Handheld Primary Light Options (Cave)

[explore_DMC]

Photos can be deceiving, but does anyone have phots comparing these lights in water? I don’t think I’ve seen any of these in person except big blue. I’m still being cheap with my dgx600 and on the high end only have exposure to the focus 2 (lots around PNW have these).

 

[Jack Hammer]

Photos can be deceiving, but does anyone have phots comparing these lights in water? I don’t think I’ve seen any of these in person except big blue. I’m still being cheap with my dgx600 and on the high end only have exposure to the focus 2 (lots around PNW have these).

Not sure if they still have them up or not. UWLD had really nice comparison shots of different lights on their website.

 

[tbone1004]

Photos can be deceiving, but does anyone have phots comparing these lights in water? I don’t think I’ve seen any of these in person except big blue. I’m still being cheap with my dgx600 and on the high end only have exposure to the focus 2 (lots around PNW have these).

nothing recent

https://uwlightdude.com/compare/

The comparison linked above that @Jack Hammer mentioned was to compare a very early set of UWLD's against existing lights on the market. The LD26 that is shown is touch brighter than the current LD-20 and similar to the LD-40 on medium, but both of the newer lights have a slightly tighter beam. The LD-26 is a true 2600 lumen.
The LM12w shown here was done on the WeTestLights page and was tested at somewhere around 800 lumen if I'm not mistaken.
The LX20+ will behave similarly to the LD-15.

Regarding the lights that do not have constant output drivers like the D630. It wlil probably start out somewhere around the LD26 and finish somewhere around the Light Monkey 12. This is not easily perceptible to the human eye. About 5 years ago Mike Barnette and I were having a discussion and he didn't believe the fall-off on the BB lights so he set it up with a DSLR on fixed metering to take a picture and create a timelapse where you can clearly see the behavior exhibited in the WeTestLights curve.

Regarding the Focus 2.0. Unfortunately Halcyon still lives in the dark ages when it comes to lights and they like to use Lux because it makes their lights look better, and they also use Ah instead of Wh for their pack ratings because change is hard for dinosaurs, but here goes.
Focus 2.0 burns for 2.5hrs using a 5.2ah battery. We know the battery is 11.1v rated because they also live in the dark ages and like their E/O cords and 14.4v will cook a HID head and God Forbid you put electronics in your heated vest. 11.1*5.2=57.72wh. The packs are 3s2p with 2600mah cells for reference. BMS is installed, so call it 50wh available over 2.5hrs=20w consumption. Best case scenario is 20w*120lumen/watt=2400 lumen. Factor in some efficiency losses in the driver and their terribly inefficient optics for net 80% or so and you're around 2000 lumen which is where it fits when you are in the water with it. It's a bit brighter than the LX20+, and has a crazy tight beam *that I have no use for personally, even in really nasty visibility you can't see through particulate*. In terms of behavior it behaves fairly similar to a 21w HID from the comparison videos/pictures.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Factor in some efficiency losses in the driver and their terribly inefficient optics for net 80% or so and you're around 2000 lumen which is where it fits when you are in the water with it. It's a bit brighter than the LX20+, and has a crazy tight beam

That tight beam does mean that I can still see it even with my EX35 on high. Which isn't something I can say for the LX20.

 

[tbone1004]

That tight beam does mean that I can still see it even with my EX35 on high. Which isn't something I can say for the LX20.

true and I can see them inside of the LD-40, but similar to gas matching in a cave, light matching is also important to consider where the guys with the big lights go in the back for safe signaling or turn them down to be balanced. The reason I don't have much use for those tight beams is that they don't have any spill which means you aren't seeing as much of the cave because you are basically forced into tunnel vision.
Even when comparing the LX20+ and the UWLD's that have the same beam angle, the way the optics are made on the UWLD is to minimize such a hard cutoff which helps you take in that much more of the cave and when you're looking for leads in new caves, you get a lot more shadows cast which helps in finding said leads. The LX20+ has its place which is why I own two of them and take at least one of them on just about every cave dive I make, but that is as tight as I would ever really want to go.

For scale, I did a pair of 4.5hr cave dives last week where we were in extremely limited vis doing survey work and while I did kick my LD-40 down, it's still perfectly suitable in high particulate if you use the right technique and get the light head pointing at an angle do your eyes.

 

[Manatee Diver]

The reason I don't have much use for those tight beams is that they don't have any spill which means you aren't seeing as much of the cave because you are basically forced into tunnel vision.

I was mostly considering one as my primary while I am running my camera. As I think it might be able to punch through my video light (Big Blue 15k) when I give it to the leader. My EX35 can't do that. Also I think I can leave it on and on flood mode.

 

[Tracy]

Even when comparing the LX20+ and the UWLD's that have the same beam angle, the way the optics are made on the UWLD is to minimize such a hard cutoff which helps you take in that much more of the cave and when you're looking for leads in new caves, you get a lot more shadows cast which helps in finding said leads.

What Tbone says is very true. It is the reason I don't dive the UWLD lights. They are wonderful in clear water. Bobby is an awesome guy and he stands behind his products.
But a lot of my diving is in high particulate water and the back scatter from his light beam is insane.
If I was primarily cave diving, I would switch to UWLD.
You can't take the same light and be the best for everything.

I second the LX20 for "bang for buck" best handheld primary I have tried or seen.

I switch back to corded several years ago due to weight and burn time. The handhelds are really getting good, but they aren't quite replacing corded yet.

 

[tbone1004]

I was mostly considering one as my primary while I am running my camera. As I think it might be able to punch through my video light (Big Blue 15k) when I give it to the leader. My EX35 can't do that. Also I think I can leave it on and on flood mode.

why are you using a primary when running a camera? If I'm using video lights I put a small/powerful backup light with a button on it *Orcatorch D530, Cave Adventurers Excursion, etc* on an Oxycheq goodman sock. It's off unless I need to signal for some reason then it's a quick button push and you signal outside of the video spread.

 

[Manatee Diver]

why are you using a primary when running a camera? If I'm using video lights I put a small/powerful backup light with a button on it *Orcatorch D530, Cave Adventurers Excursion, etc* on an Oxycheq goodman sock. It's off unless I need to signal for some reason then it's a quick button push and you signal outside of the video spread.

Typically I am only running the camera for a portion of the dive. Often only about 25-30% of the dive.

And I've had little success signalling outside of the video spread because they are so wide.

 

[tbone1004]

Typically I am only running the camera for a portion of the dive. Often only about 25-30% of the dive.

And I've had little success signalling outside of the video spread because they are so wide.

you can turn the camera to the floor, ceiling, or walls and it works well. You shouldn't be signaling while actively videoing though since it is not only immensely distracting with a hot spot moving around, but you also tend to get a lot of camera shake when you remove that second point of contact.

Separate lights, shouldn't be used together for proper video work and your buddy is essentially acting as a support diver and has to assume that you are essentially blind which means any signals from him would come in the form of touch contact *I usually grab a fin tip and move it back and forth a bit*