What light intensity for tropical night diving?

[EL Pistoffo]

Rummaging through the threads here, I have found conflicting recommendations on night lights. Some suggest them mega bright while others dimmer. For recreational night dives in tropical waters, what is a reasonable intensity range for dive lights?

Many note that too bright of a light can scare off the sea-life. I can see the sense in that. I have two lights in consideration as primaries (not as video lights):

1. Penetrator 220(lumen) w/goodman handle. Inexpensive, compact, adequate brightness(?), long runtime, uses common batteries. Penetrater 220 2 Light Package (re-branded Dorcy)

2. DRIS 1000(lumen). A bit pricier, not as compact, much brighter, adequate runtime, uses common batteries, . DRIS Dive Gear 1000 Lumen Dive Light | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

I usually carry a GoPro on a tray that already has dual video lights so that would be my video lighting that I switch on and off when necessary. I have a couple of Chinese dive lights which work as secondary lights.

So which is the better option for casual use in clear waters at night?

 

[diversteve]

I usually carry a GoPro on a tray with dual lights so that would be my video lighting. I have a couple of Chinese dive lights which work as secondary lights.

You are or are not planning to use the Dorcy/Dris as primary video lights? Because neither will really work very well for that.

Your GoPro has a field of view of about 170^o - it shoots in really wide angle - almost fisheye as you've probably noticed. Dorcy doesn't specify theirs but I have two and I would guess it's no more than about a 10^o beam angle. Dive lights used for general diving are focused to deliver a narrow, bright beam

.On land, the center spot concentrates 80% of the light output while using the remaining 20% to provide a bright area around the center spot to light up a wide viewing area. Underwater more of the light is concentrated into the beam providing superior performance.

Video lights typically start at about a 60^o beam angle and I've seen some as wide as 130^o. Look at any good site that sells video lights and they'll specify it.

So using the Dorcy's you'll get brightly lit hotspots in the center of your video with a wider ring of dark around your subject. It looks bad and is very obvious. My Dorcy's also throw a secondary ring that would be seen by your GoPro due to it's FOV.

For video you need to try to match or exceed the GoPro FOV. Some video specific lights have a 90-110^o beam angle. Two provide nice uniform coverage. For example - the iTorch Pro 5 Video light advertises:

110 degree smooth even beam means there won't be any hotspots showing up in your images!

If you're just looking for a dive light - I like the Dorcy - I bought two. In the Turks/Caicos a few years ago one was my primary night dive light and it was almost too bright - there were times when I put my fingers in front of it to keep from scaring the fish away. I lit up some crabs once and they became very aggressive - fish not hidden in the reef would just run and hide since I was targeting them for the reef sharks feeding around us.

One dive I was at 15' and I turned my light on to illuminate a group of divers at about 75'. They saw it, one commented on it back on the boat and wanted to know where to get one. Especially when I told them what I paid. He had a much more expensive light that wasn't as bright. I did 6 night dives that week on one set of AAA batteries with no loss of output that I could see.

 

[victorzamora]

As non-video lights, look up 1800lm or XML lights on eBay. You can get really good 1000lm (regardless of what they say they're rated, XM-L diodes output 1000lm) lights on eBay for like $40 shipped with a flashlight, batteries, and a charger. Not as nice as the DRIS light, for sure, but it'll get you a good enough light. Plus, if you start trying to modify it to get a video-compatible light it won't hurt your feelings badly if you mess it up .

 

[buddhasummer]

IMO for warm water clear night diving you want lower intensity @200 lumens and a wider beam. If you are going to get a mega powerful light make sure it has low output setting. In these conditions underwater light canons defeat the purpose of night diving. Nocturnal creatures tend to shy away from light.

---------- Post added February 21st, 2014 at 12:57 AM ----------

FWIW I use a 250 lumen light with variable beam from 3-26 degrees. It's very versatile for day diving or low viz in 3 degree mode and wider setting at night. After using many types and various output lights I find this output etc to be ideal in most situations encountered in warm water travel diving.

---------- Post added February 21st, 2014 at 12:59 AM ----------

A light running on cheap, easy to find AA batteries is also a bonus when traveling.

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

We run night dives in the tropics and we use UKSL3 torches which run on standard size 'C' batteries. When checking my facts before replying to this post I was surprised to find they are only 98lumens. This considered, they generate an incredible amount of light - many of our instructors even use these as their personal torches. For basic courses (ie Advanced night dive/spec) and night fun dives this works just fine, although admittedly you may want to play around with other options if you want to take better photos or video footage into account.

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Thanks for the replies. The majority seem to like the lower lumen option. My camera already has video lights. I'm looking for a primary clear water night dive light.

So the Penetrator (Dorcy) is looking to be the better choice.

 

[redacted]

My light switches between 1200, 600, and 200 lum. I keep it a 200 almost always in clear tropical waters.

 

[ams511]

My light switches between 1200, 600, and 200 lum. I keep it a 200 almost always in clear tropical waters.

What brand is it?

 

[divin'dog]

Rummaging through the threads here, I have found conflicting recommendations on night lights. Some suggest them mega bright while others dimmer. For recreational night dives in tropical waters, what is a reasonable intensity range for dive lights?

What a person should bring for a light is pretty subjective... I have 3 lights I bring on Caribbean warm water night dives. One is a 340 lumen light (hardly use), another is a 240 lumen light (bright enough for a good look at several feet away), but my favorite and most used light is a Princeton Tec Amp 1.0 Light with all of 14 lumens. I'm not like your average diver... I like to dive with no lights on or a very small light on (except for a tank light so my buddy can find me). To me, if you're diving with a mega-light, what's the point of diving at night?

Usually you can see where you're going by the lights of all the other divers, unless you're soloing or it's just you and a buddy. For me, I like to use just enough light. It allows you to get closer to the sea life. If you give your eyes the opportunity to adjust, you will be amazed at what you can see (unless you are really deep or there is no moon out). I like the experience because it feels more natural in the darkness, to feel what the sea is like at night. It can feel pretty awesome and creepy at the same time. Creatures will come out or be less apt to hide without all the bright lights. If you've ever been on a night dive with a boat load of divers, it's a "noisy" light show, like something out of a Speilberg movie. I tend to like the opposite. YMMV.

 

[redacted]

What brand is it?

Magicshine. They are produced with o-rings that are too large and too soft so they are easily damaged and flooded. But the electronics seem to be pretty good. Mine have survived 2 floodings!!! Rinse, dry, repeat.

I don't believe they are still in the dive light market.