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UnderSea Video Housings offers an underwater video lighting system that is unique in the industry. Our Manta Ray 2 Light package uses two special compact fluorescent lamps that are less than 5 inches tall. Two of our 26 watt lamps provide about the same amount of light as two 150 watt incandescent lamps or two 24 watt HID lamps. Our lamp's battery efficiency is slightly better than a HID lamp and more than double that of a halogen lamp.   Shape of the Light Beam The Manta Ray light heads utilize mirrored specular reflectors in a rectangular shape to provide a smooth, white light throughout the image with no hotspots. The relective material is a special aluminum anodized coating that is approximately 90% reflective, and because of our lamp's naturally even light there's no need to diffuse the light for removing the hotspots (no bright center, no halo, no dark areas, etc.) like those produced by a halogen or HID lamp with their round beams of light. Even the $3000 Light & Motion HID light system makes hot spots and darker areas in the video image. With our specular reflector and lamp shape virtually all of the light produced by the lamp is reflected out of the lamp head unto the video subject with no hotspots or uneven light. We've also made the light on the subject more even and efficient by shaping the light beam to match the image seen by the camera. The light beam angle of each light head is slightly larger than the camera's viewing area to ensure no gaps or uneven overlapping of light on the video subject. Even if you only turn on one lamp head the subject can be lit evenly. The second lamp head isn't needed to fill in, it just adds more light onto the subject. The camera sees an even amount of light on the subject so the camera can easily adjust the exposure setting correctly. When looking at some video footage shot with the Manta Ray lights it is hard to tell that artificial light was used-even during night dives! We've shot video in caves and caverns and our lights illuminated walls and features that were 70-90 feet away. The even amount of light from Manta Ray lights provides an excellent view of an entire area instead of just the spotlight view you'll get from a light with a round beam of light. When a camera sees round beams of light on a subject (bright in some areas, dark in other areas) it tries to average the amount of light on the subject to establish its exposure setting. The result is some parts of the image are overexposed with washed out colors, and other parts of the image are underexposed with dark, low-color areas in the image. Here are some sample photos taken with the Manta Ray lights.   Color of the Light Another important difference with the Manta Ray lights is the color temperature of the light they produce. Any kind of light has a "color temperature" and this is described by the Kelvin scale. Near the left end of the scale is red light and it has a color temperature of approximately 1500K. Near the right end of the scale is blue light and its color temperature can be as much as 12,000K or more. Light Source Color Temperature Incandescent 2800K Halogen 2700-3600K Manta Ray lamps 4100K HID 5500-6500K Daylight at water surface, no clouds 5500K Daylight at water surface, cloudy 6000+K Underwater ambient light, 40 feet (13m) 7000-9000K Underwater ambient light, 70 feet (22m) 9000+K Underwater ambient light, 100 feet (32m) 10,000+K These numbers are important because we must consider the color temperature of the light on the subject that the camera sees. The camera will produce the most accurate, and vibrant colors if the light on the subject is in the range of 4000K to 5000K when it's white balance setting is normal. Museums often use lights that are in this color temperature range to illuminate paintings because their colors look best. The goal for the underwater videographer is to provide light on their subject that is as close to 4000-5000K as possible.   Light Underwater If the video subject is near the water surface and there is enough natural (ambient) light the colors will look good with no artificial lights. As we go deeper in the water the red and yellow parts of the natural sunlight are being filtered/removed by the water. At 30-50 feet deep the color of the natural, or ambient light is still less than 8000-9000K and the UR PRO color-correction filters can help correct for this problem, and as long as there is enough light on the subject the camera can still record the natural colors. Artificial lights are mostly used in this depth range to provide more light on the subject if necessary. Remember that any filter will not only change the color of the light the camera will see, but the filter will also remove light. If the ambient light level is too low the camera will not see any colors very well. This is important for subjects in shaded areas or below 80-100 feet (27-32m). By the time the videographer goes below 40-50 feet (13-16m) the color-correction filter is no longer able to overcome the fact that the ambient light on the subject is predominately blue. The video image will still show good colors, but not the best colors. The camera's white balance setting can be changed to the "outdoor" setting to help, and the image tint could be adjusted with editing software, but these changes to the overall tint of the image are not as effective (compared to proper lighting) for displaying the vibrant red, yellow, and orange colors of the subjects.   Mixing Light Artificial lighting is usually mixed with the ambient, or natural light to provide the best possible color temperature of light on the subject. Since the ambient light temperature below 40-50 feet (13-16m) is more than 7000+K , the addition of HID light (5500-6500K) will make a mixture that is somewhere in the range of 6000K or more. This is far from the ideal color temperature of 4000-5000K so the addition of HID light will still not provide for the most vibrant colors of yellow, red, orange, etc. The goal is to provide a light for the camera that is 4000-5000K so the ambient light (7000+K) must be mixed with an artificial light that will provide this color temperature. The best choice is to add artificial light that is 3500K to 4500K. If the artificial light is very powerful and able to dominate the ambient light then 4000-4500K will provide the best mixture. If the artificial light can only supplement the ambient (blue) light then it should be 3000-4000K for best results. Remember that the artificial light traveling to a subject is filtered going out to the subject and coming back to the camera. If the subject is more than 6 feet (2m) away the artificial light on the subject will become noticeably more blue and the color-correction filter should be used with the lights to reduce the amount of blue in the recorded image.   Here are some sample photos taken with the Manta Ray lights. Note when the filter is used along with the lights.   Light Output Lumens is a measurement of the amount of light produced by the lamp. The stated lumens is not the same as the amount of the light that will be projected from the lamp on to the subject because not all of the light produced by the lamp will be reflected out of the light head. In our Manta Ray lights we use a reflector that is more than 90% reflective (it is a mirror surface) and there is no difussion needed in the lamp head lens. Our lamp does not produce hot spots, so our design insures that the maximum amount of light is projected on to the video subject. Other manufacturers use difused reflectors and lenses to help reduce hotspots in the lamp beam. These problems reduce the amount of light on the subject so the stated lumens will often be much greater than the amount of light that is actually reaching the subject. Watts is a measurement of how much (battery) power is consumed by the light system. It is NOT an indication of how much light is produced by the light system. The more watts a system consumes, the more battery power you'll need to run that system. Halogen systems have simple electronics that consume very little power (watts) so a 2 x 50 watt halogen system consumes about 100 watts. The electronics used for the 2 x 10 watt HID light systems are actually using a lamp that consumes about 8 watts but the electronics consumes another 2 watts for a total of 10 watts. A 2 x 10 watt HID system will usually consume about 20 watts of power. Our Manta Ray lights use 26 watt lamps and the electronics consume another 2 watts. The system consumes 2 x 28 watts for a total of 56 watts. A system using 24 watt HID lamps uses an additional 7 watts per lamp for the electronics so a 2 x 24 watt HID system consumes 62 watts of battery power. Lumens/Watt is a ratio of how much light is produced for each watt of power consumed. This is very important for comparison of different light systems. The higher the lumens/watt the more effciently the battery power will be used to produce light. Many sellers of HID systems like to say that HID is 3 times more efficient than halogen but when the power used by the electronics is considered along with the lumens produced the real difference in efficiency is about 2 times. Lamp Type Lumens Actual Watts Lumens/Watt Color Temp. Manta Ray 2 x 26w 3600 56 64 4100K 2 x 24 watt HID 3600 62 58 5500-6000K 2 x 10 watt HID 900 20 45 6000K 2 x 50 watt Halogen 2000-3200 100 20-32 2800-3600K The lumens/watt in the table above shows that the Manta Ray lights are more than twice the efficiency of the halogen lights. This means the battery for the halogen system would have to be at least twice as large and heavy (and more expensive too) as the battery for the Manta Ray system for a similar amount of light and burn time. The Manta Ray lights are also more efficient than HID systems.   How Much Light is Needed? The camera can make accurate adjustments to its exposure settings if the image subject is lit by an amount of light that is not too bright and not too dim. If there is too much light on the subject the camera will try to compensate for this but colors will be overexposed, washed out. Yellows will appear white and reds will be pale. If there is not enough light on the subject the camera will try to compensate for this too but the image will appear dim and grainy. For most macro subjects and close-up subjects within 2 feet (.6m) of the camera 3000+ lumens of artificial light will often result in an overexposed image. We suggest using 900-2000 lumens for best results with macro and close-up subjects in most conditions. If there is a low amount of natural light (along a vertical wall, in a swim through, at night, or below 120 feet-40m) then 900-1500 lumens might be enough light to illuminate the subject if it is 3-6 feet (1-2m) away. For subjects more than 3 feet (1m) from the camera, 900-1500 lumens of artificial light is not enough for conditions when the lights are needed to compensate for natural light that is blue (typical in clear water below 40 feet -13m). In these conditions you will need at least 3000 lumens of light to substantially improve the colors in the image. The problem for most underwater video light systems is that sometimes they are not bright enough, and sometimes they are too bright. This is why we include electronic dimming for our Manta Ray 2-light systems. With a simple turn of the control knob you can select High or Medium light output levels. You will have ~3600 lumens of light when you need it for wide angle subjects and you can use ~1800 lumens of light when you are filming a subject less than 2 feet (.6m) from the camera. Here are some general guidelines for providing the best color images for the camera. For clear, tropical water... Condition-without correction Best Solution Other Solutions 0-40 feet (0-13m) slight water filtering of red, yellow light UR-PRO filter very powerful (3000+ lumens) lights with 4000-6000K for subjects within 3 feet (1m), occasional white balance adjustments 40-70 feet (13-22m) some loss of red, orange,yellow, green, purple very powerful (3000+ lumens) lights with 4000-5000K for subjects within 4 feet (1.3m), farther subjects use filter with lights, occasional white balance adjustments, less powerful (900-2000 lumens lights good for subjects closer than 2 feet (.7m). UR-PRO filter, white balance adjustments. Less powerful (900-2000 lumens) lights with 4000-6000K for macro and subjects within 2 feet. Farther subjects with HID light require filter and "daylight" setting. 70-100 feet (22-32m) significant loss of all colors except blue very powerful (3000+ lumens) lights with 3500-4500K for subjects within 2-5 feet (1m), farther subjects use filter with lights, occasional white balance adjustments. 900-2000 lumens okay for subjects closer than 2 feet (1m). UR-PRO filter, white balance on "daylight". 900-2000 lumens at 3000-4500K for subjects closer than 3 feet (1m). HID lights okay for subjects 1-5 feet (.7-1.8m) must be used with filter and "daylight" setting. Macro needs no filter 100+ feet deep, or shaded areas in swim thrus, and near vertical walls Artificial light of any color is okay. 3500-4500K best, HID good for subjects 1-5 feet. 2500-3400K too red for 0-3 feet (0-1m) HID lights often used with filter and "daylight" setting, 900-2000 lumens for subjects within 0-4 feet (0-1.3m). 3000+ lumens for subjects 2-8 feet (.7-2.8m) away Night Dive 4000-6000K, ~900 lumens for subjects 0-5 feet (0-2m), ~2000 lumens for 0-8 feet (0-2.6m), 3000+ lumens for subjects 2-10 feet (.7-3m). 3000+ lumens with 3500-4500K for subjects 7-20 feet (2-6.5m) away. Halogen lights are too red for less than 5 feet (1.7m), white balance must be set to "indoor", HID color is okay for subjects up to 9 feet (3m) away Our light system uses a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack that holds an incredible amount of power in a small, lightweight package. The NiMH battery pack holds a charge for a very long period of time, it has no memory so it can be fully recharged even if it wasn't completely discharged, and there's nothing that can leak or spill. A single battery charge provides about 65 minutes burn time for both lights running at High power (3600 lumens). Burn time can be extended to 100+ minutes with frequent use of medium power. Compare that to halogen light systems that often allow less than 30 minutes of burn time (in spite of their manufacturer's claims) or require a big, heavy battery that's 2 or 3 times the size and weight of the battery we use. Our electronic controller also displays 2-color LEDs to indicate how much battery charge remains. With this long burn time you can travel with just one battery and still have enough light for a full day of diving. Or you can leave the lights on throughout an entire night dive and still have enough power to provide light for gearing up and getting organized at the end of the dive. You can't do this with most halogen or HID systems because they need water cooling to keep from overheating. Our system runs much cooler and leaving the lights on when out of water for 10-15 minutes is usually okay. The aluminum mounting bracket for two lights can be attached to virtually all brands of video housings. A single light head can also be attached using a single 1/4-20 screw (or similar metric size).   USVH Manta Ray Lights 90 degree light beam angle in a rectangular shape Even amount of light in the entire image 4100K color temperature for best image colors Adjustable light output -- perfect for macro AND wide angle subjects Efficient use of battery power with long burn times   The bottom line is this... There other video housings that are close to ours in quality and function (although at a higher price), but nobody offers a light system that's even close to ours-not even at twice the price. The features of our light system are without equal.   Manta Ray Light System Specifications Weight : (2 lamp heads and aluminum mounting bracket) 7 pounds including battery packs, charger is an additional 25 ounces Buoyancy: Neutral in saltwater (not including the charger!) Manta Ray Two Lights Package: ~3600 total lumens of light. Package includes two lamp heads with electronic dimming, one 19.2v 4500mah NiMH battery pack, universal charger that accepts 90-220 volts input, 2 lamps, extra o-rings, silicone grease, mounting bracket and screws to attach to video housing. $2685 Universal charger (included above): Accepts 90-220 AC volts input. Battery pack recharge time is about 2 hours. $165 26 watt 4100K lamp: $30 19.2volt 4500mah NiMH battery pack: $280 Mounting Bracket for two light heads: $145 Includes one mounting bar, two clamps, 2 base mounts   Extension Arms for two light heads: $125 adds 7" to each side to reduce backscatter, also pivot mounts to bring light heads alongside lens for macro subjects, includes 2 clamps and 2 extension arms   The Ultimate Video Package Includes housing with Extended Controls, Hi-Resolution LCD monitor, SONY lens upgrade, Manta Ray 2 Lights package with electronic dimming, charger, mounting brackets and extension arms. $4885 Ultimate Travel Package Same as Ultimate Video Package shown above and adds Underwater Kinetics Travel Case. $4985       Page updated June 1 2007