I own both, but I haven't used my HP50 in a couple of years. I will be diving with someone that uses a HP50 this week, I will try to remember to compare the spots during the dive.
Cave Divers - Light advice, please
- Thread starter B.Elster
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@Manatee Diver - I just watched the two videos you posted in the thread. I love the effortless pull and glide there at Ginnie when you get on some of the by passes. When I do it, I almost feel like I am cheating because you move so quick through a smallish passage. Made my heart feel good to see you zipping through there.
I dive with someone who has an ex35 and I have an hp50 and although I do notice that the ex35 has less spill than the hp50 the signaling is not a problem. IMHO either light model is sufficient.
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also CRI is something to pay attention to with video lights, not just temp.
@Bobby has a great article showing some comparison photos
@Bobby has a great article showing some comparison photos
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
HP50 with a 10 degree spot is more difficult to signal with if you are behind your buddy. I don't notice a big difference in color temperature though. I dive with @Jaaron82 above who mentioned he has the HP50 and I have the EX35. Love the EX35 light and it puts out a nice tight hot spot with an appropriate amount of spill which allows you to see what you're doing/other features of the cave in addition to the nice tight hot spot in the center of the beam which is great for signaling.
Regarding color - the Dive Rite EX35 light seems closer to sunlight rather than on the super blue end of the spectrum but I personally haven't noticed the HP50 having a significantly different color.
Regarding color - the Dive Rite EX35 light seems closer to sunlight rather than on the super blue end of the spectrum but I personally haven't noticed the HP50 having a significantly different color.
halocline
Contributor
I have used 3 different lights extensively in MX caves; my old LM HID 21W, a LM LED 20W, (one of their newest light heads) and a big blue TL4800. The best color IMO (this is subjective) is my old HID light, and if you are a fanatic about the color and focus of your light, and you can tolerate having to deal with the inconvenience of HID, that's what you might consider. You could probably find one used for a very low price and hope it works for a while!
I did not really like the LM LED; the color was decent but I missed the focus of the HID, and I do like the big blue. What I really like about it is that I don't have to worry about it; it's cheap and functional. It's a lot of light for $500. Now wait 5 minutes and t-bone will tell us all how they explode and kill innocent bystanders.
I did not really like the LM LED; the color was decent but I missed the focus of the HID, and I do like the big blue. What I really like about it is that I don't have to worry about it; it's cheap and functional. It's a lot of light for $500. Now wait 5 minutes and t-bone will tell us all how they explode and kill innocent bystanders.
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B.Elster
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@Manatee Diver did you notice any colour difference? EX35 greener than the HP50?Once you get to know Ginnie, she really isn't that hard of a dive. I've learned to stop worrying and love the flow.
@B.Elster I honestly didn't notice any major differences between the HP50 and the EX35 over the past couple of days of diving.
First, I blame every single one of you guys in this thread. So I just got back from cave country and diving Fri-Sun. What did not come home with me is my Dive Rite HP-50. That got left at Dive Rite in Lake City as they are looking at it to see what needs to be done to repair it. I was diving with two buddies at Jug Hole and at the start of the dive my light looked as good as it normally does. Half way through the dive, my light looked like it was shinning through tannic water. I thought to myself, did I not charge my battery? Then I thought, even if I did not charge my battery, it has never had this color. So when we got to the surface I looked at the light head and noticed that the LED had basically exploded and a part of it was stuck on the reflector.
Soooooooooooooooo, like I said, I am waiting to see what Dive Rite has to say about it. I was literally only giving them the head as other parts sometimes go missing, like battery packs and cans. So I brought the head in and the questioning began. Explained the whole "everything was fine and then my light looked like it was shining through tannic water". Then the gentleman taking my light said, do you have a battery pack for it. So I went out and got the little remote 4 x 18650 pack from the Jeep and brought it in. Then he proceeds to look at the batteries and says "These are not Dive Right batteries." To that point I literally laughed and told him that no they were not, these are actually GOOD Panasonic 18650s and not those generic turds that came with my light. But, I can already see the shifting and squirming start at the fact I was not using "Dive Right" batteries (even though Dive Right does not make a single 18650 battery) Either way, we will see.
Soooooooooooooooo, like I said, I am waiting to see what Dive Rite has to say about it. I was literally only giving them the head as other parts sometimes go missing, like battery packs and cans. So I brought the head in and the questioning began. Explained the whole "everything was fine and then my light looked like it was shining through tannic water". Then the gentleman taking my light said, do you have a battery pack for it. So I went out and got the little remote 4 x 18650 pack from the Jeep and brought it in. Then he proceeds to look at the batteries and says "These are not Dive Right batteries." To that point I literally laughed and told him that no they were not, these are actually GOOD Panasonic 18650s and not those generic turds that came with my light. But, I can already see the shifting and squirming start at the fact I was not using "Dive Right" batteries (even though Dive Right does not make a single 18650 battery) Either way, we will see.
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