Focus Light Suggestions

[Nwcid]

Here are a couple pics from the first dive we did that I really thought I needed one. Below 70' it was "night" conditions. My camera would not focus at all without me getting the center of my light right on the focus box. Once it did obviously it over exposed. Luckily in RAW I could fix some it somewhat.

This was taken at about 95'

This one was at 88' right as we came up on the cars,

Here is one more,

You can really see our light beams and would have been nice to just let the dual strobe do their job.

 

[smoore]

I have the LaLuz and have had no problems with hot spots in my flash pictures. However, I am usually using it at low power with the red filter and this light is completely obliterated by the strobe. Additionally, the LaLuz has no hot spot and a pretty wide angle. I have read on this forum (cannot recall the threads) that the feature which quenches the focus light when the strobe fires is really not necessary because the flash is so much brighter than the focus light. However, if the focus light is bright and has a hot spot I could see that this might be an issue. This would almost certainly be an issue with a narrow bright flashlight. I note that the Sola lights do not have this feature.

 

[t-mac]

I have the LaLuz and have had no problems with hot spots in my flash pictures. However, I am usually using it at low power with the red filter and this light is completely obliterated by the strobe. Additionally, the LaLuz has no hot spot and a pretty wide angle. I have read on this forum (cannot recall the threads) that the feature which quenches the focus light when the strobe fires is really not necessary because the flash is so much brighter than the focus light. However, if the focus light is bright and has a hot spot I could see that this might be an issue. This would almost certainly be an issue with a narrow bright flashlight. I note that the Sola lights do not have this feature.

I think this is what I like about the Big Blue 450 AFO option. I suspect at 450 it provides enough light to basically use it as a flashlight, but then the AFO cuts it out to avoid the hot spot. That's the theory in my mind anyway. When using even a small aprox 200 lumen flashlight I got hotspots. I guess a diffuser would help too.

 

[EastEndDiver]

t-mac yes that is the one I have and I am very pleased with it.

 

[t-mac]

Thanks EED.

 

[Wisnu]

I got one of these back in June, and it's performed wonderfully ...

http://www.laluzoptics.com/L800.html

Very bright and powerful, and a great price ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I just get it, best bet, very small, compact and very bright

 

[muzikbiz22]

just out of curiosity if your strobe has a focus/model light built in why do you need another one?

Often, your strobe(s) are not pointing directly at the subject. For example, if you're shooting CFWA, dual strobes with built in focus/modeling lights. More than likely your strobes are pointed outwards, therefore, as would be your built in focus light. I shoot dual Sea&Sea strobes with built in focus light, and 99% of the time, I'm shooting CFWA, i.e. wrecks, sharks, big life, coral heads, walls, etc. When I shoot single strobe, then, I use the focus light on that single strobe, (if needed), as it usually is pointed at or near the subject. I myself haven't felt the need for a focus light, until recently. I'm looking at SOLA 500 or 800 Photo light and mount on top of my DSLR housing.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

I recommend that you go for a wide beam (with soft edges) video light instead of a narrow beam flashlight. The wide beam will eliminate hotspots. In addition, in any normal use, there is no need for auto flash off feature, as the strobes will overwhelm the focus light (you need only 500 lumens or so for focusing and strobes are many times brighter than that). A video light will, of course, also be much more useful when shooting video!

However, if you are shooting in murky conditions with lots of particulates in the water, then the auto-flash-off feature might be helpful to reduce backscatter, because the particles lit by the focus light during the exposure will definitely show up. This is a key advantage of built-in strobe model lights, as they automatically switch off during the exposure.

 

[PatW]

I have been using the Sola 800. At first, I used it only on night dives. I now use it much more. It is good for shots with low light during the day. It works best at illuminating those tricky macro shots into crannies. It is also good at low light situations in shooting under ledges. It even has a red light mode which is handy for shy critters during the night.

 

[Nemrod]

Often, your strobe(s) are not pointing directly at the subject. For example, if you're shooting CFWA, dual strobes with built in focus/modeling lights. More than likely your strobes are pointed outwards, therefore, as would be your built in focus light. I shoot dual Sea&Sea strobes with built in focus light, and 99% of the time, I'm shooting CFWA, i.e. wrecks, sharks, big life, coral heads, walls, etc. When I shoot single strobe, then, I use the focus light on that single strobe, (if needed), as it usually is pointed at or near the subject. I myself haven't felt the need for a focus light, until recently. I'm looking at SOLA 500 or 800 Photo light and mount on top of my DSLR housing.

Much of the time my strobes are not pointed directly in alignment with the lens or even directly on the subject. Each of my Inon D2000 strobes has a light and it is relatively bright but as noted, it is pointed elsewhere.

N