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I'm selling an Ikelite DS161 strobe (the one with the 500 lumen light built in) on eBay. The condition is "like new" as described further in the eBay description. I've placed it at $900 but it's open for best offers. Thanks! I'm also willing to ship internationally if you pay the extra costs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/201083242424 -Andy

Here's another video (with better lighting, IMO) in it. -Andy

Nice. I like Hollywood Divers. Never got to go on a trip with them when I lived in the Inland Empire but they have a great shop and staff from my experience with them.

I'm still very new to underwater photography and especially video. I'm learning a lot and appreciate the critique but I'm sure the things you guys have noticed are my fault with poor technique and/or poor light placement. Ya have to start somewhere and since this is my first video with the lights it's a good baseline to improve on. Definitely go to NC. Tortuga Charters was a good boat but they're not very tech oriented. We were the first group he's let on with two sets of doubles plus deco bottles for four divers. I don't think he's thrilled to be doing it again. CCR might be another story though. Olympus operates cattle boats and they were not helpful to us for getting deco gas fills. Very disappointing for a shop. -Andy

Good luck. It's incredibly frustrating and I feel your pain. Nearly impossible to Photoshop them out.

Awesome! Have a great time! And do dewimpify for the cold. It's our best diving conditions!!

Hi Becki, I have Ikelite DS-161s for strobes but didn't have them on the camera. It was too much weight/bulk for the dives we were doing. Not evident in the video is the 1.5 knot current we had to deal with on deco. Since I'm fresh out of Duane's class I already thought it a tad risky with the camera and switching bottles for deco...let alone with an extra 5 pounds of lighting strobes on it. I am considering getting a two-way mount for the FITs and the DS0161s so I can have all four mounted at once...but that's a lot of weight to be moving around on the surface. You could do with a single light on the hot shoe but I think this light is too bright for a focusing light. Unless you dim the output. Not sure. I don't have any experience here. Perhaps the extra light would be great so you can get better DOF and a higher shutter speed. Haha, we can go diving any time! You should come to France Park with us this winter. Beautiful diving conditions when there is a quarter inch sheet of ice over top and it's 37 degrees. -Andy

I had a similar issue (but not bad). I removed the UV filter and it significantly helped reduce the reflections. Hope that helps for you too! -Andy

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I wrote a quick review of my impressions of the lights here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51081 -Andy

Just to follow up since I didn't mention this...the video lights are bright enough for limited photography. They're surely no strobe...but if you're able to shoot at 1/30-1/90th second at f/5.6 at ISO 800 or so, (depending on background lighting), you will still get good results. I took the following pictures with these lights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.554610901253586.1073741833.458942357487108&type=3 (I hope that link works). Either way, it's the "sharks and wrecks" album on my facebook page. -Andy

Hi everyone, I just finished shooting video in North Carolina with the new, and very affordable, FIT LED 2400 lights. If you're curious about buying them my opinion is: Get them! For most of us, cost is a huge factor on video lighting and to get lights for under $500 each with that kind of output is incredible. I wanted to do a video review of the lights but haven't found the time yet. So in the meantime here are my initial impressions: Build Quality - The build quality of the light is excellent. No complaints there. The threads are tight for both parts of the light and there are two o-rings to keep the water out. - My impression of the battery is that it's a pretty cheaply made generic rechargeable battery. For the replacement cost of $25 you can't expect more. I can't say I expect the life of the battery over time to be outstanding but with the cheap replacement cost you can afford to buy more of them. - The battery charger is junk. It works, but they really skimped on costs here. My battery barely stays in the charger and if the charger is at any angle it'll fall over and the battery will fall out. Careful if you use a rubber band to hold it in as it may become too hot. While I criticize the battery charger, they do work so no worries there. - The box comes with extra o-ring lube and an extra o-ring or two. Light Performance - The light output is as advertised: very bright. Do NOT make the mistake I made when turning it on and looking into the light head. You will not see for a few minutes. - The batteries last at least an hour on full output. I burn tested mine in ice-cold water (most of my diving is done in 30-40 degree temps). Output is definitely diminished at the end of the hour, but it is still useable. With the cheap battery cost get a second set for each dive you plan to do a day. - The light beam on wide is very wide. This will be perfect for you GoPro users who want a light or two for the wide angle lens. I was using it on a full frame Nikon D800E with 16-35 lens and the width was nearly enough to cover the full frame. Getting a second light easily covers the gaps. - If anything, the light is too wide. I almost would prefer a tighter but brighter beam. - The red LEDs are worthless to me. I tried shooting with them and the output was too dim for my use. The spot light is handy if you need to switch and signal your buddy...but generally a pain when they're mounted to a camera rig. - Running the red LEDs with the white LEDs is interesting. The white light output is diminished though. I don't see this as useful for my applications. If you have any further questions please let me know. I may have missed a bit in this short review. Now for the good stuff. See it in action in this first video I took with them: https://vimeo.com/72014413 For more upcoming videos, please subscribe on Vimeo or check out my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AretePhotography -Andy

I ordered two from Taiwan a few weeks ago. Lots of initial impressions of them but I'll finally get a chance to really dive with them this weekend off the coast of North Carolina. I'm working on a video review which should be finished next week. -Andy

Hello, I'll be diving off some boats this summer in North Carolina and from what I hear it's a bit of a wild ride on the surface! We're doing deco dives so we'll have extra bottles on. Handling a camera while getting in/out of the boat is going to be a major challenge. I was curious if anyone has any ideas for making a done cover that will protect the nauticam dome from scratches and from anything coming in contact with it. Ultimately, I would like something I can dive the rest if the dive with. Maybe a low/profile plastic guard that I can tuck into my harness during the dive. Anyone have any ideas? -Andy

Hi Steve, Great, glad the video turned out well for him! Take care, -Andy

Hi Steve, Some great questions! First off, I would suggest he try to simulate the darkness and get some experience with the mic and doing audio/video in similar conditions. The first time you shoot video with a DSLR it's never as good as you hope for. The D800 does have built in metering for audio. You can access it in the menu structure or when in video mode by holding down the right keys. I forget which they are but I kind of remember the up/down joystick buttons doing it. Could be wrong though. The ISO depends on a lot of factors, but your suggestions are a good starting point. If he can shoot a fast lens he'll be better off. Sadly wide-angle and fast glass is a bit expensive. I use a Nikon 16-35mm F/4 and hate how slow it is for dark lighting conditions with video. If he can, prioritize the ISO being in the range you suggest, and after that try to get in the f/5.6-f/8 range for aperture. If you have a nice prime lens you might be able to get good results opening it up a little more from that to get more light in. Your DOF is going to be tiny so focus is critical. I would suggest shooting at 1080p at 24fps. Try and shoot at 1/50th of a second to get a good compromise of motion blur in each frame along with letting a bit of light in. Hope that helps give a good starting point for you. Nothing beats trying a few settings first though. Noise at high ISO in video is acceptable on the D800 but canons still blow it away on the video end. -Andy