Ye Ol' HID

[Ozgarr]

Just a quick one, folks.

I was just trawling the youtube, when I came upon this video.

YouTube - ‪Sartek 21w HID vs. Light Monkey 21w LED‬‏

'Twas a 21W HID/LED light comparison, and I was startled by how far they (being the lowly LED) has come.

The product in question was a Light Monkey 21W. To my knowledge, an industry leader in tight focused, LED technology. The hot spot was of comparable diameter/intensity of the HID, and I would think it had a similar LUX rating. Obviously, the LED had some light spillover outside the hotspot, but surely this would increase visibility and peripheral lighting...?

So... Whilst the HID might possess somewhat better penetrating ability for signalling, surely the LED is a more reliable and versatile light than the standard Halcyon/Salvo/etc. 21W HID's?

Just curious, looking for people's opinions. Don't hurt me. raying:

 

[ajduplessis]

You are going to get various responses based on what diver’s use, what instructors recommend and what people believe is the way forward. I am no different and use a Halcyon 12w LED, thus my opinion below. I love my light and have dived it in a team of 21w HID’s and other LED’s.

You want a very reliable high performance light/bulb, long burn times, deep depth rating, short recharge cycles and should have a focused beam of 8 degrees or less. The reasoning here is that you require a tight beam for signalling/tracking.

I would like to use my Halcyon 12W LED as “soundboard” to highlight pros and cons between HID and LED dive light. You can make up your own mind on what is good, bad or bull.

Firstly the matter of reliability. HID bulbs do break when bumped or dropped by accident unlike LED’s and in my opinion then less reliable. HID bulbs are also costly to replace.
Secondly a dive light should have long burn times. HID lights eat battery power and you require increasingly larger packs to increase burn times. I have a 4.5amp hour pack and will burn for 5 hours at 100% (double that on 50%). A typical HID would only last around 2 hours on the same pack. My 4.5ah pack only requires a 45 min to charge which is great. Please also remember that it is a small pack and thus less buoyant compared to 9 or 13ah packs.
Thirdly a dive light should have a tightly focused beam. The light I have is not as focused as a typical HID (10degrees only) and some would say not any good for signalling/tracking. I disagree, if you can’t see me signalling you are blind or 3000 feet away. As mentioned I have dive this light in a team of other 21w HID and performed great!!
Lastly we need to look at performance. 21w HID lights are more powerful with regards to punch, but not by much. Please remember that I am comparing a 12w LED to a 21w HID. The LED IMO has a whiter and brighter beam.

I have dived this light with cavers using 21w HID and they are comfortable to have the 12w LED within their team and was “impressed” by its performance.

I believe that LED is already to a standard and in some cases starting to surpass HID in performance.

 

[TSandM]

From my experience in diving with people using high-end LED lighting, it's getting very close. Focus is still not as tight and so there isn't as much "punch" through turbid water. But if I were buying a new light today, I'd probably buy an LED light. On the other hand, used HID lights are getting cheaper and cheaper . . . which is why we own five HID lights

 

[HenrikBP]

Here's a good test that highlights (no pun intended ) the strength and weaknesses of HID vs. LED, and of tight spot vs. wider beams:

Dive Xtras - Dive Xtras

I own an MB-Sub VB-Cave light and have been very happy with it - with the one quip being I'd like a tighter beam when adjusted to full tight. Other than that, as you will see, the output and burn time is right up there with the HID lights, and with even a bit of battery drain, even surpasses the HID.

On wide beam there is no comparison - the VB-Cave is better than any of the HID lights.

H

 

[Ozgarr]

Here's another video, affirming what ajduplessis said before:

Light comparison | Halcyon Dive Systems

This compares the Halcyon EOS with their other models, and IMHO I can't see much difference between the 12W LED and the other lights.

To me, the 12W appears to be a brighter and whiter than the standard 10W HID, and definitely competes with the others.


...Interesting stuff

 

[Ozgarr]

Hmm... So this thread is popular. Deep air anyone?