Primary light HID or LED?

[HÃ¥kan Bernandersson]

I own a Power Led 40 my buddy has a 10W Hid. They appear the same.

 

[Nocturnal Lights]

Sometimes they do because of the beam pattern and the focus of the light. I'm going to do some testing myself to see how the lights compare. It's difficult to tell becuase there's a lot of numbers involved. The lumen measures how much light is generated from the bulb, but if you have a crappy reflector not all the light is going to be used. Plus, sometimes the "hotspot" may appear to be equally bright but the flood portion of the light is different.

We're currently seeing how people are reacting to the LED dive lights. Since our halogens are so powerful we may just market our LEDs as a top of the line "backup light", but then again not many people are going to pay that much for a backup light. On the other hand, I know for sure that there are going to be a lot of divers saying that the light from our LED is sufficient for their dives. Perhaps I'll put together a survey once we're ready to launch the product and get some feedback from all of you guys

 

[Sordello]

Hi
I am going to be a bit of a contrarian here. I would consider the LED lamp the primary source of light in most situations for several reasons. I would also consider the high power lamps only needed for illuminating in special situations. My primary lamp has become a LED and I will use exclusively in most situations. The model I use doesn't matter as I own three different LED lamps. The only reason I carry a high power halogen lamp is to use in a situation that cannot be illuminated well with the LED lamp. There is a concept that one should use the lowest power that gets the job done. It is simply a matter of power consumption and reliability. For the most part I use a focused 1 watt LED lamp or a diffused 3 LED lamp as a primary lamp. The high power lamp is great for illuminating a large area but isn't considered a primary lamp by me. I can't Imagine buying a HID system!!!

 

[Nocturnal Lights]

Hi Sordello,

You have a really good point and that's why I love forums, everyone has different preferences and that's why there are more than 150+ models of vehicles in the US this year I think you'll be pleased to hear that we are comming out with a LED light at the end of this year for divers who need a really reliable and rugged LED light as a primary light or a backup light.

 

[veggiedog]

My prediction: LEDs offer the most potential to become the next light source. Recently, LED efficiency has been further boosted (from 70 lumens per watt to 130 lumens per watt). Reliable, efficient, cool. I'm eager for the evolution.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27731

 

[Metalsub USA]

My prediction: LEDs offer the most potential to become the next light source. Recently, LED efficiency has been further boosted (from 70 lumens per watt to 130 lumens per watt). Reliable, efficient, cool. I'm eager for the evolution.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27731

That's great news veggiedog!!!! Metalsub will be working these LED's into our lights the minute they come out on the market. Right now we have a 3 x 5 Watt LED head for our XL7.2 Handheld light, with a 15 Watt total out-put this head is brighter than a 10 Watt HID and of course way more stable and long lasting.

To see more about this light check out the picture below.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/533/XL7_2.JPG

 

[Sordello]

Hi All
I just thought to throw this in. The white led was the first commercial application of a technology devoloped by NASA. The desire to make a semiconductor that could operate at extreme tempetures was considered from the 1950's and the answer then was considered silicon carbide. In the early 90's NASA decided to devolop this technology further. This semiconductor technology - ie: transistors and diodes - Is now being used to make incredibly powerful semiconductor devices that operate at power levels beyond what anyone ever thought possible. As for the LED lamp the frequencies that are possible to be emitted by the LED are now well into the ultra violet region and invisible to the eye. As this makes it easier to excite the phosphorus the lamps will become more more efficient and brighter. The blue tint should soon become a thing of the past and likely it will be easy to select a custom color tempeture. OK, I'm a GEEK!

 

[Metalsub USA]

The nocturnal light is the way to go in my opinion. All around great dive light no complaint here I love my nocturnal light. You should check them out and do a little research I'm sure you will have the same outcome as I did.

Tim

Metalsub HID lights get a great review from the British dive magazine "DIVER"

Please note that US retail prices are much cheaper than the UK's do to the fact that 17.5% Sales Tax is included in the UK £ prices.

I have also fixed some false information in the article. (my added text shows up in green)

http://www.divernet.com/equipment/1005divertests.shtml



MetalSub HID125
METALSUB LIGHTING IS NOT CHEAP. £758 is a lot of anyone's money to spend on an underwater lamp. That's what the HID125 with ni-cad battery pack and charger will set you back, and there are more expensive options. However, like most things designed for the military, it is built to meet a specification, not down to a price.

I suspect that many of you will enjoy reading about it as something to drool over, just as we read about expensive cameras, cars, and consumer electronics.

First of all, let's forget about everything else and look at how you mount the battery-pack onto your tank. There's a tasty-looking bit of machining that can be threaded through a BC tank camband or used with stainless-steel bands. Nicely inset rubber strips provide a grippy interface.

The rectangular battery pack is made using hexagonal-ended bolts throughout, and it mates with the tank-mount with a satisfying "clunk". It is held in place by a sprung lock.

The cable for the lamphead is connected by a watertight bayonet connection with its own sealing O-ring. Disconnect the lamphead and substitute the lead for the charger.

Well thought-out
The 50W HID lamphead is as big as some complete torches. It is very well thought-out, and even has its own little stainless-steel shackle. You switch it on by sliding a large detent back, and then rotating the large collar at the cable-end of the lamphead clockwise. It is rotated a small amount until the detent clicks back into a locked position. You then allow the HID to warm up to full power.

We don't recommend switching an HID light on and off, especially under water. Its life depends on how often it is fired up rather than on how long it burns, which is why it is locked "on". (Switching on and off many times on a dive does NOT significantly reduce bulb life.)

A set of coloured LEDs at the back of the lamphead give information about the state of charge of the battery. Green lights up when more than 50% of burntime remains. An orange LED indicates that 50-20% of burntime remains. Red shows when there is only 20-10% of battery charge remaining, and the (LED)light blinks when the battery is down to 10% or less.

The battery-pack itself is finished in the same Teflon-coated anodising as the rest of the kit. It looks as if it should come with an M16 rifle with night-sights attached. It looks strong enough to entrust to a nervous teenage squaddie who might not see nursing his equipment through arduous conditions as very high on his list of priorities.

Shrivelling stars
The battery substituted for 4kg(the battery pack and lamp only weighs 2kg underwater) of lead on my belt, and this proved very comfortable, but only after I decided to mount it centrally on my tank to stop myself being trimmed roundto one side. Under water at night the HID125 proved to be a veritable light-sabre. In fact it turned a night dive into day dive.

Featherstars and basketstars shrivelled up long before I came anywhere near them. Other divers tended to shrivel up too, because the beams of their own lights became puny by comparison. It was shock and awe all round, and the light is a cool 6000K, so it penetrates water well.

I lent the Metalsub lamp to a couple of other divers for different night dives, and both came back afterwards with big grins. One said he'd never been able to light up a whole reef during a night dive before.

All this, and I only ever charged it the once! I believed it when I was told that it was good for more than four and a half hours' burn-time on one battery charge.

Of course, this made it very useful during day dives, too. It was so bright, you could actually see it light up red soft corals and sponges, even when they were bathed in daylight filtered blue through the water.

If the HID125 is too dim for you, there is also the bigger HID 200. It's switchable between 25W and 50W, (The HID200 is switchable between 3 power levels, 28W, 35W, and 50W) wattequivalent to 200W of conventional light, for £512, Raybans not included.

Switched on the same way as its slightly smaller brother, after sufficient time (around five seconds) you have the option of sliding the detent back again and of rotating the collar by 90¡. This will deliver reduced power that extends burntime dramatically. You have to rotate the collar back all the way to turn the lamp off. Alas, this is a two-handed job.

The HID125 24W (equivalent to conventional 100W lamp-head) costs £411. Battery-packs with the Quick-Release system are available from £255. A charger costs £92.


+ Military spec
+ 'Shock and awe' performance


- Military price

 

[ArcticDiver]

Have to admit that I'm biased toward LED lamps. Have tried most that are at all reasonably priced. I like them. They do a good job in clear air or water. In fact I prefer them due to their color. BUT....

They do a Very Poor job of penetrating any kind of obscuration. Whether that be fog, smoke, etc on the surface or particulate matter underwater, etc they just don't penetrate. Too much back scatter.

So, for my primary light I've had to settle for a HID, with Xenon as the first backup and using my LED for gauges and for really clear water where the HID will damage the wildlife.

So, despite all the snake oil put out by the manufacturers at this point in time HID is the preferred choice for a primary light with Xenon coming next and then Halogen and then LED. LED is an excellent choice as a backup due to its' reliability, long battery life and relatively low cost (if you select properly).