Divelights vs strobe

[sunkarm]

hhmm...

can a divelight(s) b a perfect or nearly perfect substitute for strobe(s) on still picture?

 

[jlyle]

Dive lights put out a focused beam and you will get a hot spot in your picture. If you rig a homemade diffuser (use a piece of a plastic milk carton), you can spread the light. Other problems with dive lights are that they give out yellow light instead of white and are much weaker than strobes. HID lights like the UK light cannon have diffusers and give off bright, white light.

 

[Packhorse]

Perfect No. Nearly perfect no. substitute yes

 

[bobf]

imho no.

A dive light has nowhere near the power of a strobe. Using a dive light will force the camera to choose the widest aperture and very, very slow shutter speeds. Even if the foreground is lit somewhat acceptably, the background will most likely be way overexposed...........unless you're shooting at night.........and there is no background.

quick math........

20w dive light left on for one full second will yield an output of 20 watts of light.........if your shutter is open for 1/40 second.........the camera will capture only 1/40th of twenty watts........ or 1/2 watt!

otoh......

a 50 watt second strobe could emit all of its stored energy in a minimum of 1/200 second.......probably even faster.........

 

[sunkarm]

but if i wanted to use for wide angle shots such as reefs or wreck , is divelight better or still pointless. thx guys.

 

[clgsamson]

IMO, a dive light just won't cut it for still pix.