What's the best light money can buy?

[300bar]

lol! I better look into those salvo havoc lights then
I bet the bulbs are expensive too, but what the heck, did someone say recession?

Recession Oh sure that's the stuff they talk about in the Pub,the stuff forced upon us by the media and the politicions.
Believe it and you'll die,or go broke.

Better to go broke on a good HID light.

BTW what kind of light are you looking for,hand held or cannister,

 

[TSandM]

Even a Salvo 21W HID is a darned nice light. I have never felt the need for anything brighter, but then I don't fry fish underwater

 

[Gilldiver]

Bigger is not always better. Try out diffrent power lights and see just how much you can see. In Northern waters with a lot of particulates in the water, all a big bright light may do is light up the particulates, Back scatter to photo divers, which then ruin your eyes adjustment to the darker waters.

A light that can be focused into a tight beam will be better is such conditions, but you may still end up holding the light out to the side as far as you can to try to drop the back scatter.

 

[Packhorse]

Just out of curiosity, what's the best divelight out there?

I dive in Norway where the water is pretty dark and green, so a good light is a must. Just asking this question if it's doable for my wallet..

I could sell you a great little LED that will put a 10w HID to shame. Oh wait a minute, I already did.

The BEST dive light out there? Well that depends on how you define best.
Things to consider...
Beam angle
Brightness
Run time
Robustness
Size
Features


The Salvo 21w HID is a great light.
Although at half the price you could get a light thats better in many ways.

Solus 1250 left...21watt salvo centre...My DIY light right

 

[RJP]

Even a Salvo 21W HID is a darned nice light. I have never felt the need for anything brighter, but then I don't fry fish underwater

Couldn't agree more. I have the 21W Salvo and can't imagine needing more than that. (Except when I dive with buddies who have the 35W or 50W.)

Salvo Havoc HID Canister Lights *Buy Salvo at DiveSeekers.com 888-SCUBA-47

 

[klemheist]

If you want the brightest possible torch then you will need to build it yourself.

Parts;
A 55W HIDglobe with integrated ballast, 4,300K best lumens efficiency, shape of globe suited to reflector, sourced from EBay.
A pack of 18650 2.6Ah Li-ion batteries (same as used in laptops), with a protection circuit.
A mechanical switch that works underwater. We've found the best are either piezo's or internal magnetic reed switches with toggle circuits.
A car spotlight reflector (needs to be metal and take the globe shape...H3 is a common shape). The diameter and focus of the reflector is critical to the underwater effect. Underwater light tends to scatter more readily so collimated lenses are the go for primary lights. HID Globes are longer than incandescents so needs to be positioned to mimick the original incandescent design.
A housing that is watertight but serviceable.
A lens that will withstand flexing and pressure (polycarbonate/Lexan or acrylic/Perspex)

You also need to consider the cooling of high-amp draw ballasts.

Attached, a picture of two high-lumen torches. On left a 35W HID with 100mm relfector. On right, a 55W HID with 170mm reflector (brighter than a 50W Havoc with its smaller reflector, and less than a quarter of the price). Both are collimated reflectors. Both run on Li-ion.

Good luck

Mac

 

[Packhorse]

They may be the brightest. But a long long way from the best.

 

[Blazinator]

If you want the brightest possible torch then you will need to build it yourself.

Parts;
A 55W HIDglobe with integrated ballast, 4,300K best lumens

Pretty cool setups. Do you dive with them much? Sounds like fun to build if you know what your doing and have the time. I assume you mean 4300 Lumens above, which is scary bright.

Post some pics of the beamshots.

 

[Blazinator]

Solus 1250 left...21watt salvo centre...My DIY light right

Sweet lights Packhorse! Read all your other threads too - Seriously tight focus.

 

[klemheist]

Blazinator,

4,300 is not lumens, I was referring to light temperature.

Globes produce light of different temperatures. Incandescent lights are typically down around the 3,000 K mark and so appear 'yellowy'. Unfortunately everything you light up underwater then looks 'yellowy', and can appear, 'dirty'.

LED's and HID's can be higher colour temperatures and so look 'whiter'. Lumens is one measure of brightness and, all things being equal, in HID's is predicated on the colour temperature. The most efficient brightness output comes from a HID globe of equivalent to the same temperature as light from the sun, around 4,300 K. The added advantage of this is that everything you light up underwater looks, 'real'. Higher colour temperatures start to look blue and even higher, eventually purple. The downside is that less lumens is produced the higher the globe temperature you use.

When buying or building a HID you should be able to choose the colour temeprature of the globe

With LEDs it is the same, although the choice of colour temperature is typical less. Choices such as, "cool white" and "warm white" refer to degrees Kelvin of the LED.

I've attached a picture of two 35W HID globes in MR16 size. The one on the left is 3,400K and so appears more "yellowy", than the one on the right which is 5,000K, more "white".

Hope this helps

Mac