Sony RX100 - which video lights and filter should I use?

[Gemma Swan]

Hello,

I used to use a GoPro Hero 4 from underwater video, but since seeing some outputs from the Sony RX100, and considering I already owned one (Sony RX100iii) as my palm sized land camera I decided to buy an underwater housing for it.

My budget wasn't huge, so I purchased a Meikon underwater housing, which came with a red filter as well as a tray with one arm. I separately bought a "Sea and Sea" 1000 lumens video light (circa $150).

I've tried a few different things - and I'm not yet getting the results I was hoping for... my video light is clearly not bright enough (I realise now that 1000 lumens wasn't enough) and if I use the red filter I lose a lot of contrast and gain a lot of noise in the footage.

As some background I should tell you I shoot almost elusively video (around 95% of what I shoot is video), generally most dives are 20-30m in tropical seas. I am currently travelling with a small bag - hence why I chose a small light in the first place. I am an amateur photographer, and have quite a bit of experience of editing video. Even after running my video through Final Cut and adjusting the colours and exposure it's still not perfect.

So my questions:
1) Is it worth getting a different red filter - is it a case of budget glass ruining it, or is the red filter not worth having?
2) Light(s) - I know the more light the better, but I have a small rucksack! What's the optimum brightness vs. size? One higher power light, or two smaller powered lights? Whats the minimum lumens I should be considering?
3) What do you do with the white balance - I've tried manually setting it, but I've never got results that have worked - I prefer to use auto under water WB instead.

Thanks in advance for any help
Gemma

 

[npole]

I had mixed results with red filters, I also take photos with strobes, and it is a pain to put and remove the red filter even with a slider. I do post-production and the colors are OK (even with red filters you can't recover colors when they aren't there anymore after a certain depth).

I use 20K lumens and it's barely enough to light up to 7 meters.. every shoot in the blue it's like having no lights at all.

I use AWB as well, sometime i use the manual WB for the pictures, but the AWB works much better for the videos, it also depends of the distance of the subject you're filming and how well it is illuminated. As I mentioned initially: you will still have to correct each clip in post production (coloring, white balance, contrast..).

 

[Gemma Swan]

I had mixed results with red filters, I also take photos with strobes, and it is a pain to put and remove the red filter even with a slider. I do post-production and the colors are OK (even with red filters you can't recover colors when they aren't there anymore after a certain depth).

I use 20K lumens and it's barely enough to light up to 7 meters.. every shoot in the blue it's like having no lights at all.

I use AWB as well, sometime i use the manual WB for the pictures, but the AWB works much better for the videos, it also depends of the distance of the subject you're filming and how well it is illuminated. As I mentioned initially: you will still have to correct each clip in post production (coloring, white balance, contrast..).

Thanks Npole, 20000 lumens - wow! I definitely don't have enough space in my bag for that... Mostly I shoot up to 2m from me - although of course into the blue when there's something interesting appearing out there!

 

[npole]

Go for Chinese lamps.. they won't last long, but they are so cheap that you don't care about. They uses fake cree leds and won't perform as of written on the paper, but they do a LOT of light for the money.

Example (randomly keep, you will find lower prices, but it's to give an idea of what lights I'm talking about): https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight，-Han-Shi-Photography-Rechargeable/dp/B0722QQPVM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1542580594&sr=8-5&keywords=scuba+video+light

With four of these, you'll go up to real 20-30K lumens or such.

Be aware: those lights have a 110° aperture, they are good for videos not for other usages, and only in the water (they can get very hot). Due to the angle, they also blind other divers so must be used carefully.

 

[Gemma Swan]

Go for Chinese lamps.. they won't last long, but they are so cheap that you don't care about. They uses fake cree leds and won't perform as of written on the paper, but they do a LOT of light for the money.

Example (randomly keep, you will find lower prices, but it's to give an idea of what lights I'm talking about): https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight，-Han-Shi-Photography-Rechargeable/dp/B0722QQPVM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1542580594&sr=8-5&keywords=scuba+video+light

With four of these, you'll go up to real 20-30K lumens or such.

Be aware: those lights have a 110° aperture, they are good for videos not for other usages, and only in the water (they can get very hot). Due to the angle, they also blind other divers so must be used carefully.

Brill thanks - I'll have a look.

Do you have any experience with shooting with smaller lights at all? It's not going to be realistic for me to have such big lights to carry - trying to work out where the sweet spot is between swine and light output...

 

[npole]

Low lumen lights does nothing except for macro video and to light up a subject when shooting with strobes (it helps the autofocus), in general it's like not having any light at all.
I'm not sure what you mean with "big lights".. do you mean the size? These lights are smaller than a main scuba torch: 12cm length, 5.5cm diameter.

 

[DesertEagle]

As an RX100 owner, I have used the camera in an inexpensive Polaroid (Meikon) housing. Sony cameras are notorious for being difficult to white balance correctly in blue water. I had some success by taping a small piece of 81A warming filter over the camera lens before putting it into the housing. I used flash warming filters that you can order for about $10. One kit has all kind of colors. The 81A or a light orange are the best for blue water. Or you could buy the original Magic Filter from an underwater camera store.

Shoot manual mode at 1/60 if your frame rate is 30 fps or 1/120 for 60 frames. Get close, very close to your subject. I have a Sola 2500 flood light that does a good job at close distances. The key is to light the whole frame evenly. Do not expect to light anything more than a meter away.

 

[Gemma Swan]

Low lumen lights does nothing except for macro video and to light up a subject when shooting with strobes (it helps the autofocus), in general it's like not having any light at all.
I'm not sure what you mean with "big lights".. do you mean the size? These lights are smaller than a main scuba torch: 12cm length, 5.5cm diameter.

Yes to me 5.5cm diameter x 12cm length is big (and certainly bigger than my dive torch...!) I simply wouldn't have enough space to carry 4 of them in my bag, as I am travelling I am trying to have minimal gear :-(

 

[Gemma Swan]

As an RX100 owner, I have used the camera in an inexpensive Polaroid (Meikon) housing. Sony cameras are notorious for being difficult to white balance correctly in blue water. I had some success by taping a small piece of 81A warming filter over the camera lens before putting it into the housing. I used flash warming filters that you can order for about $10. One kit has all kind of colors. The 81A or a light orange are the best for blue water. Or you could buy the original Magic Filter from an underwater camera store.

Shoot manual mode at 1/60 if your frame rate is 30 fps or 1/120 for 60 frames. Get close, very close to your subject. I have a Sola 2500 flood light that does a good job at close distances. The key is to light the whole frame evenly. Do not expect to light anything more than a meter away.

Thanks Desert eagle... I was looking at the magic filters - and wondered if they would be any good. Sounds like it might be worth trying. You use just one Sola 2500 light? I've been looking at that one as an option. Wondered if I needed two or something brighter even? Mostly subject I'm shooting are less than 2m.

 

[DesertEagle]

Two lights are ideal. Look for something with 90 degrees coverage.

A wide angle lens is very important. Good quality video that shows a large section of reef is almost always filmed with a wide lens. What looks like two meters is usually 60 cm away, or less. 2 meters may as well be 20 meters. Look at the options from Inon, AOI, Dyron, Fantasia, and Nauticam.

I used the Sola 2500 with a Watershot Pro iPhone 6s housing. These are almost a steal right now, very inexpensive with a wide angle lens. Their blue water filter does a very good job with the phone’s white balance. Now I’ve upgraded to an iPhone X and a LenzO housing by Valstech. That housing has a domed wide angle lens and built in filters that can be selected and deselected from within the housing. This week I ordered a pair of Sola 3800 lights for it.