Question primary dive light inquiry 2025

[Dave Kay]

I'm looking to upgrade my primary dive light. After looking on line it just leads to confusion. If someone would be so kind to answer the following. I'm a recreatoinal diver mostly on coral reefs at 30-100 feet.
a. Can you recommend one or two lights that fit the bill?
b. What does the term "spill" mean I see in articles?
c. What lumen range should I look for?
d. What beam width should I be looking for?
Thank you!!

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I use the Dive-Rite LX20+ as my primary light source for cave diving. They have a new light FX-40 that is great too. The CX3 could also be a good primary light source for the type diving you describe.

Lights – Dive Rite | Equipment for Serious Divers

diverite.com

 

[Rilelen]

1. Agree with Jim, the Dive Rite CX3 would make a fabulous primary light in open water; you can adjust intensity from very high (almost 2000 lumens) to very low (a couple hundred lumens). A cheaper option that I’ve been very happy with for open water are the DGX600 lights from Dive Gear Express. Bright, solid, and reliable; my DGX lights have outlasted many of their fancier counterparts! Keep in mind that if you *need* a light, you really need two lights for when your primary light inevitably fails. A CX3 + DGX600 is a very nice open water package (and what I cannibalize from my cave rig when doing open water night dives).

2. You can think of “spill” as how much of a room does a light light up? Narrow beam lights make one big bright spot, wide beam lights light up a big area evenly. But even narrow beam lights usually have a big bright spot in the center, with additional light that “spills” around the edges. For instance if I turn on my CX3 at the highest setting, I can see not only a bright spot on the wall three feet wide - it lights up the whole wall.

3. For open water, you don’t need an overly bright light - the critters don’t appreciate it! I’d stick to 500-1500 lumens. Be aware that a lot of cheap knockoff lights on Amazon have wildly unrealistic or even impossible lumen claims. If you do get a very bright light, be sure you can step down the intensity.

4. Narrow beam lights (say less than ten degrees) are better for signaling and widely used in cave where light communication is very important. On a reef or night dive, you are more likely to want a wider beam that evenly lights up a larger area. If you are taking video, you definitely want a wider beam, because narrow beam lights create a “hot spot” in the resulting visual image. Those wide beam lights are often marketed as “video lights.”

 

[lexvil]

Plenty of great lights available, orcatorch makes a bunch of nice lights and good prices, D710 is a favorite and dive gear express has a wide assortment of of very good lights and I’ve recently picked up a CX3 which is very nice. You won’t need a narrow beam for checking reefs nor do you need super high lumens. The weak point on dive lights tends to be the switch, stitch to known brands for a better chance of getting a goood switch and also buy a twist on type as a back up.

 

[Jai Bar]

I'm looking to upgrade my primary dive light. After looking on line it just leads to confusion. If someone would be so kind to answer the following. I'm a recreatoinal diver mostly on coral reefs at 30-100 feet.
a. Can you recommend one or two lights that fit the bill?
b. What does the term "spill" mean I see in articles?
c. What lumen range should I look for?
d. What beam width should I be looking for?
Thank you!!

I use as a primary (open water) a Diverite CX2. Why I like it:

Switch operated, so ca choose power levels from low to high.

Narrow beam, is good for signaling and when water has lots of backscatter, doesn't blind you.

Can combine with quick release on soft handle, leaving the hand completely free to operate camera, dpv etc.

I also use the optional diffuser, it then spills light on wide angle, sufficient for gopro camera, and if there is too much backscatter can simply flip off the diffuser cap. I really like it.

Decent burn time, especially on low power, it can last a whole week's diving.

Cons: no safety mechanism on switch to prevent accidental turning on in the gear bag. Light is a bit big fat and long, I don't like clipping it on my harness.

For backup / harness, I use as backup light orcatorch D530, it is shorter and thinner than cx2. Have it on all my dives, day or night so the thing has been on hundreds of dives and still alive. Has two power levels, and narrow beam only. I have several orcatorch all seem good quality built too.

Dive Rite CX3 Handheld Light Kit you can see the diffuser cap, soft handle and quick release thingy

 

[NitroxSam]

I have a CX3 as well and it is a very nice light and a very nice price. Maybe check out Big Blue Dive Lights too.