Lights For Night Photography

[darrenlowjq]

Hey all, I was looking to get a new light to mount onto my camera rig and would like some input on what to get. I am currently using the DGX Max Video lights mounted on my rig but I realised that is way too bright for what I'm trying to do. Essentially, I'm looking for something that will be used primarily on night dives and maybe a bit in the day for peering into nooks and crannies, for illumination of subjects so that I know where the subjects are. The DGX light does illumination well, except I notice that the bright lights tend to scare away the fish as well.

So to sum up, I'm looking to find a light that fits most, if not all of the below criteria:

1. Bright enough to see but dim enough to not blind all the wildlife.

2. Long burn time, longer the better.

3. Able to self swap battery, preferably standard battery types like rechargeable 18650s/AAs so I can interchange with my other lights/computer. Not interested in Solas for this specific reason.

4. Able to project red light or mount a red filter, for jumpy critters.

5. Mounting capability to either ball or cold shoe, doesn't matter which.

6. Beam angle doesn't need to be super wide, as long as not light saber tight.

7. No hot spot.

Hoping some of you have fairly inexpensive suggestions for me. Technically, my Inon Z240s fulfill most of these requirements but I'm trying to avoid blowing another hole in my pocket and also not waste my strobe burn time as a dive light. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tbar]

I use Fisheye FIX NEO Mini 500 FS FIX NEO Mini 500 FS for my focus light, about $300 (AUD) when I bought it but may now be discontinued.

It has the 18650 battery, and this can last two 40minute dives or a bit longer.

I can switch power and to red. On night dives I only use the focus light - no torch needed. I don't find the focus light in the strobe effective as it forces the strobe to be pointed at the subject, and from more front-on.

 

[darrenlowjq]

@Tbar thank you, this does seem exactly to be what I'm looking for! So I guess the micro usb charging is more of a convenience thing but you can also pop out the battery? Also, regarding your stated burn time, which power setting was the light on to give you that amount of burn time?

 

[Tbar]

Yes you can just take the battery out, that is what I do.

I generally use this on all my day-light dives and have it on brightest setting. I generally dive 20+metres so having the extra light helps the camera focus quickly.

At night or in 'caves' I switch between white and red. The red cuts my vision a bit but definitely works well with the critters. But you have to work with the buddy, you don't want a bright torch 'burning' the image.

 

[darrenlowjq]

Thanks! I'll definitely check that light out. Now to see if I have a local dealer that carries it. In the meanwhile though, I'd appreciate any other suggestions from other people too.

 

[weeksd]

Hi I have an ikelite gamma flashlight for sale brand new i won in a photo contest. $95usd plus shipping. I will include a cr 123 battery charger with a couple of batteries as cr 123 batteries are quite expensive. My night light is another ikelite gamma flashlight with the ikelite DSLR Flex Mount Kit For GammaProduct 1887.2 for mounting the strobe to the housing. Works very good. You can also get a red filter for the ikelite gamma but i have found the light is a soft wide light so i have not found it scares fish.

 

[Tbar]

There are some differences between a flashlight (torch) and a focus light. The focus light tends to have a wider angle as it will need to cover the focus area of the camera when the subject is close but not macro, the ikelite gamma is 10 degrees, Fisheye fix is 20 degrees (Spot), 50 degrees (Red). Another key difference, the focus light will have an auto shut-off mode so when the flash is triggered (and the ambient light is low) the focus light will turn-off and hence not impact on the exposure.

You will also want the focus light in close proximity to the lens, such that light is best reflected back for focusing with minimal shadowing. This is different to the positioning of the strobe which is best placed such that direct refection is reduced, that is it is placed to the sides/above/below. Hence two strobes are better as this gives better light coverage for the photo.