Strobe or videolight for digital photography?

Hi folks,

I'm using my Oly4040Z in a PT-010 for 2 years now. Thanks to this lens there was no real need to use any external light so far even for breathtaking manta ray photos down at 100 ft. For taking photos e.g. in caves or at night I'm thinking right now about investing in a source of light.

Is there a recommendation for digital cameras?

Yes, I must say without being an expert and without any experience I'm tending to a videolight-system that allows the camera to autofocus even in dark surroundings or just to dive with when I don't want to take any photos.

Where are the flashlight supporters? Do you have any contrary arguments?

And now the videolight fans: Which kind of systems do you use and what are your experiences? (E.g. 1 videolight vs. 2 lights?, bulb?, capacity?, manufacturer?, tray? arm?).

I'm happy also with the answer to some of my questions... Thanks!

Matt

hi matt

i was in the same situation as u a month ago and decided to go for the video light (light&motion sunray mod light)

i have a dx300o set up.

it seems to be benifical having video ligt for macro/close up stuff and for night dives . falls down a bit with wide angle . also color temp can be a bit soso

saying that ive only used it on3 dives . so for me the jurys out .

in conclususion i think strobe & video light both have their strong points.

there are some good discusion threads out there one on" digitaldiver " see link from front page of wetpixel.

have a look at the inon strobe also it seems to have good reviews.

reguards

matt

Matt,

I have been in a similar situation, using a C3040/PT010 for a year with the internal flash only. I also considered permanent video lighting, but finally decided against it and obtained a DS125 for the following reasons.

Permanent lighting will aid the autofocus system, but that's about the only advantage, and some strobes will have modeling lights for this purpose. To avoid a hotspot, you will have to use diffusers to cover a wider angle. This will be less of a problem if the lights are more powerful, but you will have much more luggage to carry because of the required battery capacity.

Also, the color temperature will be off to the red compared to a strobe. You could customize the camera's white balance but then the background colors will become unnatural.

Both power and color temp problems can be mitigated by using HID lights, but still the bottom line is you will have to generate a LOT of permanent light quantity if you want to come anywhere near a strobe. While this may not be a problem with all subjects, it will scare away most of the fish before you're able to get close enough.

On my pbase pages there are two Red Sea galleries, one without (Hurghada 2002) and one with (Sharm 2003) the use of an external strobe. The difference is enlightening.

Hi!

I do all my pictures with 2x35W HLX halogen and an additional 50W (buddy mounted). It's great for macros and you simply have to set the white balance to match the lights.

Wideangle is a different matter. Even with a flash you won't get really far. I tend to do wa shots with ambient light only. There's lots of experiments going on right now and I'm not completely satisfied yet. I'll try the filter technique with manual WB as soon as I've got the changes on the housing.

I also did some experiments with HID lights. They resemble daylight so mixed light situations are handled better. Real macro and night dives may be handled perfectly well with any video light.

I recommend an angle of at least 60° flood beam so you avoid hot spots in your images.

Up to now, I'm quite satisfied with the lamps but will do experiments with flash or mixed light too. In the meantime, have a look at my Webpage for samples with HLX lights.

Helge ;-)=)