Sola 1200 video light & MWB - Sony/Amphibico

[MN Lakeman]

Well I bit the bullet after a lot of research, & purchased the Sola 1200 video light for my Sony HD 550/Amphibico rig. My housing has a convenient "flip" red filter which I have had great success with filming during sunny, naturally lit days above 60 ft. My Amphibico housing allows me one touch electronic manual WB. My next trip will involve a lot of wall diving, so I will be switching on the light for shots along the wall 4ft & closer.

Questions: do I NOT use the red filter when filming with the light? Do I engage my manual WB adjustment onto my slate w/ the light on? I'm having a tough time visualizing doing the latter, since I hold the slate so close to the lens - 'not sure if the camera's electronics will correctly modify WB for actual shooting 3 to 4 ft from the lens.

No doubt I will be experimenting throughout my week long liveaboard in the Red Sea coming up in 2 weeks. Since there is such a huge mix of video opportunities (walls, pelagics in the blue, fields of colorful hard & soft coral gardens - Brothers Islands), I have a feeling I'll be making adjustments constantly on the fly - so some advice in advance would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Interceptor121]

If you shoot with lightning you use auto white balance assuming the light has the right colour if not is best to correct your light with a diffuser

 

[matdiver]

MN Lakeman,
when you say "I'm having a tough time visualizing doing the latter, since I hold the slate so close to the lens...." - is it really impossible for you to hold the slate away from the lens a bit? I'm not familiar with your set-up, but even though my housing is quite long I managed to overcome the issue quite easily. You don't need to be looking in the monitor when you press the WB button, and as long as the light is falling on a good proportion of your slate it will be OK I think. Another technique you can use, particularly in places where the sand is usually very pale in colour like the Red Sea, is to shine your light onto the sand near your subject (e.g. blue-spotted ray resting under coral) and just WB off that, which has the huge advantage that your WB reference point is about the same distance from your light and your lens as your subject is.
Two bits of this old clip should show you what I mean (ray at 10", moray at 3'20" - you will be filming a lot of these in the Red Sea!)
[video=vimeo;6806764]https://vimeo.com/6806764[/video]
Apart from those two bits, everything else was ambient light, + red filter. Max depth 35m.
Cheers,
Matthew

 

[drbill]

Most of my subjects are up close and personal. Using the Sola 1200s, my Sony CX550V does a great job using AWB. In good vis, it is still excellent on more distance subjects. However, if kelp affects to color temperature (through reflection of the lights or natural light passing through the blades) or the water is green, I occasionally have problems using AWB.

 

[MN Lakeman]

MN Lakeman,
when you say "I'm having a tough time visualizing doing the latter, since I hold the slate so close to the lens...." - is it really impossible for you to hold the slate away from the lens a bit? I'm not familiar with your set-up, but even though my housing is quite long I managed to overcome the issue quite easily. You don't need to be looking in the monitor when you press the WB button, and as long as the light is falling on a good proportion of your slate it will be OK I think. Another technique you can use, particularly in places where the sand is usually very pale in colour like the Red Sea, is to shine your light onto the sand near your subject (e.g. blue-spotted ray resting under coral) and just WB off that, which has the huge advantage that your WB reference point is about the same distance from your light and your lens as your subject is.
Two bits of this old clip should show you what I mean (ray at 10", moray at 3'20" - you will be filming a lot of these in the Red Sea!)
[video=vimeo;6806764]https://vimeo.com/6806764[/video]
Apart from those two bits, everything else was ambient light, + red filter. Max depth 35m.
Cheers,
Matthew

Beautiful color saturation & clarity on your video - I've had very similar results when I'm in a clear water column AND sunny days to illuminate - unfortunately, my last two trips were not that ideal.... thus buying the Sola 1200. I should clarify on what I meant by MWB with my slate & the light turned on: ideally, I of course want the camera to register correctly @ the usual 3 to 4 ft distance from my subject. I will def use the sand - good to know I'll have an abundance of that. Now do you keep your red filter on when use lights, & MWB?

 

[matdiver]

Now do you keep your red filter on when use lights, & MWB?

The answer is usually "no", especially for night dives, when you know you're not going to need the filter at all for the whole dive. However, my camera will actually WB with the red filter on+lights, and since my filter is the kind you have to pull off and then push on again sometimes I'm too concerned about missing the shot to bother removing it, so I just WB with the filter on+lights. For example, drifting in a current along a wall, then suddenly seeing something small in some fan coral - I'd just flick the switch on my torch (halogen) and WB either off the slate or a sandy patch. If I could just flick the filter out of the way with a lever then that's what I'd do!
MWB, whether using lights or not, always seems to produce a better result for me than AWB, but I guess every camera is a bit different.
Matthew