Can I use an HID light instead of a strobe

[kramynot2000]

I've finally decided to take the plunge and pick up an Oly housing for my 5060. It seems everyone is having too much fun and I'm missing out. I'll be ordering it today and hopefully will get it in time for my trip to the Bahamas at the end of next week.

In thinking about this, I was wondering whether instead of a strobe, I can use my 18w HID light for illumination. I'm told the 18w light is adequate for video. Anyone try this or is a camera strobe brighter, bluer, etc.? As you can tell, I'm definitely an underwater camera newbie.

Tony

 

[WaterDawg]

I know a few folks that do that but youll need a diffuser for it. Make your own w/ a coffe can lid.

 

[jcclink]

HIDs are daylight temperature, about the same as a strobe. It should work with your still camera. The downside is its lack of light output compared to a strobe. May be ok for closeups. Do a topside comparision test with 1) just the camera's flash, 2) just the HID & 3) both.
Seems you never have enough light for video, depending on ambient light conditions. I'm using 10w HIDs. 3 heads in tropical water during the day (up to about 3 ft away), 2 heads at night.

 

[TheNitroxinator]

Taking pictures with a HID works, but I think a strobe is better. You'll probably have to play around with the shutter speed, and you'll also probably need to do a little adjustment with photoshop or whatever equivalent you happen to use. Its defintely better at night - my buddy was trying to use his HID during daytime shots, and it didn't work out so well. I think that may have been because he had the shutter speed set up for automatic, and with the ambient light it chose a shutter speed that was inappropriate. I think he was also using automatic white balance, and with daylight it will adjust the white balance to something undesired if you're not careful.

Turtle with a nightlite

Skull inside a wreck with a nightlite

Most of the pictures in my gallery were done with a macro lens and a strobe, but there are a few others that were taken with an S50 and a night light. The two links were not with a HID, I think those were with my halogen C8. The HID was definitely better than the halogen, but the pictures I got weren't as exciting so I didn't post them.

 

[kramynot2000]

The only reason I was thinking of using my HID is 1) because I have it and 2) I'm a little over my SCUBA budget so I can't buy a strobe.... yet. But I think I will in the future.

I guess I"ll have to play around with it and adjust all those little buttons...

I just got notified that my housing is "in the mail"! Can't wait to start playing with my new toy.

Nice pix by the way.

Tony

 

[oharag]

I was thinking about purchasing an HID dive light, and I was also curious about using it for photography (dual usage is always nice especially on the wallet ).

I might go with a Dive-Rite focusable HID light head. It also has a Lumedyne Reflector and Flexible Mounting Arm options:

http://www.diveriteexpress.com/lights/video.shtml

oharag

 

[kramynot2000]

I'm actually trying for "triple" usage for my light. I also have an old video housing and camera that I've been playing with. I finally built an arm for my light to use with it but before I could test it, my son dropped my camera and broke it. Right now I'm waiting for the replacement off ebay. But, I thought I could just build the same arms and use it for my 5060 when my housing comes in.

My light is an 18w focusable Sartek head on an AUL canister, which I bought used. Total price... a whopping $300. Yeah, I got a deal.