HID Vs Halogen Video Lights

[peterbkk]

It is time to go shopping for a set of video lights for my Light and Motion Mako housing. My objective is to buy a bright, reliable lighting system that is easy to use and can double-up for both night-diving and for adding color to day-time coral reef diving. I plan to buy a lighting set from Light and Motion because (a) I want integration into the housing controls and (b) I am very happy with their service to date.

I am thinking of buying either the Sunray S Mini Elite Halogen lights or the Sunray Mini Pro HID lights. It seems to me that they both have certain advantages.

Elite Halogen Advantages: cheaper price, warmer light, faster charging, user-replaceable bulbs, adjustable power level, instant on (no warm-up delay), not so heavy.

Pro HID Advantages: brighter, balances with sunlight for day-time fill in, longer burn time, longer bulb life, don’t need a separate main torch on night dives.

I have spent some hours searching the internet and have found that different people prefer different light types – some reckon Halogen is better and some say HID.

Can anyone advise me on this matter?

Is it only a matter of price? If price was equal, would everyone buy HID?

Does anyone have or has anyone seen a definitive discussion on Halogen Vs HID?

Some specific questions:

With a HID lighting system, how would I use the combination of lights, red-filter and white balance (options: auto, outdoor, indoor) at mid-range (10 to 25 meter) depths in blue water for color fill-in?

With a Halogen lighting system, how would I use the combination of lights, red-filter and white balance (options: auto, outdoor, indoor) at mid-range (10 to 25 meter) depths in blue water for color fill-in?

For night-diving, what white-balance setting (options: auto, outdoor, indoor) would I use for the HID lamps?

For night-diving, what white-balance setting (options: auto, outdoor, indoor) would I use for the Halogen lamps?

(NB: with my Sony PC-330, I can only set the white balance option before putting the camcorder into the housing and then the setting applies for the whole dive)

Also, would you suggest ordering a second fast charger so that the 2 batteries can be charged simultaneously?

All input gratefully received.

Regards
Peter

 

[nshon]

Is it only a matter of price? If price was equal, would everyone buy HID?

I'm pretty happy with the results from a pair of UK Light Cannons(HID) on Auto WB with the Sony HC-40. Have not had the opportunity to try halogens but my entire setup with UltraLight arms cost me approximately US$845.

 

[Charlie99]

I'm pretty happy with the results from a pair of UK Light Cannons(HID) on Auto WB with the Sony HC-40. Have not had the opportunity to try halogens but my entire setup with UltraLight arms cost me approximately US$845.

What sort of restrictions are there on cycling the Light Cannons or other HID lights on and off?

 

[meekal]

it takes about 10~30 seconds for the HIDS to come up to FULL LIGHT.

just my $0.02 on the UK Light cannons as a light source. i know you're gonna need SOME type of battery, but totin' 16 (8 in each) C-Cell batteries about is definetly a "JOB" not for the faint hearted. add to that, all that weight is ON TOP

 

[howard4113]

just my $0.02 on the UK Light cannons as a light source. i know you're gonna need SOME type of battery, but totin' 16 (8 in each) C-Cell batteries about is definetly a "JOB" not for the faint hearted. add to that, all that weight is ON TOP

The Light Cannons are not that heavy with batteries installed. I travel with my video camera, housing and lights in a carry-on case that's not too heavy - about 25-30 lbs. Gotta have two chargers (for just 8 batteries!) - the NiMh 5 amp batteries work great. If you want lighter - buy disposabe batteries at your destination (EXPENSIVE!). Now as for the first question, I have to disagree that the Light Cannons are going to do much in daylight. Even at 90 feet, in "clear" water the ambient light will overpower the LC's. I use a flip-out filter and the only way I'm going to use the lights is to illuminate a creature in a cave..... Otherwise I just leave the filter in place and use sunlight. In the day, LC's make great ballast! Now at night, that's another story. The LC's work GREAT! We did a night dive in Coz a couple of month's ago (paradise reef) with a guy who sucked up all his air in 15 min or so. He and his wife (not a diver) said that they stayed entertained watching us for the rest of our dive. They could see the bottom clearly with our lights!
Use 2 for video to minimize shadows.

Mark

 

[RSdiver]

It is time to go shopping for a set of video lights for my Light and Motion Mako housing. My objective is to buy a bright, reliable lighting system that is easy to use and can double-up for both night-diving and for adding color to day-time coral reef diving. I plan to buy a lighting set from Light and Motion because (a) I want integration into the housing controls and (b) I am very happy with their service to date.


Elite Halogen Advantages: cheaper price, warmer light, faster charging, user-replaceable bulbs, adjustable power level, instant on (no warm-up delay), not so heavy.

Regards
Peter

The Elite with the three levels of power looks like the most attractive option to me.

I talked with Dan Baldocchi of Light & Motion at their Booth in the Long Beach SCUBA show this past weekend and he says the HID color spectrum is closer to that of sunlight.

 

[jerryn]

I am generally filming where there is little or no ambient light. I don't know about the specific setups you are describing, but here is my experience. The HID lights tend to be a focused beam, much brighter and bring out the colors better. But they are a well defined beam of white/blue light. The Halos tend to be more diffuse, warmer in color and fade off on the edges. I like the Halos since they shade the relief as you move further away from the camera...the light seems to naturally disappear as opposed to hitting the edge of the light and then dropping off sharply. On a wreck this seems to give a better effect.

I use the Amphibico 135 with two 50 watt halogen lights. About 20 - 25 minutes of burn time on the batteries which is sufficient for my filming.

Jerry

 

[peterbkk]

My L&M HIDs arrived yesterday and I have set them up and charged the batteries. My initial reaction is very positive. The construction quality seems to be excellent. They are very bright. I look forward to getting them wet next weekend...

 

[ronrosa]

The Elite with the three levels of power looks like the most attractive option to me.

I talked with Dan Baldocchi of Light & Motion at their Booth in the Long Beach SCUBA show this past weekend and he says the HID color spectrum is closer to that of sunlight.

I think people make way too big a deal over video lights. People like to discuss color spectrums, white light, blue light, color rendering index, blah, blah, blah.

Most if not all of us here are hobbyists. To me, what matters most is the finished product. I've seen good footage shot with halogen, florescent and HID. Are there differences ? Yes, but the goal is for the audience to pay attention to the subject and storyline, not the lighting. Hopefully my camerawork and editing skills achieve this.

Watch some video shot with different types of lighting. Let your eyes decide, not what some salesman tells you. I think you'll find both types of lighting acceptable.

IMHO, at the hobbyist level, the price and ease of use is the real difference between HID and halogen.