Great question!
The short answer is – the more the merrier! You can never have too much light.
The longer answer is, it depends…
Generally, video lights are not as powerful as strobes. Even through strobes aren’t measured in lumens, just as a rough comparison, an entry level strobe (20 GN) has a power output equivalent to about 30,000 lumens.
This is why if you’re planning on doing mostly photos, strobes are still the best way to go. (Learn more about strobes here)
One scenario in which you might benefit from using a video light for photos, is when shooting macro. A continuous light allows you to use burst mode, and shoot several photos rapidly. If you do this while gently rocking back and forth, you will most likely nail the focus on one of the shots. This technique cannot be done with strobes due to recycle time.
Since you’re close to your subject, you still get plenty of light from your video light.
Even though it’s counterintuitive, the deeper you go, the less light you need!
Yep, you read that right.
This is because you don’t need to overpower the sunlight, so you can make do with a weaker video light. As you shoot closer to the surface, the ambient light becomes very powerful, especially on a bright sunny day, your video light becomes less effective and gets lost in the strong sunlight.
For night dives, you’ll find that even a basic video light produces enough light for good photos and videos.
As a rule of thumb, when shooting with a video light, it’s recommended to be no further than 2-3 feet away from you subject.
Strong video lights (10,000+ lumens) may allow you to shoot 5-6 feet away as well, but the light fades away quite fast underwater so want to make sure it’s still effective by getting as close as possible.
Video lights are constantly evolving and getting stronger every year. Recently, a strobe feature has been integrated into some video lights, which allows them to trigger off a built in camera flash via fiber optic cables and let out a strong burst of light, stronger than the usual rating of the light.
In fact, Kraken have started including this as a standard feature on all of their Hydra lights.
Ok, get to the point! How many lumens do you really need?
If you want to get a wide beam light, 100-120 degrees such as the ones offered by Kraken or Big Blue, I would suggest to get 8,000 lumen lights and above. Its pretty hard to take good video (unless you are shooting macro) with less than that.
If you are doing mostly macro or want to get a more narrower beam light such as Backscatter or Light and Motion SOLA’s, a 4000 lumen light will be great.
If you’re only shooting macro, you can see the examples above, even a 2500 lumen light will be very effective.
But in general, get as much power as your budget allows, its always easy to use a lower power level and its good to have the higher one.
To learn more about video lights and see some of the the most popular options, we recommend reading our Ultimate Guide to Underwater Video Lights.
- Native Lenses vs. Wet Lenses for Underwater Photography – December 20, 2023
- The Complete Guide to Practicing at Home for Underwater Photographers – October 4, 2023
- Best Strobe for Underwater – The Ultimate Strobe Guide (Updated!) – June 29, 2023
4 comments
Hi Ran,
A few Questions.
If I like to take video as well as macro, what should my set up be?
i.e. two strobes, with VL on shoe. , i.e. two VL and strobe on shoe.
Id like to keep it simple and not trade out every dive.
For example I was diving the Galapagos a couple of months ago, we saw Hammerheads schools 30 feet away and also had closer, 4 feet, shots of red lipped batfish.
What do you suggest or recommend. Thanks, Steve
Hey Steve!
If you do mostly video and macro, I don’t think you need two strobes.
You can definitely get away with one strobe and one video light. One on each side.
I would recommend the Kraken video light, since you can easily use them as a slave strobe via fiber optic cable (very cool feature), to add some fill light on your macro shots, and use it on a regular basis for videos. You can also use it as a focus light when using just the strobe.
The Hydra 3500 or 5000 would both be great options, depending on your budget.
If you feel the need for more light, you can always add another video light.
But for macro I think that one strobe and a bit of fill light will be more than enough. I usually shoot macro with one strobe for the sake of simplicity unless doing special lighting effects.
Hello.
Although I like photography more, I am currently interested in video a little more. I would like to have an option that suits me in both ways. In terms of photography I like the macro more but I try not to miss a good wide photo.
I am currently thinking of buying two video/photo lights of the new X-Adventurer model, the M8000 Undetwater High CRI Smart Focus Video Light. Do you think they are good for what I want? A good strobe but also a good light. Here I also have the possibility to add ambient blue filters.
Hi Heitor!
We don’t carry X-Adventurer lights, but in general 8000 lumens is great. It’s plenty of light and awesome for video.
However, for photos, it’s still no match for a strobe. Strobe produce far more light and are able to freeze subjects, which makes them more effective for photography. If it’s mainly a light for video and macro video / photo, 8000 is a good choice.