NEW Ultramax UXLG Video Light

[drmark920]

Hi fellow Videographers: Have any of you heard of or used the Ultramax UXLG video light? It is apparently a rather new one on the market. However, it uses the same housing as the Intova ISS2000 strobe. The Ultramax isn't Intova, just uses the same housing which is well proven. The unit is 6watts and 500 lumens. I see a lot of listings in Australia but only one seller in the U.S. The price is a big deal; around $120.00 shipped. I have a couple of NuDive Ultrabright Underwater Rebel 100s that are 250 lumens each. I like them but I have one that has failed and I'm not sure I can rely on them.
Dr Mark
Index

 

[Shayne]

Hi Dr Mark I use one of those lights on my video setup with two other video torches seems to work really well I bought mine directly from the company was alot easier.

 

[drmark920]

Hi Shayne:
Thanks for the input. I was down 124' yesterday in St Kitts and both of my Nu-Dive Lights flooded! Bummer. I should have on the of new Ultramax when I get home. I'm hoping the beam is wide enough to cover. Are they made in New Zealand or Australia? We have only one place in the US currently selling them and they only had one in stock. I appreciate your response. Thanks
Dr Mark

 

[slowhands]

Ultramax is a brand name for an established seller of inexpensive UW lighting. The seem to source product from Hong Kong. I have not found the Hong Kong retail outlet, but my search is liminted to English language sites.

For Americans and Canadians, they have a Canadian online seller:
ULTRAMAX E N T E R P R I S E S I N C .

 

[bvanant]

I am a bit suspicious of the 500 lumen rating, a lot depends on how they measure the output. Further I think that for most reasonable video you need a lot more light. We use 2 x 1200 lumen lights for most of our video and for wide angle even that is not quite enough. A single 500 lumen light will be OK but not exceptional except for maybe really tiny macro scenes.

Bill

 

[slowhands]

I am a bit suspicious of the 500 lumen rating, a lot depends on how they measure the output. Further I think that for most reasonable video you need a lot more light. We use 2 x 1200 lumen lights for most of our video and for wide angle even that is not quite enough. A single 500 lumen light will be OK but not exceptional except for maybe really tiny macro scenes.

Bill

It is a question of price. This is cheap. So is the Ikelite Pro-V8. About $200 street price, versus $800+. Of course the more expensive light is better. But for an occasional user, would this be usable, or not? Comments from actual users welcomed.

 

[Shayne]

Hi Dr Mark like slow hands said most of my ultramax equipment has come from Hong Kong but I have delt with the guy's in Canada, what I have found is the darker the area you are trying to video the better the light works but when you are trying to video in shallow water hi viz hi light conditions not that great. If that makes sense.

 

[bvanant]

It is a question of price. This is cheap. So is the Ikelite Pro-V8. About $200 street price, versus $800+. Of course the more expensive light is better. But for an occasional user, would this be usable, or not? Comments from actual users welcomed.

I have the Ivideo light at 500 lumens which use the same LEDs as the Ultramax in a different housing. It was about $300 from Canada. It is very nice as a focus light for shooting stills, but not quite there as a video light. For occasional users it would be fine of course and is at quite a nice price. The downside is that it is quite big and relatively heavy compared to many of the newer LED lights (which are much more expensive). For shooting short video clips with your P&S camera it would be quite nice and it can double as a dive light at night, but for serious video I don't think it has enough light. As for the Ike light, it uses 8 C cell batteries and my wrist hurts just thinking of that on top of a housing. It does last for 10 hours but boy is it heavy.
Bill

 

[drmark920]

I appreciate everyone's input. I have purchased one for only $90 on Ebay. I will be testing it this next week in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It is a bit heavier than I thought it would be. However, it takes 4 AA's which is much more convenient for hauling a charger. I will report back on it. I just posted two new videos from St Thomas if anyone wants to check them out Index
Thanks again for the input. I read everyone's comments multiple times and checked out the links given.
Dr Mark