Do you think the adjustable angle beam dive light useful?

[Brian G]

I use an MB Sub X1-VB which uses a Fresnel lens to focus from a very narrow (3 degrees I think) to medium beam (maybe 25 degrees if I were to guess). I really like it. The Fresnel lens focuses such that there is no spill, so it really cuts through muck. The Halcyon Focus is the only other light I've found that uses a Fresnel and it's a bit out of my price range. MB Sub is no longer in business and I've been waiting form someone to come out with something similar.

 

[OrcaTorch]

@all, Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. Pls pay attention to OrcaTorch. We will let you know if there is any news of this project.

 

[Damselfish]

I would rather a couple fixed widths to select from over continuously variable, if that makes it easier to have a nice even beam at those angles with no rings/hotspots. Sometimes the beam can be crap over a lot of the range on an adjustable light. I also want it to be easy to change underwater, I have at least one variable that can be adjusted on the surface but is really hard to change UW.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It depends how easily it is adjustable and what the effect is on the beam. On my old 21W HID canister light, I would have had to loosen a set screw and slide the reflector back and forth to change the focus, so it was not all that convenient. On the widest beam setting, so little light reached the subject that I felt the wide beam setting was of very limited use. And on the narrowest beam setting, the beam was still far from laser-beam focused. For those reasons, I tended to leave it on the narrowest setting. Fast forward to today, and with a twist of a knob I can adjust my Halcyon Focus anywhere from laser-beam narrow--good for signaling to a buddy--to very broad. The light is bright enough that even on the broad setting it illuminates a useful area. So I think the answer as to how useful an adjustable beam is may depend upon how it is implemented. If the adjustment range is limited, and you can't focus it down to an extremely narrow beam, or the light isn't bright enough for the wide setting to be useful, then the feature would not be that useful.

 

[jason ir-2010]

+1 for the Fresnel lens style focusing system.

I have had the pleasure of using an MB Sub torch with it and it's continuously variable focus (you could open or tighten the beam by constantly turning the bezel as there was no limit in it's rotation) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My friend has a Halcyon Focus too and it is much the same as the MB Sub.

 

[Kamaros]

I recently moved from a Tovatec Fusion 1000 to a BigBlue VTL6300P. While both have adjustable beams, the Tovatec is continuously adjustable while the BigBlue has fixed 120 degree and 10 degree modes. Having used both, I don't find myself missing the continuous adjustment; it's enough to have fixed beam angles for video and for signalling/illuminating crevasses (and obviously much more convenient than trying to carry two primary lights for different purposes).

I do think it would be nice if the narrow beam on the BigBlue were tighter, so I'll be keeping an eye out for whatever you're releasing in the future!