Hubby has a question - - how can he use a flashlight for a strobe. Main question is how can he diffuse it? His camera: Canon S70 Powershot
7 meg pictures

Can hardly wait for a "pro" to provide feedback.
I do video and know I use 100w (35wHID)and 35w (10wHID) lights together at night, and this works great for video. Actually too much light for some critters. My camera dive buddy still needs a flash although we are pointed at the same target. Unless you have a flashlight exceeding these wattages, you are not going to get enough light. The lumens from a flash will exceed those produced by lights by far.

Satisfy yourself in a dark room with the flashlight and the strobe. Big difference. Magnify this difference underwater.

Our video flash team at night, I illuminate the target, but the flash is still needed.

Maybe in daylight, with a high color temperature light, you might get enough light to allow a software program to bring out the colors.

Nix the flashlight and focus on strobe.

I've got a flash light mounted underneath my Ikelite strobe for night diving. My camera is a Nikon 7600 which, doesn't focus well in low light. This was suggested to me by Dennis, the underwater camera expert at Helix, so we'll be giving it a go this February. I'll be posting my pictures as soon as we return. I aspire to Cecil's pictures. I'm a newbie digital user, so this should be fun.

I use 3 small LED dive lights on my camera set up at night; one as the target light on the housing hot shoe, one attached to the strobe and the last on the camera body by the hand grip. The strobe is more much more powerful and hides the light beams. Using a dive light instead of a strobe is unlikely to give enough light to get decent pictures.

Kathy the strobe in the camera will give enough light for the shot, the problem in a typical flashlight is the light is concentrated in the center. My present procedure is to tape the flashlight to the camera, that way I only need one hand. The flashlight is pointed the same place as the camera. When I want to take a shot, I frame the picture and hold the shutter release half way down to set the focus and exposure, turn off the flashlight, take the shot, turn back on the flashlight.

This is what can happen if you leave the flashlight on.
Light On

and when you do not.
Light Off

Cecil I hope you have a birthday soon, drop some hints to Sue about http://marine-cameras.com/strobes/ys110.htm

I have the Sea&Sea YS90DX and Sue has the YS90Auto they takes away the flashlight. I really fancy the YS110 as it has 3 strobes and a target light that comes on when you half depress the shutter release, I guess this will only work with the Synch cable rather than the fibre Optic connection. It is supposed to be smaller than the YS90 as well.

Well, reluctant to barge in here, but: on our last dive trip, I bought the new UK mini q40Plus, a 4 AA LED dive light. The beam is very consistent, without hotspots. Using the beam as a fill light, and my internal strobe, I was able to get some nice shots that way, without a lot of dark parts.

Thanks - - good info - - he's informed me he's really interested in using it during the day as a fill light . . . he should quit teasing me about the time I spend reading on this board & get off the couch & ask his OWN QUESTIONS!

Not going to happen Brian, it's against my religion to have an external strobe. Money spent on external strobes goes directly to terrorists.

Now for the real reason, I am a diver who take photographs, NOT a photographer that dives. I keep my camera in a BCD pocket when not in use. This is not going to happen with an external strobe. For some unknown reason this is very important to me.

Seb

Cool picture. We had 7 LED dive lights which had a very large and soft halo, but the dang things leaked. We bought 4 in the last year and one so far still works.

Cecil if it works then I won't knock it and you sure get some good shots, maybe the "eye" is more important.

Hey Brian. I used the UK 40 for eight dives without incident. We never did a night dive, so I didn't use the one I rigged with some Rosco 27 gel.
Kathy, tell your lazy couch hugging hubby that shooting with one hand and holding a fill light with the other is not a task for the essentially lazy and a challenge to buoyancy and staying off the reef.

A typical underwater 10 watt video light emits 10 watts of light energy in one full second. If you use a video light and your digital camera's shutter is open for 1/100 second, you will have captured 1/100 of ten watts of light. Or 0.1 watt!

A typical underwater strobe is capable of emitting around 50 watt seconds of energy in about 1/250th of a second......some strobes are even faster........somes strobes are even more powerful.

If you use a flashlight or a video light to illuminate underwater pics, expect to use very slow shutter speeds with wide open apertures. As a result, do not be surprised if you capture a hot spot where the beam was aimed, motion blur due to the slow shutter speed, and washed out backgrounds due to the combination of slow shutter and wide open aperture.

otoh, the potential to capture backscatter will be greatly reduced.

hth,
kadushi bob

Seb

Our UK MiniQ40 single LED units are fine with few leaks, we bought some other cheaper units which are not a good make. Check out the Lenser Frogman series for a very bright LED beam to go with the multi LED types. We now have a whole set of new LED types.

Another problem come to mind, what about light color? Cameras are set up for white (sunlight), any other color of light changes the color tint of the photo. Strobes and flashes are also white light. Incandescent tints the photo yellow/orange and florescent tints the photo green. Not sure what an LED light would do but it's something to consider. Guess I am going to have to play with my camera and LED light tonight.

The new LEDS emit a very white light. Some offer different hues but for dive lights over here white seems to be the in colour. Now how about Red LED lights that would be a great option without loss by passing it through a further filter.