Video Lights! Best Bang for Buck?

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LimitedSlip7

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Location
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Looking to put a pair of video lights on my Gopro 4 silver rig. Trying to do this on the cheap so probably going to attempt to use either some of the Big Blue lights or maybe some Chinese lights. What's the best value on something in the 1000-2000 lumen range? I definitely want to keep the cost under $300 for a pair if I can...

Thanks!
 
Maybe the Archon D32V ($79 each) or D40VR ($160 each)? Seems like Archon has several models in my price range... some have two switches and some have what looks like a twist ring, is one better than the other?
 
big blue lights are chinese lights for reference, just nicer chinese lights *just make sure to cut their claimed lumens in half for max output, their lumen output is theoretical max and they can only do that for about a minute or so then rapidly cut to about half of that output*

I use these and am quite happy with them
Cave Adventurers - Explorer back-up lights - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!
They're nothing like my UW Light Dude that is a true 6000 lumen video light, but a pair of those is an order of magnitude over the budget you quoted
 
For great bang for buck have a look at SCUBALamp video lights. I bought a pair of 12000lm lights for around $850 AUD each. A bit more than you probably want to pay but worth looking at you might find some lower power in your price range see Scubalamp Diving lights

I am very happy with them they produce a good beam angle even light coverage. Here is an example of recent video I put together using the 12000lumn lights. (I apologise for the quality of the footage in advance :) )

 
@LimitedSlip7 I like the Big Blue lights I have a pair of the AL1100RAFO and they seem to do a pretty good job whether I'm doing photo or video. I also have a big blue black molly that I keep in my pocket. I really haven't had any issues with their lights yet but if I do I will share. I think they are a pretty good value for what you get.
 
Big Blues are excellent lights. A number of my friends have a pair of their AL2600XWP (Black Molly III) for video lights.

Keep in mind that video lights are only useful for a very short distance. While in general more light is better, it is easy to over buy video lights. I have a pair of the Sola 2000's. I hardly ever burn them at high power when doing video. The 2000 lumens is just too much light for close up stuff and it's not enough light for anything much more than a few feet.
 
DGX PUSH Handheld Light Kit - Video Beam

A pair of these fits your budget. The lumens are below your requirement, but these would be more than adequate for night diving.

For day diving I think you will be disapointed with 2000 lumen. You really need a lot more lumens than that unless you get really close (within 1 to 2 feet)
 
I have used Sidekick Duo for my GoPro on my last trip to Palau. It has a rating of 600 lumens at high-test setting and I found that to be enough for close up shots. The light is very bright and can be used for night dives also.

The only caveat is that you need to use the optional arm mount (or a tray) for the light. The default mount that comes with the light places the light right next to camera and is not optimal as it creates a lot of backscatter.

I believe the light is available for around $99/-= on amazon.
 
Archon or Brinyte lights are in your price range. It seems the Brinyte lights are sold under several different manufacturers names. You can buy these lights off Ebay or Amazon. Just look for the wide angle lights.
 
DGX PUSH Handheld Light Kit - Video Beam

A pair of these fits your budget. The lumens are below your requirement, but these would be more than adequate for night diving.

For day diving I think you will be disapointed with 2000 lumen. You really need a lot more lumens than that unless you get really close (within 1 to 2 feet)

Your assessment is spot on! In late June we headed down to Bonaire for a week of diving and on the VERY FIRST DIVE both of my brand new ball mounted ScubaLamp video lights flooded at the switch. Unbelievable! There goes any possibility to video our night and twilight dives, or so I thought. Fortunately we brought a pair of the DGX video lights to experiment with as spot lights. But, I had no way of mounting the DGX lights to my tray. So what I did was make two separate loops of bungee to attach the DGX barrel to the ball mounts on the tray. It wasn’t ideal but it worked for a solid week of diving. We did several night and twilight dives with some surprisingly good results. The link is to one of the night dives.

(WARNING: Graphic Violence) Dive Night Terrors - Bonaire Video at Salt Pier
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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