Litepanels, a provider of LED lighting for video production, has teamed with Hollywood-based underwater motion picture specialist HydroFlex to develop a family of underwater lighting fixtures. The new product is called the Litepanels SeaSun Underwater Housing.
Many of the advantages that Litepanels LED lighting technology bring to above-water production crews provide similar advantages to those shooting underwater. These include the light fixtures’ small form-factors, panchromatic light output, low power draw and minimal heat generation.
Size matters to underwater production crews, where equipment needs to be weighted to be nearly neutrally buoyant when submerged. The smaller the overall volume of a lighting fixture, the less weight must be added. This means Litepanels’ SeaSun fixtures are easy to lift aboard a support vessel at the end of a dive, and the small form factor means less drag when a diver swims with the light.
As an underwater production crew descends beneath the surface, the water filters out many colors of light from the sun. Litepanels’ panchromatic LEDs (which emit a continuous spectrum of light color) supplement ambient light below the surface because of their even color spectrum, with no chromatic peaks that could throw off throw off color reproduction.
The low power draw of Litepanels LED lighting fixtures means that divers can swim untethered from power cables to a surface craft. Long shooting times can be had from small battery packs attached to the light fixture.
The advantage of the Litepanels’ underwater fixtures’ minimal heat generation is that unlike many traditional underwater lights, where they must be extinguished before surfacing in order to prevent heat damage to their housings, SeaSun fixtures can be taken out of the water while still lit without fear of damage to the fixture.
SeaSun underwater lighting fixtures are available utilizing both Litepanels 1x1 and MicroPro fixture designs. SeaSun 1x1s are available in a Litepanels’ Standard (5600˚K or 3200˚K in flood or spot), Bi-Color (infinitely variable from 5600˚K to 3200˚K) and Bi-Focus (5600˚K with variable focus) models. The smaller SeaSun MicroPro operates off of six AA batteries, and can provide light continuously for up to five hours when utilizing Energizer e2 Lithium Ion AA batteries.
