Sola Photo 800 query

Hi folk, I feel embarrassed at having to ask this, but I have just switched from a fantasea nano focus light - which turns off at crucial moment of strobes flash - to Sola photo 800 - which does not. Not had time or opportunity to use and see how it works....

I bought it so I could:

*use it with red light at night etc, and not to frighten creatures, and

*to use as general dive light.

*But ALSO, and most importantly, to use as a focus light; still photos not video.

I am mounting it with YS mount on top of camera housing (Canon compact S120 and housing; 2xInon s2000 strobes)

So -

Q1 if it stays on when the strobes flash, does it not completely overexpose? Is it just a question of trial and error?

Q2 Is it preferable (for the above reason) to use it on just red for photos? and keep the white for a general dive light

Q3 If so, does it significantly change the colour cast of the photo?

All and any help/advice very welcome

Thanks

Hi folk, I feel embarrassed at having to ask this, but I have just switched from a fantasea nano focus light - which turns off at crucial moment of strobes flash - to Sola photo 800 - which does not. Not had time or opportunity to use and see how it works....

I bought it so I could:

*use it with red light at night etc, and not to frighten creatures, and

*to use as general dive light.

*But ALSO, and most importantly, to use as a focus light; still photos not video.

I am mounting it with YS mount on top of camera housing (Canon compact S120 and housing; 2xInon s2000 strobes)

So -

Q1 if it stays on when the strobes flash, does it not completely overexpose? Is it just a question of trial and error?

Q2 Is it preferable (for the above reason) to use it on just red for photos? and keep the white for a general dive light

Q3 If so, does it significantly change the colour cast of the photo?

All and any help/advice very welcome

Thanks

Hi Trwen

I've got the same light and, like you, use it as a focus light and sometimes as a dive light. I usually use it with the red filter for focussing.

I honestly don't know whether it switches off or not when the strobes fire (!) but can't say that I can see any impact on the exposure or colouration of the images. It usr helps with focussing though especially with a Nikkor 105mm in less than ideal conditions.

I'd suggest you try it and see......

You should be fine with it on white (not red) so long as the area covered by the beam is larger than the area covered by the photo....otherwise you might see a bright spot in the middle of your picture, depending on your exposure settings. The SOLA light is about the same color as a strobe, so no problem. With a fast enough shutter speed and a small enough aperture, you won't even see the bright spot. If the SOLA is on red, however, there could be an issue, although the red light is not as bright as the white light. Again, you want to avoid having a bright (red) spot in the middle of the picture, which you can do with your exposure settings. It does NOT switch off when you shoot!

I frequently use the red setting at it's lowest on my SOLA and have never had it show up in photos.

Hi All

Thanks for your replies.

OK, so practice with shutter speeds (and apertures) is clearly the way forward.

Not sure where you're regularly diving, but let's put it in context - I'm diving in the UK where it's essential to use brightest light to even see critters!! - given the 0.5 - 1m vis we're getting this past year due to weather impacts, and probably to continue this summer season as well....

Once I've located something using brightest beam, either red or white, I can then switch to lowest brightness, and make sure the beam covers everything I need.

This is possibly slightly more difficult with Canon S120 with aperture range from f1.8 - 8 only....at least it does have f1.8......

Do you know if this range of apertures corresponds with dSLR? ie is f8 on compact the same aperture as f8 on dSLR? or is it equalised within the whole range to represent the much larger ranges on a dSLR?

Hi folk, I feel embarrassed at having to ask this, but I have just switched from a fantasea nano focus light - which turns off at crucial moment of strobes flash - to Sola photo 800 - which does not. Not had time or opportunity to use and see how it works....

I bought it so I could:

*use it with red light at night etc, and not to frighten creatures, and

*to use as general dive light.

*But ALSO, and most importantly, to use as a focus light; still photos not video.

I am mounting it with YS mount on top of camera housing (Canon compact S120 and housing; 2xInon s2000 strobes)

So -

Q1 if it stays on when the strobes flash, does it not completely overexpose? Is it just a question of trial and error?

Q2 Is it preferable (for the above reason) to use it on just red for photos? and keep the white for a general dive light

Q3 If so, does it significantly change the colour cast of the photo?

All and any help/advice very welcome

Thanks

Hi Trwen,

I thought I would chime in as the vast majority of my diving is done in similar murky waters. (Howe Sound next to Vancouver, British Columbia has significant levels of plankton and tidal influences from 4 river systems meaning that fresh water mixing and sediment is often heavy down to 40+ foot depth. Apparently the combined drainage area of these rivers is equivalent to the land mass of Great Britain)

If your conditions are as bad as they sound you will be wanting as much light as possible, and for the price and flexibility the Sola 800 should be a good option.

I use a Sola Photo 800 with my Olympus EM5, initially mounted to a single 10" arm on one side with a YS-D1 strobe mounted to same size arm on the other. On high power it worked as a decent 'fill' light from the opposite side.

After purchasing a second strobe I went to double 8" arms and mounted the Sola 800 to the housing's cold shoe using a flexible loc-line arm. This allowed me to extend up over the subject for focus light and macro video, with the added bonus of twisting the arm down so the sola was alongside the port for use in lighting under boulders or into cracks. It's one thing to bounce your strobe light under a boulder, but completely another to have enough light to compose and focus on a small, skittish subject hiding in a dark crack.

On high power I have also used it as a fill light for Close Focus Wide Angle, especially when subjects are close up to a wider dome which sometimes casts a shadow.

Comments on your initial questions;

1) I have not had overexposure issues from the Sola, it really doesn't compete with the strobes unless they are manually dialed down to their lowest settings.

2) Red works well with skittish critters, and for my camera's autofocus.That being said the image on my LCD is so red that my eyes cannot adjust and fine-tune focus manually. Basically I cannot tell the difference between something which appears to be in focus, and something which is tack-sharp. With the Sola on white I can magnify 5-10X on my LCD and manually focus on the smallest details. On red I cannot even confirm focus beyond the shape of the subject.

3) Under normal circumstances I haven't really noticed any difference in photos when the light is on red. If I was experimenting with settings, a strobe didn't fire, or kelp floated between my subject and the strobe I would occasionally notice a change in colour tone, but those images were poorly lit and never keepers anyway.

My one main complaint is battery life for multiple dives, especially in cold water. When used mostly on low setting (with occasional medium setting) it will last over a couple of long dives . On High it will be drained by the end of a single long dive.

Based on 3 years experience with the Sola Photo 800 I would say it is useful for critter spotting, but not as good as a bright spot beam would be. Given the choice I would prefer a spot, or video light with spot capabilities for critter finding.

I bring this up as in plankton-rich or sediment filled water the Sola 800 throws a wide beam which lights up ALL the particles in the water column. With the light mounted to the camera which is typically held out in front it ruins your ability to spot things at a distance, and lessens your ability to spot things beyond the edge of the lit area (think octopus hiding next to a boulder)... The broad beam also casts a much gentler shadow from well camouflaged subjects. In low viz, especially on night dives I often find myself holding the camera up over my head so the wide Sola beam is pointing diagonally down across my vision, instead of looking through all the sediment from behind the light itself.

Please keep in mind I am making an apples and oranges comparison to my dives prior to carrying a camera. Previously I would use a halcyon canister light with intense spot beam that did not light up the entire water column. More importantly it provided significant contrast / shadows when pointed at a subject that was well camouflaged. It is too bulky and bright to use with my camera, but was an amazing critter spotting tool in murky waters. Given how little I now use It I should probably sell it and purchase spot capable video lights.

Regards,

Adam