FaceOnEgg
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Posts posted by FaceOnEgg
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I designed and 3D printed some gears for the Olympus 60mm and 12-50mm lens for my Aquatica GH5 housing. I wanted to share the design if anyone else wanted to use them! I've uploaded the *.STL files to thingiverse at the following link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2924403
The 12-50mm requires adding a layer of tape or two to make the zoom gear thicker for the gear ring to slide on.
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The shutter trigger and lens cap holder have been working great, have gone on 40-50 dives with them. The zoom trigger I ended up getting rid of, it doesn't have good retention mechanism in the current design. I made them on my own 3D printer that I have, if you are interested message me and I could print a set for sale.
The tray is from CamDive (Type B) that I got from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D9UI2I4/ref=twister_B078CZ9NYD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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After diving with the PT-058 housing and KitDive tray I had some annoyances that I wanted to fix.
- Camera mode knob is difficult to turn with 5mm gloves on.
- Need camera trigger from camera tray handle
- Zoom knob not easily accessible from tray handle
- lens cover floats around and gets into image
I 3D printed some mods out of PLA that have been great, I've dived with the knob and camera trigger a couple times but am excited to try out the lens holder and zoom knob.
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After quite a bit of procrastination I finally finished a light!
There are definitely some things that aren't great about it.. changing the battery is a pain..and some of the monitoring elements like temperature and current never got implemented. The magnetic switch and control worked well though. I'm also super happy with the results and photos i was able to take with it! The color came out nicely for LED (Used a gopro taking video and getting screen grabs)
I took the light diving in Monterey and Carmel this past weekend. I programmed it to only cycle through 75%, 50%, and 25% power. With the cold water of Monterey I didn't feel the heatsink get very warm underwater. I'll try and program it to go the full 100% for the next trip...probably should implement the temperature sensing as well for that
. I used it fairly sparingly as I didn't want to have to open it up during the trip and didn't have a practical way to charge it while camping. I mainly only used it when I was taking video with the gopro during the dives. It got through 5 dives over two days and was only about half discharged. Typically shot full 75% brightness during the day and 25% was more than bright enough for the night dive.
In action!
Full assembly:
Various parts:
0% power:
25% power:
50% power:
75% power:
Some untouched screen grabs:
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Update:Power control board has finished being designed and first batch for prototypes are on order!SLS nylon parts for the 8x18650 battery pack are on order too!
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these look great! and relatively small for its output which is another good thing...sometimes i fancy some strong video lights but then i see the size of them and no thanks but no
Are you planning to have the battery compartment isolated from the rest ? (ie in case of leaks ?)
Also, either some rubber layer around the metal bits would be useful, to soften any accidental bumps etc...though this could be solved with a neoprene cover.
What is the planned weight and buyonancy ?
aach and a some kind of a filter attachment in front..so one could change to blue for example for fluro would be awesome
Keep going, great design!
Thanks! One of my goals was to keep it fairly compact!
With regards for a separate battery compartment, unfortunately not for this version. There have been thoughts of sealing of the electronics by potting them off with silicone. That way you would only be out the batteries if a flooding occurred. Potting is fairly common in the automotive world to waterproof electronics, however it makes it impossible to service... Another issue is making sure overheating doesn't occur due to the additional potting. I'll be finding out how the design performs thermally with the prototype so we'll see how much margin there is!
A rubber/silicone layer is a good idea! The current design is quite hefty as it's overbuilt compared to what is out there. It'd be hard to get those made in small quantities at a reasonable cost, but that would be a good feature to add if there is enough interest! One concern would be that the front metal face is the main heatsink for getting rid of heat so it'd be good to keep that exposed. Though I could probably just have something molded that only covers the corners in the front area while keeping the front face metal exposed.
Current design weight is around 3 pounds. Volume is about 760 cm^3, so ~1.7pounds water. That would make each negatively buoyant by 1.3 pounds. To my understanding video rigs are typically neutrally buoyant or slightly negatively buoyant? Probably would want to add buoyancy foam on the rig.
A filter adapter mount could be pretty easily made. a ring with a standard size filter thread size could be added and held down where the front 6 screws attach.
For fluorescence diving I'm actually planning on using blue LED's instead of a filter as a separate "head". Using LED's that emit blue light will get much more power over a filter. With the current blue (450nm) LED's i have selected should be able to get about 14W emitted power for each light.
-Michael
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Update: most of the mechanical parts have come in. It'll take me some time to get the electronics board ready though...
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Regarding power decreases, for underwater photography I tend to think in terms of factors of 2, to match an f-stop change or a shutter-speed change. So it would be convenient to be able to reduce the power by 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc.
Ah, I can see how that would be useful!
I think I would like to be able to allow users to customize their own settings to suit their own needs. I always see lots of products that in an attempt to please everyone adds extra features, even though most users won't use half of them. These extra features get in the way and actually take away from the typical user's experience. The user could program in their own preset brightness's in the manner they would actually use them instead of having settings that they wouldn't use. Currently the plan is to have a small atmel microcontroller running the light itself (current control, temp monitoring, user input, etc), but that could be easily programmed like an arduino. There would be some amount of programming background knowledge needed however an arudino library of some sort could be made to make things easier. People could also create and share settings/profiles. Currently I'll be programming the lights using a secondary arduinoISP, however if this feature would be pretty popular a usb interface could be added.
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Thanks for the feedback!
I'd probably be able to include some extra tapped holes as a mounting point for an adapter to locline mounts. I've never actually seen a locline mount up close so don't know how they attach, but it shouldn't be too hard to make an adapter for it.
Based on some feedback form other sites as well I've made some updates to the design.
First I'll be changing the LED driver on the lights. They are a little less efficient and I'll only be able to get a little over 8,000 lumens out of them but the CRI is increased from 70 to 90 which is important for getting more even and vibrant colors out of video.
Second I'll be able to fit 8x 18650 cells in a 4s2p configuration in the current envelope. This will increase the battery capacity by 33% than the 4x 26650 option i had before. There's some extra charging wiring and circuitry needed but the 33% increase is worth it.
Overall I'll be aiming for at least 1 hour of battery life at full power, however I'll have to run some tests once the prototype is built.
Currently I have most the mechanical parts on order, still need to work on the electronics power board though. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated with pictures as things come together!
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Hello,
Please excuse that this is my first post, I’ve been lurking for several months now. I got into diving about a year and a half ago and have been enjoying taking video with a GoPro and some small lights. I’ve been wanting to upgrade my rig and as an engineer decided that a fun project would be to build a set of my own video lights!
My initial prototype design is pretty much complete and I wanted to get feedback from the diving community. I’d be really interested in reading comments on what features divers like and don’t like about the lights. What additional features would you like to see? Would this be something that you would want? How do you think they compare to what’s already out there? What lights do you currently use? How do you like them? I’d be happy to answer any detailed questions that you may have.
There are three light head options, 10,000 lumen white, 7,500 lumen white and 14W blue. I wanted to keep the size on the smaller side so that the overall rig remains manageable. The lights are driven with a closed loop constant current control system so that the brightness and lumen rating remains the same throughout the dive at any setting. A lot of the cheaper ones without this circuitry will dim quickly as you use them and only meet the stated lumen rating for the first couple minutes. I’ve put together a detailed spec listed of expected performance of my design below as well.
I’m building a set of 6-10 of these first prototype version for myself and some dive-buddies currently. I’d be up for refining the design based on usage experience and feedback and doing a small production run. I already have a list of things I’d like to include in the Rev02 version. I’d expect to be able to offer it for around $700ea depending on the scale of the run.
Dive Safe!
-Michael
Prototype Dive Light SpecificationsExpected Depth Rating: 45m/150ft
Battery: 4x26650 Li-ion pack, 4S 4500mAH
Dimensions: L=116mm x W-90mm x H=110mm
Construction: Anodized Aluminum covers, Acrylic Body, 316 Stainless Steel hardware
Interface: Single Magnetic Hall Effect Slide Switch
Mounting: ¼-20” Bolt hole for 1” Ball adapter
Settings: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (firmware customizable programmable levels)
Control circuitry: Closed loop constant current circuitry
Protection: Thermal protection shutoff, Battery low voltage shutoff
Lighting Head Options:
7,500 Lumen white LED output
Device: 1x CREE CXA2540 COB LED
Beam Width: 115°
Expected Run Time:
100%: 1.0 hour
75%: 1.6 hour
50%: 2.7 hour
25% 6.1 hour
Color Temperature: 5000K
10,000 Lumen white LED output
Device: 1x CREE CXA3070 COB LEDBeam Width: 115°
Expected Run Time:
100%: 45 minutes
75%: 70 minutes
50%: 1.8 hours
25%: 3.6 hours
Color Temperature: 5000K
14 Watt Blue LED output
Device: 9x CREE XT-EBeam Width: 140°
Expected Run Time:
100%: 1.5 hours
75%: 2.5 hours
50%: 4 hours
25%: 9 hours
Wavelength: 455nm
Possible changes/additional features for Rev02:
Battery level indicator, 4-level
Finer incremental adjustment (1% increments)
Better user interface button/switch/slide
Anodized Aluminum Body or Polycarbonate Body
Modify body to accommodate 6s, 4500mAh battery pack in same form factor
Double length for 4s2p or 6s2p battery setup
More protection for the front lens piece
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Anyone know about SLS nylon?
Various mods for Olympus PT-058 Housing for TG-5
in Photography Gear and Technique
Posted
The trigger has been working well though the lever arm did break once (jamming on it to hard trying to get the perfect shot
). I printed another with 100% infill and haven't had any issues since. There is enough throw in the trigger that it's pretty easy to control half-press to focus before activating the shutter which was really helpful for timing shots. The zoom lever attachment popped off after awhile though. I ended up just getting used to reaching around to adjust zoom. While not ideal it could be epoxied on. The lens cap holder has been great with no issues. I upgraded to a larger camera system a couple months ago but probably got at least 150+ dives on the TG-5. I still plan on using the TG5 for lighter travel like for going snorkeling/free-diving.
The trigger lever bottoms out just above the zoom swivel so that's why the zoom attachment goes around it to prevent any interference.
I'd be happy to share the 3d *.STL files, I've uploaded them to thingiverse here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3030704