We’re trying to make some “professional” looking videos using the BlueROV, and one issue we’re encountering is a considerable amount of flashback from the lighting setup. Being a photographer myself, I know that I would typically move lights back and out relative to the camera setup, but obviously there’s no default option for that. Have people adjusted lighting setups and found something that worked to reduce the dreaded “snow” effect? It can be frustrating because the sensor can benefit from additional lighting in low-light situations, but this just increases the amount of visible clutter. I haven’t seen many conditions where using the full potential of the BlueROV’s lights was possible without making the image very hard to use!
Good solution from photo view is to move the lights out by using arms, like diving style photo.
Bad side of this is much more drag and risk of getting stuck in something.
Easy solution I use is to blind the light down inwards.
I do that by sikaflex glue on the inside of the lights, easy to remove.
By doing tryouts of glue you also get less light close to the camera and more light further away.
That results in more even lighting close/far.
/Bo
We’ve done this using standard nauticam arms. For our setup is has meant lengthening the cables for the lights and also installation of a filter to remove electronic noise from the signal wire to the lights: i.e. to make sure the lights still receive the proper PWM-signals through the longer cables.
Have you seen those large agricultural sprayers with the swing out arms?
My latest design has those sort of arms which swing out via a servo, with LED lights on them to get the light out to the side to reduce ‘backscatter’.
I can extend them when i need better lighting, then retract them if i’m getting into a spot where they may get hung up, or if i’m surfacing.
I would never bolt on fixed arms, sticking way out to both sides. That’s just asking for trouble.
