Focus light options

[joeyfishes 0]

Hi All,

I am exploring inexpensive options for mounting a focus light on my rig. Is anyone using a mini C light attached to an Ikelite system. I have the Ikelite arms and it looks like they make a clamp that will attach to the arm and lets you adjust the angel of the light. I am thinking of duct taping a small home made diffuser on the light to spread the beam out a little. Anyone doing this ?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Joe

[Arnon_Ayal 1]

Not directly answer your question, but see this thread and the link there from backscatters, a lot of information regarding this issue.

[mbartick 0]

Hi All,

I am exploring inexpensive options for mounting a focus light on my rig. Is anyone using a mini C light attached to an Ikelite system. I have the Ikelite arms and it looks like they make a clamp that will attach to the arm and lets you adjust the angel of the light. I am thinking of duct taping a small home made diffuser on the light to spread the beam out a little. Anyone doing this ?

Thanks

 

Joe

 

 

Hi All,

I am exploring inexpensive options for mounting a focus light on my rig. Is anyone using a mini C light attached to an Ikelite system. I have the Ikelite arms and it looks like they make a clamp that will attach to the arm and lets you adjust the angel of the light. I am thinking of duct taping a small home made diffuser on the light to spread the beam out a little. Anyone doing this ?

Thanks

 

Joe

[mbartick 0]

Hey Joey, Im not sure what inexpensive is to you. But the results is what im after.

I know good info is never too late.

I purchased the clamp for the mini C and yes it does work, But!....The Light is yellow. I have tried many different lighting methods for modeling , including using my built in modeling lamps on my DS strobes. I could go on and on. but here it is.

 

Best modeling lights out(in my opinion)

Nocturnal-Multiple LED lighting head.

Pro-excellent for AF, no hot spots for macro , white light, shoe mounts to S&S housings etc.

con-expensive

 

Fantasea 44 LED-

Pro-excellent white light with multiple(44 to be exact) LED's, Soft yet effective, No hot spots for macro, will mount to S&S strobe arm, 1/3 of the price as nocturnal

Con- must buy additional bracket from ULCS for light management

 

Comment-After much debate i purchaed the Fantasea and all i can say is dont waste your time and effort with the ikelight mini c or any other single bulb flashlight.

Bite the bullet and make the leap. Dont go cheap and be dissapointed.

The Fantasea is the best buy, Its hot! If you want to contact me off list i will give you all the info

E-Mail Mike@saltwaterphoto.com

[ce4jesus 1]

"Fantasea 44 LED-

Pro-excellent white light with multiple(44 to be exact) LED's, Soft yet effective, No hot spots for macro, will mount to S&S strobe arm, 1/3 of the price as nocturnal

Con- must buy additional bracket from ULCS for light management"

 

Just as a side note, I put this light on a cheap, hotshoe mount from Sea&Sea so it sits right over my port. Easy to aim and seperate from the arm. I too really like the light. Ebay has the light for about $50 and you can sometimes find the hotshoe on there for about $35.

[Islandbound 1]

Does the focus light have to turn off with the stobe flash to prevent an overlit spot?

[ce4jesus 1]

I've yet to see a photo on mine where it left a hot spot in the photo. Its just not that strong. Whereas when I've asked my wife to shine her dive light on stuff its very noticable. It must be the LED lights that are cool enough to be overpowered by the flash.

[Cerianthus 55]

I am in the same predicament as joey, Are there any other lites that fit in the Mini C ikelite clamp that anyone knows of.

 

Gerard

[Iggy 0]

"Fantasea 44 LED-

Pro-excellent white light with multiple(44 to be exact) LED's, Soft yet effective, No hot spots for macro, will mount to S&S strobe arm, 1/3 of the price as nocturnal

I do use a Nocturnal and have for almost 2 years now. I am sold on LED focus lights. There is something about the light or light temp that adds enough contrast for Af to lock but not a dose a light that upsets the subject or illuminates particulate. That is why the comparisons between LEDs and Halogens, like the one from backscatter, to me at least. didn't serve much purpose. It missed the point. Each light type is very different. And each meets different personal preferences. An LED will not do what a halogen does best, and a halogen will not do what an LED does best. My preference is a light that acts as a focus assist but not necessarily another source of high illumination.

 

I mount mine of a ball that screws to the top of my Seacam housing but it is difficult to use with a long flat port. So I use a 3" macro rod to extend the light over the port so the angle towards the subject is better. I don't know if that arm is available anymore. I got it with a set called the "Ultimate Macro" arm set that either UL or TLC was marketing some years ago.

[bruceterrill 0]

I use the Hartenberger 'Nano' compact focus light...

It has multiple adjustments, with a very difuse beam; truly a wonderful light!

 

Bruce

[UWphotoNewbie 1]

I have the Ikelite mini-C light with the adapter you are talking about. The mount is clunky and a pain in the neck to adjust. It interferes with your strobe arm positioning. The light is heavy too.

 

I agree with the comment that you should not use any single bulb light. This one definitely produces hot spots. I tried messing with creating a diffuser but it only reduced the power to where it wasn't usable.

 

I then tried the ultralight neck adapter for Ikelite and a Princeton tech AA light. Much better but still had hot spots.

 

Now I'm using the Fantasea focus lamp. This one has 8 LEDs and cuts out after your preflash. I think its the best solution so far. My only complaint is that its a little dim. It uses 4 AAA batteries and 8 LEDs. It works for close macro subjects but not for farther subjects.

 

The best would be their 44 bulb light with the circuitry to cut out. I wonder however if that much light wouldn't interfere with your TTL measurement and affect your exposure? I had a problem with my lighting on my last night dive that I couldn't totally solve. My strobes fired fine but all my exposures were dark.

[Cerianthus 55]

You devil

 

Maybe it is time to skipp the newbie part ??

 

 

Gerard

[Islandbound 1]

I bought a $27(US) UK Q40 eLed, used the strap to attach it to the arm of an Ikelite D80 housing and it worked great. This is a pic from under a deep overhang where I was using the light beam to poke around with. The light is "on" the fish while snapping the photo and this is an untouched pic.

 

http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/3891/247...S600x600Q85.jpg

 

The light does move a bit while swimming but this wasnt a problem to me as it reaims quickly. Even with no air tanks it was not a prolonged issue to reaim the light if needed. All of the second half of this pics in this album http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559258242EItCQo were taken with the q40 used as a focus light.

[Cerianthus 55]

I just got the mini C light to attach.

 

since my strobe arms attach one to the top and one to the bottom of the handle: i can use these 2 attachment optionss.

 

it seems the strobe is the least in the way when I use the bottom placement (the pic with the hand) The other one benefits from the quick release. This was my original mounting idea, but it turns out, above the port is were I like one of my strobes as well.

 

 

I ductaped a diffusor on the mini C lite, just a translucent bit of plastic found on an espresso coffee can, and it gives cover like this. I had another plastic lid, and that turned out to be too dense.

 

 

Gerard

(and now of to the water with it)

[Islandbound 1]

Gerard, can you post a pic where the entire strobe arm and the focus light attachment is visible? I would like to see how the clamp and arm arrangement look. Ultralight makes a clamp for the Q40 I have but I want to see how it might look first.

[Cerianthus 55]

Sorry to not follow up on this sooner, Here is a picture of the entire setup. If you cant see it properly, I will try to take a picture showing it better.

 

I tried using it recently, and I just had the focus light really close to the port. It worked very well on real close up/macro stuff, but the smaller and larger fish were just too skittish in that pond.