Will be heading to Mexico for the first time this fall, and am looking for advice on replacing my older video lights with an LED. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. :yawinkle:
Will be shooting GoPro hero 2's in 3D mode...
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Will be heading to Mexico for the first time this fall, and am looking for advice on replacing my older video lights with an LED. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. :yawinkle:
Will be shooting GoPro hero 2's in 3D mode...
Big Blue lights are hands down the best and have a wide range of power models, what kind of power are you looking for?
One of these will work great for you: https://bigbluedivelights.com/produc...-video-lights/
What he said :)Quote:
Originally Posted by phillip1
Thanks for the recommendations so far. Anyone use the VL15000 yet? Wondering if the 160 degree would be enough to light up the caves as a single unit or if I would still want/need 2 lights for full coverage.
Big Blue lights are fantastic. If you’re the only diver with lights, don’t go too bright. On the other hand, those big lights (I have two) can be dimmed, which also extends the battery life. More recently I’ll give the brighter lights to the first diver and put the smaller lights on the camera, behind.
One other note: In the cave, the big lights (and some of the smaller lights) need diffusers. Otherwise where they overlap can create funny color effects on video.
I recently bought these but have yet to use them:
https://bigbluedivelights.com/produc...0o-beam-angle/
I think they will be great based on my prior experience with BigBlue.
Alternatively, I saw a dive videographer I respect likes these:
http://www.scubalamp.com/
You will be better off with 2 smaller lights rather than 1 big one. Find a local dealer and talk to them. You can buy them way below MSRP if you just ask around.
You cannot always do it, but it provides some suggestions.
https://cavediverharry.com/6mistakes/
Kraken or UWLD. BigBlue SEVERELY overstates the output of their lights and their batteries and chargers are sketchy af.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyC
I've been selling big blue for 4+ years. I haven't had a single light or charger come back for repair/warranty.
I have 2 that I use personally. I also have a LM21 a LM35, an UWLD35 and a few Dive Rites, except for the Dive Rite & Big Blue, I have sent back all of my lights for premature failure.
They use sketchy circuit protection and crappy chargers. Doesn't mean they don't function, they're just iffy. Like, aliexpress level sketchy charging circuitry. That's not a comparison against other manufacturers, just a standalone comment. Hell, one battery even blew up in a light apparently. Someone around here has pictures, @tbone1004 maybe?Quote:
Originally Posted by Superlyte27
Either way, that has nothing to do with the fact that they blatantly overstate their output. I mean, unless Big Blue has figured out a way to make physics not apply to their lights..... That sort of thing just makes it really hard to support a company that has no problem lying like that. That seems to be the flashlight world though. Flashlights and depth ratings for dive watches.
They are what they are. The one that blew up was a can light. They had a sealed metal canister with a threaded fitting on the cord you unscrewed and screwed in the charger. It was a bad design and basically a pipe bomb. A little corrosion or water in the fitting and a short could easily happen. I have heard of high end lights failing too. Now their video lights are hard to beat and their handheld dive lights are too. A 4500 lumen dive light is good for 3 hours and I much prefer the beam angle on it to the UWLD 3500. You can buy the 4500 handheld for 350 ish. For that price you can buy several batteries to go with it. Very few people are doing dives in excess of 3 hours of bottom time. You can click the light back a few notches and get 5 hours out of it. Are the other lights better? For 5 times the money they should be but are they 500% better? I don't think so.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyC
I agree with big blue being the best choice. Also it goes along way to say you get a lot more bang for your buck. Even if the lights are overstated in brightness. They are a fraction of the cost of some of the bigger names.
Here is a compilation video we shot in Mexico this past fall. Shooting with a GoPro. 7 and two of the big blue VL 10,000 lights. One light with the camera. The other light was being held by divers in the shot or staged back in the frame to provide Additional lighting. Of course, all the divers had their normal canister lights as well.
https://youtu.be/Uu6MKZg7t3o
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I use Keldan lights and am really happy with them.
Here is DDunlop with the 2 keldans mounted on his scooter at emerald this past sunday. I had a big blue VL10,000 on my camera and another on the nose of my scooter.Quote:
Originally Posted by ddunlop
https://youtu.be/YtgkqqHSEWg
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Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I'll be busy at Beneath The Sea this year comparing the options :-)