Adjusting the buoyancy of your underwater camera

Posted: January 08, 2024

Achieving-neutral-buoyancy-of-your-underwater-camera

It is not very comfortable and not safe to dive with an underwater camera set that has a negative buoyancy. You will have to compensate the floating capacity of your trimvest or dry suit. Depending on your position it will also unbalance you. Besides in an emergency situation, in which you will have to give up your underwater camera, you will have to compensate the difference in floating capacity immediately. An underwater camera set with a neutral floating capacity is more pleasant to dive with. You need less power and less air.

Weigh your own set with a hanging scale

To determine which arms or floaters you need, you first will have to know the weight of your underwater set. This can easily be done by a hanging scale (used to weigh luggage). When you put your set completely under water in a tub you can measure exactly the weight of your underwater set in the water. Be aware that you will keep the hanging scale above the water, because most of the models are not waterproof. The positive floating capacity of floating blocks and floating arms is known, so you can easily determine which and how many floating resources you will need. It is important to have a similar built up on the left and right side to achieve a good balance.

To weigh your set at UWCamerastore.com

We have an hanging scale available in our showroom and we are happy to determine the extra floating capacity you need. Do you want to weigh your set ? Please make an appointment on a businessday (monday to friday). We will make sure that everything is ready !

Correction in buoyancy by flash arms

The biggest corrections are usually done by the flash arms. It is possible to provide the existing arms with special floaters or you can choose immediately for floating flash arms for a positive floating capacity.

Flex arms

When you use flex arms, you can use Stix Floats (floating blocks) which can be slide over the arms. The disadvantage of this is that you will have to remove quite a lot of material in the middle of the Stix to make them suitable for the flex arms. The net floating capacity per element is little because of this. Beware to use too many elements, because this will limit the movability of the arms. Choose the Stix jumbo floaters for flash arm type FUL3. This type has the largest floating elements.

Ball arms

There are a lot of possibilities available for the ball arm systems. There is a large product range in floating arms and accessories available. Floating arms are available in different diameters and length. The bigger the volume, the larger the floating capacity. For example; a floating arm with a diameter of 50 mm and a length of 20 centimeters delivers a floating capacity of 160 grams. The same type of arm, but with a 90 mm thickness and length of 22 centimeters will give you 720 grams floating capacity. It is also possible to make a combination of a floating arm and a standard arm, which eventually can be provided with floating blocks. Then the biggest part of the floating capacity can be compensated by the floating arms and the last part can be fine-tuned by floating elements. The weight and the floating capacity of your set varies when you adjust the configuration. Also there is a small difference in sweet and salt water. Therefore it is usefull to be flexible in adjusting the buoyancy easily. You can use a few different small floating arms, the mentioned Stix floating blocks or the arms with variable floating capacity. These arms can be filled with water (partial) to decrease the floating capacity. After the dive you can empty them again to get back the full floating capacity. Of course this is not possible to be done under water. Also there are floating arms available of which you can adjust the length, as also the floating capacity, by adding or deleting arm elements.

There are countless of possibilities to create the balance and floating capacity of your underwater camera. Make sure you have the perfect balance and a neutral floating capacity of your underwater camera and find out yourself how to make the photography and filming more comfortable!

Neoprene covers for strobes

These covers are mostly used as protection for your flasher during transport and diving, but they can also give some floating capacity to your set. The cover will fit your strobe like a glove.

There are neoprene floating covers available for the following srobes:

Sea & Sea YS-D1 en YS-D2
INON Z-330, Z-240, Z-220, D-2000, D180
Ikelite DS161, DS160, DS125
Retra flash, Retra flash Prime & Retra flash Pro

Stobe cover

Tip: also ensure balance

Make sure that the balance of your set is OK. Sometimes a set tills forwards or backwards by a large dome or heavy lens. Solve this by using a floating belt or weighing belt around the dome of your underwater housing.