Inon D200 has a focus light time limit - what do you do in night dives?

[-daniele-]

Hey all!
According to the manual, the focus light of the D200 should not be continuously on for more than 30min.
So, during the day it's all nice and fun: I turn it only when I enter a wreck and there I enjoy the fact it automatically turns off when taking pics and I don't even need to bring out my flashlight. Super easy.

But what about night dives? The time limit of the focus light is quite a problem so what do you guys do?
A separate handheld flashlight while carrying around a camera rig would be a nightmare and even if you fix the flashlight on the camera rig, I'd still have to turn it off manually before taking any pics to avoid the spotlight on the pic itself.. (oh I want a pic! > focus light on > flashlight off > taking the pic > flashlight on > focus light off.. kill me)

What do you do? How is your night setup?
Thanks
Daniele

 

[stiebs]

I have so much light with me it's not funny!
Usually a primary light with a Goodman handle (soft is better for photography IMO.. A hard Goodman handle is cumbersome while holding my camera rig)

Alternatively (or as well as) a focus light on your rig is good too. I use 3-way clamps between strobe arm segments to mount Kraken 3500 focus lights.

For still photography, the focus lights are plenty for the AF system to work, but nowhere near bright enough to show up on a strobe lit scene.

For video I turn the Krakens up and they do a reasonable job for the video snippets that I take.

You can get focus lights that cut when they detect a strobe flash, but I don't find that necessary.

 

[stiebs]

Here is a pic of my set up. Exact arm, float and focus light configuration is a continual experiment.

Focus lights above or below the joint, or sometimes the triple clamp is the first joint (between housing and first arm section)

If I'm shooting macro, the focus lights will usually be closer. If I intend on shooting video, they'll be out wider.

 

[Searcaigh]

I use a DiveRite light on a soft Goodman handle at night, in wrecks and frequently in daytime too.

My focus light is on all the time (Light&Motion) and usually on "red" mode when photographing sensitive creatures like seahorses.

 

[Hoag]

That light is to help give you enough light to focus. It was never intended to be used as a dive light.

Perhaps something like this:

1200-Lumen Auto Flash Off + Red LEDSKU: AL1200RAFO-II | Bigblue Dive Lights

AL1200RAFO is a 1200-lumen video light with the "Auto Flash Off" and built-in red LED added features for the recreational photographer!

bigbluedivelights.com

Might offer a viable alternative.

 

[scubaozy]

I use dedicated focus light for night dives, they also function as main torch and can be used as red light as well. I normally don’t point my strobe to where I want to focus.

 

[stiebs]

I use dedicated focus light for night dives, they also function as main torch and can be used as red light as well. I normally don’t point my strobe to where I want to focus.

This.
Relying solely on a focus light that's built into your strobe sounds like a good idea, but it severely limits your ability to adjust strobe positioning.

 

[bvanant]

In general you don't aim your strobe at your subject but rather try to use the edge of the light for illumination. Almost everyone has a dedicated focus light on their housing. If however you are going to be using a snoot then of course you want the focus light to show where your snoot light will go.
Bill

 

[Topfencer]

It sounds like you need a dedicated dive light or focus light for night dives. The modeling light on your strobes was meant just to help you visualize where they are aimed for positioning, but not to be used as a regular dive light. I have the older generation of this light and am very happy:

Hydra 1500+ WSR - Kraken Sports

The Hydra 1500+ WSR replaces our popular Hydra 1200.

krakensports.ca

It's a bit pricey, but it will do wide beam (for video), narrow beam (as gen dive light), a red beam (for focus light/not scaring fish). It also has an auto-off feature that will cut the beam off when your strobes fire. This significantly cuts down on backscatter during night dives, where I use it mounted to my housing's cold shoe as a general dive light.

 

[Cali_diver]

I also recommend that unless you are doing video at night, do not buy a really bright focus light. I see many people make the mistake of thinking you need a huge 2000 lumen video light to take pics. I use an adjustable 800 or 500 light and motion sola with a red light feature and have never had a problem focusing. I see people struggle with brighter lights because creatures and fish scatter with the bright lights. I avoid those people like the plague under water (mostly because they also have all the worms). You will be able to find more with less light. My hubby does video and he gets really frustrated because most things do not like the bright lights so he misses a lot of behaviors that I get.

Also for people who want to have a red light but already have a light they like you can use gels (red or orange with rubber band) to cover your light. Works like a charm.