Our Reef Smart field teams often map the deep edges of reef walls or the overhanging hulls of wrecks at the limits of recreational scuba. The process of photogrammetry, which we rely on to generate our 3D models, requires exceptional image quality and excellent lighting, no matter the conditions. These two qualities are difficult to obtain when photographing every square inch of a site that may extend over 500-feet, so we need to rely on powerful lights to collect the visual data we need. Over time, we’ve come to rely on Kraken Sports Lights to support our mapping work.
Great at depth and in the shallows
We use Kraken’s Abyss 20,000-lumen lights on our camera rigs, relying on multiple lights to fully illuminate our target at any depth. The 20,000 lumens come into play for the shallow mapping where we are fighting against the shadows created by the sun. At depth, we dim the power to preserve battery, while also relying on the lights’ high Color Rendering Index (CRI 90) and daylight-balanced 5600K output to restore the vivid reds that are lost in deep water habitats. This flexibility helps us capture the data we need to generate the hyper-realistic 3D models and maps that are changing the industry.
Rugged and reliable over a full day of diving
Operating in the harsh, often rough, conditions of a dive boat will test the limits of any equipment (and many divers too!). We’ve found our Kraken lights strike a good balance of rugged and reliable, not to mention their elegant design. After a couple of mapping dives’ worth of full power lighting, we proactively swap out the batteries on our lights. In this scenario, Kraken also comes prepared. With no finicky latches or complex connecting wires, a battery swap on the rolling deck of a dive boat in the middle of a long day of diving is a quick and easy task rather than the headache it could be.
Built for Travel
Our mapping assignments take us from remote islands in the Caribbean to isolated archipelagos in the South Pacific. Kraken has us covered here too, with their lights shipping with heavy-duty travel cases. These cases keep the equipment safe through long flights, rough baggage handlers, and bumpy boat rides.
Reliable, powerful, and built for real-world field work, we definitely feel that our Kraken Sport Lights are an indispensable part of our kit.