I already have 2 strobes, what light should I get

[Pyndle]

Hi everyone,

I currently have 2 Sea&sea YS-01 with my rig (shooting with a sony A6500) and I'm pretty happy with them for stills. I do macro and wide, I would sometimes love a bit more power output for the wide angle stuff but it's pretty rare.

I am considering buying 1 or 2 lights on top of that, with the following purpose:
- Stop renting a ****** dive light every time I do a night dive
- Have a better focus light than what the YS-01 offer, I find their beam too narrow
- Start taking some videos, I assume mostly macro or relatively close things as I don't have the budget for a lot of power output (and I don't want something too heavy too)

I feel like for a given brand, doubling the power output = doubling the price. Do you guys agree that it is better to get 2 lights with a lower output rather than one powerful one?

I would like to spend max 250/300 usd on this. I'm considering 2 Archnon D34V (2600 lumens), do you think it's a good idea for my purpose? With such a power output, how far can I be from what I'm filming (without loosing all the effect of the lights obviously)?

Many thanks!
Pyndle

 

[Addicted2H2O]

I have an iTorch Venom38 video light that's 3800 lumens and it's awesome! Burn time isn't that long at about an hour on full brightness, but it's got 4 levels of white, 2 levels of red, and a blue (UV) setting. When I bought mine I found a deal on it @ $400 USD when at the time it retailed for twice that. You might search around and see if you can find one around that's affordable for you. It really is a great light. And it's got a wide, more flood style pattern to it. And I wouldn't say use it instead of the ones you have, but rather in addition to.

I found here here for a pretty decent price.

Video LED light I-Torch Venom 38 - 3800Lm + red LED

 

[Pyndle]

Thanks for your message. I will definitely keep diving with my strobes, just want to add 1 or 2 lights for the video on top of it.

Unfortunately this one is a bit out of my budget, and as I'm travelling around the world I am very unlikely to find a good deal, I will just have to order it new (I have a one week stop in hong kong soon where I'm hoping to buy a lot of gear I need).

May I ask you, what's the use of the color modes? Don't you always use the white light? I know we lose red underwater but if you use light, the red should come back no?

Thanks

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Normal diving, yes I use the white light. Red can be used as a target light so you can shine it at your intended subject without scaring it like white lights do. And then of course the UV is awesome especially at night because it makes anything that's florescent "glow" similar to how a black light does.

 

[Yellowdog]

The Kraken Hydra 2500 is worth a look. At $399 it is more than you wanted to spend but may be worth taking a look at because in addition to a traditional video / dive light you can sync it to your camera via fiber optic cable. When you do this the light fires like a strobe in a burst mode. So instead of the constant 2500 lumens, it will burst to 4000 lumens adding additional lighting to your YS-01 pair. Also has a macro lens available that condenses the beam to 20*. Guessing this technology may be the future of led underwater video lights.
Kraken Sports Hydra 2500 WRU Macro Edition

 

[davehicks]

The Archon light you pointed to looks a lot like the iTorch6+ that I have. I like that it has a removable battery that can quickly be swapped between dives. My came with 2 cells, be sure to get at least 2 or 3 as the batteries are pretty low cost. The iTorch is at bit more at $400, but I think that is the price you pay for some form of warranty. Features like UV are cool, but I've only used that once or twice as a curiosity.

Get the Archon and let us know how the build quality is. I'm interested in these low cost ebay direct from china lights. They have great prices and similar designs to the name brands. But reliabilty is Job #1 when you are on a boat in the middle of the pacific.

 

[Pyndle]

@Sh0rtBus Fair enough, didn't think about the fear factor for the red light, that's handy.

@Yellowdog I am already using my 2 fiber optic ports on my case for the two strobes, so I couldn't benefit the burst mode. Also, for Macro I assume a very small output is necessary no? Isn't 2500 lumes on 20 degrees way too much?

@davehicks that's my worry, I don't really want to spend 250usd on lights that could flood on the first dive. But then I have a cheap Chinese housing and it's still working perfectly after over 100 dives with it. I would be buying it from a physical shop so I can inspect it before buying it, should I look for something in particular to judge the quality?

Any thoughts on 2*2600 lumens vs 1*5200 lumens for the same price?

 

[Barmaglot]

I have a pair of Archon D36V lights, which are basically doubled-up versions of D34V. Effective range in bright tropical water is maybe 50cm at most, probably closer to 30cm. At night though, they easily light up a wide swath of reef from several meters away - I frequently turn them down to minimum output at night because maximum output is just so bright.

LED burst mode is pretty useless to you, since you already have normal strobes. 4000lm is less than 1% of your strobes' power output, so their contribution would be negligible. The value of LED strobes is for use with smartphones, which don't have a mechanical shutter and thus cannot use xenon strobes, while constant LED lights can scare away subjects.

I think a single stronger light would be a better choice than two weaker ones - you can mount it on the housing's cold shoe as a focus light/night light and keep the strobes on the arms. Using triple clamps for mounting lights and strobes together is somewhat awkward, as you frequently want strobes facing outward to minimize backscatter and light facing inward for maximum illumination on target. Further down the line, if you get serious about video, you can get a second strong light and mount both on arms. I just checked Ebay and there's a used D36V up for $199, although you'd need to pay shipping from USA.

 

[Pyndle]

Many thanks for this Barmaglot very helpful!

I am shocked by the distance, 30cm really? I assume this is at 10m not 30?

Why wouldn't you put the light on the side like the strobes? Lights should also create backscatter no?

If it only lights up such a short distance, I guess I will have to stick to macro videos. In which case I wonder if buying a light ring wouldn't be better?

 

[Barmaglot]

I am shocked by the distance, 30cm really? I assume this is at 10m not 30?

Something like that, yes - noon-ish, scorching Eilat sun, 8-15 meters depth, the colors start coming in at a startlingly short distance. You need raw power to bring out the colors, and strobes are embarrassingly more powerful than even the brightest LEDs - you need about half a million lumen to match a YS-D2.

Why wouldn't you put the light on the side like the strobes? Lights should also create backscatter no?

Backscatter is not as much of a problem with a focus light as it is with strobes, as it isn't anywhere near as bright. However, if you have a strobe and a light mounted on a triple clamp and you loosen the clamp to adjust the positioning, both light and strobe will start flopping around, and you'll need four hands to position everything properly and tighten the clamp again. Also, if you have a strobe on one side and a light + strobe on the other, your rig will be unbalanced and that's a major pain in the posterior. I did a few dives with just one light mounted directly to the tray, no arms, and it was more difficult to handle than the full rig with four arms and two lights.

If it only lights up such a short distance, I guess I will have to stick to macro videos. In which case I wonder if buying a light ring wouldn't be better?

Depends - I don't have one, but I understand that ring lights are primarily useful for supermacro, where your distance to target is measured in single centimeters. What lens are you using for macro? If it's 30mm, then it will be very useful; if it's 90mm - not so much. I have no idea whether or not it will be useful as a general purpose night light.