Underwater lighting for deep video capture

Okay . . . I'm attempting to put together a camera for underwater video inspections to depths of up to 100ft. Generally put, I'd want to have a "great" light source that would work well with the underwater environment. There's so much information on this forum that I feel that I need some experienced advice.

What characteristics would a superb (and yet cost effective) underwater video light source have.

The power source will be from a 12v power supply and could be topside (that is, run up the video umbilical cable to the surface) which opens the door to possiblities such as varying the output to reduce glare in high reflectivity environments (plankton or other small organisms, or even suspended silt). But how would I do that?

One of the threads I read has a majority of replies saying that incandescants are better that LED's. So, I'm not even sure which route I want to go, excpet that the advantages of a bump/bang proof LED seems to fit the needs for a camera/light controlled only by a cable from a bouncing vessel.

How many lumens would I need (and how much is too much) and could they be controlled (topside) to suit the situation?

Have any of you made a light like this before? What do you advise?

I appreciate any help I can get.

Welcome to CPF SEADEEP!

I don't know about dive lights, but have you seen this link?
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/96971

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

Here's two more links for dive light recommendations.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/91243&highlight=dive+lights
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/91308&highlight=dive+lights

That's alot of reading there SEADEEP!

Thank you CHC!

This is a brilliant forum. Your links are giving me much to read to be sure. I'm happy that I joined!

You Sir are very much welcome SEADEEP!

Diver Down! ! !

I think that an incan would be better than an led. At a depth of around 100 feet, there is still plenty of light, but you lose some colors due to the different levels of penetrations by different wave lengths.(if that made any sense) A incan would restore some of these lost colors better than a led.

One way that I haven't gotten around to trying is using my uk c8 that has two different bulbs that can be switched on the spot. Since it looks like it uses a bi pin bulb, I want to get a different bulb(possibly a WA superebulb) that would be brighter. Then the light would have two different brightness settings with a incan. You would have to be carefull with really bright bulbs (re: hot!!!) though since the reflector is made of plastic, but I'm sure being under water would help a little. Has any one tried anything like this?
The light itself is a bright flood beam. check out a review of it. The only problem would be that since it is a flood light, it would not do too well in murky waters.

The answer somewhat depends on what your goals are - black and white inspection, or color rendering of the objects.

If you are primarily going for black and white images, then the best "penetrating wavelengths" are 480 - 490nm - sometimes called "ghost white". From a Lumileds Luxeon perspective, this is called "Blue - bin 6 color tint".

you might wanna look at:

www.treble-light.com

I have a KenRad UDL35 divellight that is basically the same and I am very impressed. I am not using it under water though ... :green:




bernie

Forgot my manners ... WELCOME aboard!
bernie

Great looking light! Seems a little on the expensive side just from looking at your images. I wonder how it would work underwater for what I want to do . .

I'm hoping to capture colour images with the camera. The camera btw arrived just the other day - wow, it's really minature. Just 3.6cm square!

I've yet to hook it up since I need a constant power supply (12V).

So, any other ideas?

Look up the Underwater Kinetics Light Cannon 100 (aka LC 100) if you have not done so already. You can find it for around $150.................10 watts of HID power!

At a depth of around 100 feet, there is still plenty of light,

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that entirely depends on the location. Guys I know that scuba dive in the waters near here say that once they hit 40-50 feet its pretty damn dark. 100 feet and its black. I would also be interested in seeing what type of light (incand vs led) penetrates better underwater.

nc987 said:

that entirely depends on the location. Guys I know that scuba dive in the waters near here say that once they hit 40-50 feet its pretty damn dark. 100 feet and its black. I would also be interested in seeing what type of light (incand vs led) penetrates better underwater.

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yeah, good point, it probally does. I was diving at Catalina, and the visibility was around 30 - 40 feet, which is pretty good.

Out of pure speculation I think that incan would penetrate better but only becuase it penetrates better though fog and stuff on land. I am probally missing something, but thats what I think.

offroadcmpr said:

Out of pure speculation I think that incan would penetrate better but only becuase it penetrates better though fog and stuff on land. I am probally missing something, but thats what I think.

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You know, I keep reading about this but have not been able to pull from it a general consensus of how the incan would work underwater. At 60ft of depth, I understand that most of the natural light's colour has been absorbed leaving mostly blue (am I right on this?).

I did check out the light cannon and I like very much. I sent UK an email asking if it were possible to modify their light by insterting a 12v power feed. Seems that 8 "C" batteries at 1.5 volts each equal 12volts. How to buy two on a inexpensive budget :ironic:

From an ebay item description for a Pro Watt Underwater Video Lighting System I read this (seems like a great setup):

"As you have become aware, water filters surface light and color. The deeper you dive the more colors are lost. Even at 15 to 20 feet with plenty of surface light, colors are lost. The only way to get the true natural colors of your subject material back is to supply your own light. The Pro Watt Video Light features two, 50 watt Xenophot halogen bulbs with white card reflectors, mounted on two 13 inch, fully adjustable arms. One arm on either side of the camera. Each light head can be switched on and off independently. Each light when directed straight ahead, projects light in a cone shape. The two lights flood together at the subject area while leaving an area directly in front of the camera lens unlighted. This dead zone eliminates particle illumination directly in front of the lens and stops back scatter. "

Oh but the cost . . . :mecry: well beyond my budget for weight and money. I like the idea of having two adjustable lights on an adjustable gooseneck.

Does anyone have any experience building something like this that could be powered through an umbilical 12volt power supply?

SEADEEP:The LC100 is NOT a 12v light.

illumiGeek Said:

CAUTION! The ballast inthe LC is NOT a 12V ballast. They are counting on the voltage drop of the Alkalines (under load). 12V from rechargable batteries would very likely overload your ballast - poof.

The LC is rated at 10V/1.25A (manufacturer's spec - it is most likely running the WA B10N004/B10N008 ballast which is rated at 10.2V), so 8x NiMh/NiCad is about right (or 16 if series-parallel).

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Read this thread (about half way down) for details.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/46495

SEADEEP said:

I did check out the light cannon and I like very much. I sent UK an email asking if it were possible to modify their light by insterting a 12v power feed. Seems that 8 "C" batteries at 1.5 volts each equal 12volts. How to buy two on a inexpensive budget :ironic:

Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the umbilical cord system. But the bulb in the UK light cannon is not really a 12 volt bulb system. It is really something like 10.2 I think. When you drive alkalines at a high current, the voltage drops. So UK took into consideration this drop in voltage and put in a lower voltage bulb that would work better.

There are a lot of modders around here that may be able to make one for you, but most of them do not have experience with making underwater light systems.