Inexpensive Blue / Uv Light?

[stuartv]

Thanks, @kelemvor. I have read some other articles that say basically the same thing.

And if I could find a $20 light that emitted blue, instead of UV, I would definitely consider going for that. But, I have not found an inexpensive blue light. And buying a blue light would also mean buying a filter for my GoPro, since I would probably like to record some of what I see. Which just means even more expense ... that I will probably only use once or twice a year. At over $100 just for the UK blue light, I just can't see spending that much.

 

[kelemvor]

Thanks, @kelemvorAt over $100 just for the UK blue light, I just can't see spending that much.

Ouch! I guess i must have got a deal and not realized it. They had a stack on sale at my LDS last year for around $80, and I picked one up. Impulse buy.

Apparently that LDS doesn't know anything about the lights because when I realized I needed the yellow filter and went back they gave me the deer in the headlights look.

$20 sure is a lot more appealing!

 

[stuartv]

There is also a pretty nice looking Tonelife 450nm light, that is $99 on Amazon Prime.

Still more than I want to spend. At least, more than I want to spend this time - being my first night dive to look for/at fluorescence. If I really dig it and think I'll make more opportunities, then I'll be willing to spend more money. For now, night diving in general is more of a novelty for me.

I ordered the $16 light from China....

 

[stuartv]

FWIW, the details on the $16 light say it's a CREE XP-E Blue LED emitter and:

Wave length:395-492nm

And the pictures seem to show it putting out visible blue light, not just UV. Maybe it will be just the ticket after all.

The CREE specs for the XP-E list different color options.

http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/C...d-Modules/XLamp/Data-and-Binning/XLampXPE.pdf

For the "Blue" and "Royal Blue" options, the specs say the Wavelength Range is 465-485nm, and 450-465, respectively. So, I don't know where the light's headline gets 395nm from. And I don't know which of those two blue LEDs it has. But, this light looks like it may be very comparable to the UK Blue-455.

I guess I better see if I can find a yellow filter for a Hero3. It seems like they are old enough now that it's hard to find anything that's not for the 3+ or 4.

 

[kelemvor]

They probably just decided that 395 was a common search term and slapped it on there. I've had good luck with all the sub $20 Chinese dive lights I've purchased. Hopefully you'll have the same experience.

 

[stuartv]

The $16 light arrived today. It looks decent and it works (on land).

It definitely puts out a decent amount of visible blue light, so I guess that's good. No worries about damaging my eyes by shining it into them and not realizing the light is on.

The beam angle looks pretty much like any regular handheld spot dive light. I.e. it looks around 10 degrees.

 

[driftwood]

I picked up one of the lights for a quick trip to Coz last December. 90-100' no issues and it did fluoresce certain corals in the shadows on day dives. The results impressed me and our DM.

The problem I have with it is that the coating and aluminum are pretty poor. The body was showing significant corrosion after 6 dives.

If you are curious, it's worth the money.

 

[stuartv]

I picked up one of the lights for a quick trip to Coz last December. 90-100' no issues and it did fluoresce certain corals in the shadows on day dives. The results impressed me and our DM.

The problem I have with it is that the coating and aluminum are pretty poor. The body was showing significant corrosion after 6 dives.

If you are curious, it's worth the money.

Did you give it a good rinse in fresh water after each time you dived with it?

 

[DavidFL]

I'm pretty much of a newbie to UW bio-flourescence too; got exposed on a Belize live-aboard night dive that had loaner Nightsea lights and filters; I bit the bullet this year and bought an independent light and excitation filters for my Ikelite strobes (spent a LOT more than $20). Looked actively for bio-flourescence on 4 or 5 night dives (again in Belize from a live-aboard). Even with a fair amount of blue excitation light, it turns out you have to get pretty close to see some of the effects. This brief clip wasn't from a GoPro, it's a Canon G15 (with a yellow filter) but video is full automatic, so this is an approximation. Notice the bright greens, and much less bright and hard to notice reds and blues in the sponges under the glowing crab...

 

[driftwood]

Did you give it a good rinse in fresh water after each time you dived with it?

Yes I did. I have other Chinese lights that are still going strong after 5 years. The corrosion on my light was quite exceptional.