Light recommendations....

[ScubaDoo83]

I have no idea where to start, the options seem endless. I am looking for a pair of lights to mount on either side of my camera on a tray system.

- How many Lumens do I need?

- If I have lights on my video tray is that all I need?

- Relatively newer diver so no night diving for the foreseeable future

- Does this have to be a ridiculously expensive venture?

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

 

[tbone1004]

depends on what you're shooting and where.
VP-2000 Dive & Video Light - Dive Right in Scuba
This is actually a very good light, but if you're wanting cheap, that's about as cheap as it is going to get. You need more lights when it's light out than you do at night, so it's a tough one. 1k lumen is bare minimum.
Hog Morph 1000 Core - Video - Dive Right in Scuba
That's another option and you can get a second light coming out of the same can to help with shadows and total light output. Need a bit more info about your rig to make better suggestions though

 

[ScubaDoo83]

lol sorry but, I ain't spending $500 on a light. This hobby has proven expensive enough but to spend that much money on a light is pure ridiculousness. If you're telling me that these are the bare minimums I'll just abandon the idea of recording underwater completely.

All I want is GoPro footage, I'm not producing high end digital works here.

 

[tbone1004]

that's why you need to specify what your equipment is. When people start asking about underwater lighting, it's usually to produce high quality stuff. If you're just diving and want to record in daylight, the gopro has good enough light sensitivity to not need lights and most of us just put them on a helmet or the head strap and call it good. Works quite well.

Lovely grammar up there, but $500 on a light isn't ridiculous if you are wanting to do underwater photography. $1500 is more on par with what people spend per light that are doing real videography, but they'll also spend $5k on the system itself.

Underwater video light - Dive Right in Scuba

Impact Stubby Dive Light - Dive Right in Scuba
With the video head on these, they make pretty good lights

 

[dfx]

If you have some DIY skills, get a couple of Chinese <$30 dive lights, spray paint the parabolic reflector matte white, ziptie them to your tray and voila.

 

[alewar]

$500 for a main light is a bargain. Have you seen the prices of any decent canister light?

 

[KeithG]

I have no idea where to start, the options seem endless. I am looking for a pair of lights to mount on either side of my camera on a tray system.

- How many Lumens do I need?

- If I have lights on my video tray is that all I need?

- Relatively newer diver so no night diving for the foreseeable future

- Does this have to be a ridiculously expensive venture?

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

if all you want is simple holiday videos, then stay shallow and ingore lights.
if you want reasonable quality colors, then you will need to spend big time $$$$. day or night makes no difference.
as soon as you add video lights (just like still strobes) you enter a much more complex and costly world.

cheap lights will give an uneven light spread and cause "hot spots" and light rings in your video. this generally gives worse results than no light.

check eaby and you can find some used video lights for a fair price.

 

[ScubaDoo83]

Ridiculous, I find it extremely hard to believe its either spend $500 or nothing at all.

 

[nzpw]

My primary video light cost me NZD$1400 and is 2k lumen... The guys above are right, if just looking for holiday footage then the GoPro will be fine...

 

[ScubaDoo83]

Only reason I'm so cynical here is I know typically in gear related forums people like to "shock" or gloat about their expensive gear. All I'm looking for is a light that can act as my dive light and possibly provide some assistance to my GoPro. That's it, simple.