dive lights and movie lights?

[fish80]

what about buying one of these? It seems affordable and would it work as a dive light too?

http://www.makospearguns.com/Underwa...ht-p/mul.1.htm

 

[raftingtigger]

Another good light, but it doesn't come with a diffusing reflector, is the DGX600 from Dive Gear Express. All of these lights are using the same emitters (XML T6 or U2). The light output tops out at about 900 lumens if driven at a full 3000 mA, but most of them are lucky to get 2000 mA out of the drivers. Be careful about the advertised lumens, like LiIon batteries - what is claimed is often not what you get.

 

[Slamfire]

what about buying one of these? It seems affordable and would it work as a dive light too?

http://www.makospearguns.com/Underwa...ht-p/mul.1.htm

I use two of those with my GoPro. I bought them here:
ARCHON D11V (W17V) Underwater Photographing Diving Flashlight Torch (2*CR123/1*18650) - ARCHON Flashlights - Brand LED Flashlights - LED Flashlights & Bulb Worldwide Free Shipping!!!

I bought the first one in September 2013 and the second one in May 2014 after I was satisfied that it was a decent light.

[vimeo]102958283[/vimeo]

[youtubehq]8Iwln0_bRic[/youtubehq]

[youtubehq]6RPMfcBa73I[/youtubehq]

[youtubehq]krlg0H0Rr5Y[/youtubehq]

 

[fish80]

I use two of those with my GoPro. I bought them here:
ARCHON D11V (W17V) Underwater Photographing Diving Flashlight Torch (2*CR123/1*18650) - ARCHON Flashlights - Brand LED Flashlights - LED Flashlights & Bulb Worldwide Free Shipping!!!

wow what a great price! but would it work as dive lights for a nite dive? Because I am doing my first nite dive with a scuba shop for the AOW and they can be very pick cause they want to see you their expensive gear...

 

[Slamfire]

wow what a great price! but would it work as dive lights for a nite dive? Because I am doing my first nite dive with a scuba shop for the AOW and they can be very pick cause they want to see you their expensive gear...

It would be hard to use this light to communicate with your buddy. Video lights have a wide angle beam to illuminate most (if not all) of the camera's field of view in a consistent way without bright spots. This particular light has a beam of 110 degrees. The light that I most commonly use for regular diving has a beam of just 8 degrees. Comparatively speaking it is a "laser".

"Laser" beams are useful for signalling because it is easy to identify a distinct movement pattern of the "laser" dot. On the other hand, video light beams are so wide, flooding the entire vicinity, that it is very hard to discern that you are indeed moving your light. Night communication should be an integral part of your night diving lesson.

If you want a double duty light you might want to look at something with interchangeable light heads of different light beam angles. Or a focusable canister light, but those can be quite pricey.

For dual purpose I would recommend a DRIS Impact light. I have not tried or used this particular model, but I do have other DRIS lights and they are good quality. And best of all, DRIS does stand behind all their products, working with you until you are fully satisfied.

 

[fish80]

thanks!!! very clear!

---------- Post added August 10th, 2014 at 03:12 AM ----------

ok so i decided to for a dive light first for my night dive, then i will think about movie lights later on... what is a good deal for primary for a beginner?

This? SL4 UK

Underwater Kinetics SL4 Xenon Blue

(the guy at the dive shop said it works as a primary but on the website is written secondary... )

or what else? Something like this?

Princeton Tec, Shockwave II Dive Light at LeisurePro

Thanks a lot!

 

[commitch]

what about buying one of these? It seems affordable and would it work as a dive light too?

http://www.makospearguns.com/Underwa...ht-p/mul.1.htm

I have a pair of these for my gopro when I dive at night. I use them as my primary light while I'm diving to look around, though I can easily see others not liking that approach. Basically, my dive buddies are looking around with their standard spot light style primaries that light up one small area very well, while I'm scanning across the reef with my two wide angles, and then go over and film anything they find or I find. If i need to signal my buddy, I'll wave my hand in front of my lights to get their attention. If that doesn't work, I'll flip on my backup light which is a small cheap spotlight style and flag them down. When i'm 1-4ish ft from whatever I'm filming, the Mako's light the entire field evenly (filming in narrow field, can't speak to wide angle). I have everything mounted on an extending monopod.

 

[Slamfire]

ok so i decided to for a dive light first for my night dive, then i will think about movie lights later on... what is a good deal for primary for a beginner?

This? SL4 UK

Underwater Kinetics SL4 Xenon Blue

(the guy at the dive shop said it works as a primary but on the website is written secondary... )

or what else? Something like this?

Princeton Tec, Shockwave II Dive Light at LeisurePro

Thanks a lot!

I have 2 SL4s. I've used them as main diving light and as backups. They have a nice, tight beam. One of them I found in 2011 at the bottom of a wall in 175ft. It was off, but it did come back on after I clicked the switch on underwater. After I surfaced I opened it and found it had batteries with a best before date of 2009. So I assume it had been underwater for at least 2 years.

 

[toozler]

I just had a chance to play with the Archon lights and picked up a D11v (860 lumens, 110 deg beam) for 270 yuan, including a 18650 li-on rechargeable battery and charger (~$44 USD). Feels very solid, much better than I'd expect from a Chinese product and much better than a similar priced iTorch (Canadian, 180 lumens, 80 degrees beam, same price).

Has dual o-rings, plus an extra set of spares and a tube of silicon grease.

 

[Slamfire]

I just had a chance to play with the Archon lights and picked up a D11v (860 lumens, 110 deg beam) for 270 yuan, including a 18650 li-on rechargeable battery and charger (~$44 USD). Feels very solid, much better than I'd expect from a Chinese product and much better than a similar priced iTorch (Canadian, 180 lumens, 80 degrees beam, same price).

Has dual o-rings, plus an extra set of spares and a tube of silicon grease.

I have no complaints about the archons, they have turned out to be very good. But beware of cheap batteries. I bought one new one labeled 3000 mAh for about $3 and it will only power the light for about 30 mins. When I got the 2nd archon, I ordered two batteries labeled 5000 mAh for about $3 and these only last 15 to 20 mins. I finally ended going to a local sporting goods store here in Canada and buying two labeled 3400 mAh for $20 each. These powered the lights continuously all through a 70 mins dive with no indication of going weak. I still haven't figured out how long they really last.