Sola Video Pro Lights Initial Thoughts

In recent weeks, Light & Motion announced two lights – the Sola Video Pro 12,000 and Sola Video Pro 15,000 – that are very exciting for underwater videographers and anyone who needs a ludicrous amount of light in a small package. At a first glance they are quite impressive and will certainly sit at the forefront of the industry. Although underwater videography often requires a lot of light, 12,000 and 15,000 lumen output are more than enough for most underwater videographers, including professionals. Because the batteries on the Sola Video Pro lights are powerful enough to sustain that much output, battery life on each light is particularly good, especially at lower outputs.   

Sola Video Pro Lights Available at Bluewater Photo:

Sola Video Pro 12,000 Lumens Light w/ Dome Port

Sola Video Pro 15,000 Lumens Light w/ Dome Port

Sola Pro Video Lights Specifications 

Sola Video Pro 12,000

• 12,000 lumen flood output

• Runtime: 40 min (high), 65 min (medium), 900 min (low)

• Depth Rating: 100 meters (328 feet)

• 110 degree flood beam w/ dome port for wide-angle photo/video

• Light does not dim with use – consistent lumens

• No hot spots, gentle light fall off

• OLED dashboard display to monitor lumen output, runtime, and power level

• Full recharge in 105 minutes

• Impact resistant from 1 meter

• Weight: 984 grams

• Size: 7.4” X 3.5” X 3.5”

Sola Video Pro 15,000

• 15,000 lumen flood output

• Runtime: 35 min (high), 65 min (medium), 900 min (low)

• Depth Rating: 100 meters (328 feet)

• 110 degree flood beam w/ dome port for wide-angle photo/video

• Light does not dim with use – consistent lumens

• No hot spots, gentle light fall off

• OLED dashboard display to monitor lumen output, runtime, and powerlevel

• Full recharge in 105 min

• Impact resistant from 1 meter

• Weight: 984 grams

• Size: 7.4” X 3.5” X 3.5”

Key Features

Build

Each Sola Video Pro light is extremely compact for its capability, weighing in at 984 grams (regardless of output). They are very sturdy and shock resistant up to an impact from a 1 meter drop. Notable build features include an OLED panel on the back for real-time metrics, and a dome port on the front for even wide-angle lighting. 

Output, Run Time, and Charge Times

For lights of their size, the sheer power and ability of the Sola Video Pros is more than excellent. Whether it’s the Video Pro 12,000 or the Video Pro 15,000, each light produces well over 10,000 lumens of output with a 110 degree beam. That’s more than enough power and beam dimension for beautiful, well-lit wide-angle video. This level output is combined with a long burn time for their compact size. In many circumstances, using over 10,000 lumens can be a little over-kill. But in those situations where you need a lot of power, each light can run for over half an hour. At lower powers, each light can run for 900 minutes (i.e., 15 hours!). This means these lights should easily last a day of diving unless you’re shooting into the sun in a clear, tropical place for most of your video.

Both lights are fast charge capable, making them excellent choices for multi-day and liveaboard trips where you may need to recharge your lights at a moment notice. They both can go through a full recharge in 105 minutes.

Depth Rating

100 meters is an excellent depth rating for any light. Unless you’re a serious tech diver, these lights should suffice for the uses of most professionals. 

OLED Dashboard

The Sola Video Pros aren’t your normal “flip-and-go” minimalist lights. The Video Pros have an OLED screen on the back of each light which display lumen output, runtime, and charge status. This makes them conducive to a well planned and executed video shoot where metrics can be monitored throughout a shoot. If you are a serious video professional, this is essential to keeping track of your #1 source of creative power underwater. These lights will never die without warning. 

Light & Motion Warranty

Light & Motion provides their customers with a 2 year warranty covering floods. This is an impressive step for an industry where customers take equipment to extreme environments.

Implications for Underwater Photo and Video

It’s fairly clear that the Sola Video Pro lights are intended for seasoned professional videographers. However, Sola designs all of their products with minimalistic simplicity in mind, so if you are new to underwater video, they are still great options. For underwater video, these lights will be enough power and beam angle for most underwater footage – even wide angle shots directly into the sun! Videographers won’t have to worry if they have enough light to deal with a lighting situation. This makes these lights have even more potential for underwater photography. Although they won’t replace strobes, video-leaning underwater photographers should be able to take wide angle and macro photos with these lights. Overall, you can’t go wrong bringing these light-monsters underwater. 

Sola Video Pro Lights Sample Underwater Video

Conclusion

The Light & Motion Sola Video Pro Lights are an exciting development in a field that is often overlooked – underwater lighting. Videographers are sure to be enthusiastic with the new range of lighting options they will have underwater – especially for underwater video. Combined with 4K video capability in most new camera system, the Video Pro Lights are going to bring out every pixel to its fullest potential. When you have an underwater sun secured to your rig, it’s going to be hard to wish you had a sunny sky overhead.