About Video Lights
To qualify as a video light, a light source must have a high colour temperature (3200K or greater) and should provide even illumination (freedom from hot-spots). Ordinary torches are not usually good enough for the job, but video lights serve as excellent floodlight torches. For motion picture photography, a video light should preferably be fixed rigidly to the camera housing by means of a lighting support arm.For close-range working, a video lamp can be mounted directly above the housing. Some housings have a mounting point or accessory shoe for this purpose. For medium-range working, the lamp should be further away from the camera lens, and a longer articulated (jointed) arm is to be preferred. Arms with 1" diameter ball joints can support lights weighing up to about 3kg in air. Segmented (Loc-Line) arms, will droop when holding heavy lights in air, but will work acceptably underwater if not excessively loaded. See the Lighting Brackets section for available products.
A video light can be used as illumination for digital stills photography. Generally, the level of illumination will not be as great as that obtainable from a flash unit of comparable size, and a video light cannot eliminate motion blur in the way that a flash does; but the video light has the advantage that it provides artificial lighting when the camera is used in movie mode, and the level of exposure in stills mode increases as the shutter speed is reduced. Composing a still photograph using exactly the same light source as will be used during image capture also assists in making adjustments for the minimisation of flare and backscatter.
Watts vs. LumensTungsten lightbulb equivalent / Watts = Output in Lumens / 16
The power of a light source in Watts (W) refers to the energy input. The brightness in Lumens (lm) refers to the light output. The two quantities are not directly related, because much of the input power is converted into heat, not visible light; i.e., the lamp is inefficient. In the old days of tungsten filament lamps however, we got used to power as a measure of brightness because all conventional bulbs had roughly similar efficiency. Hence, a useful quantity to bear in mind is the tungsten lightbulb equivalent. That figure is obtained (approximately) by dividing the output in lumens by 16. Hence, 1600 lm is approximately equivalent to a 100W tungsten bulb*. Note that modern LED lamps are about 5× more efficient than tungsten bulbs, so give big light outputs for long periods using small batteries.
Under £350
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ikelite Pro-V8 425 lm  45° 5000K  8×C Cells  10 hours |
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Light & Motion Sola 500 500 lm max.  226 lm 75° in air, 60° underwater 6500K Li-ion 100 mins full |
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IST T100 450 lm 12° or 60° 5500K 6×AA ≥2.5 hours |
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Sealife SL980 500 lm max 70° 6500K 4×AA cells 90 mins full |
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Inon LE 250, 550-W, 550-S LE-250 250 lm, LE-550 550 lm LE-550-W 75° (LE-550-S, LE250 40° with W40 diffuser) 6000K 3×AA LE-550 70+ mins, LE-250 135+ mins |
Under £600
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ikelite Pro-2800 2800 lm max. 100° 5000K 12V NiMH 90 mins full |
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Light & Motion Sola 800 800 lm max. 226 lm red 75° in air, 60° underwater 6500K Li-ion 65 mins full |
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Light & Motion Sola 1200 Video 1200 lm max. 500 lm spot 75° in air, 60° underwater 6500K Li-ion 60 mins full |
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Light & Motion Sola 1200 Photo 1200 lm max. 226 lm red 75° in air, 60° underwater 6500K Li-ion 65 mins full |
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Aquatica AQUA LED 800 800 lm max. 90° 6300K 2×AA 100 mins full |
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Green Force Squid 1850 lm 120° 4000K 12V NiMH or 8×AA 60 mins |
Over £600
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Light & Motion Sola 2000 2000 lm max. 70° underwater 6500K Li-ion 50 mins full |
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ikelite DS161 flash + movie light 500 lm max. 45°  160J Flash 7.2V NiMH 5 hours full |
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Light & Motion Sola 4000 4000 lm max. 80° underwater 6500K Li-ion 50 mins full |
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Gates VL8 & VL24 VL8 2000 lm, VL24 6000 lm 78° 3200K or 5500K 60 mins full |
ikelite Pro Video lite 3 and earlier models (halogen) - remaining stock, accessories, spares UK Light Canon 100 - accessories, spares* Power input vs. brightness and life expectancy for various lamp types1
| Light source | Lumens per Watt (approx.) | Efficiency2 | Burn life / hours (typ. approx.) |
| Tungsten (traditional) | 16 | 10% | 750 |
| Tungsten Halogen | 20.8 | 13% | 1000 |
| Compact fluorescent (CFL) | 69.6 | 43.5% | 10 000 |
| LED | 80 | 50% | 20 000 |
2) Overall efficiency of electronically-controlled lights may be reduced by losses in associated circuitry.
