Northwest Dive Club

Hey Photogs,

Have my new Hero on the way and have been brainstorming how to make the best and affordable (read "as cheap as humanly possible) mount for it. Big thing being looking for a set of really affordable lights and a tray that could get me by. I don't need anything super fancy, just something for the weekly casual dives and enough light that I can actually see what I'm lookin' at:)

I've been using a pole mount on a pvc pipe up til now, works okay, but don't have much in the way of light other than my trusty dusty light:). I'm excited to see how the Hero3 does with the diffuser on the light though too.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had any cool setups they'd like to share!

Well... cheap is relative I guess. This is what I did. Picture is with a GP 2 but I have the Black Edition now.

One other pic

A little talent and some power tools and a couple pieces of metal and you can make a light bar no sweat.

I just got a GoPro 2 and 3. Plan on using the 2 for diving. I bought a SRP tray and handles, no lights or arms yet. I thought the SRP tray seemed well Built and not too expensive.

I'm thinking I might try mounting my can lightheaded with a diffuser on a SRP arm, sound good?

What did you have in mind dusty? I have some stock .5" al bar I made a DIY Goodman for my DRIS light...

A piece of 1/4" X 1 1/4" aluminum bar around 12" long with a 1/4" hole in the middle and each end. one short 1/4" bolt and 2 1/4' X 5" bolts SS of course 2pc 3/4" aluminum tube and 2 foam bicycle handle grips. Putem all together and wallah! Light tray. This is a nice one that I use from Opticle ocean sales that runs around $100 but you get the idea. Jack has several different treys at some great prices. http://opticaloceansales.com/trays-and-arms/ Just depends on how much work you are willing to do to save a hundred bucks. Just remember it all will need a good paint job cause aluminum and SS together make for lots of corrosion in salt water.

FWIW, the white plastic (UHMW?) cutting boards are a wonderful material and cheap too. It's a very easy to drill, cut, sand, plane, into what ever shape you need. I make small, modified goodman type handles for lights and GoPro cameras where the plastic rides on the back of your hand, with bungies under the palm and it works great. No reason you couldn't take a longer piece and make a tray out of it.

I have had a lot of luck with my setup. I just used a GoPro Flat Adhesive mount directly on the back of a Goodman Handle (http://goo.gl/o96xJ). I wear the camera on the back of my left hand and my canister light on my right hand. I started out with a beam light, but the harsh contrast made video tricky. I then switched to a Light Monkey dimpled video reflector and it works fantastic (only works with a HID). I added on a wrist strap from an old dive light on the goodman for some extra security.

The advantage of this system is you end up with an amazingly small, light, and portable package and your your hands are mostly free for executing normal dive duties. Also, framing a shot with no video screen is much easier when you can look down your arm and line it up. Another nice bonus, your light is totally free, so it is easier to light around obstacles and from the side to reduce backscatter. The disadvantage is that something so light is a bit trickier to keep steady. Shaky video is a real challenge any time you are shooting with a GoPro. One tip, I often make a "fake housing" by putting the thumb of my right hand against the GoPro case. This steadies the camera and gives you an offset light source that cuts down on backscatter. I haven't tested the HDHero3 Black's low light performance yet, it looks better in test videos, but lighting is going to be your #1 obstacle in Northwest diving. A high power diffused light source will be the difference between amazing shots with the GoPro and a grainy mess.

Best of luck .

Go big, or go home... 6,000 lumens

H20doctor wrote:Go big, or go home... 6,000 lumens

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Tell me more about this setup...

i make them.. Mateo has one, and soon Tmo.. Pm me for details

Hey, H20 doc, are you able to source and put e/o cables on the canisters/lights? I might be interested after I return from florida in april. I'll be assembling a video setup afterwards.

Rooinater wrote:Hey, H20 doc, are you able to source and put e/o cables on the canisters/lights? I might be interested after I return from florida in april. I'll be assembling a video setup afterwards.

No, I dont do E O cords.. There too expensive and I have no way to buy them at a wholesale cost..

Same here, I can get them but they are way to expensive and they are a maintenance problem also. They don't hold up in salt water. The exposed pins corrode through in a very short time if not cleaned and serviced with every use.

yah - understand you guys make good quality stuff - i love my Dusty light... but the thread topic was intended to keep things on the more intro, basic, cheap DIY mods type of topics. I Just can't afford another 500$ light, and i'm not looking to take cinema footage - just enough light that I can see what i'm filming, but not totally wash it out.

My dusty light with diffuser seems to look pretty good, but my new cam has frozen on both dives i've taken it on so i don't have any real footage to show for it yet. I'm gonna start with just that and see how it does.

I'd seen some other forums of people using a DRIS 1000 lumen backup and creating their own diffuser, thats kind of what i was thinking for now. But would still need another light as i don't want to use my backup light for my video:)

That's why I have been sitting on the sidelines. No advertising here!

I can whip one up for your dris if you give me an accurate ID dimension but you would need to glue it in or something. Should work fine if you don't mind it being permanent.

Is that a hero 3 you are having problems with? I know they had a problem with some of the earlier ones but they fixed that as far as I know.

yah the hero 3 black. I did the udpate, but I don't think it worked the first go around. Was still freezing up on my two dives.

I just redid the update though, so i'm hoping that fixed the issue.

RE: the DRIS diffuser - i'll take a measurement tonight. I don't want to permanently glue it on, but i have few ideas for how i could temp attach it and see how it does.

A little hot glue or silicone wouldn't be permanent.