Question Are the Chinese video lights from Amazon any good?

[encrustingacro]

I've been thinking of upgrading my lighting for my underwater photos. Currently, I have some cheap 2000 lumen video lights from Amazon. However, I am not satisfied with the brightness of these lights. The prices for strobes are very expensive, which puts me off from buying them. I have been looking these video lights from Amazon, which are substantially cheaper than name-brand video lights of the same brightness. I know that off-brand Amazon products can be of lower quality, but they do seem tempting. Do these lights actually produce 12k lumens like advertised and are these lights prone to leaking? Or should I just save up for some strobes?​

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I've been thinking of upgrading my lighting for my underwater photos. Currently, I have some cheap 2000 lumen video lights from Amazon. However, I am not satisfied with the brightness of these lights. The prices for strobes are very expensive, which puts me off from buying them. I have been looking these video lights from Amazon, which are substantially cheaper than name-brand video lights of the same brightness. I know that off-brand Amazon products can be of lower quality, but they do seem tempting. Do these lights actually produce 12k lumens like advertised and are these lights prone to leaking? Or should I just save up for some strobes?​

I can get any Orcatorch lights for about 20% off retail (shipped). A comparable light (like your 2nd link) from them would be $200. D910V

I have been happy with both Orcatorch and Xtar lights. They're "Chinese" lights, but they're better quality then the crap floating around Amazon (plenty of reviews on here).

I dive a D630, have been using it on technical dives without any issues. I know a few people that do without complaints.

They are not the best of the best as far as the light will start to fade after hours of use (until the next charge). They do not have a solid state driver like some of the higher end lights do. I've never noticed this "drop off", but I've seen tests where they clearly show it. It's dimmer at 2 hours then it was when 1st turned on. It's just not noticeable to the human eye, at least not mine during a dive. And I don't know why that's such a big deal. Tech divers use to dive halogen lights that were like 3w with huge battery packs and horrible compared to even a mid tier light of today. Sometimes I think we just don't realize how good we have it.

 

[PEDiver]

I purchased the TrustFire DF50 from Amazon to experiment with video lights and have been pleasantly surprised. It's been down to 180 ft., used as a drop light in a cave environment, and otherwise banged around with no issues to date. Battery has lasted over an hour on a dive and it's fairly bright at 6500 lumens. Construction seems solid with a multiple o-ring seal. Might buy another and mount it to my DPV.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I purchased the TrustFire DF50 from Amazon to experiment with video lights and have been pleasantly surprised. It's been down to 180 ft., used as a drop light in a cave environment, and otherwise banged around with no issues to date. Battery has lasted over an hour on a dive and it's fairly bright at 6500 lumens. Construction seems solid with a multiple o-ring seal. Might buy another and mount it to my DPV.

The lumens from all of them are lies. It's like the hypothetical lumens on a perfect day with the perfect led and driver and the stars have to align... all lies.

They're bright, but they're not as advertised.

 

[Jai Bar]

Some cheap Chinese torches claim some brightness higher than the sun or epicenter of nuclear explosion, so take whatever exaggerated numbers with a grain of salt...

Mileage of quality also varies - have some Chinese cheap lights that the button stopped working after a dozen dives or so, others the button design is such that cannot be locked and it always stays on in the bag etc.

Orca torch I have one decent light, been diving it for couple hundred dives no problem so far.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Some cheap Chinese torches claim some brightness higher than the sun or epicenter of nuclear explosion, so take whatever exaggerated numbers with a grain of salt...

Mileage of quality also varies - have some Chinese cheap lights that the button stopped working after a dozen dives or so, others the button design is such that cannot be locked and it always stays on in the bag etc.

Orca torch I have one decent light, been diving it for couple hundred dives no problem so far.

I wouldn't sell them if I didn't think they were a descent light. I dive one and have quite a few for a while. My buddy is CCR are and I don't know what crazy depths he goes to but I know it's over 225'. I've personally taken mine to 150' no issues.

I haven't had any complaints except as you said some of the switches get turned on in the bag. The newer lights are coming in nicer soft cases that eliminate this a good bit.

 

[Soloist]

You get what you pay for is applicable here, but results may vary. Typically it's the switches that bite you in the ass. I am not familiar with this specific light, but I used "cheap" Chinese lights for a couple of years, however, after replacing them three times over I discovered they're not so cheap! I started out with Evolva video lights and scornfully renamed them Ebola after numerous issues. These were replaced with a "name brand" Chinese set of lights that failed at 100 feet on their initial plunge. The light you're looking at appears to be HUGE (unless it's being held by a toddler in the product photo).

I have been using two BigBlue VL4000 video lights for nearly six years. The lights are robust, bright, absorb abuse and still work perfectly. Yes, yes, yes, I know, these were also made in China, however, they are not cheap!

 

[PEDiver]

The lumens from all of them are lies. It's like the hypothetical lumens on a perfect day with the perfect led and driver and the stars have to align... all lies.

They're bright, but they're not as advertised.

Yep, very true. I've been saying the same thing about BigBlue for years now. But people still purchase that overpriced crap. It works, and it's bright, but that's about it. If you want a quality light, you have to pay the price (why I never skimp on primary or backup lights).

 

[passedoutwookie]

As others have noted, the advertised lumens are nowhere near the actual, but I have four of the Brett brand "20,000" lumen lights from AliExpress. I am sure they are not 20,000 lumens, but they are very bright. I have had two for about a year and two for about two years. They have about 50-100 dives on them. I have flooded one, but I am not sure that wasn't my fault and the light still works. I paid about $35 each for them and bought my own 18650 batteries. Your mileage may vary. I am sure that I have just gotten lucky with mine, but for the price they are hard to beat. That said, I will gladly trade my four lights with a combined 80,000 lumens for one VL6500...

 

[Soloist]

That said, I will gladly trade my four lights with a combined 80,000 lumens for one VL6500...

Even with the VL4000's I rarely use the brightest setting (on these "overpriced crap" lights).