UWP News from DEMA: Keldan Advanced Lighting
We met up with Daniel Keller to talk about what was new in the world of Keldan Lighting at DEMA 2016. Brand new, and being launched at the show, was the 7000 lumen light called the Video 4x. There is also a 12,000 lumen 8x (that has 8 lithium cells) and this new upgrade, produced in time for the show, sees the Keldan range able to offer 9 levels of power settings. The user is able to select a very low setting for night diving or general use, saving battery power, and then dial up the power when using them for photography and videography. The dials are very easy to use and can be operated with just one hand. The Keldan lights have the ability to regulate their temperature, so that if they get too hot, rather than just switching off, they reduce in power. They cannot overheat and are possibly the only torch on the market that features this design.
Keldan was founded in 1994 as more of a hobby than a business start-up. The first light, made as a dive torch, was made as a birthday present for Daniel’s wife, but a friend saw it and asked if he would make one for him too, so he made a couple and very quickly discovered that the demand was high and the company grew from there. Keldan are based in Switzerland, with all the products being manufactured there.
Lots of attention from visitors to the Keldan stand was for the filters that they have designed to snap onto the front of their lights. They have two kinds, one for cameras, and one for their lights. It is a blue filter, with three different intensities for use at different depths.
The medium filter is for use at around 10m, and Keldan recommend owning all three, so that you can change as you descend to get the best results. You can see a video about the ambient light filter concept here:
There has, already, been great feedback from those that have had the chance to use these filters and they could become the normal for all video lights in the future.
