Favorite LED Video Lights ???

[ronscuba]

Lithium ion batteries have been out for a while. The 1000 lumen Fisheye Fix lights use Lithium as well as most canister lights.

For video use, super long burn times don't matter much for my style of shooting. Unlike HID lights, LED and halogen can be instantly turned on/off with no warmup time. 60 minute full power burn time lasts me at least 2 dives because I only turn on the lights when recording.

Given a choice, I like smaller batteries with less burn time. However, the video light market is tiny compared to general light and burn times rule that market.

 

[The Blue Whale]

It all comes down to 'supply and demand' and we definitely are the small fish in the lighting world.

The batteries that I was told about are a lithium gel exl (extended life), guess they are showing some hope, but not readily available on the market yet. This is just what I've heard and not anything documented.

 

[ronscuba]

Wow, have not heard about a lithium gel exl battery.

New technology is cool, but it's hard to keep up with it. I'm trying not to get seduced by the latest and greatest hype. I've managed to hold off on HID lights since I was happy with the end results of my halogens. Good thing as I've gotten my moneys worth and HID is now on the way out.

LED looks to combine the strengths of halogen (instant on/off, no warmup, cheap) and HID (color temperature, burn time) without the weaknesses.

 

[drbill]

At the LA Scuba Show last month, several manufacturers were talking about coming out with Li-Ion batteries in the near future. I think we are on the verge of a quantum leap in battery capacity.

They are probably waiting until we claim victory in Afghanistan and can take all their Lithium!

Seriously, thanks for the thread here. I'm considering a switch to LEDs in the not-too-distant future. I started with halogens (and liked the color temperature), switched to HIDs (not overly pleased with them) and am ready to try something "new."

 

[The Blue Whale]

One thing we find about the speed of technology... by the time the average sport diver has an opportunity to buy something, the price has already come down. The first ones out of the box usually are the most expensive. Can you imaging being the guy who spent $10,000 on a whole new Nikonos RS system in 1996 ? Thinking this was the best underwater camera system on the market and since it's been out for 4 years, must be great. Then Nikon announces they're discontinuing it, OUCH! Well, that's not me, but I know a couple of avid divers who did something like that and they are gun shy to buy anything new.

Video Lights are no different, except if you don't use them why buy them.

 

[ronscuba]

I'm taking the plunge to LED and ordering the new Sartek LED lamps.

Sartek Industries Product Details

 

[RPdiver]

Since I cannot afford an expensive lighting system... I had to build one. I used a 200ft depth dive light (AA batteries) that I bought at a closeout, replace the insides with an mr16 50W halogen lamp. It just so happens that the lamp was the same diameter as the lens housing! A hole was drilled on the other end and a Ikelite U/W connector was installed. The cable was then run to the video housing for connection to the Gel battery, the beam is pretty even no hot spots. The entire system: 2X 50W lampheads, gel batteries, connectors and switch cost $75! I just placed an order for some LED lamps to replace the halogen at $10 a piece.

http://www.affordablequalitylighting.com/docs/bulbs/ledmr16-12v.html

 

[MikeMeagher]

I use the L&M Sunray 1000's. For my consumer grade use, they are very nice lights. I like the fact that the battery pods are separate from the light heads meaning taht I can use loc-lite arms and I can easily and quickly move my light direction around by reaming the heads. However wish the power cords were just a few inches longer. I get 1-2 dives worth at full power. The color temp is "cool" but hey.. it works for me. Check out my Anemomies Video thread in this same forum and you'll see them at work just last weekend. Check out my youtube page \wolfeeldiver and they are used in all the videos there, cold water, temparate, some warm water stuff too, even a cavern in mexico.
My buddy has a handheld "big blue" 1x30W LED. Its a very nice light, nice soft even beam, but that light has narrower angle than my Sunray1000s.. but I wouldnt mind having one or two of these to use as well. BB-1X30W LED

 

[The Blue Whale]

Great job Mike, what editing program are you using? Your transitions were good. Also, what was the average visibility? It looked like you made the best of some so-so visibility. The lights work great for you.

 

[The Blue Whale]

We've completed our testing of the LED lights for video and found some interesting results. While we didn't test all lights available, there is a huge difference in results depending upon your budget. The Ikelite ProV8 lights turned out to provide the best value in LED lights. We used them in both single and dual applications and the dual is the route to go. Getting about 10 hours on the battery life helped a bit too. More details to come when we finish up our reports from the intense three weeks of diving we've just completed...