Sea Dragon as dive light?

[ABV]

I just started night diving and I've been borrowing lights so far. I'm planning on getting a SeaLife camera in the near future along with a Sea Dragon light. That got me thinking, couldn't I just use the Sea Dragon as either a primary or secondary dive light during night dives? That would save me from having to get two dedicated lights for night diving.

 

[tkaelin]

I think it may depend on the type of night diving and where and the specific Sea Dragon. I have been night diving for many many years and have been through all kinds of lights. I have a sealife camera with a Sea Dragon 1500 mounted with the camera and a Sea Dragon 650 mini spot I hold or keep in a pocket. Love both lights and together they are more than sufficient light for a night dive in clear water diving such as Florida and the Caribbean. I have a handle attachment that would enable me to use the 1500 as a dive light but so far when diving at night in clear water I have had the camera and the setup I described.

 

[blahanson]

I dive in the Pacific Northwest with a Sea Dragon 1500 on mini-tray with a GoPro and a little BigBlue something clipped on my harness strap as a backup. It's fine, but it's foremost a video light. I've bought an additional light mostly because I wanted a spot for looking in the nooks and getting my buddy's attention. The wide diffuse beam of the Sea Dragon is pretty poor for that.

 

[tkaelin]

The wide diffuse beam of the Sea Dragon is pretty poor for that.

Yes, the 1500 makes a great video but not so much as a nook and cranny light. The 650 mini spot however is fantastic for that task,

 

[helarno]

Yes, the 1500 makes a great video but not so much as a nook and cranny light. The 650 mini spot however is fantastic for that task,

Took a Sea Dragon 2500 down on a night dive once, never again. It's beam is too wide, so other divers were complaining that it was scaring away all the sea life. We had to turn it off the entire dive unless we found something to film.

Might be useful as a secondary/emergency backup, but I wouldn't use it as a primary.

 

[tkaelin]

Never thought of a dive light lighting up a bigger area as a negative but depending upon what you are doing, where you are diving who you are diving with I guess it could be.

 

[eelnoraa]

In crystal clear water, wide beam is not a bad thing. Once viz degrade, wide beam will create lots of back scatter, make difficult to see anything. Also wide beam usually means lower intensity center, which don't punch in low viz water. So it really depend on the location and the usage

 

[pinshootr]

I have the 2500 sea dragon and works great, and i'm diving lake in Michigan(green water) makes a great primary light!