GoPro lighting ... lumens?

[sharky60]

What is the minimum lumens acceptable for good lighting?

is a dual light 1200lm plenty of light?

also considering a single 2500 pro light.

the pricing is about the same for the 2 packages, the dual light has one narrow beam and one wide beam 1200.

ALSO ... has anyone used the Backscatter flip filters? is the macro lens any good?

thanks!

 

[eelnoraa]

GoPro has a very wide lens, so the importance is to cover the angle of view fully. The sensor dynamic range is also limited, so a even lighting is also important. I would say 2x1200 will work better than 1x2500

 

[tbone1004]

with artificial lighting, you don't need filters because the light is correcting color at depth
2 lights is always better than one due to shadows
2x backup lights is sufficient in cave diving. I use a pair of these mounted to my helmet
Cave Adventurers - Explorer back-up lights - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

 

[diversteve]

Agree with ^ - you want two lights.

And both need to have wide angle coverage - in the 90-120 degree range. Your GoPro in 1080 mode is going to be 170 degrees FOV so you want to light up as much of that as possible. In narrow mode it shoots 110-120 degrees FOV. Even better if they have adjustable power settings since having a lot of light at night will scare off what you're trying to film b4 you even see it. Unless you're filming Mantas....most light wins since it brings in the most plankton.

One light mounted near the camera is going to create a black shadow around your subject. This is a single 120 degree dive video specific light:

 

[3D diver]

I use 4x 1000 lumen lights, but will divert 2 of them when filming close to white subjects such as nudibranchs or anemones.

2x 1000 lumen lights is OK, but may not be noticed when shallow on bright days. 4X always adds some punch.