Most Powerful Dive Light

[perdidochas]

They do. Cold water, low vis, you want as much power as possible, generally.

Really cruddy water, you need that power well-focused, too, else you'll just "light up the fog", as it were.

I don't disagree. I'm just stating that for the diving I've done (Tropical and FL panhandle), I don't particularly like overly bright lights. I would probably change my mind in more turbid water.

 

[CompuDude]

I don't disagree. I'm just stating that for the diving I've done (Tropical and FL panhandle), I don't particularly like overly bright lights. I would probably change my mind in more turbid water.

Two school of thought on this (ignoring, for the moment, that the topic of this particular thread was specifically seeking the "most powerful dive light").

I agree with you that, in gorgeous clear water in perfect conditions, for a night dive, taking a monster 21w HID is almost definitely overkill. I still prefer a nice 10w HID can light in those conditions, since I do like a little more light than others (opinions vary on this, and it's very much just a matter of personal preference), which will still allow good signaling. It's pretty easy to shade an HID with your fingers to cut down on the light if a particular critter seems overly sensitive to it.

During the day, however, if you are using your lights for signaling (which I do), those same calm clear beautiful tropical waters really eat up a smaller light, and you'll want the biggest light possible to be noticeable among the large amount of ambient light.

 

[Blazinator]

You guys have presented great, well thought out responses, which I agree with as well, which is why I like to use a video filter on my 24W HID to cut down the central, critter-scaring hot spot, and spread the light beam into a useful flood of less harsh light.

 

[Knuspar]

dident ready anything but the first page.. though, or sure .. 50Watt HID is THE most powerfull light.

I ordered mine via TREBLE-LIGHT Taucherlampen, Unterwasserlampen, Unterwasserscheinwerfer, Tauchsportzubehör

The lamp head i have is this: TL Tech & video lamp head 50w HID

i ordred a goodman handle while i was at it, so im 100% hands free when diving. Also, i ordered this battery package: TL battery tank 130.12c NiMH

I really dont think you get more "sun" underwater than this. I keeps me going for ~3 hours on a full charge.

As for the UK Light Canon .. sure, thats a fine BACKUP light imo


EDIT: i have mine set to 24 degree spread, perhaps a bit to focused in the middel for videoing, but i dont use it for that. I use it for diving, and for freedive speargun fishing in the night time.

 

[Blazinator]

Wow thats powerful!!! How much did that cost in rough USD equivalent? Glad you posted!

 

[Knuspar]

Wow thats powerful!!! How much did that cost in rough USD equivalent? Glad you posted!

with the $ being so low, the euro -> $ conversion makes it expensive.

Akku-Tanks

The Lamp head is 527 euro
The tank battery package is 683 euros

The Goodman handle is 50 euro ( you can probably make your own cheaper. )

Google says 1210 Euros ~= 1.803 U.S. dollars

Not the cheapest, BUT .. somewhere near the best IMO =) Also, tahts in europe, im not if they dont have a US dealer, then it might nbe alot cheaper. Thats an assumption though. Example .. if i buy the Sealife DC800 Pro camera here in Denmark, i woudl have to pay ~1700 USD .. but i can get it for 799$ if i go to a local diversdirect.com shop in the US.

You could option for the flood light spread ( 90 degrees) or you can get 12 degree or 24 degree spread on it.

You can also buy a camera mounted light for video recording.

Again, bear in ind, this baby runs ~3 hours on a fully loaded battery and the light is just ... WOW.

I used it for some night dives in the red sea September 2007 .. and i was inspecting the reef wall at around 20 feet deep .. and from land they thought i was in distress since they assumed i was pointing my light straight up. I was not, i was just pointing it a few degrees upwards on the reef to follow a lion fish with the light. So its really powerful


EDIT: also .. as for "power" in lumen, i belive it delivers a stunning 4K yes ( 4000 ) lumen .
Also, i think the brightness of the light is somewhat around 5500 Kelvin, so its not some piss yellow lightcone you get either

 

[CompuDude]

Salvo has made a 50w HID canister light for around a year now, if you're looking for something that large, but less expensive, yet still from a quality, well-regarded company with exceptional customer service.

 

[Haiko]

Just out of the blue: what does HID means? Is it a brandname, or a type of light like LED? I could'nt find anything usefull using google... exept lights with "HID" printed on them...

 

[divinginn]

high intensity discharge

 

[Haiko]

Ah, thanks!