Primary for my future tec class

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I just got a Dive Rite EX35 and love it. It's super bright and is much more affordable than other lights out there. The Focus 2.0 seems nice and has a cool focusable feature, but all the GUE guys at least run their lights on the smallest spot possible and the light has no spill to light up the periphery, which I don't really like. Other lights such as the Dive Rite have a tight center spot for signaling and then a corona of spill to see some of the rest of your surroundings.
 
I just got a Dive Rite EX35 and love it. It's super bright and is much more affordable than other lights out there. The Focus 2.0 seems nice and has a cool focusable feature, but all the GUE guys at least run their lights on the smallest spot possible and the light has no spill to light up the periphery, which I don't really like. Other lights such as the Dive Rite have a tight center spot for signaling and then a corona of spill to see some of the rest of your surroundings.

no spill so just a beam... what about if you widen it? change the focus?
 
no spill so just a beam... what about if you widen it? change the focus?

You can widen it, but it won't maintain a hotspot in the middle, it'll just be an equal amount of light across that widened beam and it's not a super bright light to begin with if you take it out of the extremely focused spot mode. I guess a solution could be just to slightly widen the beam, but most don't do that as there's that drawback of decreased signaling. The reason you want a hot spot/tight beam is to signal your team.

To say it in different terms, the Focus 2 is great at either a super small beam or a wide diffuse beam, but not really both at the same time. The other lights mentioned (Dive Rite, UWLD, etc) do both really well (hot spot + appropriate amount of spill to see surroundings) but aren't going to be as great at those two specific things that the Focus 2 does really well at separate times/settings.

Hope that helps.
 
UWLD is bright as hell but doesn’t have a strong central beam for signaling or punching off to a point far away. Focus has a really strong central beam like a laser beam and is perfect for signaling. It can be widened but then loses the central beam and is not as bright as the uwld
 
I have a Focus 1.0 and it’s awesome, this light preforms in all conditions. If possible I would borrow for your class and then buy, or maybe keep an eye out for a used light. Unless money is no concern, then go for it.
 
Skip to 1:44 on the following video. You'll have a good comparison of my UWLD35 compared to my buddy's Focus 2.0. If you want to look at the entire video, I'm on an UWLD35, two other dives are using Focus 2.0 lights and the last diver is using a LM HID 21. I have my UWLD set to maximum power on this dive.


At 1:44, the diver behind me (I have the white mask & red drysuit), is using the LM HID 21. The diver scootering is using the Focus 2.0 light with the square beam pattern. If you need to illuminate something from far away, Focus 2.0 is the clear winner. Want tons of lumens in a wider pattern, UWLD or LM are the clear winners.

Hopefully, Halcyon has resolved the problems of the Focus 2.0. Nearly every member of the GUE club, to which I belong, has returned the light for repairs due to failed LED and cracked switches. Some have returned the light several times.
 
Skip to 1:44 on the following video. You'll have a good comparison of my UWLD35 compared to my buddy's Focus 2.0. If you want to look at the entire video, I'm on an UWLD35, two other dives are using Focus 2.0 lights and the last diver is using a LM HID 21. I have my UWLD set to maximum power on this dive.


At 1:44, the diver behind me (I have the white mask & red drysuit), is using the LM HID 21. The diver scootering is using the Focus 2.0 light with the square beam pattern. If you need to illuminate something from far away, Focus 2.0 is the clear winner. Want tons of lumens in a wider pattern, UWLD or LM are the clear winners.

Hopefully, Halcyon has resolved the problems of the Focus 2.0. Nearly every member of the GUE club, to which I belong, has returned the light for repairs due to failed LED and cracked switches. Some have returned the light several times.
The LED failure issue has been resolved.

That switch is dumb though. I have a custom one with no switch and it’s always on high.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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