BCT

Ok so at long last here is some example footage taken with the XTAR D30 1600. Specifically the UW footage of these cave isopods and amphipods. The environment was tough to film in due to the ease in which the water could be silted up. There is zero light, so the filming was treated as if it was a night dive. This video light with the form factor of a Dive light was easy to use and very robust against knocks on rocks and the mud of the cave. At 10C (water temperature) the light gave me about 2 hours worth of filming (at max 1600 lumens) at around up to 20ec clips before I had to change out the battery. I did note that at some point the battery indictor indicated in the green even after giving me a red signal whilst UW. My guess is that it was very cold and it heated up a bit just being held in my hands (because the air temp was 10C/50F as well). My take here is that it was certainly a robust video light and with the magnetic switch and locking mechanism made it foolproof for the filming in the the cave. Here is a link where one can see some of this footage. Also the color temp was good too and zero flickering from the LED/s. I can't say how it would go at 100m as it only went to about 6-7m in this cave.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_KABK6FJVc Francis

Hi there. yeah sure. (just as a qualifier, I've also used extensively Go pros as well but the SONY FDR at the end of the day was what we chose to go with). Ok so O've fonud them invaluable shooting 4K at the full res of the camera settings for UW stuff in well lit or even not so well lit waters (natural light I mean and shallow depths). The kind of subject material is a bit boring but it helps to pay the bills, for example gliding over sea grass beds and filming all the oxygen being evolved when the sunlight strikes the grass, is one example. Being able to rapidly deploy such cameras and avoiding the bigger bulky ones when it just isn't necessary is the key for my company's work. The drawbacks with this camera is that due to the processing, at 4k it gets hot and if one hasn't totally removed all of the humidity from the housing it came with or off the camera body itself, then they will fog depending upon the duration of filing and or water temperature. To that end I have a specialist aluminium housing which can accommodate the addition f silica gel to help prevent fogging. This housing will also be featured for some work of mine at great depths remotely operating the cameras. The other main feature i really like is a true gimbal system within the camera itself and not just relying upon software to render a smooth sequence. I'll write more in a bit and try and put some sequences here if possible as examples. Thanks for those links, I'll check them out. I won't say any more about the deep sea stuff as it's sort of confidential at present. regards Francis

Hi, just thought I'd mention this. I own 2 at present of the SONY FDR X3000 action cameras and with appropriate housings one can get some great shots with these cameras and their low light performance is outstanding compare to similar cameras. Ive had plenty of footage picked up for TV shot with these cameras. So if anyone is thinking about them and whether the image quality is any good then, I reckon it is. Mine got used until they started growing fins on themselves LOL. But they do of course have limitations they are not 30K plus broadcast cameras in 50K UW housing with another 30K of titanium housed lights attached LOL.

Hi, I am about to use this light to produce a short caving film. The light will be used both topside and UW (on a 4k camera rig) in an underground lake. Not at any deep depth. The torch itself is supposed to be good to 100m (it's got a double O-ring seal, magnetic switch etc). Anyway I just wrote some blurb and did some quick initial tests for temperature (not as in K) for how hot it gets if used topside. The build quality looks good. But why I got it is because it has a UV function (un filtered 365nm) and I want to use this to highlight some basic fluorescence within this particular cave system. It's hot off the press from these guys at Xtar. Not sure what others think about their dive/video lights but this one appears initially quite good (ask me again after taking it underground for a while LOL!). For this project I needed to use a more powerful light than my old TUSA's and I had to have a magnetic switch The front optic/port is coated (can't be seen in this image) There is of course a sturdy 1/4 inch 20 tripod mount. I'd like to see a bigger charger for this type of 26650 battery but the supplied charge does work, one just has to make sure the battery doesn't "jump up" due to the springiness of the charger's contact at the -ve end. Anyway here is also a link to more details about this light. https://hardcorecampingtools.blogspot.com/2020/09/xtar-d30-1600-scuba-divers-video-light.html

Hi there everyone, my name's Francis, an Aussie guy. Been diving since 85, marine biologist by training, later a research scientist in the fields of neuroscience, worked for many years in electron microscopy and high end light microscopy, no coincidence there was a liking of photography that got the ball rolling for me in the "imaging fields". Avid caver etc. Most of my UW stuff now is video. Hoping to put some cameras into 2.5km plus deep water. thanks Francis