Constructing a cheap UW video light...

[Guba]

Undrwater, No heat sinking seems necessary. Even afte pretty prolonged use, the internal temp did not rise significantly. Glad you like it. I tried to keep things as simple (and as inexpensive) as possible. Now, if the light coverage is just adequate! I'll know more very soon, for I'm planning a thorough test. I'll let everyone know how that goes.

 

[Aquabot]

Keep us up to date, I can't wait to see how these perform.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[Texasguy]

A very good solution, congrats!

 

[TONY CHANEY]

3D, I have to admit I haven't had this one in the water yet, but I've used the same configuration on three video camera housings. The o-rings are round and the plate is routered to a "top hat" fit. After routering, I used ultra fine emery cloth to buff it perfectly smooth (still need to do some more of that on the light). The o-rings fit snugly to the inside dimension of the plate. The photos of the camera housing below should show how they work, and I've never had any leakage with any of my housings. The cool thing is, the deeper you go, the BETTER they should seal due to the increase in pressure. (Note...the orange seal on the light is a 1/16 inch one made of silicone, but I think I will change that out to a Buna rubber seal that is 3/16, like the ones in the housing pictures. The silicone o-ring doesn't seem to compress adequately, and it's too narrow for comfort.)

Bergstenba, steal away! They're fun to make, and they should solve most of the needs of shooting low cost video underwater.

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Would you or any of the other dives like to buy one made for a Sony with the extrenal controls. The Vault. I will sell it pretty cheap. Looks about like the one in the pictures.

 

[fjpatrum]

Guba, I may have missed it but did you specify your source for the spring draw clips? All I'm finding are either ridiculously expensive ($12 apiece if I remember correctly) or not quite the right kind of clip (and still expensive).

 

[Guba]

fjpatrum,
I got my spring latches from McMasster-Carr, on the internet (can't remember the website address at the moment, but it should be easy to locate with a search). The ones I used were about six dollars apiece...still pricey, but not too bad. For the lights, I used spring clips that did not use keepers. I only had to router (or Dremel tool) grooves into the faceplate to retain the ends of the spring clips. On my camera underwater housing, I used metal keepers...a bit more expensive, but the investment is greater, so I opted for more security.
Hope this helps!

 

[Guba]

They work! It's just a small clip, but it will do until I make a night dive. Range seems to be good (for what they are). I have a little vignetting, but I found it disappeared when I positioned the lights correctly. Fairly good color rendition, I think. All in all, I'm calling it a success!


[video=youtube_share;8KbCQD0IAG0]http://youtu.be/8KbCQD0IAG0[/video]

 

[3D diver]

Nice.

FWIW: I ended up using 4 lights to eliminate shadows/vignetting as I varied the subject to camera distance & make light aiming less of an issue.

 

[fjpatrum]

Got some lights, got some clips, got some reed switches, now I just need to get some acrylic and I may just use PVC pipes I already have instead of the end caps. I'll post my own thread when I get working on it.

 

[Guba]

Sounds like you have just about everything you need. Don't forget the o-rings.

My lights, tray, camera and all wound up a little buoyant, so I had to add about 230 grams of lead. In fresh water, it was just a weeeeeeee bit negative, which means in salt it should be a tiny bit positive. That's exactly how I wanted it.

I'll look forward to seeing your system when you get it done. Keep us posted!