultralight arms and accessories
FOR ANY CAMERA HOUSING
From the Ultralight website: "We think that once you have tried our product you will agree it is the best, lightest weight, most convenient and versatile on the market.""There are other arm systems out there; but none can compare to ours. We may be a little more expensive; but you will never have to buy another set of arms again."
Ultralight Control Systems have been in the underwater photography and scuba diving industry since 1993. They design and manufacture light weight aluminum arms for attaching your underwater camera or housing to your underwater strobes. They can also attach lights to your video.
Ultralight makes one of the lightest weight arm systems on the market. All of their products are made with 6061 aluminum that is machined and then hard anodized, to withstand the harshest treatment.
The Ultralight arms may look like just another set of adjustable spherical ball arms on the market; but close inspection will prove otherwise. Ultralight arms have been totally re-engineered to incorporate the maximum clamping action possible. The inclusion of an o-ring greatly increases the friction forces at the joint, therefore, keeping the arms where you put them. The o-ring also gets away from the metal to metal contact between the clamp and the ball of the arm. The lightweight pattern not only looks great; but also allows the arms to keep their required rigidity while keeping the weight to an absolute minimum.
Arms and clamps
An Ultralight arm generally consists of two arms segments and three clamps
giving you the greatest flexibility. Videographers sometimes use just one arm
segment and two clamps. They do not need the same amount of flexibility as
a still photographer does.
The o-ring in the balls of the arms, base adapters, and strobe adapters eliminates
the metal to metal contact. This allows a much more linear clamping force,
allowing you to control the arm movement when used with small or large strobes
even in varying current conditions.
The ball size of our arms and adapters is 1" or 25mm.
Double ball arm segments
DB-03 - very short arm, look like
small dumbells, used for macro photography
DB-05 - short arm, used for macro photography
DB-08 - medium length arm, used for macro or wide angle photography
DB-12 - long arm, used for wide angle photography
DB-16 - very long arms, used for super wide angle photography
Single ball arm segments
Allows you to use one less clamp in the arm set; but reduces flexibility at the strobe head or base.
SBDT-5 - Single ball 5” arm with a dovetail at the base. Will
fit the BA-DB dovetail shoe
SBNK-8 - Single ball 8” arm with a Nikonos SB 102,103,105 strobe adapter at
the other end
SBSS-8 - Single ball 8” arm with a Sea and Sea strobe adapter at the other
end
SBSS-5 - Single ball 5” arm with a Sea and Sea strobe adapter at the other
end
Our most popular arm set consists of a base adapter, two 8” arms segments, three clamps, and a strobe adapter. This arm set is used for both macro and wide angle photography.
Clamps
These clamps are what holds the system together and gives it flexibility. Think of your own arms with the three joints and that is in essence what you have with your strobe arm.
AC-CS - Standard clamp is used to attach two arms, base adapters,
and strobe adapters together
AC-CSF - This new style clamp is constructed slightly different
than the original clamp. This clamp allows 15 degrees side to side movement
of the balls
AC-TCS - Triple clamp - replaces a regular clamp in an arm
set, allowing use of a flashlight or Ikelite TTL slave (below) or Ikelite flashmeter
(see accessories).
Adapters
Ultralight make a huge range of adapters to fit different brands of photography and video housings, lights and strobe. Contact us to discuss your specific requirements.
Aquatica and Sea & Sea Housing adapters
All these housings have built in handles with screw holes in the top for attaching Ultralight base adapters.
Sea & Sea handles may come with a “T” plate already attached to the top of the handle. You can slide a BA-TG over this “T” plate. If your handles do not have a “T” plate or you do not want to use it, there are 3 ways to mount base adapters to the handles:
BA-AQW - Fixed ball screws directly onto the handle
BA-DB a dovetail shoe into which you would then slide a BA-DT (straight dovetail)
or
BA-DB a dovetail shoe into which you would then slide a BA-AD (angled dovetail)
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