MaximDim

I'm using S90 with Ikelite, Inon UWL-100 and pair of old Inon D-180 strobes. Both UWL-100, strobes and optical cables are straight from old Canon point and shoot setup and they works pretty well. With UWL-100 you will get some black corners on maximum lens width (28mm) so you would have to zoom to 35mm or crop in post processing. All in all it was very worthy upgrade. I can post some shoots I took with it, if you like.

Couple years ago I've got Sony TRV-900 and Ikelite housing for around $1000 all in from eBay. Old but still quite capable camera. Has MWB, 3CCD. Could be a good option if you're don't mind buying used and don't need HD.

Wow, wasn't aware of this Inon converter. Looks like it should be possible to use my old D-180s with Canon 5d in Aquatica housing (it has Nikonos bulkheads). Good news. Thanks!

I'm just curious how you're going to convert from Nikonos to optical? Do you have both on your housing?

Which halogen system you're referring to for that price? I might be interested to look at it as well.

Well, I was driven completely by cost. For the price I paid for the pair of Darkbusters (~$600) there wasn't anything comparable. I didn't want to spend much on my first lighting system before I can figure what I need/want etc. And as Wagsy mentioned you can also use Darkbusters for camping ;-) My opinion is that it's all depends on your needs and environment you're are using it in. What works perfectly for close up shoots in clean water might not be the best option for big wrecks in the lake and so on.

I switched my TRV-900 to '30' shutter speed for those dives, that seems to help to capture ambient light. Otherwise camera goes to +18 gain almost all the time when lights are further than few feet from the subject.

I don't think we have same brands of yogurt here I have actually used very thin single-use plastic plates, because all yogurt I've seen here is made of much thicker plastic. I attached standard ULCS arms to my lights, with very simple modification of ball adapter.

Hey, no real complains - I'm happy with them for the price I paid. I'm pretty sure with diffusers in clear water they works great, especially for closer shoots. Some of videos you took with them are simply amazing! Can't have everything and don't pay much I guess.

If I point them to converge at closer point there is just too much back scatter from particles in the water. I was actually trying to point them slightly outwards. I'm using yogurt diffusers, thanks to tip from Wagsy. They work great, but only on the short distances, like feet or two. Here is the shoot with diffusers on - you can see lights only when I'm close to the subject: http://vimeo.com/1440332

My only complain about Darkbusters is hot spot. Without diffusers hot spots are very pronounced (can see it here for example at the beginning of this video I took: http://vimeo.com/1695473). With diffusers light output is greatly reduced, especially in bad visibility. I think reflector size on Darkbuster is noticeably smaller than on 'proper' video lights.

Thanks for response. Link fixed. ND filter is off obviously and I don't use any color filters. Well, I guess there are no magic tricks, are there?

I'm using Sony TRV-900 with Ikelite housing. Shooting mostly in the Great Lakes, where it's usually quite dark below 60 feet or so. Shooting so far on all auto, except white balance and noticed that camera keeps shutter speed at 60 and using full +18dB gain if it's dark enough (sample can be seen here http://vimeo.com/1261703. I wonder if I playing with shutter speed, say setting it to 30, would make any difference? Or may be there are some other settings I should look at? Would appreciate your thoughts.

Would it work with Sigma 15 mm 2.8 FE? How much is shipping to Ontario, Canada?

You could upload them to Amazon S3 and send links to editor. It won't solve uploading time issue though.

I bought mine from reefphoto, in US. They have prices on website so you can compare: http://reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=i...mp;cPath=135_97

Which adapter you're referring to? ULCS I used were about $40 USD each if I recall correctly.

Wagsy, You sold me on yogurt diffusers - time to make a trip to grocery store. I have to admit that your underwater landscape is slightly different from what we dive here. :-)

Lights are just slightly negative - the whole set up with buoyant arms tend to sink slowly if released, which is fine. But it's not very balanced in terms of orientation - if I let camera with lights go it rotates upside down rather quickly (front going up). Not sure how to fight it without adding weights and floats. It's not terribly bad, still comfortable to hold in shooting position, but could be better.

Ultralight Control System (ULCS) 'AD-UK' adapter for UK Light Canon. http://www.ulcs.com/strobes.html As I said above, in this adapter the plate which attaches to the light base is a bit wider (couple mm) then needed. I had to use file to remove extra width - it's made from aluminum alloy so it's not that hard. Once it's been done it fits perfectly and very robust. Shoot new video couple days ago with same set up but using longer strobe arms (10 inches). I think it's better - light beams are not so noticeable as before (you can see light pattern quite clearly on the bottom at around 7 min mark). Maybe it's just water being clearer this time though. http://www.extremeprofile.com/videos.actio...p;diveId=363516

On pictures I posted lights connected directly to the ball adapters on Ikelite housing handles. Obviously you could insert any standard UCLS strobe arm(s) in between.

Yes, light beams are bothering me as well. They're not so noticeable in the clearer water though. Even so my Darkbusters have 'video' reflectors I guess they're not so great in terms of providing wide uniform light pattern. They also tend to overexpose at short distance. Maybe I should try to experiment with longer strobe arms... Yes. At the time I bought them (about a year ago) ULCS didn't have specialized adapters for this light, so I bought AD-UK. They turned out to be about 2 mm. wider then mounting slot on the light, but it was relatively easy to remove a bit of excessive material from the adapter and after that they fit perfectly. Can you please post more details about your diffuser (may be some photos?). I'm not very impressed with stock video reflector.

I'm using dual 24w Darkbuster lights with Sony TRV-900 in Ikelite housing. Managed to attach them to standard ULCS connector: http://MaximDim.smugmug.com/gallery/505647...304137108_i745v They works great in clean water, but here in Great Lakes I wish they were more powerful Nevertheless, here is sample footage we shot at night in pretty low vis: http://www.extremeprofile.com/videos.actio...amp;diveId=6500 Overall I'm pleased with them, especially considering the ~$300 price.

If chryster and bvanant doesn't buy it, I am interested in housing and 5503.51 Dome Port.

I just got back from GC few weeks ago. Was diving with Ocean Frontiers on the East End. Can't recommend them high enough. My dive profiles from that trip, if you interested.