I always dive with a focus light for wide angle, especially since the strobes are so far apart. For macro with the strobes closer together, from fish portraits down to supermacro, I'm not sure if they are necessary. Since I dive in clear, blue water (Caribbean), could I just rely on the 1000 lumen target lights from my dual Atom flashes, both white and red, even at depth? One less item on my rig and decreased weight would be desirable.

What do you think and what do you do?

36 minutes ago, Adrian Gresores said:

I always dive with a focus light for wide angle, especially since the strobes are so far apart. For macro with the strobes closer together, from fish portraits down to supermacro, I'm not sure if they are necessary. Since I dive in clear, blue water (Caribbean), could I just rely on the 1000 lumen target lights from my dual Atom flashes, both white and red, even at depth? One less item on my rig and decreased weight would be desirable.

What do you think and what do you do?

Try a night dive!

But seriously, in clear bright water you may not need a light for focusing. The camera may be able to achieve focus much if the time. But go under an overhang, swim-through, cloudy sky, or even setting sun in the shadow of a wall and it might be a problem.

For me, i actually want to see the true colors of everything and a bright wide beam focus light is both my focus light and primary dive light. I bring it always even to the brightest destinations. You will always find a situation where it helps you get more from a dive.

I am using the Orcatorch d710v mk2 these days. Small, simple, bright, with good battery life.

Edited Friday at 04:02 PM1 day by Dave_Hicks

31 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Try a night dive!

But seriously, in clear bright water you may not need a light for focusing. The camera may be able to achieve focus much if the time. But go under an overhang, swim-through, cloudy sky, or even setting sun in the shadow of a wall and it might be a problem.

For me, i actually want to see the true colors of everything and a bright wide beam focus light is both my focus light and primary dive light. I bring it always even to the brightest destinations. You will always find a situation where it helps you get more from a dive.

I am using the Orcatorch d710v mk2 these days. Small, simple, bright, with good battery life.

I love night dives, and obviously the focus light always goes with me then.

I have a Kraken 1800 WSR. Great light. I'm just trying to simplify my gear wherever it makes sense. Also, I always have my wife hovering above me with her dive light, pointing things out 😊.

14 minutes ago, Adrian Gresores said:

I love night dives, and obviously the focus light always goes with me then.

I have a Kraken 1800 WSR. Great light. I'm just trying to simplify my gear wherever it makes sense. Also, I always have my wife hovering above me with her dive light, pointing things out 😊.

That Kraken 1800 is very similar to my OrcaTorch. The 21700 batteries are the way to go.

37 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

That Kraken 1800 is very similar to my OrcaTorch. The 21700 batteries are the way to go.

Hey, Dave,

How do you arrange and point the OrcaTorch for supermacro, especially if snooting? Or do you not use it, if snooting? Do you have it attached to a cold shoe mount? If so, with what connections?

31 minutes ago, Adrian Gresores said:

Hey, Dave,

How do you arrange and point the OrcaTorch for supermacro, especially if snooting? Or do you not use it, if snooting? Do you have it attached to a cold shoe mount? If so, with what connections?

The light is on a YS mount attached to a ball one the top of the Nauticam housing. The ys mount makes it easy to flip the light up for snooting or shooting a portrait of someone without blinding them.

10 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

The light is on a YS mount attached to a ball one the top of the Nauticam housing. The ys mount makes it easy to flip the light up for snooting or shooting a portrait of someone without blinding them.

That's exactly the setup I have.

I have a Kraken WSR1500 and I mount it on the top ball clamp on my arms, which is a Nauticam MP with extra ball. Gives more of a top down light and I can swing it back to illuminate the buttons on my housing if needed. Seems to stay out of the way better than mounting on the housing. Cold shoe mount is my least favorite.

Edited Friday at 06:46 PM1 day by Grantmac

Just now, Grantmac said:

I have a Kraken WSR1500 and I mount it on the top ball clamp on my arms, which is a Nauticam MP with extra ball. Gives more of a top down light and I can swing it back to illuminate the buttons on my housing if needed. Seems to stay out of the way better than mounting on the housing.

That's interesting.

I'll snap a picture today. It's working well.

Just now, Grantmac said:

I'll snap a picture today. It's working well.

Thanks!

Hi Adrian,

I’ve been using a focus light on most of my dives for years now. For macro, it’s either mounted directly on the port or on a strobe arm for a bit more flexibility. Here in Switzerland, especially in freshwater, you lose ambient light very quickly and the critters are usually pretty low-contrast anyway. In those conditions, a focus light helps the camera’s autofocus a lot, and it also means I’m not wasting battery power from the strobes’ built-in focus lights. I really only use the strobe focus light when I’m working with a snoot.

For wide angle, I use a focus light less often. The main exception is night dives in the lake, when the strobes are set way out to the sides anyway.

I’ve been using a BigBlue focus light for years now.

Cheers from Lake Constance,
Tino

BigBlue Fokuslicht on top of the Port, but here not in use.

A lot depends on your lens and camera. Mine achieves focus readily in 95% of daytime conditions, event at dim depths, without supplemental light. But I always have my light with me (also a Kraken 1800WSR, a great light) for the same reasons Dave stated. I’d leave other things behind before dropping it.

This is how I'm setup. Those Nauticam MP clamps are very versatile.

It depends upon where you are diving and also how you are shooting. For snooting, you aim the target light directly at the subject , so a focus light is probably not required. For macro without a snoot, you probably are not aiming your strobe directly at your subject so the target light can't help unless it has the same beam spread as your strobe. If there are lots of overhangs and caves around, the focus light can help you find subjects particularly if they are a bit cryptic.

If I was going to shed a focus light anywhere it would be for wide angle, but again you might want it in caves under overhangs etc. I have a fairly short macro port so I mount the light in the housing hotshoe an a long YS mount, this one:

Exposure Underwater

Hotshoe Nauticam YS Connection

YS conncetion for accessory shoe. To attach for example, a focus/video lamp or a strobe.

1 hour ago, Chris Ross said:

It depends upon where you are diving and also how you are shooting. For snooting, you aim the target light directly at the subject , so a focus light is probably not required. For macro without a snoot, you probably are not aiming your strobe directly at your subject so the target light can't help unless it has the same beam spread as your strobe. If there are lots of overhangs and caves around, the focus light can help you find subjects particularly if they are a bit cryptic.

If I was going to shed a focus light anywhere it would be for wide angle, but again you might want it in caves under overhangs etc. I have a fairly short macro port so I mount the light in the housing hotshoe an a long YS mount, this one:

Exposure Underwater

Hotshoe Nauticam YS Connection

YS conncetion for accessory shoe. To attach for example, a focus/video lamp or a strobe.

Well, I shoot in clear, blue water (Caribbean). Also, the target light on my strobes (Backscatter Atom Flash) do have the same beam spread as the flash itself. That's why I thought I might not need the focus light for macro.

2 hours ago, Adrian Gresores said:

Well, I shoot in clear, blue water (Caribbean). Also, the target light on my strobes (Backscatter Atom Flash) do have the same beam spread as the flash itself. That's why I thought I might not need the focus light for macro.

Potentially, but the LEDs are only 1000 lumens at max power where they have a 98 minute burn time, spreading that into the 110° beam means you only have 30% of the light falling on the target that a 60° beam would give and that's assuming that the edges of the beam are as bright as the centre which they won't be. The strobes are also likely to be further from the subject than what a focus light could be. I use a 700 lumen light with a 60° beam which works quite well. You don't need to have a very bright focus beam for the AF to work, but I think if it was significantly dimmer it might struggle.

I have been snooting with the Atom on medium power (4 levels) and get about 2 hours with the lamp on the whole time. At least 25-50% battery left after two hours.

4 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I have been snooting with the Atom on medium power (4 levels) and get about 2 hours with the lamp on the whole time. At least 25-50% battery left after two hours.

quite a bit more than reported on Backscatters website, which is good.

I use the Wurkkos DL08 as a red focus light in poor lighting conditions. Almost all fish are unable to see red light, which means you can get closer without scaring them away. I also have the Orcatorch D710 on a neoprene Goodman handle as a diving lamp on one hand. This combination has proven to be the ideal solution for me. The Wurkkos can be switched between cold white spot light and warm white flood light at any time – also ideal for filming with the Osmo Action, which is mounted on my housing, or for additional light during night dives.

However, this is just another idea, everyone has to find their own solution that fits perfectly to their needs.

On 1/30/2026 at 9:18 AM, Adrian Gresores said:

I always dive with a focus light for wide angle, especially since the strobes are so far apart. For macro with the strobes closer together, from fish portraits down to supermacro, I'm not sure if they are necessary. Since I dive in clear, blue water (Caribbean), could I just rely on the 1000 lumen target lights from my dual Atom flashes, both white and red, even at depth? One less item on my rig and decreased weight would be desirable.

What do you think and what do you do?

I do not see that you are accomplishing much by removing and leaving your focus light behind. Mine is useful for minor penetrations, night dives where it sometimes becomes my main light and for signaling. Focus is just part of why it is useful. My light is the Kraken also. Mounted atop the housing in the cold shoe. And, yes, it is sometimes useful for focus. My cameras seem quite capable of focusing most of the time without assist but now and then ----.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by Nemrod

15 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

I do not see that you are accomplishing much by removing and leaving your focus light behind. Mine is useful for minor penetrations, night dives where it sometimes becomes my main light and for signaling. Focus is just part of why it is useful. My light is the Kraken also. Mounted atop the housing in the cold shoe. And, yes, it is sometimes useful for focus. My cameras seem quite capable of focusing most of the time without assist but now and then ----.

The advantage is ditching about 300g underwater. I'm hoping to use 5" arms for macro and having a hard time arranging enough floatation, whether with float arms or STIX floats.

31 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

I do not see that you are accomplishing much by removing and leaving your focus light behind. Mine is useful for minor penetrations, night dives where it sometimes becomes my main light and for signaling. Focus is just part of why it is useful. My light is the Kraken also. Mounted atop the housing in the cold shoe. And, yes, it is sometimes useful for focus. My cameras seem quite capable of focusing most of the time without assist but now and then ----.

Maybe I just made that less of an issue...

The advantage of a focus light is worth the extra weight, which I can easily compensate for in my case with buoyancy aids from Mike-Dive (unfortunately no longer available). It is exactly as Nemrod said: „…now and then…“ and that's exactly when you'll kick yourself if you don't have it with you. Better to have it than need it.

It'a bit like that classic dive saying: "I'd rather be up here wishing I was down there - than being down there wishing I was up here......

Yeah, really annoying if you don't have it when you need it. On the other hand, I find it depends on what lens you're using and the camera's low-light capability. I find with a Nikon D500 and a 60mm lens I very rarely need a light. However, switch to a 105mm and the usage gets a bit more.....