Halcyon flare light

[PfcAJ]

That's not a 21w HID, its a fixed focus (6deg, iirc) 10W.

 

[kathydee]

I got to dive with a buddy that had the Focus in some fairly silty conditions. It held its own against a 21w. Its *almost* the perfect light. For me, ideally it wouldn't have the "off lo hi" doodad, no focus (like the flare), and a standard issue goodman handle, switch on the canister with E/O cords. So close to being perfect. So close.

I'd also take more burn time rather than the smaller canister.

 

[hongrace]

The only issue I have with this light is the silly power button, other than that it performs almost the same as the HID equivalent, at least during this particular dive. Note that the light used here was the Flare with fixed focus, the one with variable focus seems to be a lot weaker.​

I would expect the Focus gives a stronger beam than Flare. No??

 

[alewar]

That's not a 21w HID, its a fixed focus (6deg, iirc) 10W.

You sure? That would be embarrassing. I don't own a main light yet and borrowed these lights to help me decide what to get.
In fact, I borrowed that HID one more than once from a friend and was told it was a 21W.
In any case, my regular buddy has a 21W focusable HID (the 3rd beam you see in the last picture) and while the beam seemed what stronger, it didn't get past 7.5m either so we assumed both were 21w.

I would expect the Focus gives a stronger beam than Flare. No??

Sorry, I messed that up. The focus has more output than the flare, I'll correct that one.

 

[doctormike]

I got to dive with a buddy that had the Focus in some fairly silty conditions. It held its own against a 21w. Its *almost* the perfect light. For me, ideally it wouldn't have the "off lo hi" doodad, no focus (like the flare)

I have a Focus, love it. Don't mean to be a Halcyon fanboy, but I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that the focus option (switch from wide beam to spot) is a negative? I tried using it as a video light in wide angle mode, and it works pretty well, actually. Helpful if I'm doing a tech dive and don't want to bring a lot of camera gear beyond a GoPro. And in spot mode, it's awesome.

and a standard issue goodman handle

Did you try diving with your buddy's light? I thought the same thing when I first got it, that I might try to switch to a standard Goodman handle, but I found Halcyon's version to be pretty well designed and comfortable.

switch on the canister

This is a personal preference thing. My old can light had a switch on the canister, and I like this better (no problem with heavy gloves). But I can see why some people prefer it the other way...

 

[PfcAJ]

I'm 100% sure that's a 10w light.

That goodman handle might be comfy, but it's just begging to snag line.

The focus switch I'm "meh" about, but I really dislike the floppy on off thing. The whole show is depended on that little set screw.

Lack of switch on the can precludes it from being used with e/o for a heated vest or swapping it with other light heads. When an e/o is powered and in salt water and unplugged, electrolysis occurrs and erodes the metal contacts. No thx.

 

[alewar]

I'm 100% sure that's a 10w light.

I corrected my original post, thank you.

You can easily replace the new goodman handle with a classic one... but that power switch can be a show stopper.
I wonder if Halcyon is planning on releasing a classic model with the switch in the canister. It would suck to buy this light now just to see the one you really wanted appearing next year.

 

[PfcAJ]

I corrected my original post, thank you.

You can easily replace the new goodman handle with a classic one... but that power switch can be a show stopper.
I wonder if Halcyon is planning on releasing a classic model with the switch in the canister. It would suck to buy this light now just to see the one you really wanted appearing next year.

Id jump off the HID ship if they made a lighthead that was fixed focus and no on/off switch on the lighthead.

My backup 18w has a broken bulb currently and I'm not jazzed about having to replace it. I'd much rather have an led thing or another 21w.

 

[doctormike]

The focus switch I'm "meh" about, but I really dislike the floppy on off thing. The whole show is depended on that little set screw.

I agree with you about this. I like the switch on the handle, but I don't like the set screw implementation that much. But the beam focusing really seems like a win-win to me. It doesn't seem to limit the spot mode utility for signaling, but it's nice to have the option if you are shooting video...

Lack of switch on the can precludes it from being used with e/o for a heated vest or swapping it with other light heads. When an e/o is powered and in salt water and unplugged, electrolysis occurrs and erodes the metal contacts. No thx.

Aha! I see... I hadn't thought of that.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

The focus switch I'm "meh" about, but I really dislike the floppy on off thing. The whole show is depended on that little set screw.


Lack of switch on the can precludes it from being used with e/o for a heated vest or swapping it with other light heads. When an e/o is powered and in salt water and unplugged, electrolysis occurrs and erodes the metal contacts. No thx.

I just modified my already modified li-po 14ah canister with a new switch & E/O cord. It has a switch for ocean use and should give 15-30hrs of burn time. If you know anyone with another 9ah canister, I just picked up a 16.8ah battery I want to use for a suit heater