Strobes vs. A bunch of lights?

[Bob01]

Hey All,

I think I figured how I want to make my DIY strobes...

loosely following this guys instructions:

www.devilgas.com - DIY Underwater digital strobe

(Got the idea of loc lines from here also)

I was thinking I could get a larger otterbox (or pair) - ie otterbox 3000. stuff in a flash or maybe if more reliable, a regular hot shoe flash with an optical slave adapter. (any comment on slave flashes vs optical slave adapters? - will be setting up a fiber optic connection from the main camera flash to the slaves/optical slave adapter.) Along with a 24 LED light with a diffuser to assist in focusing (my camera absolutely sucks for low light focusing = crappy nudibranch pictures) or to help in shooting close up videos (camera has a good video mode) - so each otterbox will have a flash and a constantly on led light

- I was thinking if I had a pair of these I should be good? - I know the strobe might suck due to not being able to adjust it while underwater, but was thinking with a pair of them on 24" loc line arms I could just move them closer or further to the (slow moving) subject to compensate?

To the main question from the thread's title....
It would be alot easier for me to just shove 2 of those 24 LED lights into each case, or perhaps finding a way to stuff 128+ LEDs per box. I could also find a way to stick on my UK Light Canon 100, or even setup 2 more of these light boxes on 2 more locline arms (its going to get really wierd looking at that point ) ...if going that route, I'd imagine I'd (or rather my setup) be really easy to find during night dives :-D

This setup will primarily be used for Macro and close ups along with some video, on shore dives to depths of no more than 30' - usually 12-17'


Thanks again!,

Bob

 

[Bob01]

Wow! - no comments on this?!

I would've thought for sure I'd atleast get either - "Don't do this P.O.S. diy - get a used YS" or "No amount of light will ever be enough to get rid of strobes" ;-)

 

[Art99]

Bob

A few comments.
During the couse of developing a commercial LED videolight that is plug compatible with the L&M battery pods, I built a test battery box using the Otterbox. The Otterbox worked fine and never leaked. I successfully used the Otterbox to 80 to 90 feet.

One reason folks go with strobes is that at typical shutter speeds need to catch motion, a strobe provides a lot more light in that short time. Under circumstances where the shutter speeds are slow, for example in typical cell-phone cameras, LED lights are being used. I suspect that Macros are in this category -- the subject is not moving much so shutter speeds like 1/30 to 1/60 second are ok. I'd guess a really bright light would do fine.

For video, a strobe won't work. You will need a constant light source which gets you back to a constant light source. I assume that your video is also Macro and/or also has a lot of ambient lighting at the shallow depths you mentioned. If you plan on video at night and/or far from the camera, you'll need a lot of light (100s to 1000s of lumens ). You will then need a real videolight.

Bottomline comment-
Do some simple experiments. Try your LED lights with your camera in a macro setup in a poorly lit room in air without flash. If you get reasonable results, try the Otterbox and a couple of your LED lights.

You might also consider a low cost but bright underwater flashlights for testing. Uniformity and brightness may be an issue but you'll get the watertight case and an ON/OFF switch perhaps for not much more than you'll invest in the DIY version.

Good luck!

Art

art@ftechx.com

 

[Larry C]

I'm sure your Vivitar will work fine, though my experience with topside strobes in underwater housings (Olympus FL20) is that the beam tends to be too narrow. That said, I used the Olympus ttl corded strobe for about a year before I invested a ridiculous amount of money in a pair of YS110's, a ttl converter and a $180 dual Sea & Sea sync cord. Make sure you've got a good light source for your slave receiver. They'll tend to fire from other peoples flashes and when you turn them toward the sun, so if you can black out everything but your fiber optic cord you'll be better off. For people with more time than money, DIY stuff can be great. I went that route on my tray and arms (also locline) and they work fine. I thought about the e-BAY Vivitars as well, but when you dive weekly and spend thousands on trips to far away places and depend on reliability from your equipment, some times the convenience trumps the price.

 

[Packhorse]

I wouldnt touch either of those multi LED lights from DX. They will not even come close to doing what you want. They use low power low output LEDs.
Try using multiple ( dozens) of Crees, SSC's or Luxeon LED. You will still get nowhere near a strobes light output but there are other advantages.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/strobes-lighting/276973-shadowing-macro-shots.html