UK SL4eLED vs Ikelite PC Lite Led

[Packhorse]

Why are the major light manufacturers ignoring CREE LEDs? I have some of the Fenix topside lights and they are simply the best flashlights I have ever owned because they use CREE LEDs.

I have wondered this my self and the only reason I can think of is lag time from design stage to launching a product. Or perhaps selling all the old stock first.

Its only been the last 6 months that we have started seeing the new Crees being used in dive lights. I think the Oxy cheq raider uses them as does the new UK light and the Tusa/Intova light.

 

[HenrikBP]

It seems that one of the things manufacturers struggle with a bit is the beam pattern of the Cree. The beam of the Oxycheq Raider I (version 2) for instance is far from ideal with uneven light intensity in the hot spot and severely ringed halo. It may take awhile for the dive light industry to catch up with the Candlepower "fanatics" in reflector design. Just a thought.

In comparison, my Intova (older model - but with glued head) has a near perfect beam with even light in both hot spot and halo.

Henrik

 

[jtivat]

You can add Sartek to the list there little backup uses a Cree and packs a punch!

 

[Hatul]

They are using 5watt LED's rated at 48 lumens with a 10 hour burn time. A Cree 3watt LED would be double or more the lumens with the same runtime.

Yes I see. On a lumen per watt basis the UK lights do much better. Then are the UK lights using the Cree LEDs?

Adam

 

[jtivat]

Yes I see. On a lumen per watt basis the UK lights do much better. Then are the UK lights using the Cree LEDs?

Adam

They must be using a Cree or Seoul LED. They are not driving it very hard however. I would be fine with a 5 hour runtime and 200 lumens.

 

[Packhorse]

It seems that one of the things manufacturers struggle with a bit is the beam pattern of the Cree. The beam of the Oxycheq Raider I (version 2) for instance is far from ideal with uneven light intensity in the hot spot and severely ringed halo. It may take awhile for the dive light industry to catch up with the Candlepower "fanatics" in reflector design. Just a thought.

In comparison, my Intova (older model - but with glued head) has a near perfect beam with even light in both hot spot and halo.

Henrik

Im not so sure about that. Reflectors are the same for dive and top side lights. There are plenty of Cree flasg lights around.

Im a big fan of aspherics at the moment. The beam you can get from them can be very even and / or tight.

 

[HenrikBP]

Im not so sure about that. Reflectors are the same for dive and top side lights. There are plenty of Cree flasg lights around.

Im a big fan of aspherics at the moment. The beam you can get from them can be very even and / or tight.

There are indeed lots of Cree lights out now (I own a few myself) with great beams. What I meant to suggest was, that maybe some dive lights went to market before an optimal reflector design was achieved. I.e. my Oxycheq Raider I.

Henrik

 

[diveloop]

I have the UK SL4eLED and I love it! It's great as a primary (preferably for a tropical night dive) or as a backup. I personally think it is slightly too big as a backup (doesn't fit in my Nighthawk BC), but that makes it an excellent primary. It has a super bright white center with a nice wide dimmer outer rim, great for viewing fish without disturbing them.

 

[Kiwi Sean]

Thanks again everyone for all the input.

I took my new light (UK SL4eLED) on a night dive tonight - water was a balmy 14 degrees c, and viz would have been around 6 metres during the day, so pretty good for here - and I was impressed!

This thing packs a lot of very nice light into a relatively compact package. Sure, it didn't out-gun the cannister lights that were being used by others, but I was very impressed. Not to say that the Ikelite I was asking about wouldn't have held up well too, but...

I took a incandescent "super sabrelite" as a backup, and it paled in comparison. Not that it was a fair test!

cheers
Sean

 

[puppet27]

I bought the SL4 incandesent and a Cree R2 led module to upgrade for $30, am that impressed with it im selling my C4 eled.