Review: Fisheye FIX LED500DX

[Doc Harry]

Fisheye FIX LED500DX $299

So I decided to finally get a focus light, especially for night diving. I liked the idea of rheostat for variable brightness so I chose a light like this instead of an ordinary dive light. I heard many people raving about the older halogen Fisheye HG20DX ($500!) and they all reassured me that I would be tickled pink despite the outlay of cash. Right out of the box I'm not convinced that I'm "tickled pink" at the moment, but it looks promising

Given the choice between the Fisheye FIX LED1000DX ($599 with it's own special battery) and the Fisheye FIX LED500DX ($299, half the price, half the power, 8 AA batteries), I chose the latter. This decision was based primarily on the fact that I didn't like the idea of having to use a special battery for the LED1000DX.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is almost as large, and almost just as heavy, as my Sea & Sea YS-90 strobe. When you load the 8 AA batteries in the LED500DX, and the 4 AA batteries in the strobe, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a bit heavier than the YS-90 strobe. We're talking BEEF!

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX puts out quite a bit of light. In fact, it is advertised as being usable as a primary dive light. Were it not for the short 90+ minute battery life on 8 AA batteries, I might even consider it to be a "backup" light for night dives. However, this thing is not going to be a "backup" light for me.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is brighter than the older halogen HG20DX. However, unlike the older halogen model, the LED500DX does not shut off when the flash is activated. This has its advantages because the even white light is like a video light and can offer additional illumination for those of use with one strobe.

I'll be using this light in Cozumel in 4 days, I'll post a report with photos later in December when I return home and process the photos.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Sounds great Harry, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[Doc Harry]

Okay, here is the final review, after I used the Fisheye FIX LED500DX for a week of diving on Cozumel.

First, I will describe the battery power because it may impact my review.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX uses 8 AA batteries. I purchased 20 brand-new high-quality Eneloop AA 2000mA NiMH batteries. These are low self-discharge and have a long shelf life. They came fully charged and ready to go. In the week before I left for Cozumel, I ran all batteries through the "break-in" mode of my MAHA MH-C9000 "smart charger." During the dive trip, I cycled the batteries through both the strobe and the Fisheye FIX LED500DX, and recharged them every night on the MAHA MH-C9000.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX and the MAHA MH-C9000 smart charger

As a focus light for night-time close-up and macro photography, I loved the Fisheye FIX LED500DX. It made night photography so much easier.

As a dive light, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a total failure. The light is advertised as having a 72 to 90 minute life as a primary dive light. It will automatically switch to the low-power mode when the batteries become low.

I found that, when turned to the full power setting, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX reverted to the low-power mode in only two minutes! I was unable to turn the light back to the bright power mode for the rest of the dive. In the low-power mode, the light had a life of several hours.

In the lower power mode, there was enough light for close-up and macro shooting, but I could not get the camera to autofocus on anything more than 5 feet away.

I took my camera set-up on a cave dive on Cozumel Island (Aerolito Cave). I had my primary 18W HID light clipped off to my right D-ring and used the Fisheye FIX LED500DX as my primary dive light. This too was a total failure because the Fisheye FIX LED500DX immediately reverted to the low-power setting and I was unable to get the camera's autofocus to work properly in such a low-light environment. I had to use my 18W HID light for focusing.

THE FISHEYE FIX LED500DX SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A PRIMARY DIVE LIGHT AS ADVERTISED.

 

[Doc Harry]

I did some additional burn-time testing of the Fisheye FIX LED500DX with alkaline batteries.

Let's review the owner's manual:

"Continuous burn times (with included alkaline batteries): 90 min. (max output) - 720 minutes (minimum output). Then switches to low power for 20-30 minutes extra reserve burn time."

Here are my test results:

Batteries - Burn time

Included alkaline batteries - burn time of 16 seconds at max output before reverting to low power

Brand-new Energizer Max alkaline batteries - Burn time of 7 minutes 11 seconds at maximum output before reverting to low power.

Clearly, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX does not live up to it's specs.

 

[bvanant]

Send it back. I have one and it behaves much closer to the specs than yours does. My guess is you got a defective one.
Bill

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, this is definitely not performing correctly, and should be returned for warranty service/replacement. We have lots of customers using eneloops, so I don't expect that is the problem either.

 

[saudio]

Fisheye FIX LED500DX $299

So I decided to finally get a focus light, especially for night diving. I liked the idea of rheostat for variable brightness so I chose a light like this instead of an ordinary dive light. I heard many people raving about the older halogen Fisheye HG20DX ($500!) and they all reassured me that I would be tickled pink despite the outlay of cash. Right out of the box I'm not convinced that I'm "tickled pink" at the moment, but it looks promising

Given the choice between the Fisheye FIX LED1000DX ($599 with it's own special battery) and the Fisheye FIX LED500DX ($299, half the price, half the power, 8 AA batteries), I chose the latter. This decision was based primarily on the fact that I didn't like the idea of having to use a special battery for the LED1000DX.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is almost as large, and almost just as heavy, as my Sea & Sea YS-90 strobe. When you load the 8 AA batteries in the LED500DX, and the 4 AA batteries in the strobe, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a bit heavier than the YS-90 strobe. We're talking BEEF!

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX puts out quite a bit of light. In fact, it is advertised as being usable as a primary dive light. Were it not for the short 90+ minute battery life on 8 AA batteries, I might even consider it to be a "backup" light for night dives. However, this thing is not going to be a "backup" light for me.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is brighter than the older halogen HG20DX. However, unlike the older halogen model, the LED500DX does not shut off when the flash is activated. This has its advantages because the even white light is like a video light and can offer additional illumination for those of use with one strobe.

I'll be using this light in Cozumel in 4 days, I'll post a report with photos later in December when I return home and process the photos.

Hey Doc, you got a dud. My first one was doing the same thing, I had it replaced and the replacement works like a charm. I use mine both as a modeling light and primary night diving light, and if I'm even on 3/4 power I'll get hours of burn time.

It's a great light.

 

[dhaas]

Harry,

Pop over to the Canon forum and see some pics from our week of diving together!

I'm sure you'll get the light issues resolved....

David Haas
David Haas Underwater Photography

 

[Doc Harry]

Hey Doc, you got a dud. My first one was doing the same thing, I had it replaced and the replacement works like a charm. I use mine both as a modeling light and primary night diving light, and if I'm even on 3/4 power I'll get hours of burn time.

I have had many, many people write to me and say the same thing. They got a dud and had to replace it.

That fact speaks for itself. The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a terrible light.

 

[vktam]

I am using LED500DX as well. My experience with the light using 8 fully charged NiMH rechargeable batteries did not get me anywhere. It turned into low light mode in about 11 minutes. However, when I use 3 Li-Ion rechargeables batteries (each 3.7V; 2100mah), it survive the whole 50 mins dive on full power. I made my own Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack (not too easy though). You may consider to buy the original Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack and charger to use it with your LED500DX, it may even have a longer burn time since their battery capacity is about 2400mah.