I have just finished a week of shooting several segments for Jonathan Bird's Blue World in the Yucatan. The original purpose of our trip was to film Bull sharks, but unfortunately a fisherman caught them all right before we got there!

As a backup plan, we decided to do some shooting in cenotes. Since we had not planned on shooting cave segments, we did not bring the kind of lighting gear one usually uses to light up large sections of cave. All I had with me was my brand new pair of Ikelite PRO-2800 LED Video Lites. They are amazing!!

The PRO-2800 lights have a long burn time, extremely wide and diffused light, and a daylight equivalent color temperature. Best of all they are incredibly BRIGHT! They are so bright in fact that I shot most everything on medium power and enjoyed longer burn times as a result.

These are the lights I have been waiting years for and they are affordably priced so anyone can get a pair! On full power these lights were as bright as our divemaster's HID light, but with much better beams for video and none of the issues associated with HID. Nobody could believe the lights are LED.

Ikelite has really hit it out of the park with the PRO-2800. It is the best new product in the diving world for a decade. GET A PAIR OF THESE LIGHTS!!

- Jonathan Bird, Jonathan Bird's Blue World

For more information on the series Jonathan Bird's Blue World please visit: www.BlueWorldTV.com

For more information on Jonathan Bird please visit: www.JonathanBird.net

A photo shoot in an inside pool with top speed swimmers made for a big challenge recently. I had to freeze action in hundredths of a second so an exact moment of technique was illustrated.

After a few attempts with strobes I realized using a Canon 7D camera at 8 frames per second the shoot would require a constant light source to boost ambient light.

When the NEW Ikelite PRO-2800 LED Video Lite was announced I bet that it could solve my shooting dilemma.

Shooting indoors at ISO6400 and trying to achieve a 1/800 or higher shutter speed the PRO-2800 LED Video Lite not only was powerful enough; I actually had to turn it down to medium and sometimes low power!

Consequently the NiMH battery pack lasted even longer. This allowed the swimmers time to rest between shooting the repetitive rapid sequences illustrating their techniques.

The Ikelite PRO-2800 Video Lite's evenly dispersed 100 degree beam covered the swimmers and was easy to aim using the lightweight Flex Arm.

While the PRO-2800 LED Video Lite won't replace my DS series TTL strobes it was the perfect solution for this project and can add great lighting to any digital SLR that shoots HD video! Editor's note: The PRO-2800 in a lower power setting provides double-duty for use as a focus light!

- David Haas, Haas Images

The PRO-2800 LED Video Lite is a 2800 lumen primary video lite for use with any underwater video or digital still system. Click here for complete details of the PRO-2800 system.

For more information on David Haas please visit: www.HaasImages.com