UV lights - yellow filter for SeaPro masks?

[OceanicSoph]

Hi guys!

Wondering if anyone knows a good brand of mask filters that are a good fit for SeaPro standard masks?

Also after some advice on a good (but not so expensive) UV dive torch? Not particularly for photography but just to show our customers on night dives.

Excited to begin the fluo dives!!

 

[Barmaglot]

I got four of these in preparation for a trip so that I could share them with people. Loaned them out several times so far, no issues fitting over multiple different kinds of masks. Used them with my Archon D36V lights in blue mode, everything lit up as promised. D36Vs are somewhat expensive, being powerful video lights in their own right, but Boruit on Aliexpress seems to have a selection of bargain-priced UV and white/UV narrow-beam torches.

 

[Kharon]

You can get inexpensive yellow photogel sheets on Amazon and cut them to fit and save some money. I got this light (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MA6AF4J/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and this mount (https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-Pla...pID=41qH9gvpZYL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch)

The light has a slot on the side that takes a filter. You can use the same type photogel in blue for the light and yellow for the mask. It's an inexpensive setup and the light can be used for GoPro and similar or night dives without camera when not looking for fluro.

 

[OceanicSoph]

Thanks for that, I'm liking the idea of the photogel sheets to trial this idea out

 

[StefinSB]

If you really use an UV light, you won’t need a yellow filter as it is invisible to the human eye. Now if you use a blue light emitting in the visible part of the spectrum, you will need as mask filter.

 

[Kharon]

If you really use an UV light, you won’t need a yellow filter as it is invisible to the human eye. Now if you use a blue light emitting in the visible part of the spectrum, you will need as mask filter.

I believe that the UV lights are pretty expensive and useless for anything but bio-fluorescence. All the dive shops that I know of that do bio-fluorescent dives use blue light and yellow filters. It's far less expensive, the light is useful without the blue filter, and the result is just as good.

Another consideration - how many bio-fluorescent dives are you actually going to do? I found it kind of nice to try it out and after I saw that almost everything glowed green I popped the blue filter off the light and the yellow filter off my camera and mask and had a really fine night dive.

 

[StefinSB]

I believe that the UV lights are pretty expensive and useless for anything but bio-fluorescence. All the dive shops that I know of that do bio-fluorescent dives use blue light and yellow filters. It's far less expensive, the light is useful without the blue filter, and the result is just as good.

Another consideration - how many bio-fluorescent dives are you actually going to do? I found it kind of nice to try it out and after I saw that almost everything glowed green I popped the blue filter off the light and the yellow filter off my camera and mask and had a really fine night dive.

My experience with using a blue light/mask filter is different. There are greens of course but also amazing shades of red. Not sure how much dough I would plunk down for it as I soldered a blue LED into my cheap Chinese light.

 

[Barmaglot]

I got to play a little with the blue and UV modes on my lights again a few nights ago, without filters. In the blue mode (rated at 410nm wavelength), I could see plenty of green glow, although it wasn't a very good spot for fluorescence, and there were lots of other divers around with normal lights. I had my camera with me, also without a filter, but shooting raw, I was able to approximate a yellow filter using color editing in Capture One, like this:

However, using the UV mode (365nm, according to manufacturer's specs), I couldn't see any glow anywhere.

 

[Kharon]

My experience with using a blue light/mask filter is different. There are greens of course but also amazing shades of red. ...

I wonder if it depends on where (atlantic/pacific) you are diving or perhaps how deep. My experience was on Bonaire and pretty shallow. What's your experience/opinion. I'd very much like to track down some reds or other colors. Was I too shallow do you think?

 

[StefinSB]

I wonder if it depends on where (atlantic/pacific) you are diving or perhaps how deep. My experience was on Bonaire and pretty shallow. What's your experience/opinion. I'd very much like to track down some reds or other colors. Was I too shallow do you think?

I don’t do a lot of night dives here in Cali so pretty much only use the blue light in the Philippines. The deep reds I see show up between 18-50ft. They might show up deeper but 18-50 is where the majority of corals are in front of our place.