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Dive light designers must balance light output, beam width and power consumption when creating a light. An increase in light output either shortens burn time or requires a larger battery. Tighter beam widths increase the distance the light can travel but decreases the total area being illuminated. These considerations, as well as reliability and maximum depth ratings, also have a major impact on the component costs. As a result there is no 'perfect' dive light, each design incorporates various tradeoffs that make it more or less suited to a specific diving application. Matching the light to the specific dive requirements can have a significant impact on the enjoyment of the dive.
The photographs below illustrate the differences between a variety of primary and backup LED lights: Light Monkey 21W, Hollis 16W, Dive Rite LUX, Dive Rite 700, Hollis 3X3, i-Torch Advance A, i-Torch Tek, and Intova 4.7W. The lights were pointed at a grey semi-gloss painted wall at a distance of about 6 feet, with a hand positioned on the wall between the two beams. The photos were not all taken at the same time and while we attempted to duplicate the conditions as much as possible, they are not perfectly identical. All these lights are so bright they max the center of each beam in the photo to pure white... thus it's difficult to get a feel for relative intensity from the photo alone. We've included our impressions of the relative intensity in the descriptions.
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21W LED vs. 15W HID
To get a benchmark between an HID and an LED, we selected the
Light Monkey 21W LED and a Dive Rite 15W HID using the Welch Allyn Solarc bulb.
We set the adjustable focus
on the HID to make the tightest spot that was evenly lit. The 15W makes a slightly
tighter beam at 10-inches, and so the amount of light is concentrated in
a bit smaller area. They are both so very bright, that it's difficult for our eye to see any difference in the intensity but the LED 21W might even be a tad brighter than the HID 15W.
The color temperature of
the LED is very cool white when compared with the much warmer HID and
the HID also has a very distinct red corona.
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Light Monkey 21W vs. Hollis 16W
These lights are very similar, the Light Monkey 21W appears to us to be
brighter, but not a major difference.
We measured the beam width of both lights at about 12-inches.
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Dive Rite LUX vs. Hollis 16W
The main difference is
the Dive Rite LUX is a three LED solution and the beam pattern is more diffused
than the Hollis 16W single LED. The Dive Rite LUX is
a little bit warmer color temperature when compared to the slightly
cooler color temperature of the Hollis 16W.
We measured the beam width of the Dive Rite LUX at about 16-inches and the Hollis
16W at about 12-inches. While both lights put out about the same amount of light,
the Hollis 16W appeared to us to be a little brighter, in part because of the tighter beam.
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In the above three lights, given the significant difference in price between the Light Monkey 21W, the Hollis
16W, and the Dive Rite LUX some people might expect to see much more difference in their light
output. While each of the lights may be a little brighter than the next, in-water at a distance of 10 feet the differences between any of these and 15W HID would be rather small. This is explained by diminishing returns in the current generation of LED technology, increasing the wattage power is not yielding an equal increase in light output.
The higher wattage yields a little more light but at the expense of additional power demands, requiring more battery capacity. The price differences are explained by the differences in the batteries, which are a very significant component cost for canister lights.
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Dive Rite LUX vs. Dive Rite 700
This is a comparison of the Dive Rite canister light with their hand held
light. The beam patterns are very similar at about 16-inches with the star pattern
at the edges. While the LUX was noticeably brighter, the 700 did pretty well and
its price makes the 700 a terrific value.
We did notice a slight difference in color temperature, again
the LUX looks a bit warmer.
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Hollis 3X3 vs. Dive Rite 700
This is a comparison of the Dive Rite hand held with the Hollis hand held 3 LED and 3 C-cell
light.
The Hollis 3X3 has a core beam width of roughly 12-inches,
but the 3X3 is not tightly focused. If you examine the photo carefully, you will notice that the 3X3 is spilling a wide cone of light around the center beam. With a very ergonomic design, the 3X3 is suitable for those divers who dislike the very tight focus of the technical lights but still want a light with some punch.
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i-Torch Advance-A vs. Dive Rite 700
This is a comparison of the Dive Rite hand held with the i-Torch Advanced A backup
light on it's brightest setting.
While not as
bright as the Dive Rite 700, when you consider
the price difference, the i-Torch Advanced A backup is a great value.
The 14-inch wide beam pattern is almost like a series of
overlapping rectangles, although in water the
pattern will not be nearly so noticeable.
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i-Torch Advance-A vs. i-Torch Tek
The i-Torch Tek is a much more compact form factor than the Advanced A, making
the Tek more suitable as a pocket light. The Advanced A had
a beam width of about 14-inches and the i-Torch Tek had a beam width of 6-inches.
Because the Tek beam width is very tightly focused,
the Tek light seems almost as bright as the Advance-A.
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i-Torch Advance-A vs. Intova 4.7W
The Intova 4.7W has a
tiny beam width of just 5-inches and because of the
extremely tight focus, inside that beam it was quite bright.
The very inexpensive Intova light also had a distinctly
greenish cast to the color temperature.
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