JBozanic
Contributor
I purchased a video light from Bonica in July. I have now had the opportunity to play with it on several trips, and with two cameras. I thought other potential users might like a little feedback.
The light is their 1500-Lumens model. It uses 8 NiMH AA cells. It is about the size of a large grapefruit. There are 2 control dials. One is the On-Off switch. The positions for that switch are "Off," "On--100% (full)," and "On, variable output from 10-100%." The other dial is on the opposite (well, actually about 120o away) side. It is used to select the variable output when the variable output selection is made on the power dial. The light output is from 6 LEDs.
I have used it primarily with the underwater videocamera I purchased from Bonica several years ago. The camera is the Bonica Snapper HDDV (740 lines, I think). The camera fits in a waterproof sleeve with a clamp, that is good for about 15 fsw. It then fits into a hard plastic clam-shell type housing, also made by Bonica. I have had and used it down to about 180 fsw.
I used the light on the tray made by Bonica, that holds both the camera and the light. It was a convenient package, much smaller than the Sea & Sea VX2000 housing I used to use. It is small enough to carry around on dives when I am not primarily shooting, but just have it around in case something interesting shows up.
I like the light and camera package MUCH better than the camera alone. The camera alone is much too buoyant to be comfortable carrying around. With the light, it is much closer to neutral. Even though it is a larger package, it not not get in the way as much as the camera alone.
I have used the light with the standard lens, and also with the wide angle adapter Bonica sells as an add-on. The coverage was pretty good with standard lens, lighting most of the frame pretty evenly. With the wide-angle adapter, the coverage was vignetted around the edges, but the main subject area was OK. I actually liked this effect better than the full frame lighting, as I thought it highlighted the subject in a more interesting manner.
I used the light almost all the time on full power. I played with it on the variable setting, but liked the full light output better. If you were shooting macro then the full output might burn the subject too much, but I almost always shoot wide angle, so have not had that problem.
The one thing I noticed that I did not like very much was the ability (or inability) to angle and point the light exactly where I wanted it. The standard tray has limited axes with which to work when pointing. This could probably be corrected by adding a standard ball joint arm, but the problem was not bad enough for me to bother with trying to correct it, even though I have a glut of arms laying around the garage.
I also played with the light with theGoPro camera I just bought. I bought the GoPro to just attach to my head and dive, not worrying about anything to do with shooting. The Bonica light works well to highlight subjects with the GoPro, but it requires effort. This was counter to the reason I bought the GoPro, so I have not used it much in this manner.
I have also used it with the GoPro on a tray, made by R-Innovations.net. That was a more successful effort. I will try to write up another short review about that combination sometime in the next week or two.
Overall, I like the Bonica light. It is reasonably small, uses standard NiMH AA cells, burns well, is easy to use underwater, and has been simple to package with different cameras. I still want to try it in lieu of a strobe with my still cameras, especially my point and shoots, which I think will improve picture quality.
I hope some of yoou find this review helpful! As I learn more, I will try to put up a few more notes.
The light is their 1500-Lumens model. It uses 8 NiMH AA cells. It is about the size of a large grapefruit. There are 2 control dials. One is the On-Off switch. The positions for that switch are "Off," "On--100% (full)," and "On, variable output from 10-100%." The other dial is on the opposite (well, actually about 120o away) side. It is used to select the variable output when the variable output selection is made on the power dial. The light output is from 6 LEDs.
I have used it primarily with the underwater videocamera I purchased from Bonica several years ago. The camera is the Bonica Snapper HDDV (740 lines, I think). The camera fits in a waterproof sleeve with a clamp, that is good for about 15 fsw. It then fits into a hard plastic clam-shell type housing, also made by Bonica. I have had and used it down to about 180 fsw.
I used the light on the tray made by Bonica, that holds both the camera and the light. It was a convenient package, much smaller than the Sea & Sea VX2000 housing I used to use. It is small enough to carry around on dives when I am not primarily shooting, but just have it around in case something interesting shows up.
I like the light and camera package MUCH better than the camera alone. The camera alone is much too buoyant to be comfortable carrying around. With the light, it is much closer to neutral. Even though it is a larger package, it not not get in the way as much as the camera alone.
I have used the light with the standard lens, and also with the wide angle adapter Bonica sells as an add-on. The coverage was pretty good with standard lens, lighting most of the frame pretty evenly. With the wide-angle adapter, the coverage was vignetted around the edges, but the main subject area was OK. I actually liked this effect better than the full frame lighting, as I thought it highlighted the subject in a more interesting manner.
I used the light almost all the time on full power. I played with it on the variable setting, but liked the full light output better. If you were shooting macro then the full output might burn the subject too much, but I almost always shoot wide angle, so have not had that problem.
The one thing I noticed that I did not like very much was the ability (or inability) to angle and point the light exactly where I wanted it. The standard tray has limited axes with which to work when pointing. This could probably be corrected by adding a standard ball joint arm, but the problem was not bad enough for me to bother with trying to correct it, even though I have a glut of arms laying around the garage.
I also played with the light with theGoPro camera I just bought. I bought the GoPro to just attach to my head and dive, not worrying about anything to do with shooting. The Bonica light works well to highlight subjects with the GoPro, but it requires effort. This was counter to the reason I bought the GoPro, so I have not used it much in this manner.
I have also used it with the GoPro on a tray, made by R-Innovations.net. That was a more successful effort. I will try to write up another short review about that combination sometime in the next week or two.
Overall, I like the Bonica light. It is reasonably small, uses standard NiMH AA cells, burns well, is easy to use underwater, and has been simple to package with different cameras. I still want to try it in lieu of a strobe with my still cameras, especially my point and shoots, which I think will improve picture quality.
I hope some of yoou find this review helpful! As I learn more, I will try to put up a few more notes.
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