The Best Underwater Snoot Video Light

If you want a black background in your underwater video, striking colors, and sharp contrast, then you need a snoot. Underwater snoot video lights isolate subjects from their backgrounds by overwhelming the subject with a narrow light beam - creating contrast with the ambient-lit background behind it.

Most underwater video snoot lights have a fatal flaw - they use external attachments on standard video lights that simply reducing the surface area of the light port emitting the beam. This results in a beam with a small angle but little power - making it difficult to get enough artificial light on your subject to create contrast. After consulting an expert underwater snoot video shooter, we were pointed in the direction of what we think just might be the two best underwater snoot video lights in the world - the DivePro MP 30 macro snoot light and the DivePro MP10 supermacro snoot light. 

DivePro MP 30 Macro Snoot Light Retail Price: $215

DivePro MP10 Supermacro Snoot Light Retail Price: $160

Order a DivePro Snoot Video Light at Bluewater Photo:

DivePro MP30 Macro Snoot Video Light

DivePro MP10 Supermacro Snoot Video Light

Order an Ultralight Video Light Tripod at Bluewater Photo:

Ultralight Video Light Tripod

These lights are unique in that they use optical lens elements that are specifically designed to condense light inside the video light tube into a super-powerful beam that almost looks like an underwater searchlight or laser. The lenses are designed only to work underwater which makes the light look weak above water but incredibly strong underwater. In fact, the MP30 can produce a 210,000 LUX (lumens/M²) beam of -5 degrees. This means the beam is ultra-powerful and meets in front of the light at a single point before spreading back out again. With a -5 degree beam angle, you can control the width of the beam by moving the light closer or farther from the subject. The light is so powerful, that we found we could easily shoot black background underwater video in broad daylight with low ISOs resulting in clean video. We also did not need to stop down our aperture as far as we have with other snoot video lights, allowing for nice bokeh while maintaining a black background. Often we shot our videos at the middle or lowest power setting. 

If you are looking for the ultimate light for supermacro subjects (think 1 inch or smaller), then the MP10 is a better light. The M10 is slightly more versatile and can produce a variety of beam angles. It is equipped with a supermacro snoot tip and lenses that produce a 3 degree beam. This light would be ideal for filming pymy seahorses or tiny nudibranchs. 

While we have yet to take the MP10 video light underwater, we've really enjoyed diving with the MP30. The DivePro MP30 will likely end up being the most popular of the two video lights for macro shooters. Check out our full video review below complete with underwater video footage (jump ahead to 1:36 for underwater video):