Are these lights worth it?

[Firefyter]

The problem on a night dive will be whatever light your buddy has will make yours seem like they are not turned on

I carry my Niterider Blackwater 3000 to Cozumel every year.....looks like truck headlights underwater and has the same effect on other divers' lights

 

[diversteve]

Amazon has the Dorcy/Penetrator 220 for $44. - I have it and a UK SL4 eLED. IMO the Dorcy is a lot brighter - I carry both so compared them in about 60' of clear (Turks/Caicos) water at night.

Amazon.com: Dorcy 41-1467 220 Lumen Super Flux LED Submersible Dive Light

My buddy has a 1st generation UK C4 eLed - I think mine is brighter than his. Or it's really close.

I also used one set of batteries all week over 4-5 night dives. And they were still good. And are (6) AAA's

 

[lucca brassi]

It should be I think it's 15 more lumens

.

You CAN NOT almost never compaire LUMENS ( by looking on led source ) ....YOU COMPAIRE LUX

 

[gcbryan]

It's too bad they use so many batteries. I have a light similar to the Dorcy but it uses 3 AA's. That seems a lot more reasonable than 6 AAA and it provides the same capacity.

 

[diversteve]

.

You CAN NOT almost never compaire LUMENS ( by looking on led source ) ....YOU COMPAIRE LUX

Actually I compared by direct observation - admittedly subjective but we were on the same dive lighting up the same thing from almost exactly the same place.

I think

It's too bad they use so many batteries. I have a light similar to the Dorcy but it uses 3 AA's. That seems a lot more reasonable than 6 AAA and it provides the same capacity.

Yeah, I wasn't thrilled about that either. 8 hr. runtime is claimed on a set of alkalines.

 

[gcbryan]

Yeah, I wasn't thrilled about that either. 8 hr. runtime is claimed on a set of alkalines.

It's misleading if it's implying 8 hours at 220 lumens. It can't be any more than 3 hours or so. If they let the light dim gradually then it can be most any number which is why it's misleading.

 

[Aggiebq86]

I remember my first night dive in Cozumel. I had a little light provided by the dive op. I thought it was great until we came across a guy with a professional set up for photographing. I expected to see an 18 wheeler coming around the bend.

 

[diversteve]

These are supposed to be the brightest video lights in the world. At 18,000 lumens, I can believe that.
EdgeDiveTech - Edge Ultra200

 

[Aggiebq86]

I just want something to help on lake diving and my vacation night dives. I don't plan on diving in thick pea soup, caves, wrecks or needing to turn night time into day. I think I'll offer to buy the SL4s for $10-15 each. They should make good backups. Am I right that these can be easily upgraded to LEDs? I'm taking everything this next weekend to Lake Travis to "try before I buy".

Driftwood, thanks for the offer, I look forward to meeting you and seeing what the differences are.

 

[driftwood]

My pleasure. I know that getting the gear together is a major expense. All of us went through the first time gear purchase. My advise is buy the best you can afford if it will meet your needs. Don't be shy about asking people's opinions at the camp out. There will be a lot of experience present for you to draw on.

Also, by the time you upgrade the SL4 to led, you could have bought a lot better light. For example, the UK C4 eled goes for about $130. For the same money you can get a MJ850. The UK Q40 eled plus is around $57, the Intova IFL660, the one I have, are $60 at Leisurepro. Both lights out perform their UK counterparts.

It's my personal opinion that all UK lights under perform for the price. Where UK is very good is warranty service. They are one of the best companies in the business on that score.