Choosing a video light for underwater video

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System (still waiting for some bits):

Panasonic GH3 (in NA-GH3 Housing)
12-35mm, 7-14mm, 60mm, 8mm
Ninja2 (in NA-Ninja2 Housing)
170mm Zen Glass Dome, 65mm Flat Port
Flexitray II W

The Keldans were my first choice, but then I got sucked into the CRI issue and a vortex of doubt...about their low 70ra rating...

I like: the Kelvin rating, the adjustability, the size and the good reviews, I think my issue is CRI and 'is 4000 lumens enough?' If the CRI isn't the be all and end all, I can always add a 3rd 4V to have 3x 4000..
 
I guess you will use the 7-14 rectilinear with 114 diagonal field of view?

In that case the 85 degrees of the Luna will be perfect as horizontally the field of view at 7mm will be around 105 so you will be covered

To use the lights at the full potential you will need two 400mm arm segments on your tray and with those you are looking at closest point around 1.2 meters and a good 40 cm depth. Covering a surface with your lens or around 3 meters horizontally which is pretty good

The fisheye lens would obviously cover more but be subject to distortion and dark in the corners
 
Nice article and thread Interceptor.

Do you know how the manufacturers make lights beam angle ? For topside lights, I see bigger reflectors for wide and small reflectors for narrow. Is it possible to DIY and add a reflector to a wide angle light to narrow the beam ?

I like my lights wide beam for night dives, but like you say, the wide beam is less effective during the day.
 
Yeah the 7-14mm will be my main video lens...

Fisheye is from my E-PL3 - but is mainly for stills.

Thanks re the arm length!
 
Yeah the 7-14mm will be my main video lens...

Fisheye is from my E-PL3 - but is mainly for stills.

Thanks re the arm length!

I meant two arms segments 400mm on each side so clamp arm segment 1 clamp arm segment 2 clamp light adapter light quite large set up

---------- Post added January 8th, 2014 at 02:16 PM ----------

Nice article and thread Interceptor.

Do you know how the manufacturers make lights beam angle ? For topside lights, I see bigger reflectors for wide and small reflectors for narrow. Is it possible to DIY and add a reflector to a wide angle light to narrow the beam ?

I like my lights wide beam for night dives, but like you say, the wide beam is less effective during the day.

I think it is quite straightforward to narrow the beam if this was a single emitting diode however most lights are multielement so you woule need to alter each one that I think is not possible

With your LX7 and a pair of Sola 1200 SF you are sorted as you can use the spot for night dive. Fix has come out with a good light but does not have spot
FIT has a relatively cheap light that has 120 degrees and 2400 lumens that does spot. I believe 120 degrees are a waste but with 2400 lumens you can still cover three feet

I believe that making lights with a wider beam is more straightforward and most likely cheaper in terms of the reflector around it hence those are coming out on the market like mushrooms

Ultimately the beam angle is something you choose together with your camera field of view

I use this rule of thumb

Up to 90 horizontal field of view (or 100 diagonal or 18mm) -> 60 degrees light
Between 90 and 105 (around 16-17mm) -> 70-75 degrees (a cropped gopro sits here)
Over 105 (14-15 mm) -> 80-85 (an uncropped gopro sits here)

Take into account that I stop at 14mm as more you start having too much barrel distortion though with some 12mm zoom lens it still look ok

The other consideration is that of course the ideal area is the one covered by both lights and that also as approximately the same angle of the lights
So with two lights of 90 degree you cover a wider subject than with two 60

Generally for what I do that is not professional level I find the lights useful for macro and for close ups between 1 and 4 feet, the subject itself will be smaller than 4 feet.

Usually a turtle can bare your lights for a short while but definitely other than a nurse or wobbegong shark I have yet to meet a fish that stays there while you fry them with your lights

If I had to shoot wrecks this would be different and I would definitely go to something in the 85-90 beam angle region, having said that I shoot wrecks without lights with just a filter and they are fine and if I use the lights is just to highlight something on the wreck itself. Even with a fisheye for stills more of my wreck shots are in natural light and then adjusted for colour in light room
 
I think I will stay with my old school strategy. Daytime lights only for closeups and macro. It worked well with my old setup and luckily the LX7 with the filter performs good too.
 
I think I will stay with my old school strategy. Daytime lights only for closeups and macro. It worked well with my old setup and luckily the LX7 with the filter performs good too.

That's pretty much what I do too. It is important to have a camera with good performance at low ISO or a fast lens or both as you can't just project beams of 10000 lumens without scaring the fish
 
That's pretty much what I do too. It is important to have a camera with good performance at low ISO or a fast lens or both as you can't just project beams of 10000 lumens without scaring the fish
You are right, that's my concern too. I will have a trip to Cocos soon and I really hesitate to bring my pair of Keldan 4V. I also have a pair of Sola 1200 and they should do the job for night dive shooting. While 2x 4000 lumens are not very effective for daylight shooting, they are also very likely to scare away the hammerheads? Any opinon?
Is it a good idea to use very long arms, pointing slight downward from the top just to light up the lower part of the image and anything that are within 1 metre from my camera? So I won't scare away sharks which are still far away.
 
I use this rule of thumb

Up to 90 horizontal field of view (or 100 diagonal or 18mm) -> 60 degrees light
Between 90 and 105 (around 16-17mm) -> 70-75 degrees (a cropped gopro sits here)
Over 105 (14-15 mm) -> 80-85 (an uncropped gopro sits here)

So if I am reading this properly, and since I am using an Intova Sport Pro with a 110 degree FOV, I should be able to get good use from these? Welcome To Bigblue Dive Lights Thanks again for the rule of thumb and the thread...best advice I have seen.
 
So if I am reading this properly, and since I am using an Intova Sport Pro with a 110 degree FOV, I should be able to get good use from these? Welcome To Bigblue Dive Lights Thanks again for the rule of thumb and the thread...best advice I have seen.

Ooh. That's a very nice light.. Didn't know they made that.

Lux calculations:
2 ft - 1465 lux
3 ft - 659 lux

Looks better than the Archon and same price! No red LED though :(

Maybe even this one:
http://www.leisurepro.com/p-fntsvl/fantasea-blue-ray-sport-video-led-700-lumens-light
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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