Looking for BRIGHT UV dive light (395nm)

[Aotus]

I'm looking for a dive light for lighting up fluorescent life and minerals on night dives. I'd prefer a wavelength of <400nm so no filters are required, and I am hoping to find one that is super super "bright" so that I can spot things glowing from 40+ft away, not just when I'm up close and personal.

I'm totally new to using a UV light on a dive, so I really have no idea what's out there. I did see the UV light info page on the UK site, which is informative, but for the price, I would like to see their top light rated above 600lm.

Thanks for any leads.

Zach

 

[buddhasummer]

TillyTec, out of Germany used to make a hand held UV light not sure if it's still available. IIRC it was around 500 lumens. Not sure if it meets your requirements but maybe have a look good luck.

---------- Post added March 6th, 2015 at 06:11 PM ----------

Looks like it's still available:

TillyTec - ein einzigartiges Lampensystem - MPL 500/UV Light

 

[Aotus]

found this monster...awesome but way out of my price range: Keldan Video 4X UV Compact Underwater Video Light, 5W Radiated

---------- Post added March 6th, 2015 at 05:27 PM ----------

TillyTec, out of Germany used to make a hand held UV light not sure if it's still available. IIRC it was around 500 lumens. Not sure if it meets your requirements but maybe have a look good luck.

---------- Post added March 6th, 2015 at 06:11 PM ----------

Looks like it's still available:

TillyTec - ein einzigartiges Lampensystem - MPL 500/UV Light

thanks. It's still listed, but I'm not finding a US distributer so I don't know what that would cost me.

 

[buddhasummer]

Contact Dive-aholic here on Scubaboard, chipoladivers@gmail.com, he should be able to help you.

---------- Post added March 6th, 2015 at 06:36 PM ----------

The lights aren't cheap but they are well made. I used to own one of the MPL lights.

 

[MikeRD03]

I would be carefull with ultra bright UV lights. They can damage your eyes in no time without being notifiable. And what is bad for your eyes is very likely bad for underwater creatures, too. Moreover the fluro effect is not the same as with 450nm blue light - no matter how "bright" your UV light is.
This is the reason Tillytec is offering a blue light instead of UV, too. There is no way around a blue light filter when trying to see ALL the colors..and is it better for creatures u want to see.

 

[tursiops]

I'm looking for a dive light for lighting up fluorescent life and minerals on night dives. I'd prefer a wavelength of <400nm so no filters are required, and I am hoping to find one that is super super "bright" so that I can spot things glowing from 40+ft away, not just when I'm up close and personal.

Check with Charlie Mazel at Nightsea; he is the guru of UW fluorescence. My guess is you are trying to do something physically impossible: get a UV light to go 40 ft, and have the fluorescence go 40 ft to get back to you to see.

 

[Aotus]

Check with Charlie Mazel at Nightsea; he is the guru of UW fluorescence. My guess is you are trying to do something physically impossible: get a UV light to go 40 ft, and have the fluorescence go 40 ft to get back to you to see.

Huh, good point, hadn't thought of that.

---------- Post added March 7th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ----------

I would be carefull with ultra bright UV lights. They can damage your eyes in no time without being notifiable. And what is bad for your eyes is very likely bad for underwater creatures, too. Moreover the fluro effect is not the same as with 450nm blue light - no matter how "bright" your UV light is.
This is the reason Tillytec is offering a blue light instead of UV, too. There is no way around a blue light filter when trying to see ALL the colors..and is it better for creatures u want to see.

Interesting points. Maybe it would be worth trying a light in the visible spectrum first. In that case, I could probably just put a blue filter on my primary and pick up a yellow filter for my mask. That would be a much cheaper method and the light would be plenty bright.

 

[MikeRD03]

You should Google for a german guy named Horst Grunz. He developed the lights for Tillytec and he has an answer to all questions you might have. He also has some interesting videos made with UV and blue light for direct comparison. Watch them and I promise you will go with blue lights!

Mike

 

[Aotus]

I've been talking with some light-pros, and now i'm leaning towards a deep blue with a yellow or orange filter. Sounds like you can get different effects with lights that are at a different range, which is cool, and some will likely be more exciting than others. Horst Grunz makes custom filters, which may be the better way to go so that I can put the filter on my powerful canister light, instead of spending a bunch for a low power dedicated blue/uv light.

thanks for the tips!

 

[gr8jab]

Don't forget that a 'filter' removes light. Your super-bright white light flashlight may not produce as much blue light (after filtering) than a dedicated blue LED light.

In truth, a white LED is actually a blue LED with a coating of a phosphor material that converts some of the light to certain frequencies of green and red (which fools our 'cones' into seeing white). For you eyes, using additive light R+G+B = white. Don't get me started on subtractive situations (Cyan+Magenta+Yellow). You can imagine how crazy my child's art teacher drove me, saying that the primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue.

You get much more blue light with a native blue LED, rather than a blue LED+phosphor+filter.