38,000 Lumen Video Light vs. 32 Guide Number Strobe for taking Still Photos, pics

[mjh]

Video lights vs. Strobes for taking stills is a very common question and will make for a more detailed post for another time. The problem is Video/Continuous lights are measured in Lumens and Strobe power represented in Guide Numbers. I have yet to see any attempt to show “X Lumens = X Guide Number.

I recently had a chance to shoot a prototype/experimental video light product. This video light produces about 38,000 lumens and had a FLASH FUNCTION! It could put it in Flash Mode and used like any strobe in Manual Mode!

Equipment Used
Experimental video light with two 19,000 lumen light heads, Olympus OMD-EM-5, Lumix 8mm 3.5 fisheye lens, Nauticam housing and 4.33” port and a pair of Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes for comparison. The Sea & Sea strobes were attached alongside the video light heads with a triple clamp. The video light had a battery pack and two power cords running to the light heads.

Shooting Parameters
· Visibility about 10ft
· Camera set for stills and settings kept same for both video light and Sea & Sea YS-D1s
· Camera White Balance set to 5500 degrees
· Video lights were set to a very warm temperature (per request of the buyer) for video shooting vs. the very white light of the Sea & Sea YS-D1s

General premise was to use the video lights in their “Flash Mode” in the same manner as using a pair of strobes. Settings were to compare power of the strobes not to get perfect exposures.

The Video Lights on Full are on par with the Sea & Sea YS-D1s on a power setting of 0.7 (according to their dial) or just over ½ power.

A very non-scientific judgment would put 38,000 lumens on par with a Guide Number 20 strobe for wide angle or CFWA shooting.



Video Light on Full, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400


Sea & Sea YS-D1 @ Full Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 500
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---------- Post added November 2nd, 2013 at 08:13 AM ----------

A couple more shots...

Sea & Sea YS-D1 @ 1/2 power, 1/125, f8.0, ISO 400


Video Light Full Power, 1/125, f8.0, ISO 400

 

[Mike]

Are they any fish around to photograph when you're shining 38,000 lumens at them?

 

[mjh]

Sea & Sea YS-D1 @ 1/2 Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400


Video Light at Full Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400


Sea & Sea YS-D1 at Full Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400


---------- Post added November 2nd, 2013 at 08:29 AM ----------



---------- Post added November 2nd, 2013 at 08:31 AM ----------

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---------- Post added November 2nd, 2013 at 08:34 AM ----------

Are they any fish around to photograph when you're shining 38,000 lumens at them?

The advantage of the system is the manufacturer had a Video Mode were the lights ran continuously and a ​

Flash Mode where the 19,000 Lumen light heads were "off" and then would fire just like a strobe, I think they are the first to accomplish this.

 

[3D diver]

Subscribed.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of manufacturers loan/give me prototypes to test, fun ain't it?

Would love to hear more about these lights. Do they need another guinea pig?

 

[mjh]

Subscribed.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of manufacturers loan/give me prototypes to test, fun ain't it?

Would love to hear more about these lights. Do they need another guinea pig?

They do want feedback if people are interested in a system that can really be used in Video or Flash Mode. This is a system that gives you 19,000 lumen light head and 20 Guide Number "strobe*" in one unit. This is probably more for the video shooter who what the oppertunity to do decent CFWA stills.

As mentioned I think the main accomplishment for the company is coming up with a way to have a video light that is "off" then fires as a strobe.

 

[drbill]

When I do my night dives with my Sola 1200s, I have them set on the lowest power (500 lumens). I can't imagine using a video light that generates 38,000 lumens. It seems to me the impact on fish and invertebrates would be highly detrimental.

 

[3D diver]

Not sure the fish would care, but my buddies give me a hard time about my 4 DRIS lights. I like to film my buddies and also am bad about pointing them wherever I'm looking forgetting how blinding they are.

 

[drbill]

I've seen plenty of fish blinded by my Sola 1200s at 500 lumens... they bump into rocks and reefs and one another. But then I've seen plenty of hungry kelp bass use them to locate blacksmith.

 

[Mike]

When I do my night dives with my Sola 1200s, I have them set on the lowest power (500 lumens). I can't imagine using a video light that generates 38,000 lumens. It seems to me the impact on fish and invertebrates would be highly detrimental.

They will produce great videos of the tails of fish swimming away from you.

 

[mjh]

One thing with this rig is when in Video mode the lights are 100% adjustable. 19000/38000 lumens is for caves, wrecks, sweeping landscapes. Your video would be blown out in most typical shooting situations if you tried to shoot with the lights anywhere near full. But as mentioned the main goal was to try to get some kind of idea of how many Lumens you need to approximate shooting stills with a strobe. As mentioned even 19000/38000 is on par with a decent entry level strobe like the Sea & Sea YS-01 or Inon D2000.