Bit off more light than I can chew?

[BackstageDiver]

You probably should have gone with the HP50 with everything you are saying. The HP50 has the ability to have the "can" attached to it or you can use a simple 4X18650 battery pack and you would have something similar in size to the LX20 but MUCH better.

I had considered the HP50 for its unique modularity, but I heard bad opinions on the wider beam. Interesting to see some different takes here. If it's still good for signaling, perhaps it's not as bad as others made it sound.

And the lack of a constant driver…

The list goes on. The modularity of the HP50 is a nice toy but very few “do it all” solutions match the equivalent of the specialized choices.

That explains why the numbers on the HP50 are so much more inflated than the LX20+, despite being the same battery pack. Physics is physics, and even though it's a different emitter, it can't make that much difference. I also didn't like the figures for the HP50 brightness steps. They don't publish lumens, but judging from burn times, it's 100%/50%/5% rather than the 100%/50%/25% of the LX20+ and EX35. Or maybe it is 25%, and H and M have a ramp down. It's had to compare them without seeing them side by side or someone doing some comparison tests.

And my apologies I just was re-reading the thread and saw where you said you actually have and dive the LX20. I did not mean or intend my comment to be a "mine is better than yours" thing. I was just commenting in regards to my experience with a buddy using that very light, in comparison to the HP50. This was on a 3.5hr cave dive. The real world, in the water comparison, was noticeable to both myself and my buddy. We did not compare exact weight, anodizing, chip drivers, reflector polishing, glass clarity, etc.... We just did a few dives together.

I'm 100% guilty of getting too deep into the weeds of specs, but that's only because I can't compare them in real life. Nice to have a direct comparison. 3.5 hour is probably going to be at the top end of my limit for a while. Were you using it in handheld or can mode? What brightness did you use? And was there a noticeable ramp down compared to the LX20+?

 

[rongoodman]

Deleted.

 

[Doby45]

I had considered the HP50 for its unique modularity, but I heard bad opinions on the wider beam. Interesting to see some different takes here. If it's still good for signaling, perhaps it's not as bad as others made it sound.

That explains why the numbers on the HP50 are so much more inflated than the LX20+, despite being the same battery pack. Physics is physics, and even though it's a different emitter, it can't make that much difference. I also didn't like the figures for the HP50 brightness steps. They don't publish lumens, but judging from burn times, it's 100%/50%/5% rather than the 100%/50%/25% of the LX20+ and EX35. Or maybe it is 25%, and H and M have a ramp down. It's had to compare them without seeing them side by side or someone doing some comparison tests.

I'm 100% guilty of getting too deep into the weeds of specs, but that's only because I can't compare them in real life. Nice to have a direct comparison. 3.5 hour is probably going to be at the top end of my limit for a while. Were you using it in handheld or can mode? What brightness did you use? And was there a noticeable ramp down compared to the LX20+?

We both were running on the Med mode, so one down from brightest. I did not see any ramp down on either of our lights. If it were to ramp down it would blink and it is noticeable.

I was running the remote pack and not the can on mine. I use that if I am 3hr or less, more than that and I will put my expedition can on it. I know it was stated as "gimmicky" earlier, but I fail to see how it is gimmicky at all. It is a very versatile option and I have witnessed it to preform flawlessly in either configuration.

I am not steering this either way and I really could not care less which light you go with. I was just providing some real world feedback, having done a number of hours with both of those lights in the water at the same time.