videodan

First off, I would like to apologize to George and other forum members for my poor choice of phrases when disagreeing with him on certain statements. While the context of what I said has not changed, I should not have so rudely disagreed, as he is an educated professional and a fellow underwater videographer. We should all welcome newer technology, especially if it will give us what we need for a better price. LED, HID, or whatever suites your needs, technological advances are always welcome.

Dan

Steve, I look forward to your review. What will you be shooting in Alaska?

NWDiver, sorry to hear about the flood, and I hope they replace it quickly. I agree the 2000's on low are still pretty bright for macro. I wonder if a screw in ND Filter would work, otherwise make some type of diffuser. Wagsy uses yogurt containers as diffusers, or maybe there is a screw in one available somewhere. Have you used yours on a night dive yet? They are pretty impressive, and you'll be glad there are three power levels.

wolfeeldiver, the Sunray 2000 lightheads screw together with an o-ring seal, as I'm sure your 1000's do also. Extra care is needed, because the o-ring can easily pop out when re-assembling the head.

Dan

Thanks to the new LED we will eventually start seeing affordable, lightweight underwater LED video lights that can finally match the light output of a high quality third generation 50 watt HID ( which, by the way, is being claimed by the best ballast/bulb manufacturers to deliver over a 100 Lumens per watt, attain full brightness in less than 10 secs and have no problems with constant re-start...).

Again, you're spewing more deception. The "new LED" is less efficient than the current LED, no matter how you look at it. L&M currently make an "affordable, lightweight underwater LED video light" that surpasses the" light output of a high quality third generation 50 watt HID", without any of the cons of HID systems. Now, who makes this oh-so-wonderful "high quality third generation 50 watt HID ( which, by the way, is being claimed by the best ballast/bulb manufacturers to deliver over a 100 Lumens per watt, attain full brightness in less than 10 secs and have no problems with constant re-start..." for underwater videography? Don't forget to include the power loss from the ballast in your lm/w rating. How long does that fragile filament last? How easily does that fragile filament break? How expensive is a replacement bulb? Don't forget that 10 seconds is an eternity when you're missing your shot. Please produce facts, not fiction.

Dan

Yes...six of these will indeed put out 2500 Lm @ 350 mA....BUT yes Wattage will be higher 4.5W.

No, the wattage will be ~27W. @ ~ 2736 lm.

However, the new LED will NOT "require 4X the current". Current will be a nominal 350 mA per individually addressable emitter component, but the Wattage power (ie battery juice) must obviously be 4 times higher.

Very trivial, as the LED's @ 350ma/emitter run on a constant 3.2v, so an increase in wattage is also an equal increase in current. 4 emitters/LED operating at 350ma/emitter is 1.4A/LED, which is an increase in current and wattage at the same time, while the voltage is constant.
No matter what, there is no "improvement of 400% over current LED technology". Sorry. There is actually an approximate .06% loss of efficiency vs. the XR-E series LED. However the lower thermal resistance (3°C/W vs. 8°C/W), the 110° beam angle, and the four individually addressable emitters per LED should all be a big advantage for future LED lights, but not necessarily for underwater videographers. I can't imagine blinding creatures any worse than I already do, not intentionally of course. The Sunray 2000's are extremely bright, and unless you are cave diving in huge caverns, I don't see why anyone would be needing anything more.

A note on the Sunray 2000's: While writing this reply (~50 min.), I put one of my Sunray 2000 light heads in water in the kitchen sink, cranked up on full. It never got hot, just barely warm. And this was in South Florida tap water, which is not particularly cool. In the air (not recommended) they get very warm, very fast. Conclusion is that the Sunray LED's are very well engineered with a highly effective heat sink, and operate at a very efficient power level. I do believe they will last a lifetime, or at least close to the rated 50,000 hours, whichever comes first.

Dan

Congratulations Mike, I'm sure they will work well for you. At DEMA, I saw the Sunray 1000 prototype, compared to the Sunray 2000 prototype, compared to the Sunray HID. The 1000 was brighter and whiter than the very good HID light. The 2000's are extremely bright, so I use medium more often than full, and low for closeup. I look forward to hearing how well the 1000's work for you underwater. I'm very happy with mine.

Dan