Light & Motion SOLA600

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N

nwflyboy

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This light is getting lots of favorable reviews. It's listed as a focus light for stills or a video light.

Would one of these be adequate for lighting video (in daylight, with good viz), or would two be necessary?

Anybody know?
 
Depends what you are looking for. Daytime shooting in clear water is tough on any light system. Don't expect the light to fill the entire frame unless you are shooting macro.

Do a search on youtube. You'll find some videos shot with the sola600.
 
FWIW, I called and spoke to one vendor today who seemed to be genuinely knowledgeable (I'll post a "review" of the purchase experience if/when it's concluded, but so far I like the quality of their customer service - of course, good service before the sale is easy...). In any case, they did seem to think that for my gear and my intentions/expectations, a single SOLA600 should be adequate. I'm going to talk to them again tomorrow and will press a bit more on the question. We'll see.
 
Curious, what are your expections/intentions of the light ? You mentioned daytime clear water. Macro, wide-angle, standard ? How far away from the subject do you expect to be ?
 
Well I made a change and went for the Fisheye FIX LED1000DX instead. From what I've read (and after some more extended discussions with the vendor), it sounds like the 1000DX puts out significantly more light than the SOLA600, for not much more cost. The SOLA does have the red option, looks slightly more compact, and is a little more sleek looking. But the Fisheye is still pretty small, and should travel well. The SOLA is sealed so no risk of flooding there, but overall, I think the Fisheye is better for my needs. I suppose I can get an extra battery for the the 100DX - not sure yet if I will or not.

As for my plans/expectations, I'll be mounting it on a Canon HF200 camcorder in a Canon WP-V1 case. I'm new to UW video and my expectations are modest. I know I'm not going to get cinema quality, but I'd like to give the camera a chance to do about as well as it can given my other constraints.....since all my diving is done after a series of long flights to some tropical destination, being compact is very important to me. I'm purposely trying to minimize bulk and complexity (and to keep the costs form escalating too much). I expect (and hope) for good viz, and will be mostly shooting in daylight. I have the standard (built-in) lens plus an Ikelite W20 wide angle. Not terribly fancy but I'm hoping to produce something "good enough". I'll be shooting....whatever there is to see in Raja Ampat, to the best of my (limited) ability and conditions permitting. We'll see about those variables.
 
You are going to love Raja Ampat. Macro and wide angle. Guaranteed you will get good footage. When are you going and who you diving with ?
 
We're staying at Misool (my wife is prone to motion sickness and does not do well on liveaboards - needs to be on terra firma for a while after diving, so we chose a land-based operation). I'm confident we will like it. The trip is mid/late-October. We're excited - just lots of stuff to wrap up first. I will post a report after returning.
 
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