Hello all,
Currently in Bali, Indonesia, I've been focusing on macro video, which, along with a growing interest in black backgrounds soon led me on the path of snoot video lights, and my first purchase was a reasonably priced
SUPE (Scubalamp) MS-10 snoot light:
https://scubalampusa.com/products/ms10
SUPE is a Chinese manufacturer also known as Scubalamp, currently rebranded as Fotocore and maybe a couple of other names.
The MS-10 snoot light turned out to be quite nice, 100,000 lx @ 100mm, 1000 lm, strong directional beam, multiple power settings and an attachment to further reduce the optical snoot beam for tiny subjects (this video was shot with it for instance).
I was still figuring it out when the SUPE MS-10 light died out during a dive, roughly 2.5 months after purchase.
Cause was water ingress through the push button - this was quite clear as I actually saw little bubbles come out of the button after pressing it during the dive, light has colour LED array around the button which buzzed out during the dive, and the snoot light promptyy headed for dive-light paradise there and then in the warm waters of the Lombok Strait...
Back on land, what I had seen during the dive was confirmed - battery compartment was completely dry (I'm still using the battery which was in the light to this day), completely clean and uncorroded, but there was water in the main (sealed-off) unit.
The leak came from the light's single push-button - after the light died out, I contacted SUPE / Scubalamp customer service to see what could be done, and they told me get in touch with one of their 3 Indonesian distibutors / retailers, since the product was still under warranty.
Which I did immediately, explaining the situation - their Bali-based Indonesian retailer was responsive, and asked me to send it in for inspection, which I did.
- 10 days later, on August 30 2023, the retailer contacted me saying that:
"I just got the information that the factory will give the replacement to our shop, and you need to wait it. Usually take a few month"
All good then, right? I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the "a few months" part at the time.
Big mistake.
The light had died out mid-August, and by mid-December it still wasn't replaced, despite following-up on the replacement multiple times with the Bali-based retailer, and also with SUPE customer service.
In such situations ( = replacement of a defective product still under warranty) SUPE / Scubalamp manufacturer / factory does normally not proceed to ship a replacement of the defective product directly to the customer or to their local distributor/retailer.
Instead, it is the local distributor retailer who needs to place the order for a replacement to SUPE Scubalamp which - in this case at least - is done through their standard Purchase Order system (= grouping orders to save on shipping/import costs).
And this is where things started getting complicated - in my case the Bali-based retailer placed their PO / order to SUPE/Scubalamp at the end of October (even though I had been informed that the defective light would be replaced by SUPE/Scubalamp on August 30.)
Anyway, fast-forwarding a little, the replacement for the SUPE MS-10 which had died in August 2023 finally did arrive, on January 5th 2024
During the 5 months interval waiting for its replacement, I had bought a Backscatter MW4300 Macro-wide video light to fill the void, and it became my primary video light (no issues with it, solid product)
Meaning that the replacement SUPE MS-10 went into storage, after checking that it worked on land.
However, I have recently been doing bonfire-style night dives, which gave the SUPE MS-10 a new purpose as a narrow pointer, especially since I was using the MW4300 as a lure light.
So the brand-new replacement SUPE MS-10 went diving with me, 4 times.
Yes, that's 4 dives at around 10 meters... No flooding no nothing but...
And as an unexpected follow-up to this adventure, the SUPE MS-10 replacement received is now unuseable, again.
Why? Well, the SUPE MS-10 light turns on when it wants to... Or not.
The electronics (which included a long-press activated dimmer) are clearly fried.
Here's what it looks like to this day:
I contacted SUPE again, explaining the situation, with pictures and a video of the problem.
I got a swift reply, asking for a video - I had already sent one, but sent it again, along with other test videos.
I was then told to try to wipe the contact area with alcohol.
To be frank, I couldn't see any oxidation on this light which had been only 4 times in the water, but hey, I had some IPA / Isopropanol, so wiped everything and hoped for the best.
Alas, the problem remains - as suspected, it is most likely due to the light's electronics / control circuit / circuit board
I told SUPE, and sent further test videos showing the light turning on and working and, in other cases, not turning on or working (with the same batteries...)
I then got this reply:
Maybe something was lost in translation, but...really?
I answered that a light which sometimes turns on and sometimes doesn't cannot be used for diving. I'm am not taking a light on night dives that might or might not work (I generally avoid this with any piece of equipment if I can....)
And having waited 5 months for a replacement last time, I also explained that I did not feel like losing more time with this and especially not with their suppliers in Indonesia.
SUPE’s Raymond Bao then offered me to pay shipping cost from China for a replacement (which might be subject to 20%+ import taxation in Indonesia)
I have declined this offer, considering that I have now had too many issues with the SUPE MS-10 to spend more money on it, especially with no real guarantee that the issue won’t repeat itself in the near future.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but this is just too many problems for a light model.
I don't know if this applies to all SUPE products, this specific MS-10 model or if I've just been very unlucky, but the light I have is unuseable.
So this is it.
I really hope this misadventure will help other people make more informed decisions when considering buying products from this manufacturer, SUPE, also known as Scubalamp / SUPE / Fotocore.
I'll let you be the judge of how this issue was handled - given the circumstances, I think this shows no interest in maintaining a proper reputation (hence the rebranding, perhaps?) and ensuring customer satisfaction. For me, the end customer, this feels like business version of a hit-and-run...
So big caveat emptor, unfortunately - I will definitely stay away from this brand (which should maybe spend more time on product design and quality-testing than on social-media promotion...), once is bad luck, twice might be a coincidence, but I'm not in a hurry to confirm any patterns the third time...
cheers, happy bubbles, and solid lights to you
ben
Currently in Bali, Indonesia, I've been focusing on macro video, which, along with a growing interest in black backgrounds soon led me on the path of snoot video lights, and my first purchase was a reasonably priced
SUPE (Scubalamp) MS-10 snoot light:
https://scubalampusa.com/products/ms10
SUPE is a Chinese manufacturer also known as Scubalamp, currently rebranded as Fotocore and maybe a couple of other names.
The MS-10 snoot light turned out to be quite nice, 100,000 lx @ 100mm, 1000 lm, strong directional beam, multiple power settings and an attachment to further reduce the optical snoot beam for tiny subjects (this video was shot with it for instance).
I was still figuring it out when the SUPE MS-10 light died out during a dive, roughly 2.5 months after purchase.
Cause was water ingress through the push button - this was quite clear as I actually saw little bubbles come out of the button after pressing it during the dive, light has colour LED array around the button which buzzed out during the dive, and the snoot light promptyy headed for dive-light paradise there and then in the warm waters of the Lombok Strait...
Back on land, what I had seen during the dive was confirmed - battery compartment was completely dry (I'm still using the battery which was in the light to this day), completely clean and uncorroded, but there was water in the main (sealed-off) unit.
The leak came from the light's single push-button - after the light died out, I contacted SUPE / Scubalamp customer service to see what could be done, and they told me get in touch with one of their 3 Indonesian distibutors / retailers, since the product was still under warranty.
Which I did immediately, explaining the situation - their Bali-based Indonesian retailer was responsive, and asked me to send it in for inspection, which I did.
- 10 days later, on August 30 2023, the retailer contacted me saying that:
"I just got the information that the factory will give the replacement to our shop, and you need to wait it. Usually take a few month"
All good then, right? I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the "a few months" part at the time.
Big mistake.
The light had died out mid-August, and by mid-December it still wasn't replaced, despite following-up on the replacement multiple times with the Bali-based retailer, and also with SUPE customer service.
In such situations ( = replacement of a defective product still under warranty) SUPE / Scubalamp manufacturer / factory does normally not proceed to ship a replacement of the defective product directly to the customer or to their local distributor/retailer.
Instead, it is the local distributor retailer who needs to place the order for a replacement to SUPE Scubalamp which - in this case at least - is done through their standard Purchase Order system (= grouping orders to save on shipping/import costs).
And this is where things started getting complicated - in my case the Bali-based retailer placed their PO / order to SUPE/Scubalamp at the end of October (even though I had been informed that the defective light would be replaced by SUPE/Scubalamp on August 30.)
Anyway, fast-forwarding a little, the replacement for the SUPE MS-10 which had died in August 2023 finally did arrive, on January 5th 2024
During the 5 months interval waiting for its replacement, I had bought a Backscatter MW4300 Macro-wide video light to fill the void, and it became my primary video light (no issues with it, solid product)
Meaning that the replacement SUPE MS-10 went into storage, after checking that it worked on land.
However, I have recently been doing bonfire-style night dives, which gave the SUPE MS-10 a new purpose as a narrow pointer, especially since I was using the MW4300 as a lure light.
So the brand-new replacement SUPE MS-10 went diving with me, 4 times.
Yes, that's 4 dives at around 10 meters... No flooding no nothing but...
And as an unexpected follow-up to this adventure, the SUPE MS-10 replacement received is now unuseable, again.
Why? Well, the SUPE MS-10 light turns on when it wants to... Or not.
The electronics (which included a long-press activated dimmer) are clearly fried.
Here's what it looks like to this day:
I contacted SUPE again, explaining the situation, with pictures and a video of the problem.
I got a swift reply, asking for a video - I had already sent one, but sent it again, along with other test videos.
I was then told to try to wipe the contact area with alcohol.
To be frank, I couldn't see any oxidation on this light which had been only 4 times in the water, but hey, I had some IPA / Isopropanol, so wiped everything and hoped for the best.
Alas, the problem remains - as suspected, it is most likely due to the light's electronics / control circuit / circuit board
I told SUPE, and sent further test videos showing the light turning on and working and, in other cases, not turning on or working (with the same batteries...)
I then got this reply:
Maybe something was lost in translation, but...really?
I answered that a light which sometimes turns on and sometimes doesn't cannot be used for diving. I'm am not taking a light on night dives that might or might not work (I generally avoid this with any piece of equipment if I can....)
And having waited 5 months for a replacement last time, I also explained that I did not feel like losing more time with this and especially not with their suppliers in Indonesia.
SUPE’s Raymond Bao then offered me to pay shipping cost from China for a replacement (which might be subject to 20%+ import taxation in Indonesia)
I have declined this offer, considering that I have now had too many issues with the SUPE MS-10 to spend more money on it, especially with no real guarantee that the issue won’t repeat itself in the near future.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but this is just too many problems for a light model.
I don't know if this applies to all SUPE products, this specific MS-10 model or if I've just been very unlucky, but the light I have is unuseable.
So this is it.
I really hope this misadventure will help other people make more informed decisions when considering buying products from this manufacturer, SUPE, also known as Scubalamp / SUPE / Fotocore.
I'll let you be the judge of how this issue was handled - given the circumstances, I think this shows no interest in maintaining a proper reputation (hence the rebranding, perhaps?) and ensuring customer satisfaction. For me, the end customer, this feels like business version of a hit-and-run...
So big caveat emptor, unfortunately - I will definitely stay away from this brand (which should maybe spend more time on product design and quality-testing than on social-media promotion...), once is bad luck, twice might be a coincidence, but I'm not in a hurry to confirm any patterns the third time...
cheers, happy bubbles, and solid lights to you
ben
