Tropical light <=$300?

[ee_guy]

Hello,

The wife and I are looking to purchase two lights for our upcoming trip to Cozumel. We would like something under $300 each that works well for day dives to add the color back to the fishes and the reef at depth. Also if possible a light that works well for night dives would be a bonus. We will most likely dive day 95% of the time so that is our first major requirement. I would appreciate your recommendations.

I should also add:
We think LED for battery life but are open to any light type.
Rechargeable or not is not a must have.
Size is not a big deal as we have been using older large c4 lights.
We will never need these lights for video just for us on dives.
Sometimes the lights will be used locally (California) so would be nice if they worked in 20ft or less viz, however this is not a must have as we log 10 dives or less a year locally.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[kelemvor]

Dive right in scuba sells (and advertieses here) for a Chinese made 1000 lumen light. Many of my local dive shops are selling an identical unit with different engraving now as well (for more money). I have several and they work great and are cheap as dive lights go. Highly recommend unless you need a giant canister light for caves.


DRIS Dive Gear 1000 Lumen Dive Light | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL 90 bucks and very bright. It uses 3 "C" size batteries. I'm not sure exactly how long a set of batts would last, I change the batteries after every dive.

The only thing the light is not well suited for is video. The beam is too narrow. This is a good thing for using it how you describe, just not so good for shooting video because you end up with only a really bright spot in the middle of the frame with darker areas around it.

 

[buddhasummer]

Mb-sub X1-VB

Its my favorite travel light. Been using one for some years. Not cheap but IMO well worth it.

mb-sub.com: X1 - VB LED-flashlight

 

[ee_guy]

Thanks, i added an update to our requirements. I dont see us using the lights for video purposes just recreational diving.

 

[rhwestfall]

The 1K DRIS are a tight beam, and likely too much for clear waters....

low budget: UK SL4 e-LED.

there are a bunch of lights labeled as "back-up technical" that make for great clear water primaries for recreational diving.

 

[tursiops]

For price point and performance and robustness, it is hard to beat the Intova Compact. You can get 6 of them for your $300 budget!

 

[Damselfish]

For good viz tropical diving in general, bright focused beams work well during the day. Wide angle lights are nice at night, as it's helpful to be able to see a larger area - you don't necessarily want too bright, as it will just tend to freak out the stuff you want to see. Your budget is far more than enough, you could get 2 suitable lights of each type for under $300. Use the focused light during the day, and keep it in your pocket as a backup at night.

That said, my husband just bought a Tusa TUL-300. I think there is an Intova light around that is the same, and there are also narrow angle versions of this light. It is very compact, wide angle without a hotspot, and very bright. Haven't tried in the water yet but it might make a good compromise light. One drawback is, it uses CR123 lithium batteries for which the rechargeable options don't seem very good just yet, though I expect they'll get there. Another is that the brightness isn't adjustable, so it remains to be seen if it's too bright at night.

 

[geoff w]

I have a UK SL-4 LED that I use for both So Cal and tropical diving. Viz here ranges from less than 5 ft sometimes to over 60 ft at times. It puts out enough light, is relatively compact, has been very reliable and takes 4 readily available C cells. I usually replace the batteries after about 10 hours of use when it starts to get a little dim. UK customer service has been great when I needed it. I just clip the lanyard to a D ring on my harness and slip the light through a bungee cord to keep it from dangling loose when not needed. It's just OK for night dives, but at 400 lumens light output in clear water is adequate in a pinch. UK is close to you as well

At some point UK will come out with a brighter version of the light, just like every other LED light maker

 

[Matt Clancy]

I love our the shorty 1k light from DRIS. The beam in the middle is very bright with a fairly large not as bright ring. Went on a night dive with about 15 people and could really see the difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rhwestfall]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lights/469175-dris-1000-still-best-style-4.html#post7029094

some good options discussed here....