flareside
Contributor
If you are using a narrow beam light, try spot metering on the camera. Yes, everything outside the beam will be black but what is in the beam should not be overexposed.
GoPro on a flash light
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themagni
Contributor
Here are some stills from a GoPro 960 with the GoPro Dive Housing. It's mounted (slightly crooked) to a Shockwave 400 lumen LED flashlight.
In the first image, we have a washed-out eel, or snake, or something. We're in about 60ft. Note that it wasn't dark, it was broad daylight outside and light enough at depth to be able to see how bad the vis was. A few othe stills are washed out from the reflection of krill.
Here I'm taking some shots of a sea cucumber, moments after the picture above.
On the safety stop, we ran into High-Five, the one-clawed kelp crab. This is in about 10 ft.
On the descent, the five-foot vis gave us this still of a jellyfish. That's my dive buddy in the background, we're in about 5 feet at this point.
In the first image, we have a washed-out eel, or snake, or something. We're in about 60ft. Note that it wasn't dark, it was broad daylight outside and light enough at depth to be able to see how bad the vis was. A few othe stills are washed out from the reflection of krill.
Here I'm taking some shots of a sea cucumber, moments after the picture above.
On the safety stop, we ran into High-Five, the one-clawed kelp crab. This is in about 10 ft.
On the descent, the five-foot vis gave us this still of a jellyfish. That's my dive buddy in the background, we're in about 5 feet at this point.
toozler
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Unless you have a very wide beam source, I wouldn't mount the GoPro on it. The narrower beam sources will create that hot spot that will throw off the camera's white balance and make everything else dark (in the worst case) or create a very defined lighter circle on on your images.
I mounted my GoPro on a tray and have a regular torch on a flex arm - not a video light, but a cheap wide angle torch (60 degree beam). If the torch is directly above the camera, that is, both are at the same distance from the subject, even with a wide beam, I get that hot spot, but not bad enough to make everything else turn black, as my light source is only about 180 lumens.
My solution to that was to pull the flex arm back towards me as much as I could, so the light source is as far as possible from the subject, and the camera as close as possible. Of course you end up loosing some of the brightness, but given the larger distance, the beam widens and the GoPro averages the light of that whole area instead off a small very bright spot (if you are not using the camera's spot metering option).
So, if you are mounting on a flashlight, try to extend the GoPro forward, maybe using a spare camera rig arm or DIY something with a PVC pipe/Locline.
I mounted my GoPro on a tray and have a regular torch on a flex arm - not a video light, but a cheap wide angle torch (60 degree beam). If the torch is directly above the camera, that is, both are at the same distance from the subject, even with a wide beam, I get that hot spot, but not bad enough to make everything else turn black, as my light source is only about 180 lumens.
My solution to that was to pull the flex arm back towards me as much as I could, so the light source is as far as possible from the subject, and the camera as close as possible. Of course you end up loosing some of the brightness, but given the larger distance, the beam widens and the GoPro averages the light of that whole area instead off a small very bright spot (if you are not using the camera's spot metering option).
So, if you are mounting on a flashlight, try to extend the GoPro forward, maybe using a spare camera rig arm or DIY something with a PVC pipe/Locline.
You might want to consider a few of the inexpensive GoPro mounts that MAKO has to offer:
The AR-15 Grip is extremely solid and has been well received since we introduced it.
Another option is the extending mono-pod..
GoPro Cameras / Speargun Camera Brackets
The AR-15 Grip is extremely solid and has been well received since we introduced it.
Another option is the extending mono-pod..
GoPro Cameras / Speargun Camera Brackets
OP
FM1520
Contributor
iluvtheocean
Contributor
what would happen if you used a short (6-18) inch maybe?) piece of pvc to extend distance between the flashlight and the camera? if you look at the trays - the lights are a distance away from the camera. I was considering using the handlebar mount instead of the tripod mount for a better angle.
Marty Cerven
Contributor
Here is a video I shot on a night dive with the SRP tray and 2x sola 500's also 2x Tusa 300s at times. The Tusa lights though are a bit narrow and only produce a small diamater ring which can be noticed at times so for most shots I only used the Sola lights here. The TUSA lights also tend to create a hotspot which overexposes what they light up and the Sola lights are generally fine at full power in the dark, a diffuser is needed for the TUSA lights but everything I tried reduced the light output to a point where they dont give enough benefit to make them of much use for video work. They are great little dive torches just not ideal as video lights.
[video=youtube;P1895Nn_I5Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1895Nn_I5Q[/video]
I think the Sola range are some very good lights for the GoPro but even the one 500 will cost you more then a GoPro camera. The beam is very wide and smooth and many people also use the Sola 1200's which will give you more benefit for daytime use.
I find using the LCD screen is a huge benefit to adjust the lights angles in order to properly fill the frame, I will aim them in more for close objects and point them out a little for further away shots and 2 of these aimed properly can fully fill the 170 fov frame of the GoPro cameras.
If I have the lights up pretty high up above the camera it helps to avoid backscatter which is pretty bad in poorer vis if they are at a level closer to the camera.
[video=youtube;P1895Nn_I5Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1895Nn_I5Q[/video]
I think the Sola range are some very good lights for the GoPro but even the one 500 will cost you more then a GoPro camera. The beam is very wide and smooth and many people also use the Sola 1200's which will give you more benefit for daytime use.
I find using the LCD screen is a huge benefit to adjust the lights angles in order to properly fill the frame, I will aim them in more for close objects and point them out a little for further away shots and 2 of these aimed properly can fully fill the 170 fov frame of the GoPro cameras.
If I have the lights up pretty high up above the camera it helps to avoid backscatter which is pretty bad in poorer vis if they are at a level closer to the camera.
jmneill
Contributor
Hey Marty, what portion of this vid was filmed with just the 500's vs all four lights? It appears to me that the majority of it is just the two 500's? It's looking like I'm gonna need to 86 this Mako rig and get something more realistic, and while I think I would like a little more light than I see in your vids, I have no real frame of reference. (and, at some point the dollar figure will of course come into play as well) Thanks...
A couple more things...... What is the rig you have all the lights mounted on, and if you had a few more bucks to spend would you be filming with something else, or are you good with this setup. (Note: I said a FEW more bucks
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Marty Cerven
Contributor
@jmneil the majority of this was filmed with just the two Sola 500's as the TUSA lights were giving me a hotspot as can be seen in the first half of the little spotted ray before 30 seconds where all 4 lights were used after 30 sec on tha little ray it was only the Sola's which give a much smoother more even light through the entire frame. You can tell when the 2 TUSA lights are used as you can just see 2 round rings of light these cause. From 50 seconds on Im pretty sure it was all just the Sola's and the cuttlefish was only the Sola's.
I have it mounted on the SRP tray which I find very handy, its got a slightly different shape to a traditional tray which also allows you to use it as a mini tripod so you can sit it on the ground as I did in the above video at 40s mark. Its very light and has so many possible ways of mounting to it and Ive had 1-4 gopro's mounted on it with 2 or 4 lights with no issues.
Here are some pics of my setup with all 4 lights and 2 cams but I only used the one gopro for the above video.
Here is just 1 cam and 2 Sola lights which is my regular setup.
Here it is tripod config with 2 lights.
In terms of a GoPro setup the only thing I would change if I was willing to spend more money would be more powerful Sola lights. If money was no object 2x Sola 4000's but more realistically 2 x Sola 1200's are probably as much as you'd need. The 500's are still pretty good but I dont think anything less then 2 of these will be much good, I haven't seen lights cheaper then Sola's that give a light output as good as these but thats why they cost more then the basic cheaper lights. For video the very wide angle and smooth drop off are great even if you overlap the lights you dont notice a hotspot in the middle. The other 2 lights just give a round ring maybe 1/6th of the frame and if you overlap the lights the overlap will be much brighter, they really need a diffuser but once you diffuse them the output drops too much to a point they are of little use as video lights.
The TUSA's are great little dive lights but not really much help for video compared to what the Solas can do.
Down the track I will get a couple more Sola 1200 or higher lights as I really love the light output from the 500's but you can never have too much power lol. I will most likely experiment with these and my 500's combined to give more room to play with aiming the lights for certain effects and for anything too close even 2 500's can tend to overpower the gopro. Higher output lights will give more of a boost on the distant objects and the advantage of higher output lights is that you can always turn them down if needed.
For daytime use I still think good filters are a better option if you don't want to spend too much, good lighting is not cheap and will only help to around 1.5-2m for even the most expensive lights you can buy. A combination of lights and filters is best so you can use either or even both in some cases for best results.
The 500's are good enough for me to get some pretty decent night dive video footage which I'm quite happy with but more lumens would not hurt anyone, other then your blinded dive buddies and stunned fish that may get 8000 lumens shot to the face.
On that dive everyone was amazed how much light I was getting compared to all their dive lights and it really does light things up very well to our eyes. You may need sunglasses with a pair of Sola 4000's I think and at night I dont think you would need the lights at more then 1000 lumens each anyhow the extra output is more for daylight use I think.
I have it mounted on the SRP tray which I find very handy, its got a slightly different shape to a traditional tray which also allows you to use it as a mini tripod so you can sit it on the ground as I did in the above video at 40s mark. Its very light and has so many possible ways of mounting to it and Ive had 1-4 gopro's mounted on it with 2 or 4 lights with no issues.
Here are some pics of my setup with all 4 lights and 2 cams but I only used the one gopro for the above video.
Here is just 1 cam and 2 Sola lights which is my regular setup.
Here it is tripod config with 2 lights.
In terms of a GoPro setup the only thing I would change if I was willing to spend more money would be more powerful Sola lights. If money was no object 2x Sola 4000's but more realistically 2 x Sola 1200's are probably as much as you'd need. The 500's are still pretty good but I dont think anything less then 2 of these will be much good, I haven't seen lights cheaper then Sola's that give a light output as good as these but thats why they cost more then the basic cheaper lights. For video the very wide angle and smooth drop off are great even if you overlap the lights you dont notice a hotspot in the middle. The other 2 lights just give a round ring maybe 1/6th of the frame and if you overlap the lights the overlap will be much brighter, they really need a diffuser but once you diffuse them the output drops too much to a point they are of little use as video lights.
The TUSA's are great little dive lights but not really much help for video compared to what the Solas can do.
Down the track I will get a couple more Sola 1200 or higher lights as I really love the light output from the 500's but you can never have too much power lol. I will most likely experiment with these and my 500's combined to give more room to play with aiming the lights for certain effects and for anything too close even 2 500's can tend to overpower the gopro. Higher output lights will give more of a boost on the distant objects and the advantage of higher output lights is that you can always turn them down if needed.
For daytime use I still think good filters are a better option if you don't want to spend too much, good lighting is not cheap and will only help to around 1.5-2m for even the most expensive lights you can buy. A combination of lights and filters is best so you can use either or even both in some cases for best results.
The 500's are good enough for me to get some pretty decent night dive video footage which I'm quite happy with but more lumens would not hurt anyone, other then your blinded dive buddies and stunned fish that may get 8000 lumens shot to the face.
On that dive everyone was amazed how much light I was getting compared to all their dive lights and it really does light things up very well to our eyes. You may need sunglasses with a pair of Sola 4000's I think and at night I dont think you would need the lights at more then 1000 lumens each anyhow the extra output is more for daylight use I think.
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I used a blob of silicone sealant to mount a standard go pro base on my torch; you can quickly unclip the camera, it won't rust and is light weight- too easy mine is still good after many many dives. cost me nothing.
---------- Post Merged at 11:41 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:40 PM ----------
Great looking vids Marty, top viz! Love how the cuttley mimics a crab!
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