Gopro lighting

[Damo]

I've been playing with a Gopro underground lately, though i'm getting ok footage using my headlamp in flood in smaller passages it struggles in larger chambers. i also find it picks up a lot more moisture in larger areas.

So my question is, what do other people use for lighting up bigger areas? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Damo.

 

[Filter]

So my question is, what do others use for lighting up bigger areas? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Damo.

Other people.

And yes, I'm being serious.

 

[Damo]

So my question is, what do others use for lighting up bigger areas? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Damo.

Other people.

And yes, I'm being serious.

Amended.

 

[Filter]

Interesting that the quotes actually auto-update to show the reflected changes, but my answer still hasn't really changed. Unless you've got some serious lighting on your helmet, there isn't going to be enough light sans other people to see things more than 10-15 ft away.

 

[Caver Keith]

You haven't said which GoPro you have. The Black Edition seems to have much better low light capability. What impresses me with the Black Edition is the black areas stay black and not grainy. This means that back lit shots look really good.
Like Filter I use other people. I've also got some 600 lumen LED panels for back-lighting. I try not to use too much front light as everything then looks 2 dimensional. Strategically placed back-lights along with the cavers helmet lamps generally gives a good effect.
Oh, but the helmet lamps are mostly Scurions!

 

[Duncan S]

I want to use my GoPro Hero 4 Silver on lightweight reccie trips to capture scenes I would like to go back with the big camera and do proper justice.
My old head torch was a Chinese miners lamp which wasn't great for the job, the flood wasn't wide enough so there was a black border around every image, it was barely bright enough even in a small cave and the spot made an annoying bright patch in every image. I was very reliant on other people's lights to take the shot.

Yesterday's trip was the first with the GoPro and my new head torch, a Phaethon from Greece; a properly lush bit of kit. It bungs out a genuine 1000 lumen in flood mode and the flood angle is usefully wider than the field of view of the GoPro lens.
I've a lot to learn to get the best out of this new combination, but it has real potential.

Watching another photographer at work...
Worth noting that the far end of the cavern is acceptably lit and I think the only light on it is from my lamp.
At this point I hadn't got the hang of holding the camera at arms length and the camera's shadow was a real issue.

Another shot with the caver on the left giving some scale.
This time I had the GoPro at arms length - means I can't see the screen on the back of the GoPro to frame the shot, but hey ho...

What I am impressed with is how even the lighting is; the cavers in the foreground aren't over exposed and I can still see the distant cavern walls.
These aren't good shots, the lighting is way too flat; but as a visual aide-memoir they are perfect!
Looking forward to trying this combo on future trips.

 

[Damo]

You haven't said which GoPro you have. The Black Edition seems to have much better low light capability. What impresses me with the Black Edition is the black areas stay black and not grainy. This means that back lit shots look really good.
Like Filter I use other people. I've also got some 600 lumen LED panels for back-lighting. I try not to use too much front light as everything then looks 2 dimensional. Strategically placed back-lights along with the cavers helmet lamps generally gives a good effect.
Oh, but the helmet lamps are mostly Scurions!

Hi,

I'm using the hero 3 silver edition. What type LED back panels do you use?

Thanks for the info.

 

[Damo]

I want to use my GoPro Hero 4 Silver on lightweight reccie trips to capture scenes I would like to go back with the big camera and do proper justice.
My old head torch was a Chinese miners lamp which wasn't great for the job, the flood wasn't wide enough so there was a black border around every image, it was barely bright enough even in a small cave and the spot made an annoying bright patch in every image. I was very reliant on other people's lights to take the shot.

Yesterday's trip was the first with the GoPro and my new head torch, a Phaethon from Greece; a properly lush bit of kit. It bungs out a genuine 1000 lumen in flood mode and the flood angle is usefully wider than the field of view of the GoPro lens.
I've a lot to learn to get the best out of this new combination, but it has real potential.

Watching another photographer at work...
Worth noting that the far end of the cavern is acceptably lit and I think the only light on it is from my lamp.
At this point I hadn't got the hang of holding the camera at arms length and the camera's shadow was a real issue.

Another shot with the caver on the left giving some scale.
This time I had the GoPro at arms length - means I can't see the screen on the back of the GoPro to frame the shot, but hey ho...

What I am impressed with is how even the lighting is; the cavers in the foreground aren't over exposed and I can still see the distant cavern walls.
These aren't good shots, the lighting is way too flat; but as a visual aide-memoir they are perfect!
Looking forward to trying this combo on future trips.

cheers for the info. cracking pics

 

[Caver Keith]

What type LED back panels do you use?

This is the sort of thing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CN-160-Dimmable-Digital-Camera-Camcorder-LED/dp/B0064Z9678/ref=pd_sim_23_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=14J5NF09RA3QTRZ56BN3
They aren't waterproof but they fit snugly inside a Peli-case with a transparent lid.

 

[Damo]

What type LED back panels do you use?

This is the sort of thing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CN-160-Dimmable-Digital-Camera-Camcorder-LED/dp/B0064Z9678/ref=pd_sim_23_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=14J5NF09RA3QTRZ56BN3
They aren't waterproof but they fit snugly inside a Peli-case with a transparent lid.

That's great! Thank you very much, much appreciated 

 

[ninty]

We mainly use the cheap Chinese lamps off eBay, There are many different power lamps but they do tend to provide more of a spot than flood. You will need to use some scrim or diffuser material over the front. The ones we use are 7000 lumens and have proved themselves well in caves and mines.

 

[royfellows]

Don't know whether this tip any good but if you wrap a clear plastic bag over the end of a torch it diffuses the light.

You can get diffusers, but not for everything.

 

[Pipster]

Could this be useful?
http://www.thelog.org.uk/technical-chrislight.html

 

[ninty]

You can buy diffuser material off eBay quite cheap then just cut it to fit.

 

[footleg]

I use high brightness LEDs (Cree XP-G) with frosted wide angle lens on them. This gives maximum forward light at a wide enough spread to cover the entire frame. 6 LEDs per light unit, running at full power gives around 2800 Lumens sent in the right direction. I have two of these lights. It is still not enough for larger spaces where my GoPro Hero3+ Black cameras still show rather grainy shadows. Recently go a Lumix GM5 camera which is a significant improvement in video quality over the GoPros.

If you buy a subscription to the BRCA sig CREG journal (?4 for digital download) you can get all the back issues and find full design and construction plans over 3 issues which I wrote articles on my lights for.

 

[Cartwright26]

i use a Nora 2 and have programmed it to have a very high flood on one of the settings which is good for larger areas, if i use spot you literally get a spot of light with the edges and corners dark, it also depends on your settings on the go pro i was advised to film 720p with a 30fps rate which seems to brighten up picture alot in dark conditions.