New LED-Based Light instead of HID?

[CompuDude]

Interesting new LED-based light I saw at the Long Beach, CA Scuba show this weekend.

www.bubbleseekers.com

What do you all think?

Direct link: http://www.bubbleseekers.com/html/framesets/hydro_set.htm

$800 for an LED-based 24w light? I haven't been able to compare side-by-side to anything, but they said the light output was the same as a comparable wattage HID.

It's especially interesting how the battery is integrated into the head. No Can battery on your side, and no long cord running across your body. Decent burn times, if not spectacular, and additional batteries can be attached WET to extend the runtime if needed.

Downsides, anyone? I'm sure there must be.

 

[onfloat]

I see multiple bulbs. How tight is the beam? Is it focusable?

 

[bradshsi]

They're using the 3 watt LED bulbs (probably by Luxeon). These are about the largest reliable LED bulbs in production (with a decent life) that can be had for reasonable money.

Personally I'd have the same concerns regarding the illumination pattern and intensity. They are using and array of 7 in the larger light to give about 25 watts.

If they are using Luxeon III Stars (1000mA with a Vf of 3.9V), these give 80 lumens per bulb for a total of 560 lumens. This is well short of the typical lumen rating for a 21 watt HID. (Additionally it's well short of my own 35watt overvolt halogen light).

Luxeon do offer the Star V bulb but this only has a claimed lifespan of 500+ hours (very poor). Even using this bulb would only give 840 lumens (120 lumens per bulb), still short of the equivalent 21 watt HID.

In addition depending on the quality of lens used, you may get further losses from that quoted lumen level. Obviously you can't change the illumination pattern. I would suspect that it might be a bit uneven due to the interaction of multiple light sources.


I'm curious if anyone has used one of these and can give a comparative review vs an HID or halogen. For the money I'd be inclined to stick with my halogen but then again I'm cheap

 

[Halthron]

What do you all think?

I think the manufacturer needs to provide some details (weight in and out of the water and lumens, etc.) and fix their broken images.

 

[alo100]

If it is 3 watt Luxeon bulb, the 3 LED's lights would be similar to Shockwave, which is 9W around and output 170 lumens (copied from the data from Princetion tec). Now the 3 LED's is 10W (1W for the ballast, maybe?), so it is around that range. I don't know, there could be LED's similar to that efficiency, I can only guess. I agree, they should have provided the lumens measurement.

If it performs like a Shockwave, then it's not as bright as a 10W HID light yet. The 7 LED's light would give around 400 lumens which is comparable to the UK light canon with 450 lumens. But the LED is more durable.

Hmm.... I think I have done the calc before... just to see if the LED array is catching up yet.

The performances of these products (mentioned above) are all very close, they are completing for the same product groups. Again, guessing, need to see the lumen in order to see the real performance.

 

[CompuDude]

I think I'll drop them a line and see if I can get more info. I agree they don't seem to have very much info down in writing. They definitely have a shortage of solid specs. They did assure me their 20+ watt light was comparable to a 20+ watt HID in terms of light output. Of course, the salespeople might be willing to say anything...

The light is not focusable, however, I remember that much. At least, not in it's current incarnation.

 

[dlegros]

You could always have a look at the Solus SU-500

Dom

 

[micbu]

Sorry, I am still laughing

The outbut of a 21W HID is about 1700 lm the output of the 7x3WLED about 850lm. This is just the half of a 21W HID. The colours radiated by a LED are absolutely sh.... .
You can not really use them for taking photos. But the worst thing is that your eyes will be betrayed by white light. Bright whithe and dark white do not exist. White is white, therefore a week light seems to be as bright as a strong light in a short distance in clear water. For murky water or bigger distances the difference is clearly to see For the moment: Forgett LED as main light. Is is o.k. as backup light or for night dives in clear water but for all other purposes choose halogen or HID.



Greetings, MIchael

 

[alo100]

For the time being, yes, it's hard to reach that level.
However, it's semi-conductor we are considering, it's changing fast...

The highest illumination of a LED I know of is 200 lumens/W, 50000 hrs already. The following are only based on some spec I read...
The LED is relatively large LED struct (1cm x 3cm), the size of it allows formation of arrays (array of the 12 LED's dimension e.g. about 6 x 6 cm); a dozen of them generates 2400 lumens, but the cost, heat dissipation (the LED's are using heat sink now, yike!) .... all are the factors to consider.
I wish the manufacturers would consider the scalability issue of these kinds of lights: will I be able to upgrade my light with the lastest LED's, changing light head with yet more LED's, altering the corresponding ballast (or no ballast?), stand alone battery pack, maybe I can make it hand held or canister etc etc.

 

[bradshsi]

The outbut of a 21W HID is about 1700 lm the output of the 7x3WLED about 850lm. This is just the half of a 21W HID.

I think that's being a bit unfair in your comparison. According to BrightStar, their 21 watt HID bulbs run 1100 to 1300 lumens depending on the model chosen.

The color comparison is a bit more subjective. Personally I find that LED illumination is a bit too bluish for my liking (but that's just me).

IMO most of these dive light makers play fast and loose with their claims regarding brightness. I saw one claim for another LED light maker that claimed it's 24 watt model was equal to a 120 watt halogen. Another HID light maker makes claims for 1700 lumens output from a 21 watt HID bulb, which seems rather high in view of BrightStars's own specs.

An interesting comparison between Halogen and HID can be found here. (Disclaimer note: I do not own a Nocturnal light, although I have a similar design of self built halogen based light).

http://www.nocturnallights.com/halogen-vs.-hid.php


I think LED bulbs will one day be the standard for dive lights, but the technology is still changing too much and is too immature for me to adopt it for use in my light.