New double video light rig

Trying something new for a video light right. When the lights are bolted onto the side of the Goodman handle I find the backscatter to be quite noticable, so this new rig is to push the lights further away from the camera and at an angle to reduce it... Its experimental at this stage... but here goes...

Ingredients:

Loc-Line Coolant Hose Pack
Description
Standard Pack of Coolant Hose containing 2 x 5.3/4" of 1/4" hose (10 Segments),
3 Nozzles (1/16, 1/8 & 1/4")
 and
1/8" &1/4" Male NPT Connectors.
£12.76

EPDM Rubber Lined P Clips Air Hose Pipe Clamps Cable Retention Tube Clip Mikalor
( 251259923794 )
Material: W1 Mild Steel Zinc Plated DIN 3016 (PHC-**)
Sold Per: 5 (Five) Clips Pack
Size: 26mm Pipe Retaining Clamp
£3.85        for the 4000lm torch

M4 SOCKET ALLEN CAP HEAD HEX KEY SCREW BOLT A2 STAINLESS STEEL (ABOLT-FTB)
£1.35 for 10

M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 M10 M12 A4 MARINE STAINLESS NYLOC NYLON INSERT HEXAGON LOCK NUTS
( 111035553279 )
£1.20

100g Polymorph Thermoplastic

To fix the loc-line to the Goodman handle I've cut the threaded section off the loc-line base. Its quite thin so a junior hacksaw will do it easily.

Then bolted the base to the handle with the bolts threaded through the base.

Once both loc-line bases are bolted securely to the handle I made the connectors for the torches. For these I used the nozzle ends provided in the pack, choosing the two largest ones. The finished product looks like this:

To make the hole for the bolt I used a soldering iron, it could be drilled but its quite a hard polished plastic so melting a hole was a lot easier.

Passing the bolt through...

I later added a washer either side but its not shown in these photos..

To make the hose clip connection more rigid, I used a small of piece of polymorph plastic to stabalise it. Take a small piece, say a lump the size a coin, melt it in boiling water and then place it between the hose clip and the nozzle end when you tighten the bolt up. It will form into the correct shape and solidify.

You can use the soldering iron to melt the polymorph plastic around the edges to make it neater.

To plug the whole thing together, lay the loc-line pieces in boiling hot water for a few minutes and then apply a little pressure.

The torches I've used in this example are the two LED torches I've previously reviewed on my blog, one with reflector removed for video and just a normal 4000lm torch with reflector.

I've added a chord to tie the torches to the handle, just in case the loc-line is not strong enough. Its 1/4" loc-line, out of water is seems a little flimsy but I'm hoping in water it will be ok. Its the same as the Ikelite kit.

I over tightened one of the nozzle heads and cracked it, so i'm going to reinforce them with some liquid metal or resin.. not done that yet.

First outing this week...

OK, the arms work really well, the connections stayed tight and secure for 6 dives. In the water they support the weight of the torches fine. Out of water they move a little.

The non-modified torch with its reflectors still in, was no good for video, hot spot ruined the video.

The video camera also developed a nasty fault of not turning on... so not to successful!

My 3mm gloves got ripped by the bolts connecting the arms to the goodman handle, so I think the bolts need to be reduced in length.

Video Light - Screenshots from Red Sea Videos

The following video captures are from the Sony Action Camera, using VLC in 1080p/25fps/120 degrees.

The full videos will be put on my Vimeo Channel.

All were taken using the DIY Video Light ( Double version) on a recent vacation to the Red Sea.

The first three shots are inside the Thistlegorm, lower decks in the holds, with just the Chinese torch in use not the Video lights... Not sure if you can make out the rows of open top trucks full of trailers and motobikes...

This is with the two light video light turned on. Spotted a nudibranch on the cab of a truck against the ships outer hull/rib. Distance to subject was less than a metre and very little silt in the water..

This is another hold, distance to truck cab is 2m, vis was good again, the hotspot in the top corner of the shot is the chinese torch not the video light. 

Hole in the top of a truck cab, 1-2m range.

Exiting the hold, foreground lit up with DIY video lights, quit silty at this point... you can see the particles in the water.

Truck radiator, cowling long gone. Middle deck at edge of hold entrance.

Daylight shots with the video lights on.

Swimming up to a small pinnacle, "The Alternatives" at Ras Mohammed, Egypt. Its a sequence of shots swimming up to the pinnacle, the lights are only starting to have any effect within the last meter.. The little shinney fish are glass fish.

SONY HDR-AS15 Action Cam

My second Canon Ixus 75 flooded again, the plethora of Go-Pros when diving and a recent trip to Scapa Flow seduced me into the world of video... As per usual, instead of following the herd I tried not to go to the default route of a go-pro 3 and choose the Sony action cam. The lense quality, sensor low light capabilities and price brought me to this device. It doesn't have same level of accessories as the go-pro but thats fine...

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/cam-action-cam/hdr-as15

I also bought a spare battery, charger and underwater flat ported door from Sony.. You need a flat port for diving.. google it..
Purchased from John Lewis Stores £199, Amazon £20 and ebay £35 for the door pack.
Action Cam Replacement Doors — 2 Pack
Model number:  AKA-RD1

To  mount it, I used the provided flat surface clip on mount, tie wrapped to a goodman handle. This was in turn secured to me by a retractable lanyard clipped off on my right chest D ring.

Tie wraps (T&B) and not cable ties, are 2mm width for extra strength. Two each side of the mount.

Two tie wraps on each side, going through the holes in the goodman handle and the mount, crossing over to give extra strength.

Retractable lanyard.

To protect it when I jump in, I keep it in a Bowstone pocket on my belt and then remove once in the water. Its always clipped off to the right chest D-ring.. I thought I would need a bolt snap on it for extra security but i've not used it yet.

Its a bit fiddle to get out of the bag but it works. I think thats the bags fault!

Lighting

As my first trip was going to be deep and dark ( like most UK dives tbh) I added a light to the goodman handle.

It was a bit of a lash up and the angle bracket that the light was attached to, seriously rusted... so the mark 2 is shown below. This uses, from ebay...

EPDM Rubber Lined P Clips Hose Pipe Clamp Cable Wiring Metal & Stainless Mikalor, 30mm stainless steel and a M4 X 12 A2 SOCKET CAP HEAD SCREW HEX ALLEN KEY BOLT A2 STAINLESS + Bolt.

I also updated the firmware to the latest version, this gave it more shooting modes but more importantly, introduced the underwater scene mode, essential! 

The biggest issue with this setup is the spot from the light shows up too much on the video, it needs to be diffused. I tried a plastic opaque top from somewhere in the kitchen but it doesn't diffuse enough..

I had the diffuser on a detachable bungey so that I could use it as a general torch but I never did remove it underwater....

This is a frame from the video with the light on full power with the diffuser. As the camera has no viewfinder, its a bit of suck it and see. The torch does have a number of power settings but this didn't seem to remove the spot, just reduce its intensity.

This was my torch shinning from the left ( wrist mounted) which is useful for lighting from the side, its like painting the light..

Here is a picture with mostly natural lighting ( beam from left is faint) , its probably a cloudy day, 26m depth... Its the Hull/Deck of the Dresden...

Next quest is for a better method of diffusing the light. Maybe remove the lense and just have the LED "bare" or another material in front...? Watch this space...

Some initial observations :

I thought the flat port was quite obtrusive and might cause a leak if it were knocked, but so far so good.. after a week of fairly abusive behaviour its ok.

In the 170 degree mode ( wide angle), I noticed I could see the flat port lense and a bit of image distortion at the periphery which annoyed me. I think you need to stick to 120 degrees underwater. Maybe blue water diving would be ok but in green/dark. I also found my primary light caught the edge of the port and caused a flare mark.

Battery life is quite impressive, I did 6 cold water dives without changing the battery, I only changed it after that to be safe at 40% ish. This is one thing I had heard about the GoPro 3 that sort of put me off.

Although I bought mine 3-4 months after the firmware upgrade, the one I purchased from the store was old firmware i.e. didn't have the underwater mode. Its not big deal but just don't get disappointed the mode is not there initially, download and install, easy.

Accessories, well there not as prevalent as the GoPro fittings but it does have a standard tripod mount which opens the door to quite a bit. I used the supplied quick release mounts to attach to the goodman handle.

GoPro humidity pads fit inside fine. In fact there seems to be quite a bit of space around the camera ( 2mm ;).

The wireless feature is a novelty, I don't think I will ever use it, there is a version without wifi which is cheaper so that might be a better bet. 

Price, i like, it cost me £199 from John Lewis and another £35 for the door pack.  Given the environment you takes these devices into and their propensity to flood ever so often, I'm not laying out mega bucks...

I've put some sample videos on my Youtube channel..

http://www.youtube.com/user/johnohuk2

Or 

Vimeo 

https://vimeo.com/user19212157

A new firmware version was released in June which I didn't notice, just loaded it and have yet to get it wet, new version is v3.0.0, previously I was running v2.0.0.

Update:

Just got back from a Red Sea liveaboard..... Northern Wrecks and Reefs... Dual light worked a treat, really brings out the colours on the reef... limited range mind, maybe 1m max in good conditions...but definitely worth it because just a little light is needed to turn from a dull blue into something else..

https://vimeo.com/90581529

I'll try to put some of the wreck penetration videos up soon...