Light advice for gopro hero5

[Tenurepro]

[sorry for cross posting]
Hi Guys,
I am looking for some help in terms of a good light setup for GoPro Video for a HERO5...
I am going scuba in Mexico in March, and the Red Sea in August. I wanted to capture some video of the dives.

Was looking into the kraken Hydra lights, or possibly the Sea Dragon. Can't seem to see a lot of online reviews for these though. Was thinking of having two lights for good coverage. Any advice in terms of brands or lumen power would be highly appreciated. If you shoot video with gopro, please post your light setup, and total lumens you take down with you.

thanks so much for your advice.

 

[diversteve]

I only looked at the Sea Draon Video light for comparison but I'd go with the Kraken's - the difference being that the beam angle is wider on them u/w = 110 degrees vs. 75 for the SD Your GoPro normally shoots at 170 degrees or can be reduced to 110 so they more closely match the field of view - especially with 2 of them. With a narrower beam, you'll see light falloff - usually in the form of darker circles at the edges of your shots.

I personally don't think you can have too much ligfht for video but the power settings are nice to have also.for macro of sensitive things. At night daytime creatures don't like you lighting them up for predators.

my .02 but I don't shoot a GoPro but a housed video camera. Same concepts apply...

 

[Tenurepro]

Thanks so much @diversteve

 

[uwex]

Did the same research myself recently and bought 2 Bigblue Black Molly 3 lights. Bought them for the combination of being very compact and fairly powerful (2600 lumens each), with wide beam angle, at very reasonable price. Just tried them on a diving trip to Thailand (with Hero 6) and was very happy with them.

 

[Tenurepro]

Did the same research myself recently and bought 2 Bigblue Black Molly 3 lights. Bought them for the combination of being very compact and fairly powerful (2600 lumens each), with wide beam angle, at very reasonable price. Just tried them on a diving trip to Thailand (with Hero 6) and was very happy with them.

thanks! any links to videos ?

 

[Erik IAGDTD]

I just recently bought a pair of Big Blue VL8300p lights (8300lumens and 120° beam angle). But there was only one left and the other was on backorder. Then Big Blue appeared to have discontinued the 8300 and replaced it with the VL9000p so I got that one as a replacement for the one on backorder. Haven't got a chance to test the two at the same time, but here are some links of one VL8300p with a Gopro Hero 6. I've shot these in slowmotion (100 and 200frames per second). Shooting slowmotion eats a lot (and I mean really a lot) of light. As you can see in the examples these lights still deliver a nice output.

Instagram post by It's a good day to dive • Dec 14, 2017 at 7:04pm UTC
Instagram post by It's a good day to dive • Dec 13, 2017 at 10:56pm UTC
Instagram post by It's a good day to dive • Dec 13, 2017 at 12:16am UTC

 

[outofofficebrb]

Hi, @Tenurepro. Here are my responses to a few other threads asking the same question. I think you will find it helpful. I also have links to show what those resulting photos looked like...They were frames taken from videos. The videos turned out pretty good for what it is but they aren't posted on IG. The underwater ones prior to Oct 2017 are all GoPro. www.instagram.com/outofofficebrb

Go Pro 4 Silver
Want to buy the right GP4 light/tray setup - please help
Gopro 6 setup questions! Please help!

 

[Tenurepro]

very helpful, thanks guys.
after some though and research (and trying a few lights at a local dive shop), i decided to go with 2 x kraken hyrda 5000 lumens. i've heard the 'get as much light as you can afford" several times! The lights are a bit heavy, but i like that they are not huge, roughly twice the lenght of a gropro. I also got the optical cable remote to control both lights... will probably do a little review once i get the gear and set it up