Lights: Nanight Sport 2 vs. Sola 1200

[cwattendorf]

Trying to decide between these two dive lights, the Nanight is advertised as 4000 lumens vs the Sola is advertised at 1200, not sure if I can trust that nanight number-anyone know which I should go with?

 

[Lostdiver71]

The Sola 1200 is more than powerful enough for almost anything you will need. I usually keep mine on the lowest setting.

 

[GF99/99]

A friend got several Nanights from them to "test" and they all did horrible. In the end we flooded about 5 of them (thankfully they were all free but if I was a regular paying customer and bought them with hard earned money I would have been pissed). Had issues with the charging camps getting very corroded as well.

I have another dive buddy that uses Sola lights for research and she swears by them. I have dove with her a lot and she runs 2 Sola video lights (I don't know the exact model but they look very similar to the 1200's if the same) and I must say her video and pictures turn out very nice. Also don't let the plastic fool you they are actually very very durable, she has some Sola lights that literally have a thousand + dives on them and have been sub 160m with them.

 

[grantmac]

The one issue with Sola is that once the battery goes it's full on surgery to replace.

For that reason I prefer a light which is more serviceable.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Look at the Kraken NR-1800Z light. It has a removable rechargeable battery.
I have 2 of their NR-2000 lights and really like them.

NR-1800Z - Kraken Sports

The incredibly popular NR-1500Z has been updated and upgraded! Now featuring an additional 300 lumens, the 1800z is as versatile as the previous model but with some extra power. The perfect light for spotting, hunting, or as a backup to a stronger torch.

krakensports.ca

 

[Krabby Padi]

Reposting my thoughts on the Sola 1200 from a different thread:

I'm one of those suckers who got talked into buying a Sola 1200 by my LDS when I first started diving. It's a quality light, but in hindsight I could've met my needs for both daytime and nighttime diving in the PNW at much lower cost. I almost never use the Sola in flood mode -- it's impossible to signal and you end up blinding the critters and other divers. Maybe flood mode is useful for photography? Also, the Sola has a sealed internal battery that can only be charged by plugging into an outlet, meaning you can't swap out batteries in between dives.

 

[makar0n]

Might wanna look here:

A question for Europeans about EU light brands

There are a lot of EU brands that don't have a lot of reviews on SB so I wanted to ask citizens of the Old Continent what they think about their local brands? Which ones are respected which ones arent. Which to avoid. Views on build quality and just overall thoughts. I know the following...

scubaboard.com

 

[stiebs]

I have a Nanight Tech2 and Sport. Both have performed very well IMO, and have had no issues with them at all. Support from Nanight has been excellent too. Both of mine I purchased before they had the external charge port, and they were happy to send all the components, step by step instructions and a firmware programmer for me to do the upgrades myself.

Being able to charge my torches without ever having to open them is great!

 

[Capt. Bas]

A friend got several Nanights from them to "test" and they all did horrible. In the end we flooded about 5 of them (thankfully they were all free but if I was a regular paying customer and bought them with hard earned money I would have been pissed). Had issues with the charging camps getting very corroded as well.

I have another dive buddy that uses Sola lights for research and she swears by them. I have dove with her a lot and she runs 2 Sola video lights (I don't know the exact model but they look very similar to the 1200's if the same) and I must say her video and pictures turn out very nice. Also don't let the plastic fool you they are actually very very durable, she has some Sola lights that literally have a thousand + dives on them and have been sub 160m with them.

No Idea what you did with them, maybe the oldest version with no external charging? In this case is flooding all those lights maybe not an issue of the lamp but the operator and charger?

I'm using my Tech 2 weekly as do 4 clubmembers their sport 2 in depths upto 45m.
No issues at all.
Had the version 1 charge port, bought the version 2 port and was able to convert it myself in about half an hour.
the present versions have the 2nd gen port installed ex factory.

The only issue I have with my Tech 2 is the cable is a bit to buoyant for my liking. Its not floating but not hanging down as the cables of a Halcyon Focus 2 does.

The lamps are more than bright enough and at can be used at the lower end of the 4 power settings.

Good luck choosing your next divelight.

Bas

 

[GF99/99]

No Idea what you did with them, maybe the oldest version with no external charging? In this case is flooding all those lights maybe not an issue of the lamp but the operator and charger?

I'm using my Tech 2 weekly as do 4 clubmembers their sport 2 in depths upto 45m.
No issues at all.
Had the version 1 charge port, bought the version 2 port and was able to convert it myself in about half an hour.
the present versions have the 2nd gen port installed ex factory.

The only issue I have with my Tech 2 is the cable is a bit to buoyant for my liking. Its not floating but not hanging down as the cables of a Halcyon Focus 2 does.

The lamps are more than bright enough and at can be used at the lower end of the 4 power settings.

Good luck choosing your next divelight.

Bas

No idea what we did with them either, they were just strapped to DPV's in open ocean boat diving. Randomly they would go out, you look inside the lens and it was full of water. Once on surface opened them up and they were proper flooded. (But yes your right this was several years ago so maybe they have worked out some of the issues.)

Trust me that was us babying them. You should see what happens to our gear when we go cave diving. Thats why the only lights I have found that last are UWLD and Gralmarine. I have tried almost every light out there, Halcyon, Light Monkey, Ammonight, BigBlue, orcatourch, Xtar, etc. etc. (the amount of money I have spent on lighting I could have probably bought another rebreather) and UWLD and Gralmarine are the only ones that I have liked or lasted. And even then I had the piezo button on my UWLD fail at about -180meters (but Bobby was more than happy to replace the head for free) so really the only light that I have not broken is Gralmarine. Also the Gralmarine's light output is insane, but you need some serious battery power to support it.