Deep Water Video.

I'm new to underwater photography, but i've been fishing deep water species for over 20 years and thought i'd give it a go now that cameras have become cheaper. I only purchase the Intova SportPro II because it's cheap enough that i don't mind losing it when i snag up, and it shoots good quality video and is very compact. I've been using it to film Lingcod, Halibut, Rockfish and Cabezon at depths of about 70ft, where natural light is still abundant.

However at depths of 120ft+ natural light is all but gone here in Puget Sound, even though the waters are relatively clear. I was wondering if there is a way to pick up minimal light with this camera without using additional lights, as they are bulky and may spook fish. The exposure on the camera only goes up to 2.0, and i was wondering is redlight filters or other lenses would help. If not, what are the smallest and longest battery life lights?

Much appreciated and I love the photos people on this site take.

Deepfish

No matter how great and sophisticated the camera is, if there is no light then there is no light and dialing the exposure to its max limit will only produce noisy unusable image or video quality.

Beyond 18 meters, and personally I'd say 10 meters depending on the time of day, video lights are a must to revive colors underwater and provide a proper exposure.

The new FIX and Light & Motions video lights are small with very reasonable prices, and some models come with red filters to not disturb fish.