Strobe vs Light

[Magrone]

I am thinking about forgoing a strobe and instead using a Sola Video 1200 light on an arm. With the light I do not have to worry about misfiring, flooding (well not as much because it is externally charged), there are no cords, and I can see what the picture is going to look like - easy to adjust settings. I 'have heard' this is the next step for underwater photography - "pros are still using strobes, but it is only a matter of time." I have concerns about scaring critters off with a light that is constantly on. I can't really think of any negatives. Can someone tell me if they have tried this route, and how it worked out for them? Is there a flaw in my thought process? 99% of my photography is done on day dives.

Using a light can add a creative effect to your lighting in your photos, but it hardly replaces a flash. I have not used the Sola lights but I have heard a lot about them and am looking to buy one as a focus light.

When i first started shooting underwater I wanted to go this route as well because it saves money. But after using an Inon video light on my old Panasonic P&S, I can say that it was very frustrating to try and get even light coverage in your pics. A flashgun improves light coverage SO much.

Also, shooting at high shutter speeds and/or small apertures will cut out most ambient light including your dive light. Flash also freezes the image so you don't have to worry about hand shake in low light and you can add creative "motion" to images by using a slow shutter speed with a rear curtain sync.

In fact I don't really see why you would ever go with a video light when the new fiber optic triggered strobes are SO EASY and relatively cheap to use. You just point at your subject and your camera reads the image with a pre-flash that gives you the right exposure

The pros will not be changing to beam lights anytime soon (In fact, I think more pros are actually switching to fibre optic strobes). I mean think about it, why don't land photographers use beam lights instead of flash? If you care at all about the quality of your photos, a strobe is the way to go. Have you looked at the Inon s2000? I currently shoot with dual Inon z240's and can't say enough about how easy and reliable fiber optic TTL is.

 

[Thalassamania]

Years ago, in a fit of the same frustration that I hear from you now, I left my strobe ashore and took with me, instead, one of the most powerful movie lights that has ever been made. It was a mistake. Even with the bright movie light I had to open up the lens and thus reduce the depth of field, this also made the backscatter worse. Even worse was the lost "stop action" of the strobe. Try it, please report back, esp. if you feel differently,

 

[danvolker]

Years ago, in a fit of the same frustration that I hear from you now, I left my strobe ashore and took with me, instead, one of the most powerful movie lights that has ever been made. It was a mistake. Even with the bright movie light I had to open up the lens and thus reduce the depth of field, this also made the backscatter worse. Even worse was the lost "stop action" of the strobe. Try it, please report back, esp. if you feel differently,

Thal is absolutely right.....even though I love my Apollo lights, which are awesome for video, for shooting stills I would not charicterize them as "Pro level" lighting for stills.. You can sometimes get a really nice still with them, and you can get good colors close to the camera, but they are certainly not the equal to a pair of INON STROBES, or other pro level gear....
On the other hand, I much prefer shooting video with my Canon 5D mark II, and do like the idea that I "can" shoot a still if I see something that could look good hanging on my wall, and that it "might" turn out quite well If you buy the set of fancy Inon 240's , lots of luck if you decide you want to shoot some video with any color in it

 

[smoore]

I am using an EPL2 with a single Inon S2000 strobe. I would like a video light and focus light and was thinking of adding the Sola 600. I could use it as a video and a focus light. Would it be powerful enough to use as a second strobe on macro to fill shadows. I realize that it won't do the trick for macro but does this idea make for macro instead of getting a second strobe?

 

[bvanant]

Of course you can use it, but the color temperatures are not going to be matched and the power just really isn't there. In another sense, I am not sure that filling shadows is mostly the way to go; shadows add depth to most macro pics. A second s2000 is the way to go for more lighting and you will eventually get a focus light too just start saving.
Bill

 

[smoore]

Of course you can use it, but the color temperatures are not going to be matched and the power just really isn't there. In another sense, I am not sure that filling shadows is mostly the way to go; shadows add depth to most macro pics. A second s2000 is the way to go for more lighting and you will eventually get a focus light too just start saving.
Bill

I suspected that there would be problems with this approach. I guess I will be buying 2 lights next year. Thanks for the input.