Light advice

[jashaw]

I am currently in the market for an upgrade in my light. I am looking at canister lights in HID and LED for Great Lakes diving. The primary use would be for shipwreck penetration lighting, signaling, and for peering into shipwrecks that may not be penetrable. I have searched for advice on here but didn't see the results I wanted prior to posting.
The results I am looking for are good illumination through murky water in the Lakes, a pretty tight beam for signaling and punching through the murk, and not be overly expensive.
Thanks.

 

[Paulmal]

Have you looked at light monkey, underwater light dude, halcyon.

Another option is green force if you like modularity but they are a bit more complicated/ harder to get.

 

[HenrikBP]

You don't mention what you have looked at and why those lights don't fit your needs.

But, since you specifically mention signaling I would recommend a light with a narrow beam. I own an MB-Sub VB50 LED can light, and the adjustable beam narrows down to ~8°, which is still too wide for my taste for signaling. It's a super bright light, and - for me - the best of compromises at the time I bought it, but I would still like the narrow beam more narrow. I'd think less than 6° to really "reach out".

Currently most LED lights have the same problem - only some of them worse than my VB50. For "long reach" signaling, the 21W HID lights are still the "king".

Of course the adjustability of the VB50 beam is great - the wide beam is near perfect with no "black holes" like you see with the "adjustable" HID lights. The LED light heads are also smaller which I like, and if LED lights are well made, they adjust the voltage to the LED which keeps the light at constant brightness through most of the charge.

Anyway - don't know exactly what information you were missing, but hopefully at least some of this is useful

Henrik

 

[divad]

I have searched for advice on here but didn't see the results I wanted prior to posting.
Thanks.

Why don't you post "the results [you] wanted prior to posting"?

 

[jashaw]

I have looked at the well known brands (Light monkey, Green force, Halcyon, Dive rite, Hollis and some others that I can't remember). If anyone knows of any other name (an example is underwater light dude) of light that is not very well known, please post. I'm in the early stages of this process and nothing is being tossed out as an option.

Henrik- Thanks for the information, it was definitely helpful.

evad- The results I am looking for are good illumination through murky water in the Lakes, a pretty tight beam for signaling and punching through the murk, and not be overly expensive.

 

[Force-E Divers]

There are so many great lights out there and they are not cheap! Have you ever checked out the Light & Motion SOLA line? LIGHT & MOTION || SOLA 1200 DIVE I recently had a chance to use one and it is light weight, streamline, very bright and last for a long time. All great features for shipwreck diving. Some models have both a flood and spot light features. Here is a videos that we took on the Hydro Atlantic. Hydro Atlantic 2012 - YouTube

 

[danvolker]

There are so many great lights out there and they are not cheap! Have you ever checked out the Light & Motion SOLA line? LIGHT & MOTION || SOLA 1200 DIVE I recently had a chance to use one and it is light weight, streamline, very bright and last for a long time. All great features for shipwreck diving. Some models have both a flood and spot light features. Here is a videos that we took on the Hydro Atlantic. Hydro Atlantic 2012 - YouTube

That is actually a great suggestion.....this is a light that is also a great focus light for a camera, and with the equivalent of a Good man handle as shown in the photo, this would be a great light !

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have two can lights right now. Well three but one (Nocturnal Lights TL50 Extreme) needs a battery pack and due to it's age I may have to have one made.

The other two are a Salvo (now Light Monkey) 12 watt Rebel LED and a HOG 21watt HID. I like both of them and both are great lights. The difference is the conditions I will use them in and what I feel like carrying.

The LED is good for water with fairly good vis. Have done a few Lake Erie dives with it including the St James at 165 feet. But vis was good enough that day that you could swim around the wreck without a light easily and not get lost. The downside to it, even with a 6 degree fixed beam is that it is fixed. And out past say 15-20 feet or so the beam tends to break up and not really hold together. Ok for decent vis but for lower vis and signaling it's kinda big. It is smaller both in the head and the cannister and is likely what I'd take with me to do wrecks in say Florida Keys or similar as long as the penetration was limited. It also has a 5 hour burn time which is nice.

For low vis I thought it was ok until I actually got my HID. The differences are quite stark. The HID just punches through murk and looks like a light saber. It totally blows away the LED in low vis. Now my LED actually kept up with another divers 10 watt HID and an older 18 watt. But the 21 with the Brightstar bulb? No comparison. It has a burn time of about 4.5 hours. It is bigger both in the cannister and the head is quite a bit larger than the LED, but IMO it's worth the extra size for the light it provides.

You stated that what you wanted should not be overly expensive. Here is where you'll end up with wildly differing views. At the time I got each one I thought they were expensive in their own rights. At the time and given my economic situation. Others may see the price tag on a $1000 + light and not even blink. So in order to give the best suggestion a ballpark figure would be helpful. There are also used lights out there. I saw a Dive Rite 10watt HID the other day on maybe ebay with all the accessories for 400 bucks. Not a bad deal. Just depends on your definition of "overly expensive".

If you want new PM on the HOG.

 

[HenrikBP]

Yep, as Jim posted; since you mention murky water and good signaling range, a 21W HID is probably your best bet.

You'll see all kinds of comparisons, some even with videos to prove their point. Each of course praising their favorite light. IMO, from *a lot* of research, and lots of in-water experience, for long reach and good lighting in murky water, HID is the way to go.

The very narrow beam of the HID light means much less backscatter; i.e. the light coming out of the light head will hit particles in the water and get reflected back at you, essentially making it more difficult to see. The wider the beam, the worse the backscatter.

My VB50 on the most narrow setting is not bad, but there have been times where I've had to dial down the light intensity (the light has a 100% and a 35% setting) in order to minimize backscatter.

I'd suggest looking for a used 21W HID.

Halcyon has the advantage of ballast in the light head, which means the battery canister can be used to power other things, such as heated undergarments.

Light Monkey has the advantage of ballast in the battery canister, which means a smaller (shorter really) light head, but also means that you can't power other stuff from the battery.

I don't really know about the other HID brands.

For LED I like the MB-Subs: mb-sub.com: LED-head VB-50 NEW
But they're not cheap ...

 

[kathydee]

21 W HID's do a great job in low vis and for penetration. My Light Monkey has served me well for 650+ dives through 1-3' vis, and many cave & wreck penetrations. Buying used saves quite a bit of $.

I've noticed that friends 21W Halcyons seem to have a tighter, whiter beam.