Using Video Lights instead of strobes for digital camera

I'm considering buying an Olympus 8080 camera/ Ikelite housing and had heard that some people are using video lights instead of strobes for picture taking UW.

Anyone have any experience with this? I suspect that a strobe would do a better job, but video lights could serve a dual purpose for me as I have a video camera.

If you have personal experience with using video lights to take digital stills, I'd like to hear what you are using and what wattage, etc.

I'm not a fan of strobes, which can be problematic for me.

Any suggestions? I know Ikelite has 50 and 100 watt video lights and was hoping someone has tried using them for still shots.

thanks in advance

shep

Same topic has been discussed in the past, searching gets these results:

http://www.wetpixel.com/modules.php?op=mod...ht=video+lights

http://www.wetpixel.com/modules.php?op=mod...ht=video+lights

http://www.wetpixel.com/modules.php?op=mod...ht=video+lights

http://www.wetpixel.com/modules.php?op=mod...ht=video+lights

http://www.wetpixel.com/modules.php?op=mod...ht=video+lights

The general consensus of most people is that video lights are not a substitute for strobes with still photography, although there are obviously people who feel otherwise.

Tom

Video lights can of course be used instead of strobes, but you cannot really compare the intensity of the two. The amount of light that can be garnered in a quick flash by a strobe is substantially brighter than any "normal" video light.

Hi!

I did all of my pictures with video lights. With the coming housing I'll try to move to strobe too. It's a subtle difference in the spectrum that makes strobe images more crisp and sharp. There are also some situations you can't do with continuous light (mandarin fish, e.g.). A good guide light is a must for aiming the strobe and to help the AF a bit. There might be a way with HID or daylight sprectrum HLX but the available lights are either as expensive as a strobe or available at max. 36° beam (which is not wide enough for a decent WA shot).

I did a lot of experimenting with different bulbs and reflectors. You can compensate with WB but there are still some colors left that look better in strobe light.

I'd like to use best fo both worlds but I'm not sure yet how to handle it in a compact way. My rig has already got 10kg.

Helge ;-)=)