DSLR Focus Lights

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks for the Backscatter link Mr. Poole. Just what I was looking for.

 

[H2Obaby]

And what was wrong with my link Diver Dennis?

 

[tx51210]

I wanted to add this link Reef Photo's Focus Light Comparrison to the thread. http://www.reefphoto.com/tt/index.php?action=kb&article=14

It is similar to the Backscatter Article but includes some different lights and shows what happens when you put a diffuser on lights. The C-Lite looks more reasonable with a diffuser. It would be nice to see a comparrison between the Nano and the Fisheye.

You can also jump to the summary page and see the different light patterns here: http://www.reefphoto.com/frame.gen.php?content=focus.summary

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for posting the link TX....

Focus Light Comparison Guy is off chasing humpback whales, but I'll make sure getting the Nano in that article is on his to do list when he returns. My opinion in the mean time is that the fix light is wider, and a little softer. The nano is a little hotter in the center, and not quite as wide. Both are great for focus lights, Fix light gets the edge for video lighting though.

Ryan

 

[f3nikon]

Over $400 for a Waterproof Flashlight… Incredible?!!!

 

[tx51210]

Over $400 for a Waterproof Flashlight… Incredible?!!!

The nice thing about the Reef Photo article was them showing the Mini-C with the diffuser against some of the more expensive lights. The $30 Mini-C with a $50 diffuser holds it's own fairly well. Obviously the fisheye dumps a lot more light out there and I have not seen a shot of the Nano but so far $80 has sounded pretty good.

 

[dleepenn]

Most DSLR systems will focus with infrared. I know that water absorbs the red but keep thinking that a set of bright infrared leds would be the perfect focusing aid as long as you are not too far from what you want to focus on. It would not disturb the critters either which would be a help.

Wonder how far a strong infrared led would penetrate the water and be useful???
Lee

 

[Rhino_Portland_Oregon]

The sea & Sea YS110 strobe has a built in focus light. No extra weight, and seem to work very very good for me... It was recomended to be by a "UW Pro" at a class I went to. They are spendy, but if your shooting a D200, and a sea & sea housing, you've already spent a bundle, so what's alittle more....

 

[jarhed]

http://www.backscatter.com/learn/art...ticle.php?ID=5 put me off the mini UK Q40s, but I don't think they used a diffuser.

Diffusers make all the difference with these lights. Very reliable, very cheap and duel LED Q40's put out plenty of light for macro focusing. I cut small diffusers for these using extra diffusers from the light cannon and the result is a very even nice beam of pretty good intensity. ULCS makes a nice bracket for duel lights and the whole setup is less than a quarter of a fisheye fixlight.

sea & Sea YS110 strobe has a built in focus light

I haven't actually used a YS110, so take this for what it's worth, but I understand that the 110 has a built in target light, to help you position your strobes, not a focus light. If you use the target light to focus, it seems to me that you must be pointing your strobes directly at your subject which will tend to give you alot of backscatter. Many photographers reccomend lighting your subject with the edge of your strobes to reduce backscatter.

Feel free to correct me if my assumption is off the mark.

IMHO,
John