I have been on the hunt for a pair of reasonably priced(!) warm white lights for my gopro. Have I missed something or ~4000K, 95 CRI is STILL rainbow unicorn category?

Apparently little $ can buy loads of lumens on Aliexpress, but those are typically 6000K and digging deeper, poor CRI/spectrum. There are lights with combined LED's, where you get a few warm 3500K LED-s in it, BUT after little research I found some horrible CRI figures for those warm LED's too! E.g. this beast claims to have "4 pieces of XHP50 LED yellow light (3500K)". Now checking the documentation, I find a poor 70(!) color rendering index and a spectrum with a Mariana trench @ 480nm (most likely the reason for those terrible CRI's). As water likes to absorb red very quickly, I am leaning towards WARM lights but definitely with a more even spectrum. Absolute worse case, I still have a pair of Tungsten lights but they are ofc super power hungry (100W each) and require a heavy battery, something I am not keen travelling with.

TLDR: any recommendations for reliable, serviceable (e.g uses standard Li batteries) video lights that preferably don't break the bank?

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by GTom

I have not found anything in the warm color temp, and CRI numbers seem to be nonexistent.

Edit: Keldan quotes CRI, but they are very expensive.

The Backscatter HF-1 is not cheap, nor does it have warm color temp, but it has a lot of light available so you could add diffusers/filters to warm the light at the expense of lower output.

Bluewater has a 3000 lumen video light with a nice looking diffuse beam at 6500k for $250. I don’t see a CRI listed. If you put a diffuser on it the color temp should drop below 6K. Not experience yet—I have one ordered.

I’m just getting into lighting underwater, but have been told color temperature is less important as long as you set the white balance. Maybe others more knowledgeable will comment.

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by ACHiPo

The Lumen ratings on cheap lights in aliexpress and similar sites are likely works of fiction. I have heard many say they all seem to come from the same factory, so not much to choose between them until you get into named brands and more $$$.

The reason for warm light is that when colour balancing on the subject, the background water becomes a deeper blue, this is mainly used in strobes for still images. Strobes are way more powerful than lights and I would expect that you would struggle to get the same effect on video as the amount of artificial light is generally less than what you get with a strobe as you need to push the colour temperature further overall to get the same colour balance on the subject with less artificial light added.

10 hours ago, ACHiPo said:

I have not found anything in the warm color temp, and CRI numbers seem to be nonexistent.

Edit: Keldan quotes CRI, but they are very expensive.

The Backscatter HF-1 is not cheap, nor does it have warm color temp, but it has a lot of light available so you could add diffusers/filters to warm the light at the expense of lower output.

Bluewater has a 3000 lumen video light with a nice looking diffuse beam at 6500k for $250. I don’t see a CRI listed. If you put a diffuser on it the color temp should drop below 6K. Not experience yet—I have one ordered.

I’m just getting into lighting underwater, but have been told color temperature is less important as long as you set the white balance. Maybe others more knowledgeable will comment.

Look into Kraken (Hydras) or Weefine lights - also, importantly, they're constant output

I can also recommend Weefine lights

On 12/28/2025 at 1:06 AM, ACHiPo said:

I have not found anything in the warm color temp, and CRI numbers seem to be nonexistent.

Edit: Keldan quotes CRI, but they are very expensive.

The Backscatter HF-1 is not cheap, nor does it have warm color temp, but it has a lot of light available so you could add diffusers/filters to warm the light at the expense of lower output.

Bluewater has a 3000 lumen video light with a nice looking diffuse beam at 6500k for $250. I don’t see a CRI listed. If you put a diffuser on it the color temp should drop below 6K. Not experience yet—I have one ordered.

I’m just getting into lighting underwater, but have been told color temperature is less important as long as you set the white balance. Maybe others more knowledgeable will comment.

Yeah, that's my problem too. SOME (but far from all...) "Aliexpress" lights do deliver near the lumen figures they claim, or at least "bright enough for the money". BUT they do that at 6500K that becomes like 10'000K with a subject distance of 0.5m and have literally a Mariana Trench in the middle of their color spectrum, around @480nm.

After days of hunting I found CRI's very rarely quoted, and as with everything in life, I highly suspect that that's for a reason.

I got another idea: get a pair of really bright but cheap lights and leave my snorkeling orange filter on, acting as a full CTO color temperature corrector. That'll likely affect CRI/R9/the overall SPECTRUM of the lightsource positively while sacrificing maybe 30% of the light intensity. Started a separate topic with a candidate (Leton L15): I am reluctant to shell out $600+ on lights that are still of questionable CRI, not to mention $4k on Keldans that do what everybody should do...

On 12/28/2025 at 5:15 PM, Nikolausz said:

I can also recommend Weefine lights

Many thanks! Seems their Smartfocus 4000 model is getting close. Will investigate if I'd be significantly better with that compared to a Leton L15+CTO filter. Not cheap but at least not Keldan money...

I just came across Sea and Sea's 1200 lumen video light. Not cheap, but not outrageous at $385. It has 5400k color temp and 90 CRI. The Weefine Smartfocus 4000 is more powerful on paper--not sure how accurate any of these numbers are?

Backscatter.com

Sea & Sea LX-1200SW FS Underwater Video Light

Sea & Sea LX-1200SW FS Underwater Video Light: No looseness in both wide and spot light "single light source/center light distribution" for a clean and beautiful image.

Edited January 1Jan 1 by ACHiPo

4 hours ago, ACHiPo said:

I just came across Sea and Sea's 1200 lumen video light. Not cheap, but not outrageous at $385. It has 5400k color temp and 90 CRI. The Weefine Smartfocus 4000 is more powerful on paper--not sure how accurate any of these numbers are?

Might be good light quality, but 1200 lumens seems a little weak, probably be OK with macro where you can get in really close. The thing with video lights is you are trying to add reds and yellows into the ambient light and this one will do that a little but will be over powered by the ambient light in shallow water. I see they have a 4000 lumen model which would probably do better - it's $549. Of course look for reviews, need to confirm that paying the extra $$$ will actually deliver good CRI. Don't know if you saw Blue water photo has a comparison table:

https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/best-underwater-video-lights/?srsltid=AfmBOopHlreMa-kGVb6def7NBCwtFGPY3ti-JcEd7TUrNuAfK3Cvptcn

Not exorbitant pricing indeed, slowly finding some real competitors around:

1. second hand Sealife 4500 pro (about the £300 mark with old battery): top color (CRI96!) but proprietary battery, not huge lumen figure

2. Nitescuba SEA60 (on sales now) or NVS60 - these are only CRI 90, yet probably the best of the "cheap" lights: I could get a pair for the price of the Sealife. Other great plus is that it uses standard batteries!

3. Second hand weefine smartfocus 6000: I am finding VERY conflicting CRI's here though. This is an older model, manual says CRI 80 (no-go), seller says from whatever datasheet: CRI 96... Probably skipping that and look at the new 4000v2.

Need to research other practical parameters like shutter-free dimming, reliability, weight etc as it seems I am looking northwards of £500 for a pair, definitely not a "don't like it, throw it in the bin" purchase.

Edited Friday at 12:23 PM5 days by GTom

have you looked into the new Backscatter Octo 3500 Wide video lights?

They're listed as $300 USD here:

https://www.backscatter.com/Backscatter-Octo-3500-Wide-Underwater-Video-Light

3500 Lumen Brightness

• 100º Wide Even Beam - Light Scenes with Wide Angle Lenses

• Three Power Levels

• Compact Size - Perfect for Travel

• Backscatter Color Filter System Compatible

• Enjoy the vivid colors of fluorescence with the optional Backscatter Video Light Excitation Filter

• Powered by two interchangeable protected 18650 batteries

• Simple Single Button Control

• 5000K Color Temperature

• CRI 90

• Triple O-ring Seal

Edited Friday at 12:32 PM5 days by bghazzal

I think I can get the same for about half the price in the nitescuba NVS60.

Apparently a tried and tested unit, not the average Aliexpress stuff.

1 hour ago, GTom said:

I think I can get the same for about half the price in the nitescuba NVS60.

Apparently a tried and tested unit, not the average Aliexpress stuff.

Nitescuba is operating in the same OEM / ODM space as SUPE/Scubalamp/Fotocore/Divevolk - and it's not really a brand-per se, more a branding of similar products which you can find of Aliexpress or elsewhere in their case. I've had some rather sketchy experiences with these (see here ) so stay away if i can for electronics like lights (but would consider them for a less sensitive products like float arms or a monitor housing - last nightscuba product i bought was a mounting stick for remote lighting but it arrived branded as something else).

I really wouldn't trust OEM-ODM maker's lumen, CRI, or burn-time specs...

Since you seem to be ok with non-constant output lights (ie ok with buying lights that will constantly dim as they're used rather than provide a set power level), I would look into actual Chinese brands like Big Blue, Orcatorch or Archon, which have been around as such for a few years and tend to have an ok track-record (though the specs are still on the fantasy side).
Seafrog/Meikon's new lights are interesting, but rather untested.

As a side-note, if CRI / light quality is really important to you, I would definitely focus on the upper Chinese tier brands like Weefine or Kraken (and potentially Kay Burn Lim's new Subnox brand). They are really a knotch ahead in terms of general quality / quality control.
Though design on these still suffers from Chinese R&D teams not really understanding how these products are used in real life shooting situations (button ergonomics, or adding questionable whistles and bells that many serious users could do without), at least there seems to be a some sort of feedback chain and some practical improvements on recent models.

Edited yesterday at 01:52 AM1 day by bghazzal

9 hours ago, bghazzal said:

As a side-note, if CRI / light quality is really important to you, I would definitely focus on the upper Chinese tier brands like Weefine or Kraken (and potentially Kay Burn Lim's new Subnox brand). They are really a knotch ahead in terms of general quality / quality control.
Though design on these still suffers from Chinese R&D teams not really understanding how these products are used in real life shooting situations (button ergonomics, or adding questionable whistles and bells that many serious users could do without), at least there seems to be a some sort of feedback chain and some practical improvements on recent models.

100% agree

The new letonpower dive lights have CRI specs

Edited yesterday at 12:20 PM1 day by Nando Diver

Just figured the big Leton's have built in battery. Big no-no for practical reasons, one of those planned obsolescence stories, LoL.

5 hours ago, GTom said:

Just figured the big Leton's have built in battery. Big no-no for practical reasons, one of those planned obsolescence stories, LoL.

The seal CF6000 (219$ ) Offers 6000 lumens of 5500K white, blue, red light, 96 CRI, 120° irradiation angle for large area has 3 batteries 21700 of 5000mAh

Edited yesterday at 08:37 PM1 day by Nando Diver

I've used a Leton L12 and it's definitely better than the average Chinese video light. I'd be interested in adding the CF6000 to my set-up.

10 hours ago, GTom said:

Just figured the big Leton's have built in battery. Big no-no for practical reasons, one of those planned obsolescence stories, LoL.

Yes, i would stay away from integrated batteries on budget lights - it's just a big leap of faith to to trust budget Chinese brands on batteries - last year I bought an LED fishing lure light for bonfire dives from one of the biggest manufacturers in the country - they sell 4 different models, all with integrated batteries, but the wattage/lumen/burn time is no where near the specs given. I can't check the battery pack with out breaking the light. This maker's lure lights are rebranded and sold in different countries.

Another issue with cheap video lights is the quality of the reflector - a 120° "wide coverage" beam is generally presented as a plus, when it is actually something of a design defect - if possible, you actually want a tighter beam (say 90°, 100° angle...) as this will simply give you more more light for a given lumen output.  
As often stated on the forum, for the same lumen output a 90° beam angle will give roughly twice as much light falling on the subject than a 120° beam.
And in a real-life shooting situation with the typical 2-light setup used in UW videography, two 90° beam lights will actually provide full coverage for lens with less than a 130° field of view (which goes for action cams, rectilinear lenses and WWL/WACP type lenses etc...).

The Hydras i use have a 100° beam, and I'm happy with that.
Most Keldans have a wider beam, but I'm guessing reflector design makes up for that - in general wider beam reflectors cost less than tighter beam ones.

20 hours ago, Nando Diver said:

The seal CF6000 (219$ ) Offers 6000 lumens of 5500K white, blue, red light, 96 CRI, 120° irradiation angle for large area has 3 batteries 21700 of 5000mAh

That sounds interesting, don't get the "built in" but "21700" concept, would be interested to see a teardown video if this is somehow user-serviceable.

2 hours ago, GTom said:

That sounds interesting, don't get the "built in" but "21700" concept, would be interested to see a teardown video if this is somehow user-serviceable.

see the video above from Sean Elliot, 21700 its the battery chemistry/format.

The SEAL model batteries looks like are built-in

Type-C charging:

1: Unscrew the cover and charge the flashlight with the charging from an appropriate USB source,

the switch indicator light is red；When the battery is full, the switch LED turns blue.

2: Before diving, please check whether the charging port is tightened to prevent water ingress.

https://www.letondive.com/pages/download-product-manual?srsltid=AfmBOopyKZo5nsHQrTU25WJdebJy8Ne0rYXs7oq-0HrnwnjhJwAd-xi_

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Nando Diver