Strobes during night dive

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mattspiral8

Contributor
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Location
Las Vegas, NV
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Hi guys,

So i have never brought my camera gear on a night dive. Got a trip to Anilao soon and wanted to know if strobes are ok to use on these night dives or would it just be better to use a video light and just change up my photo settings?

Seems like i would be blinding everyone around me if i use a strobe flash at night lol
 
Strobes are perfectly normal to use on night dives. Make sure you have a small torch on your camera though, as it still needs some illumination to focus.
 
Hi Matt,

As the others said, strobes are o.k.. Video lights disturb a lot, especially the animals in the light cone...

Instead of a torch in your hand, you can use a focuslight on the camera rigg (and have your hands free), something as e.g.:Weefine Smart Fokus 2500 Schwarz | Diveinn
This light also has the advantage that you can switch to red LEDS, when you once have found a critter that you intend to photograph with flash. The red light (and also the subsequent flash) is not percieved by many critters and they are not disturbed by the light then...

Wolfgang
 
Strobes are perfectly acceptable on night dives. High intensity but very short duration and normally aimed at critters and not other divers' face. Video light(s), also perfectly acceptable....you just need to control it/them.

On my previous and present set-ups, I carry two strobes and one video light (Kraken 3500) mounted on the cold shoe. The later has wide beam (varying intensity), narrow beam (varying intensity) and a multitude of colors...red, blue, green, orange and uv/black light. I also carry a spare dive light (either a fantasea 1500 lumens video light or a 1000 lumens dive light).

On night dives, I use the Kraken mounted on the camera housing as a dive light/focus light and if I spot something of interest, I can quickly change it to red and be less annoying to the subjects I am trying to photograph. At 3500 lumens, I am not trying to light up the entire underwater world and I normally keep it either at the lowest or medium setting. I also keep it on wide beam versus narrow beam and the reason is simple...I can keep it steady, pointed in one specific area and use my eyes to scan the entire area that is covered (the near bottom). I find this to be more relaxing and less intrusive than high powered dive lights waved constantly left, right and center in search of critters.
 
I've done night dives with people that illuminate so much it looks like the Sun fell into the ocean
Quite disconcerting
You can leave your torch at home have to go over a hill or around a corner so you don't go blind
Really it's a disgrace
Clamoring snappers
 
Not only are strobes ok/acceptable, they are standard for good photography.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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