Halcyon flare light

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alewar

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I have one of the new lights from Halcyon to try out. If anyone wants to know / see something specific, feel free to ask (before I send it back).
 
I'm interested in seeing some in-water shots of the beam, if possible. If you can do those alongside some other light to use as a standard, i.e., 21W HID, that would be great!

Thanks!

I'll see if I can arrange a comparison with an Explorer 21W HID.

Btw. does anyone know how to measure the voltage with the new battery packs?
 
It is possible to take beamshots from big white wall from distance 3m,5m,7m,9m,12m,15m ,21m only in spot mode ? ( and keep same parameters on camera )

and if you can put light on shallow pond with dirty water and take picture
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I like to figure out ratio between hotspot and ''corona'' and second : hotspot beam extension ( i'll put back graph ) because that tells a lot about quality optics and led
 
I'll see if I can arrange a comparison with an Explorer 21W HID.

Btw. does anyone know how to measure the voltage with the new battery packs?

One probe in the centre, and one on one of he little studs that surround it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

---------- Post added October 7th, 2014 at 07:52 AM ----------

It is possible to take beamshots from big white wall from distance 3m,5m,7m,9m,12m,15m ,21m only in spot mode ? ( and keep same parameters on camera )

and if you can put light on shallow pond with dirty water and take picture
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I like to figure out ratio between hotspot and ''corona'' and second : hotspot beam extension ( i'll put back graph ) because that tells a lot about quality optics and led

The Flare is a fixed beam. Doesn't have a pot mode


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
The Flare is a fixed beam. Doesn't have a pot mode

Yes , I have switched with focus , but it does not matter ; evaluation system applies to any lamp ( BTW:Halcyon data or JP Bresser video (nice composition and very good clip ) but technically weightless )
 
I got to dive with a buddy that had the Focus in some fairly silty conditions. It held its own against a 21w. Its *almost* the perfect light. For me, ideally it wouldn't have the "off lo hi" doodad, no focus (like the flare), and a standard issue goodman handle, switch on the canister with E/O cords.

So close to being perfect. So close.
 
I have a Focus, awesome light. Even good for some minor video work in wide angle mode (although not quite up to the level of my dual Sola 1200s). The spot beam is a light cannon. I didn't do a formal comparison, but here are a couple of frame grabs from some go pro footage from last week:

Algol_20140928_21.jpg

Algol_20140928_23.jpg
 
I'm back from the night dive with the new main light from Halcyon. The pristine murkiness of the German waters didn't let us down and we encountered excellent test conditions in fresh water with less than 2m visibility. We brought some measuring tape and a Halcyon Explorer 4.5 [-]21W[/-] 10W HID to compare against.

The first thing you notice is how small the new canister is.

Ui4b9Lz.jpg




The new light head is a little bigger, not only because the optics are different, but also because it now comes with the power switch.
In my opinion, the power switch in the light head, in its current form, is a step back since it's easy to move accidentally. The switch has a safety screw on it that you can tight with your hand in order to fix the position of the switch. This safety screw is small and not very friendly if you are wearing thick gloves. Moreover, the switch will still move if some force is applied.


uvVKmmN.jpg



The new anatomic Godman handle looks cheap and fragile at first, but it works well. What I don't like is the default position of the bolt snap up there.


KuMTPFN.jpg



The canister works now similarly to the backup lights. It has two O-rings and you screw it in the tether socket.


oZdR6uW.jpg



In the water both lights performed very similarly. In the picture below you can see the LED light on the right, and the HID one on the left, both pointing at a platform about 1m below them. I had the impression that the HID light was much subtler, punching through and illuminating the things you actually wanted to see. With the LED light, the "light saber" effect was more pronounced.


zOsQG06.jpg



We also measured the maximal distance at which we still could see the lights using measuring tape. For both lights it was about 7.5m and I guess that was one of the design goals. On the last picture you see both lights at the distance when they start fading. The LED is this time on the left side.

6j4XKDX.jpg



I remember hearing a lot of people saying that HIDs have more punch that LEDs, but that was not the case here.

The only issue I have with this light is the silly power button, other than that it performs almost the same as the HID equivalent, at least during this particular dive.
 

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