Curious_George
Green water guy
I purchased the Orcatorch D530 recently after using the D550 for several years and 150+ dives. I am testing it as a backup to my Focus 2 and wanted to share a short comparison video as well as my thoughts.
First about the D530: it appears as a true 1300 lumens to my uncalibrated eye and the micro USB battery charge connection was easy to use. I like the idea of the triple oring setup reducing likelihood of a flood. Highly recommend the D530 as a recreational dive light. Below 120’ there were some intermittent difficulties with on/off but again - this is a great recreational dive light, not suggesting for deep, deco or cave diving.
A test run lasted 50 minutes on high before reducing power and the battery indicator changed from green to yellow. The battery charged back to full in 3 hours with the included plug.
Another diver filmed the below video while using their Light Monkey 32VF on narrow beam. For sure the D530 is not as bright but the narrower beam penetrated better when some silt got stirred up due to less halo around the core of the beam.
Then the video switches to me using the D530 at the same time as the Halcyon Focus 2. The orcatorch is very close to as bright, but nothing penetrates like the diamond beam of the Focus. Hoping to get the soon to release D720 VF and see how it does vs. the focus.
The D530 is a great recreational dive light at less than $100! I recommend it.
First about the D530: it appears as a true 1300 lumens to my uncalibrated eye and the micro USB battery charge connection was easy to use. I like the idea of the triple oring setup reducing likelihood of a flood. Highly recommend the D530 as a recreational dive light. Below 120’ there were some intermittent difficulties with on/off but again - this is a great recreational dive light, not suggesting for deep, deco or cave diving.
A test run lasted 50 minutes on high before reducing power and the battery indicator changed from green to yellow. The battery charged back to full in 3 hours with the included plug.
Another diver filmed the below video while using their Light Monkey 32VF on narrow beam. For sure the D530 is not as bright but the narrower beam penetrated better when some silt got stirred up due to less halo around the core of the beam.
Then the video switches to me using the D530 at the same time as the Halcyon Focus 2. The orcatorch is very close to as bright, but nothing penetrates like the diamond beam of the Focus. Hoping to get the soon to release D720 VF and see how it does vs. the focus.
The D530 is a great recreational dive light at less than $100! I recommend it.
