cheap chinese video light review

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vovanx

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the original manufacturer is unknown. the flashlights are sold under several different brands: Brett, "Severe Cold", and various "fires" (uranusfire, supfire, vastfire, kcfire, walkefire, et cetera).
as I already had some bad experience with buying Li-Ion batteries on aliexpress I made a note to myself to never buy anything with a "fire" in the title, so the choice was between Brett and Cold.
I assume that the original manufacturer is Brett, because there is a shop called "BRETT Factory Direct Store" on aliexpress, also Brett seems to have a wider lineup of torches.

the difference between "A"-line (A10, A15, ...) and "C"-line (C10, C15, ... ) is ultraviolet LEDs (although not a "real" 365nm UV but still highlights objects a bit) in "A"-line vs blue LEDs in "C"-line. I do not know why one would need a blue light under water so I chose the "A"-line.


left to right: A11, A15, A10
DSCF4315.jpg



heads close:
DSCF4319.jpg



the contact plate has scratches, however there are no scratches outside — so it doesn't look like second hand lights, most likely a factory tests [*]:
DSCF4322.jpg



[*] — some time later I found more deep scratches and a dent on A15 (but the flashlight did not leak in 2 test dives):
DSCF4342.jpg

DSCF4347.jpg

DSCF4349.jpg




Goodman handles are garbage, do not buy them. Made of very soft alloy — very easy to overturn and break the thread inside the plank, and screw leaves a dent on the handle.
DSCF4324.jpg



O-rings are greased well with somewhat thick grease.
DSCF4325.jpg



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A10
white light : 10x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 12000 lumen
red light: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 lumen
ultraviolet light: 4х (?), 390 nm

approximate price (light + handle + arm ball) — $79.68
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store

[*] — there is a micro print in the corner of every LED, looks like "LMP"
DSCF4329.jpg




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A11
white: 6x "Cree XHP90"[*], seller claims 18000 Lm
red: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 Lm
violet: 4х (?), 390 nm

approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $82.80
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store

[*] — there are no such LEDs on Cree website, Google says that it is a local Chinese noname LED called "9090". Close look on these LEDs:
DSCF4333.jpg




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A15
white: 15x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 20000 Lm
red: 6x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 720 Lm
violet: 6х (?), 390 nm

approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $75.24
US $77.55 33% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Diving LED flashlight underwater 100m photography fill light flashlight 15CREE XML2 white 18000Lumens with 6 *UV +6 *red light from Reliable flashlight underwater suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store

[*] — not a single LED has a micro print like on A10, also a dot in the bottom-right corner is larger than in A10 — high chance that these are different LED models (i.e. either A10 has not original Cree, or A15, or both of them have not Cree. I've contacted the seller on Aliexpress and he claims that these LEDs are identical, but the bottom plates are different because of different manufacturing batches).
DSCF4335.jpg




all lights have the same weight. Without batteries:
light 375 gramm
light with arm ball 410 g
light with Goodman handle 460 g
(measurement error ±10 g)

approx. weight of flashlight with handle and batteries — 640 g.



I have compared these lights underwater with a brand name light with "honest" 7000 Lumen, and it feels like it is more bright than A10 (with declared 12000 Lm :) ), but darker than A15.
So highly likely A10 in reality has ~6000 Lm, A11 ~7000 Lm, and A15 ~8000 Lm, instead of declared 12000-20000.

this is a comparison on the surface (distance to the wall is 2.2m):
a10_a11_a15.png


video: DSCF4525 - Streamable
(order: A10, A11, A15 white light high-med-low; A10, A11, 15 red light. blinking red light is me accidentally choosing "SOS" mode before turning the light off.)

A11 color temperature is more warm than A10 and A15 (it is very clear on the video, the very first moments of turning lights on, until the camera automatically adjusted the white balance). The description claims A11 temperature is 5000К, A10 — 6000К, A15 — 6500К, however A10 looks very like A15.
screenshot_20190216.png



A15 in "mid" mode is as bright as A10 in "high" mode (which is somewhat clear - as A15 has 33% more LEDs), also A15 drains the battery faster: I used every light approximately the same time (just a few minutes under the water and a few more above the water), afterwards the batteries from A10 and A11 showed 4.10 Volt, and from A15 — 3.90 Volt.
However I did not measure the total runtime on full batteries, will update the topic once I have such possibility.




fun facts:
- contact plates are placed on the different level in every flashlight — in one light batteries protrude for 2mm from the body, in another — for just 0.5mm. In result the batteries with flat top have weak contact, and in one light (with 0.5mm) the batteries are even dangling freely. So the button-top batteries must be used, or the springs inside the flashlight body must be extended for 1-2mm.
[*]
- one bundle had Allen keys mixed up: inside the bag with the wide diameter screws was the small diameter key, and inside the bag with the narrow diameter screws was the large diameter key. Every handle (Goodman and armball) comes with its own screws bag so if I ordered only one handle type I would get the wrong Allen key.
- another bundle had a screw bag with three screws instead of two.
- despite all flashlights are different they have the same serial number (or model?) on the box.


[*] — later I found out that the "C"-line description has explicitly stated it:
HTB1xmpEB5CYBuNkHFCcq6AHtVXad.jpg

HTB1i8cnKkyWBuNjy0Fpq6yssXXaY.jpg




P.S. I'm selling A10 and A11 in Thailand, at Phuket or Samui (can come to Krabi or Surat Thani). Price of one light without the batteries: 4000 THB, and with cool Panasonic batteries: 5000 THB.
 
uranusfire

:rofl3:

People should do some serious research before naming products that will be sold globally :D

Thanks for amusing me this morning :D
 
and a feedback about the seller "Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store" https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1246217 and modern Aliexpress in particular.

I made the order on 5th January with DHL Express shipping method (wanted to get the lights before my vacation mid January). On 9th Jan, the last day of order processing before the auto-refund, I asked the seller wtf and when he is going to ship, he answered "OK shipping now" and added a fake EMS tracking number (knowingly fake because the tracking number checksum was invalid). On my second wtf question seller answered, quote:
"Yes, they are the same speed, EMS is faster, I sent you two batteries, and DHL can't ship the battery right now."
- four lies in the one sentence, it's a record! and then he added "Their shipping costs are the same.", raising the bar to 5 lies per 2 sentences.
I answered that I need DHL. 10th Jan I reminded about my existance and seller answered that he shipped already, and will add the tracking number soon.
Tracking number appeared on 12th Jan ("shipment picked up by DHL") — exactly one week after payment and 3 days after expected delivery date (DHL shipments from China come to my house in 4 days including customs).
So I received the package on 16th, later than I was able to test the lights, and next time I was able to test the lights was 30 days after order date.
Aliexpress disables the "leave feedback" function 30 days after order date, so I am not able to write a review of my order now. I contacted the support staff and they told me that they can not enable the "leave feedback" button - I must contact the seller for that. I contacted the seller asking to enable the feedback function, and after he made sure that I want to leave a feedback, not to create a dispute, he stopped answering on my messages.

So concerning the Aliexpress in particular: a few years ago it was a kinda good platform, standing on the buyer's side and refunding money with the slightest doubt in seller's fairness, but now it seems to lean to the seller's side and reluctant to help the buyers.
 
I own some of these lights also. My experiences:
-The first ones came with cheap orings. I had some Oring destroyed in a few times. Now you get better ones. \
-The first goodman handles and lights were completely made of alu, the goodman broke away in a few dives. Now it is better, but still corrosion. I use locktite to glue the ballmount on, otherwise it will still get loose again and corrode.
-The oldest light died after a year during a dive, the driver has burned or so. I was using it, it went out and did not work anymore. Not flooded.
-1 light flooded the first dive, it was leaking at the button. I got a new one for free.


Haven't used the lights deeper than 60m, but will do this in near future. (80-120m).

Shipping from China is slow, but that is what you know.
Read the description if you get it with ballmount or only with goodman.

I am now thinking about buying a Bigblue light, seems to be a little bit more expensive, but better quality also.
 
suddenly one button became hard to press and I decided to disassemble it and check what's up with it.
and I made this fascinating discovery:

IMG_20190403_212908.jpg


- there is not a reed switch used but a usual mechanical button, also the electronic internals are protected with just a rubber gasket and a slim o-ring on the button, which welcomes the water inside the button and the water forms salt crystals over time, so basically the internals are protected with just a single white rubber gasket.

and second thing: the Goodman handle screw unscrewed itself during the dive today.


P.S. I'm selling A10 and A11 in Thailand, former is 3k baht (new condition), latter is 2k baht (used).
If you will decide to buy one from aliexpress - choose the A15 model.
 
V...

Long winded...all you needed to say was''Cheap Chinese''...nothing else was needed...

AliExpress...Alibaba...''The worlds knock-off dumping ground''...

Alibaba...is common Arabic slang...referenceing...''thief...

W...
 
well, I have some good experience with aliexpress lights - one $30 torch still works after 100+ dives, with about 20 of them to ~40m.
...and another $30 torch flooded on third or second dive :D
so I believe that 5x $30 cheap chinese lights would last longer than 1x $150 branded light, and it's not that painful to drop one underwater.
 
suddenly one button became hard to press and I decided to disassemble it and check what's up with it.
and I made this fascinating discovery:

View attachment 513118

- there is not a reed switch used but a usual mechanical button, also the electronic internals are protected with just a rubber gasket and a slim o-ring on the button, which welcomes the water inside the button and the water forms salt crystals over time, so basically the internals are protected with just a single white rubber gasket.

and second thing: the Goodman handle screw unscrewed itself during the dive today.


P.S. I'm selling A10 and A11 in Thailand, former is 3k baht (new condition), latter is 2k baht (used).
If you will decide to buy one from aliexpress - choose the A15 model.

I purchased a light with a switch like this. When I loaded the batteries and then turned it on for the first time it would not turn off. Never made it to the water since the only way to turn off was to slightly unscrew the battery compartment.
 
well, I have some good experience with aliexpress lights - one $30 torch still works after 100+ dives, with about 20 of them to ~40m.
...and another $30 torch flooded on third or second dive :D
so I believe that 5x $30 cheap chinese lights would last longer than 1x $150 branded light, and it's not that painful to drop one underwater.
which brand?
 
which brand?

I have somewhat similar experience as vovanx with other chinese dive lights with magnetic rather than button switches. I have purchased 4; all off ebay. I don't think any had a brand name and they were all sold by many dealers and sent by epacket. All used 2 lithium batteries (note Eastshine batteries last much longer than any of the chinese brands) and they had 3-5 leds and fairly tight beams (I made some diffusers from white plastic to stick on them if I wanted to use them for video). My experience:
  1. One light is still working and seen 200+ dives.
  2. One light is still working and seen 50+ dives.
  3. One light failed due to me not tighting the end cap completely before diving (I saw bubbles from the dissolving batteries shortly after getting to the bottom); I used to leave the end caps about a 1/2 turn loose to keep from running down the batteries if the magnetic switch got pushed forward during transit.
  4. One light arrived with the magnet embedded in the plastic slide switch too far away to turn the light on except for very dim (turning it around didn't help). I tried to get another slider from the seller but it became clear that the seller had no idea how the product worked and probably had not actually ever touched one so I gave up pretty quickly. I cut out the magnet and moved it forward and epoxied it in place but the epoxy made it hard to slide and it degraded over time and the magnet rusted so I threw it away after maybe 10-15 dives.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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