Canister light comparisons

[GrimSleeper]

Light Monkey LED is leading right now, I guess the question is 12W vs 21W....

I dive a LM21 LED, Mrs GrimSleeper has a LM12 - the 12W is not a huge step down from the 21W in terms of how much light it seems to put out. And it's TINY! Also much harder to flood if one is a klutz - I managed to knock open one of the clips holding the can lid on my 21W while kitting up, and didn't realise until much too late. On the plus side, that let me experience how good Light Monkey's customer service is first hand...


Tapped out one letter at a time from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[sethw]

Take a look at this comparison of LM 21/26 LED and 21 HID lights (you don't really need to read Dutch to get the gist). They don't include the 12 watt LED, but I believe that will be underpowered for northeast wreck diving.

I prefer the color of HID but the newer 26 watt LED pretty much crushes it... For not that much more than the 21.

---------- Post added August 24th, 2014 at 11:57 PM ----------

Sorry left out the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXz9Ve4yGxQ

 

[Locus]

Dusty's lights aren't designed for technical applications. They're super lights for recreational divers, but they are inexpensive for a reason.

What are the factors that limit Dusty's lights? Is it a question of design? Or materials?

I notice that Dusty's canisters use a screw-on cap as opposed to virtually all of the other cans I've seen with buckles that clamp the cap down onto an o-ring. Does that make a significant difference?

 

[rivers]

I have a light monkey 12w. It's a cracking torch. I dive with a lot of people who have 21w, and they are not massively brighter than my 12w. Great torch, tiny, and fantastic burn time.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I've had 4 different can lights now. Always buy the biggest light available, otherwise you'll spend more money when you have to upgrade later. I started with a Halogen, then bought a 10W, then upgraded to 18W because when the 21W came out the 10W became unusable. I now have a 21W and keep the 18W as a backup. If you buy the largest available, it will have a longer lifecycle.

 

[Randy g]

Another UWLD convert. You will not find a better light that what Bobby builds. The LD 15 is your huckleberry.

 

[doctormike]

Another UWLD convert. You will not find a better light that what Bobby builds. The LD 15 is your huckleberry.

Thanks to everybody for all of this great information! And thanks to Randy for teaching me a new phrase (had to google "I'm your huckleberry")...

So, it looks like it's coming down to LM LED 12 vs UWLD LD 15, with a possible stretch to the LM LED 21 if I am convinced that the output of the 12 is inadequate enough to be worth the extra $400.

One thing that I don't understand (maybe Dsix36 can elaborate) is whether UWLD light really don't have a hotspot. I looked at their website, and they claim a 6 degree angle for the LD15, and they post images and video like this:

[VIMEO]60605317[/VIMEO]

 

[victorzamora]

They DO, in fact, have a hotspot. They're not quite as tight as some of the super-focused lights, and they're certainly not as tight as a focusable HID on "laser-beam" setting. There's a very noticeable hot spot with great spill. Those light up caves better than any light I've used. I was going to post that video from Bobby's website, but you beat me to it. I own a UWLD-35 (after almost buying a LM 21W) and my buddy owns a UWLD 35 and video light (after seeing mine, he switched from his LM canister). Even the 8.5-degree beam angle on the LD-26 and LD-25 aren't too open. They do still get a clearly visible hotspot. I can post photos tonight if you'd like. Youtube has videos of divers diving Bobby's lights and you can see their beam patterns (but we all know how rough most cave footage is).

I've held up an LD-26 and LM 21W LED and there's no comparison with the 26 blowing the LM out of the water. I think the LM 21W LED is closer in light output to the LD-15. My buddy thought the LD-15 was more light, I thought they were head-to-head. The LD-35, though, makes even a LM 50W look small. Not blown-out-of-the-water, but it clearly puts out more light than the LM 50W.

As for buying a light, call Edd.

 

[doctormike]

They DO, in fact, have a hotspot. ...

As for buying a light, call Edd.

Thanks! Who is Edd?

 

[sethw]

Edd Sorenson, legendary cave diver, of Cave Adventurers...

Since I am also in the market for a light, I will share some more of what I understand. First off, the comparisons in Jackson are in very clear water, in the pitch dark. So those results are not necessarily applicable to your use in daytime NE wreck diving. At around 3:00 in the video you can compare the light beams easily, and you can see the 21 W HID has an almost laser-like quality, nearly parallel lines. I believe that is why they are described as having more "punch" in lower visibility water. The UWLD 15 is plenty bright, I'm guessing way more illumination overall but less compact beam. I have nothing against UWLD, it is currently my first choice (debating the 15 or 26) but I will use it mostly in cave diving.

From cavediver.net there is this comparison of the LM HID 21 and UWLD 26 which addresses the issue of beam focus:

Comparing the LM21 HID to the UWLD 26 LED

On Page 2 of that thread Bobby discusses how he has optimized his lights for clear water but I think it is also the nature of LED lighting. One of the participants sums it up pretty well, there is not going to be one ideal light for every condition.

Two other thoughts. It looks to me like LM is perhaps phasing out the LED 21 in favor of their newer LED 26 (don't quote me on this), which are actually priced comparably. Still above your price range, but might be worth considering. I think it is possibly a response to UWLD and evolving technology.

Lastly, the LM 21 HID can be bought with a smaller battery for under $1200, just sacrificing burn time, so closer to your price range.