Question Apeks Luna Advanced: worth the price?

[stuartv]

They’re Apeks branded Exposure torches. They are quality bicycle lights who ventured into dive lights and sold out of that market.

Ah. Now I understand the beam angle. It must be from the bicycle world.

I do believe they are constant output, which is awesome.

But, after talking offline with a friend that has a Luna ADV, I now understand that it really is a 20 degree beam, which is useless (to me, anyway) for underwater use. A 20 degree beam in turbid water is simply blinding to the user.

That is why the Dive Rite LX20+ is a 6-degree spot. The DR EX35 can light is a 6-degree spot. The Underwater Light Dude LD-40 is a ... wait for it... 6 degree spot.

But, those lights are all designed by people who cave dive, where silty water is common.

If a 20 degree beam works for other divers, that is great for them! It won't work for me, though.

 

[amado_sarhan]

They’re Apeks branded Exposure torches. They are quality bicycle lights who ventured into dive lights and sold out of that market.

Oh, I remember those now that you mention it. It even had a very similar charging mechanism and a charge indicator. A friend on a liveabaord was diving with it a few years back. I remember you could change the light output by knocking on it or something. It was quite funny watching my buddy slap his torch underwater.

It's very possible Apeks took that and improved on it. There isn't much room for creativity anyway in the dive torch market. I don't think the build quality of those were any where close though.

 

[amado_sarhan]

Ah. Now I understand the beam angle. It must be from the bicycle world.

I do believe they are constant output, which is awesome.

But, after talking offline with a friend that has a Luna ADV, I now understand that it really is a 20 degree beam, which is useless (to me, anyway) for underwater use. A 20 degree beam in turbid water is simply blinding to the user.

That is why the Dive Rite LX20+ is a 6-degree spot. The DR EX35 can light is a 6-degree spot. The Underwater Light Dude LD-40 is a ... wait for it... 6 degree spot.

But, those lights are all designed by people who cave dive, where silty water is common.

If a 20 degree beam works for other divers, that is great for them! It won't work for me, though.

Oh absolutely! I don't think this line is suitable for cave diving (except the umbilical Luna X). It will reflect back in a silt out and blind everyone. You need no more than 6 to 12 beam angle for cave diving or wreck penetration. I only use it for open water.

 

[alwayscold]

I ended up buying the light and figured I'd come back to this post and provide feedback.

In short, I love it. It's obviously not as light as the corded heads but it's not that heavy either. The power output is indeed constant, best part of the light. Easy to use and program the different modes (low/med/high). It lasts forever and I love the % and hour:min display of battery & time remaining at your chosen level. Never had to worry about it on a few 3hr dives.

I took it cave diving and here is where it can have a small downside. It has a wider beam angle which is awesome when it lights up the entire room but can make some signaling a little annoying (e.g. I had to make wider circles to signal "ok"). Now, it's not a video flood beam by any means and it does have a clear center spot, so it wasn't really that much more difficult to communicate than my narrow spot beam light in the end. When I dive in murky ow, I drop the output to low and it's generally ok though sometimes I switch to a smaller, tighter backup.

The goodman handle has a good feel and since I can (with a key) adjust the width to fit my gloved/non-gloved hands, it's always on tight enough to let me be able to use my fingers for something else (though I just take it off and attach to a d-ring most of the time because it can get a little bulky then). It also allows for a 2nd light or camera to be mounted on which is nice.

I've got no doubt this one will last for years to come.

 

[amado_sarhan]

I ended up buying the light and figured I'd come back to this post and provide feedback.

In short, I love it. It's obviously not as light as the corded heads but it's not that heavy either. The power output is indeed constant, best part of the light. Easy to use and program the different modes (low/med/high). It lasts forever and I love the % and hour:min display of battery & time remaining at your chosen level. Never had to worry about it on a few 3hr dives.

I took it cave diving and here is where it can have a small downside. It has a wider beam angle which is awesome when it lights up the entire room but can make some signaling a little annoying (e.g. I had to make wider circles to signal "ok"). Now, it's not a video flood beam by any means and it does have a clear center spot, so it wasn't really that much more difficult to communicate than my narrow spot beam light in the end. When I dive in murky ow, I drop the output to low and it's generally ok though sometimes I switch to a smaller, tighter backup.

The goodman handle has a good feel and since I can (with a key) adjust the width to fit my gloved/non-gloved hands, it's always on tight enough to let me be able to use my fingers for something else (though I just take it off and attach to a d-ring most of the time because it can get a little bulky then). It also allows for a 2nd light or camera to be mounted on which is nice.

I've got no doubt this one will last for years to come.

Congrats! I hope you enjoy your new shiny torch! I can tell you, by experience, that you will appreciate it more a few hundred dives later when the output and battery are exactly the same

 

[Bloody Marvelous]

I tried all the Apeks Luna lights, and the beam angle on the Luna and Luna ADV were too wide for my liking.
I ended up with a Luna Mini as my backup light, and the Luna-X as my main. Both have an 8° wide beam, which makes for a nice hot spot.

The Luna X has 3 modes (spot, flood, spot & flood), and three intensities (high, medium, low). The flood is 2000 lumen, the spot 1300, for a combined 3300 lumen output. It's a lot brighter than the 3600 lumen Luna ADV because it has a tighter beam.

The flood is pretty even, with a tiny little bit of a hot spot in the middle, but it's not designed as a video light so I don't mind.

The tight beam angle, and the ability to switch off the flood, means it's great at penetrating through murky water.

I did turn the head around on the goodman handle. It makes for a better balanced head unit, and you can span a bungee over the top of the light that way.

Off course I dropped the light on a concrete floor the first day I received it, putting to little dings in the aluminum, but that means I don't have to baby it anymore.

 

[buddhasummer]

"Off course I dropped the light on a concrete floor the first day I received it, putting to little dings in the aluminum, but that means I don't have to baby it anymore."