I have the FIXLED1000 (not 500) and have no such problems that you describe. The only "problem" that I've had with using it as a main dive lamp is that when viz is (very) low, then the extremely wide beam makes it a bad choice. But already when viz is OK (3-4m) it's a great main dive lamp. But again, the beam is very wide so you wont be able to point at things in the distance. On the other hand you will more or less lighten up the whole ocean (on night dives).