$170 1400 lumen 120 degree spill video light

[Mantra]

Hey all.

I have been looking at the Archon range of lights for a while (originally their canister lights), but reviews on some of them in the west seem to be scarce. I was put onto them by a Chinese friend of mine who dives and loves them.

Anyway, when I saw they had a '1400 lumen' video light with a 120 degree spill and no hotspot for $170 I thought I would be a crash test dummy and give it a try.

I bought it here:

1PC Diving Flashlight ARCHON D32VR CREE XM L U2 + XP E N3 LED Most Powerful 32650 Battery Underwater Diving Led Torch-in LED Flashlights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com

They shipped it promptly and it arrived on time, and their communication was excellent, but there are a few different vendors out there selling it. Being Chinese, ARCHON lights appear to be rebranded here and there, per this discussion: The making of a 10.000 lm dive light. TRITON LongWang.龙王 . The different brands may all be from the same manufacturer, which is Shenzhen Xiware Technologies: Company Overview - Shenzhen Xiware Technologies Co., Ltd.

So the specs (per http://www.archonlight.com/en/product_show.php?id=61 ) are:

2 x CREE XM-L U2 Leds (white) that operate in high or low mode, plus 2 x CREE XP-E N3 Leds (Red). It operates, if the specs are to be believed, at 1400 lumens on high (burn time 1.5 hrs), ??? lumens on low (burn time 4 hours) and 200 lumens on red (burn time 3.5 hours).

So far I have opened the box and powered it on. It seems very solidly built. Cycling through the modes is easy. I notice the spill is wide with no hot spot, although the mounting screws throw small shadows at the edge of the beam where the light passes through the side of the (very thick) lens. It claims a rating of 100m depth. The battery, a li-ion 32650 was difficult to source, although trustfire make one.

It seems a promising light for the price if it holds up and I thought it was worth a gamble. I will be diving this shortly and was wondering what information would be useful to know if I want to properly review this light for you guys? Please let me know what you would like to test and I will test it. I don't have a light meter, but have a DRIS 1000 lumen torch and a trustfire TR-J1 for comparison.

Thanks!

 

[tamas970]

Sounds interesting.
Is the mode-switch magnetic?
Does it use the housing for grounding (as the trustfire) or connects the batteries with a cable? - asking because of the electrocorrosion issues seen with trustfires.

 

[3D diver]

Follow up? How do you like it a month later?

 

[Mantra]

Hey guys! Firstly, it looks like the new year board reset meant a few posts here have been lost. Bummer!

Near as I can tell, the light uses a mechanical twist (not magnetic) to switch between modes and uses the body to ground.

I am in the middle of a dive trip in the Philippines at the moment and have put about 20 hours of use on the light in depths down to a max of 45m. I am VERY impressed with this light, as are a number of people I've dived with. The model number is getting written down left right and centre by other divers here and it outperforms a couple of very expensive lights from the premium brands. I am wary of hyperbole, but so far so good. The main issue I've had is that the light on medium results in some flicker in the video after. Might it be achieving medium via a strobe action that 48fps video reveals? I've used the red LEDs more than I expected also - very handy on night dives and as a focus light for others with mandarin fish for example.

When I'm home in two weeks or so I will cut some footage together to show it in a variety of conditions. It has enabled me to get some great results with a very simple camera (gopro hero 2) and brings out the colors very nicely even in daylight up to maybe 1.2 meters away?

i will strip the light down when I'm home too and take some pics.

---------- Post added January 22nd, 2013 at 08:25 AM ----------

Ah. Here is one screen cap from a vid. So this is at circa 25m on a murky day on the dona Marilyn wreck. My wife is about 1.2m away here.

 

[Mantra]

And this gives you some context of the ambient light on that dive (light is off here) - not much in the way of colour.

 

[Mantra]

I'm not sure why the water looks green in one and blue in the other. I don't remember using filters on that dive. I'm doing this by phone at the moment so will need to check the footage later.

 

[tamas970]

Probably auto-white balance and different angle to the sun.

I'm not sure why the water looks green in one and blue in the other. I don't remember using filters on that dive. I'm doing this by phone at the moment so will need to check the footage later.

 

[diversteve]

I notice the spill is wide with no hot spot, although the mounting screws throw small shadows at the edge of the beam where the light passes through the side of the (very thick) lens.

If you wouldn't mind - after you get home - could you post a picture of this on a white background? From about a meter away?

TIA.

 

[BDSC]

I'll be testing out these for the first time in the Philippines in about a month.

Welcome To Bigblue Dive Lights

Just got them for my video system. But the ones I have are the newest version of the above. Same as the above except the beam angle is 120.

 

[mtl perry]

I'll be testing out these for the first time in the Philippines in about a month.

Welcome To Bigblue Dive Lights

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how much did you pay for them ??