15 replies to this topic

[ronrosa]

I have halogen lights.  Specifically a canister light setup.  I typically use twin 50 watt halogen lamps for macro and closeups.  For wide and medium angle  I use my filter.

I was considering  going to 100 watt bulbs for the medium angle stuff, but that would involve wearing a 2nd canister since my single battery can't handle 200 watts.

Will this be worth it or should I just stick to the filter for wide and medium angle ?  I know the best way to answer my question is to try it, but I don't dive locally.  The 2nd canister and battery will add a lot of weight to my already heavy luggage.

Gates/Greenforce have a new twin 50 watt HID setup, so at least they feel a necessity for extra powerful lights.  

What do you guys think ?

[jonny shaw]

I use the same settup as you, twin 50 watt halogen's. I looked at 100 watts and they are only about 30% brighter and as you say they hammer through battery power so not a great option. I am looking to change to HID's and the Greenforce 50's look like a good option although the 250's even better but they are expensive. I reckon the 50's still wouldn't be powerful enough for medium / wide stuff, but I haven't used them so cannot comment.
I still do prefer the halogen look though at night, but that is just me....

[PCDiver]

I use the same settup as you, twin 50 watt halogen's. I looked at 100 watts and they are only about 30% brighter and as you say they hammer through battery power so not a great option. I am looking to change to HID's and the Greenforce 50's look like a good option although the 250's even better but they are expensive. I reckon the 50's still wouldn't be powerful enough for medium / wide stuff, but I haven't used them so cannot comment.
I still do prefer the halogen look though at night, but that is just me....

FYI - The Greenforce HID50 is only 10W. The GF HID100 is around 30W. The GF HID250 uses a 50W HID light.

[DeanB]

HID being 3x the power of halogens with a better kelvin range should be a better option when comparing watts..Is that right ???

You would have to have some monster light banks to do any decent shooting of wide in the day anyway..

Take a look at Professor Drews thread on the subject...

http://wetpixel.com/...showtopic=10726

Why doesn't my links highlight anymore

Dive safe

DeanB

[ronrosa]

I use the same settup as you, twin 50 watt halogen's. I looked at 100 watts and they are only about 30% brighter and as you say they hammer through battery power so not a great option....

Curious, why are 100 watt bulbs only 30% brighter ?

I guess I could always do some dry land tests indoors.

[DeanB]

Yeah !!!!!

My links highlighted

Sorry I'm a sad, lonely but extremely good looking guy...

Dive safe

DeanB

[Steve Douglas]

There is no question that the Green force lights are great, Mark Thorpe is selling his when his Red comes in. I've been using the L & M HIDs and like the evenness of the light I get as opposed to the inexpensive and fragile UK Cannon HIDs which were harshly blue with lousy switches.
Steve B)

[jonny shaw]

I don't know why they are only 30% brighter, I am just regurgitating info from a couple of sources. Could be a load of rubbish but I do believe it to be true. I'm sure there is some techhead geek out there who will baffle us with some formula comparing power input to lux output or whatever... Gotta love a bit of science on the weekend!!!


I also agree with Steve regarding the UK cannon's, switches are rubbish and the light is very blue.


Jonny

[ronrosa]

I did a little indoor test. I think 30% is accurate. I can definitely see a difference, but it's not huge. The camcorder see's it too as it wanted the ND filter on with the 100 watt bulb. I could also see the F-stops change when I went switched.

[ronscuba]

I use the same settup as you, twin 50 watt halogen's. I looked at 100 watts and they are only about 30% brighter and as you say they hammer through battery power so not a great option. I am looking to change to HID's and the Greenforce 50's look like a good option although the 250's even better but they are expensive. I reckon the 50's still wouldn't be powerful enough for medium / wide stuff, but I haven't used them so cannot comment.
I still do prefer the halogen look though at night, but that is just me....

I like the halogen look at night too, but I do notice a yellowish tinge during the day.

My battery/canister has a wet connect, so I do have the option of getting just HID lamps. So far the HID lamps I've found that come with a wet connect option are Salvo, Sartek and Halycon.

Do you guys think it will be worthwhile to get a pair of 21watt HID lamps for day ? Will they be a big improvement over my 50 watt halogens ?

I will use my halogens for night dives no matter what. I like the look at night and the ability to instantly turn them on/off at night is very important to me.

[pakman]

Ron or anyone else,

I've got a question as I'm currently looking into upgrading to a dual head HID cannister setup and plan to wear the battery ony my belt. Has any one had problems with the wetconnects if you are constantly plugging/ unplugging them u/w? In my case, that would be entering the water with the lights unplugged and then pluggin them in once someone hands me my video housing and vice versa when exiting.

[Roger Eve]

Has any one had problems with the wetconnects if you are constantly plugging/ unplugging them u/w?

I've used a Niterider Pro HID set-up for 4 years now. The battery clips onto my BC cumabund (if that is how you spell it!) and there are wet connections from each lamp head to a "Y" piece that then connects via another wet connector to the battery. i.e. three wet connections. All have worked everytime. They need to be cleaned from time to time especially if testing the system dry!

I jump with the battery attached to the BC and then plug in the "Y" piece after the camera is passed down. You do have to remember to unplug it before handing the camera up!!!

Roger

[ronscuba]

I haven't had any problems with my wet connects. It's a great feature.

[pakman]

thanks guys for the feedback.

Now to decide if 2x10W HID is enough or if I should pony up for 2x21W or 2x24W HID's....

[PCDiver]

thanks guys for the feedback.

Now to decide if 2x10W HID is enough or if I should pony up for 2x21W or 2x24W HID's....

I'm pretty sure you will be disapointed with 10W HIDs. They just don't have the oempf for underwater video.

[pakman]

I'm pretty sure you will be disapointed with 10W HIDs. They just don't have the oempf for underwater video.

I know I know... But the price difference...

got an extra US$2,000 you can spare me for the upgrade...