light for daytime - UV? red?

[Judoman09]

Hi, I want to buy a light for daytime diving. Can I ask what you think:

1. Do UV lights work well in the daytime, or is it only worthwhile when night diving?

2/ Is it worth getting a light that i can switch between Red LEDs and white, as I gather the Red may let me more effectively sneak up to critters?

(another option I found rather than separate LEDS, is this filter that flips up that Red Filter for 1200-II Series | Bigblue Dive Lights)

thank you

 

[lowwall]

You want white. If the visibility is so poor or the environment so dark that you need a torch to see anything, then you want clear illumination, therefore white. If the environment is well lit, then your iris will be shrunk down, meaning you'll need a lot of light to see anything in the dark holes you are illuminating, so once again you want white. My lights have three power levels. If I'm using the light during the day, it's usually on the brightest setting, for night dives it's mostly on the middle.

If you want to disturb sea creatures less, use a lower power setting or illuminate them with the edge of the beam rather than the center. Red lights are less disturbing primarily because they are lower effective power as the intervening water quickly absorbs the light.

Non-white lights/torches are at worst sales gimmicks and at best secondary lights meant for specialized needs, usually for photographers. They are a poor choice for a general diving light, day or night.

 

[Damselfish]

Are you looking for a primary light or you already have a couple of those and looking for toys?

For daytime you want a bright white focused light, anything else will be washed out. For night you still want white, but how bright or wide an angle depends on viz and what you’re doing. (If you’re diving warm clear water you probably need less light than you think. I find adjustable brightness very handy, adjustable beam width a little handy.)

I have a UV light, it’s a fun secondary light to play with at night but thats it.

I also have a light with a red option which I’ve played with a little at night. It’s not for day. If you want to see critters but not bother them use less light.

 

[Judoman09]

thank you very much for your replies. That's what i suspected, but so great to hear from experienced people. Yes this is to be the primary dive light, to look under ledges and in cracks etc. I was planning on getting one with a glove mount. Probably this one, i'm thinking would be a good place to start?

Underwater 100m Diving 10000LM XML T6 LED Scuba Flashlight Torch Light & Holder 699933489954 | eBay

 

[lowwall]

I looked at your link. I can't help with specific recommendations because specs for torches in the US appear to be quite a bit different from Australia. I also don't recognize the brands other than Xtar. Many of us are happy with Chinese lights, but we tend to get them from US retailers who put their own labels on. This avoids a three week wait for shipping from Shenzhen and gives us someone in the US to deal with if there's a problem.

 

[Sunn]

thank you very much for your replies. That's what i suspected, but so great to hear from experienced people. Yes this is to be the primary dive light, to look under ledges and in cracks etc. I was planning on getting one with a glove mount. Probably this one, i'm thinking would be a good place to start?

Underwater 100m Diving 10000LM XML T6 LED Scuba Flashlight Torch Light & Holder 699933489954 | eBay

Be carefull, I'm quite sure it won't resist to 100m and I'm sure it's not 10.000 lumens....

but for this price, try it !

 

[XTAR]

I looked at your link. I can't help with specific recommendations because specs for torches in the US appear to be quite a bit different from Australia. I also don't recognize the brands other than Xtar. Many of us are happy with Chinese lights, but we tend to get them from US retailers who put their own labels on. This avoids a three week wait for shipping from Shenzhen and gives us someone in the US to deal with if there's a problem.

Thanks for your kind supports!

And for the UV, red lights, xtar just released new D30 1600/4000 diving flashlights for underwater photography and video. They have four light colors - white, red, blue and UV, can provide high visibility and fill lights. If interested, there are more info:
XTAR D30 1600 Dive Light |ShenZhen XTAR Electronics Co., Ltd
XTAR D30 4000 Dive Light|Shenzhen XTAR Electronics Co., Ltd

 

[XTAR]

I looked at your link. I can't help with specific recommendations because specs for torches in the US appear to be quite a bit different from Australia. I also don't recognize the brands other than Xtar. Many of us are happy with Chinese lights, but we tend to get them from US retailers who put their own labels on. This avoids a three week wait for shipping from Shenzhen and gives us someone in the US to deal with if there's a problem.

Thanks for your kind supports!

And for the UV, red lights, xtar just released new D30 1600/4000 diving flashlights for underwater photography and video. They have four light colors - white, red, blue and UV, can provide high visibility and fill lights. If interested, there are more info:
XTAR D30 1600 Dive Light |ShenZhen XTAR Electronics Co., Ltd
XTAR D30 4000 Dive Light|Shenzhen XTAR Electronics Co., Ltd