Mounting Video and Strobes

[jmottle]

This week I'm pulling the trigger and upgrading my underwater “rig” from a SeaLife with iPhone to a Nauticam Housing with a Nikon Z8. I am an avid photographer on land, so thought it was time to get the same quality underwater.

Looking for some advice on strobes and video lights. Considering Retra Flash Pro Max or Sea & Sea YS-D3 DUO for the strobes and probably Kraken Video lights. Something like the Hydra 12,000. Debating whether I should mount the strobes and video lights to each arm, or getting a single brighter light mounted to the center/top of the housing. I shoot probably 80% photo and 20% video. Have read that center mounted is likely to amplify backscatter. Thoughts and advice regarding selection and usability?

Attached a photo of the dual mounting I am describing.

 

[Barmaglot]

Triple clamps like those are a bit of a pain to manage - you loosen it, and both attached devices start flopping around; you need three hands to position both properly and tighten the clamp. If you really want a setup like this, consider a clamp with an attached ball, e.g. NiteScuba 2 Zwei Löcher Clip Klemme Stativ Schmetterling Für Kugelkopf Halterung Licht Arm Halterung Stecker Mount Adapter für Gopro Kamera - AliExpress 44

Nauticam has the same setup if you want to pay 5x more.

You might also want to look at the new Retra Maxi or Backscatter HF-1 - both come with a built-in video light, so you won't need to pack and manage multiple devices, sets of batteries, etc. Instead of two strobes, two boosters,, two lights, 32xAA cells, 4xLi-Ion battery packs and four chargers, all you'd need is two strobes, 8x21700 cells and a single charger.

 

[jmottle]

Yeah, was looking at both the Maxi and the HF-1 for the very reasons you mentioned. Sadly, the Maxi is not shipping until May and I have a dive trip in April. I contacted Retra just to see if anything had perhaps changed, alas not. May need to rethink the HF-1

 

[Barmaglot]

I wouldn't let a single trip influence something as fundamental as strobe choices. I'm still using a pair of Retra Pros that I ordered in late 2018 and received in early 2020, and I have no plans to switch.

 

[VsubT]

Retras have been solid for me. Sea & Sea makes great paperweights and doorstops.

Lance

 

[jmottle]

given the mounting approach in my first post is not a good idea. What IS the recommended method of mounting lights and strobes if you don’t go for a hybrid light.

 

[Barmaglot]

I would say, the best option would be... just don't. Shooting stills and shooting video requires a different mindset, so it's better to dedicate your dive to doing one thing well, rather than both poorly. It's similar to doing macro and wide on the same dive - sounds nice in theory, doesn't really work in practice. Also, if you're shooting wide, you really want a fisheye lens for stills (8-15mm, possibly with 1.4x or 2x TC in your case) to get that nice perspective with subject in the middle surrounded by background features, but it doesn't really work well for video, as the fisheye distortion becomes quite distracting when your subject moves across the frame, so you want a rectilinear lens like a 16-35mm or a semi-fisheye like a WWL-1.

That being said, if you really want to try it, you can use either double clamps with an additional ball, to which you can attach your extra light using another double clamp, or arms with additional balls in the middle, for example Inon multi-ball ones:

INON Arm System [Arm]

Official web site of INON INC. Manufacture of underwater imaging gears, strobes, conversion lenses, arms, housings and more.

www.inon.jp

 

[Blackcrusader]

I'm thinking of getting lights which have both strobe and video ability. Right now just using video lights and I do get good shots. Using a TG6 and also kept my old Hero 4 Black Go Pro

 

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I'll echo what Barmaglot said. It can be done, but a lot of pros will tell you they get better results focusing entirely on either stills or video on a given dive. In addition to practical differences/limitations like lighting and lenses, you can find that the types of subjects you look for along with your optimal positioning can greatly differ between video and stills. So the mindset can be very different, and it can be chaotic trying to transition back and forth repeatedly during a dive. Not saying it can't be done because some people absolutely do shoot hybrid rigs, just that I've heard many people say that they find their results are better on average when they're doing one thing at a time.

Also, I'll say that if you're doing only a small amount of video relative to stills it may not be entirely necessary to use lights. Conditions permitting, excellent results can be had shooting white balanced (or RAW) wide angle video in natural light. Lights just give you a lot more flexibility.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Also, I'll say that if you're doing only a small amount of video relative to stills it may not be entirely necessary to use lights. Conditions permitting, excellent results can be had shooting white balanced (or RAW) wide angle video in natural light. Lights just give you a lot more flexibility.

Unfortunately that only works in good conditions. When you have low vis or night dives or are in a small cavity then video lights are a must have. Even for this video I used low power on video lights to brighten up under the shadows. Pretty happy with the result you can just see some light shadows from the light but the colours on the crab are great and no editing done.