Hello all,
I shoot video, and work in ambient light (+filters) for tropical wide angle on an LX10 compact (which is a brick in its NALX10 housing, but now nice and almost neutral - I would like to keep it that way)
Currently based in Bali, I've also been shooting a lot of macro to wide angle, and for this my artificial light setup consists of one centrally mounted Backscatter MW4300, complemented by my old two Archon D11Vii 1000 lumen lights on flexarms (locline)
I like this 3 light set up, which is very flexible, and would like to keep it.
However, I'd like to upgrade the Archons, which don't do much, to something more powerful (for medium shots), and with a good CRI (the backscatter has a CRI in the 70s in both modes).
I'm also starting to shooting small transparent critters in the water column (day and night), and would need a good two light setup to light them up correctly.
So to be clear, I'm not looking for wide-angle 10K plus lights at the moment, just a good set of lights with a good CRI to complement the MW4300.
One major constraint is weight: I'd like to keep using the two new lights on my flexarms, so weight is an issue, and I'd like to keep it under -250g negative buoyancy for each light if possible.
I'm also partial to a COB system with a good CRI (85 and up), and tighter beams than wide (max 120°).
Looking into what's available in Indonesia where I am now, I don't have much choice - Basically BigBlue, Orcatorch, Supe...
I've narrowed it down to these availabe models:
- Big Blue CB4000P COB 120° beam, 4000 lm - CRI85 - weight: 393g air -168g uw -
$330 USD per light, $660 for a pair
- Big blue CB7200PB COB 120° beam, 7000 lm - CRI85 - weight: 653g in air, -272g uw
$430 USD per light, $860 for pair
The 7200 might be pushing it on the flexarms (not sure if they can hold -272g underwater), and brings my total light weight to -800g to compensate underwater, and mounting them on the flexarm might be an issue as they don't seem to have YS mounts (= adapters, clamps, more weight)
These do look good on paper, but I see a lot of BigBlue bashing in the forum so I though I'd ask, as these are quite an expensive investment for me. Is it really 50% of the lumen advertised as some posters insist, so the 4000lm would only be 2000 lm lights?
Other models that I've considered and are available here are as follows:
- Orcatorch 910V COB, 120° beam, CRI 92 (?) weight 430g on land (I'm guessing this is without batteries), -215g uw
$400 USD, so $800 for a pair
Finally, for less than half the price I can get some cheapies here like the:
Leton L12 COB “5000 lumen” (or is 8000...?) 600g on land with battery (so probably a brick uw)
$260 USD for a pair
Thrustfire D50, "6500 lumen", 300g on land without battery
$200 USD for a pair
But i'd rather have something that doesn't fail too quickly, and they really look like bricks...
- Buying in Indonesia is a bit of a nightmare, very little choice and importing is not an option (+40% import tax), but I'd really need something I can work with here...
Are the BigBlue lights really that bad?
Reading up on the threads here it seems they're: overpriced, half the lumen output, terrible discharge (non linear - but linear discharge is reare).
So would I just be better off saving $400 by buying real Chinese cheapies (that I'll probably be throwing away), rather than hyped-ones?
Advice/opinions would be very very welcome!
cheers
ben
I shoot video, and work in ambient light (+filters) for tropical wide angle on an LX10 compact (which is a brick in its NALX10 housing, but now nice and almost neutral - I would like to keep it that way)
Currently based in Bali, I've also been shooting a lot of macro to wide angle, and for this my artificial light setup consists of one centrally mounted Backscatter MW4300, complemented by my old two Archon D11Vii 1000 lumen lights on flexarms (locline)
I like this 3 light set up, which is very flexible, and would like to keep it.
However, I'd like to upgrade the Archons, which don't do much, to something more powerful (for medium shots), and with a good CRI (the backscatter has a CRI in the 70s in both modes).
I'm also starting to shooting small transparent critters in the water column (day and night), and would need a good two light setup to light them up correctly.
So to be clear, I'm not looking for wide-angle 10K plus lights at the moment, just a good set of lights with a good CRI to complement the MW4300.
One major constraint is weight: I'd like to keep using the two new lights on my flexarms, so weight is an issue, and I'd like to keep it under -250g negative buoyancy for each light if possible.
I'm also partial to a COB system with a good CRI (85 and up), and tighter beams than wide (max 120°).
Looking into what's available in Indonesia where I am now, I don't have much choice - Basically BigBlue, Orcatorch, Supe...
I've narrowed it down to these availabe models:
- Big Blue CB4000P COB 120° beam, 4000 lm - CRI85 - weight: 393g air -168g uw -
$330 USD per light, $660 for a pair
- Big blue CB7200PB COB 120° beam, 7000 lm - CRI85 - weight: 653g in air, -272g uw
$430 USD per light, $860 for pair
The 7200 might be pushing it on the flexarms (not sure if they can hold -272g underwater), and brings my total light weight to -800g to compensate underwater, and mounting them on the flexarm might be an issue as they don't seem to have YS mounts (= adapters, clamps, more weight)
These do look good on paper, but I see a lot of BigBlue bashing in the forum so I though I'd ask, as these are quite an expensive investment for me. Is it really 50% of the lumen advertised as some posters insist, so the 4000lm would only be 2000 lm lights?
Other models that I've considered and are available here are as follows:
- Orcatorch 910V COB, 120° beam, CRI 92 (?) weight 430g on land (I'm guessing this is without batteries), -215g uw
$400 USD, so $800 for a pair
Finally, for less than half the price I can get some cheapies here like the:
Leton L12 COB “5000 lumen” (or is 8000...?) 600g on land with battery (so probably a brick uw)
$260 USD for a pair
Thrustfire D50, "6500 lumen", 300g on land without battery
$200 USD for a pair
But i'd rather have something that doesn't fail too quickly, and they really look like bricks...
- Buying in Indonesia is a bit of a nightmare, very little choice and importing is not an option (+40% import tax), but I'd really need something I can work with here...
Are the BigBlue lights really that bad?
Reading up on the threads here it seems they're: overpriced, half the lumen output, terrible discharge (non linear - but linear discharge is reare).
So would I just be better off saving $400 by buying real Chinese cheapies (that I'll probably be throwing away), rather than hyped-ones?
Advice/opinions would be very very welcome!
cheers
ben
