Lighting questions

[bradsab]

I recently upgraded from my old point & shoot Canon SD500 to a Canon SD960 IS. I'm not looking for pro-quality pics, just stuff to share with family & friends, and I've been happy with the stills I took with the 500 and internal flash. I didn't take much video because the quality was so poor. Night video was a challenge working the dive light in one hand, and the camera in the other. I'm hoping to take a lot more video now that I have HD.

I'm planning to build a new dive light that would also incorporate flood lighting for video. The new light would attach to the camera so I only need to have one hand occupied, especially on night dives. The head will have three LED emitters: the center one will be my primary dive light with 4-500 lumens and a focused beam, while the two outer emitters would have around 200 lumens each with flood optics. The light will switch from spot, to flood, to all-on.

I have several questions.

First, is this a dumb idea?

Compact size is of primary importance to me. The smallest configuration would be to have the light head mounted under the camera. The emmitters would be about 2" below the center of the camera lens. Will having the light source beneath the camera make the footage look unnatural? The alternative, of course is to mount the head on an arm above the camera, but allowing enough clearance to operate the buttons on the housing, it'll be at least 4" above the lens, and with the arm will add bulk I don't want.

Is this enough light to enhance color during daylight?

I haven't bought anything for the light yet, so if you have any thoughts I'd be grateful. Thanks!

 

[reefrat]

Bradsab
Sounds like a good concept to me, I am working through a similar process at the moment to come up with a compact P&S system to be used mostly for travel video and some stills.
I would have thought the switch would only need 2 switchs, one for center and one for sides (flood).
Are you thinking about mounting it under the housing to the tripod/ tray attachment or on a hotshoe? Either way I think a compact single handle tray is a better option- I'm currently looking for a way of making a right handed one with a light attached by very short arm to the top of the handle to position a light immediately above the camera or to the right side.
The other thing to consider is a color corrective filter- depending on the ambient water color of where you dive and depth you can often reduce your need for video lighting with these. For example you might be able to use a color corrective for most of the day dives and your light for macro and night dives- just a thought. Good Luck!

 

[bradsab]

reefrat-

I'll be using magnetic reed switches, and it will be easy to make the all-on position, so I may as well do it. Whatever I build will attach to the tripod plate on the bottom. It would be the easiest and most compact to keep everything under the housing, but if it's going to make the videos look weird, I'll build a tray/arm and put it on top.

All of my diving has been in the clear waters of the Caribbean, usually not more than 100' deep. I don't know anything about color corrective filters, but I may be using diffusers anyway, so I could incorporate filters in there somehow, too.