Salvo dual 24W HID/9.6A Li-Ion feedback

Does anyone use the Salvo dual 24W Li-Ion HID videolights?

I am looking for a light system for my Bluefin HD housing and wish I could afford new or find a good used set of Halcyon Apollo dual 50W HID.

I have instead started to look at the Salvo light (no politics please) and wonder if anyone have any feedback and or knowledge about the quality/intensity of these lights.

They apparently have an output of 1800 lumen each and a color temperature of 6000 Kelvin.

Burntime/battery charge is 2,5 hours.

With the dual 50W HID I would get 60 minutes of burntime on a 13.5A NMH battery, but more light...

How do the Salvo video lights compare to the rest of the market?

Anders

You should talk with Ryan at REEF Photo. He is very knowledgeable on these, although I think the burn time is more like 2+ hours. Good Luck. John

Thanks John,

After a lot of thought I am leaning toward the Halcyon Dual 50W HID. They illuminate very evenly, especially when shooting wrecks, which is what I primarilly will do. I have heard many say good things about those lights, and I assume that with HDV, a lot of light is a good thing.

Another solution that I have seen one good videographer use with good results, is to use two HMI ligthts and no lights on the camera at all. This works really good when there is reduced visibility with a lot of particles in the water. You need two extra divers for the lights and a lot of money though, so for me, the money part is the issue at the moment...

Sincerely

Anders

Yes a surface supplied power source and lighting sled would be optimal. Seriously though, I would chat with Ryan ryan@reefphoto.com before committing. My understanding is the Salvos are actually better than Halcyon (opinion only!) at considerabley less cost. Either way, I'm finding with the A1U the more light the better. Good diving. John

I have not seen anything as good as the Halcyon Apollo dual 50Wvideo lights, with the exception of the HMI lights. Some people think Salvos lights are better in the sense that the light bulbs are less sensitive/hopefully more durable. The light on the Salvo 21W primary is definitely stronger and bluer than my 18W Halcyon WA bulb, I have compared that myself.

I do however not think that the Salvo 24w HID video lights can touch the Apollo 50W lights, they are in two different leagues. They probably might be stronger than the 24W Halcyon video lights though.

Anders

Anders,

I have been using the L&M HID lights for several years now and have realy liked them...they are incredibly bright and white. Plus the integrate very nicely with the mating battery packs.

thoughts?

Shawn

I have looked at the L&M lights as well and they are really nice. I also like the special reflector they have. I do not however think that they produce as much/wide light as the Halcyon dual 50w system, partially maybe due to the smaller reflector, but i have not seen them in "action," so I might be wrong. Even though the reflector increases the light intensity I believe the L&M lights should not be able to be as powerful as the Halcyon dual 50W system.

Since we mostly are going to shoot wrecks and later perhaps caves, the Halcyon lights should work good.

The L&M system is maybe a better matchup against another 24W system, but then again I have not personally compared them side by side...

I have seen some footage from wreck and cave videos with the Halcyon dual 50Ws, and I think they make an amazing lighting system. The light bulbs are expensive though, about $ 400 a piece. They better be handled with care.

Sincerely

Anders

Like Shawn I prefer the LM Pro HID lights. The sealed heads have less drag and a very consistant solid white pattern. What I don't care for is the battery/pod burn time. I am looking for a cannister style battery for those lights so I can go 2 hrs without returning to swap batterys. Wet mate connectors from LM to Salvo would be sweet. I would like to see those 50 watt lights in action, at the cost of two spare bulbs maybe I could fly there to check them out. Better still, if you get to South Florida we can dive some great wrecks. John

I dove the Trio Bravo about a month ago. Part of the deck had apparently collapsed after last years hurricane. There are from what I've heard many superb wrecks along the South coast of Florida.

Definitely worth more than one trip.

Here are a couple of samples of DV-frames a diver from Norway captured with the Halcyon Apollo dual 50w HID as a light setup. What I like about these video lights is the even light pattern combined with the power they produce.

Anders

I would not expect the L&M lights to be as bright at the 50watt Hals. if super bright is your goal...that is the way to go. If really bright and very low resistance is your goal, th e L&M are excellent. I have lit up 30 foot and tall caves with my light with no problem...the are really bright...almost too bright. I usually only use 1 at a time. the only draw back is burn time...usually 45mins after you have had them awhile.

The L&M Pro HID setup seems to be an amazing unit for its size. Very compact and still quite powerful as it seems. I think maybe the smaller reflector they use makes it so bright, despite a lower wattage. Maybe the light is a bit more focused compared to the light from a bigger and wider reflector, and that can perhaps give a sense of it being "too bright" during certain circumstances.

One quality I like from the H dual 50W is that it seems to spread the light evenly, using a wider and larger reflector, and is able to do so effectively due to its greater Wattage. That is perfect for illuminating larger areas, like outside and inside wrecks or caves (I think this light system initially was constructed for this purpose), and at the same time reduce the number of potential "hot spots" in the picture. I have not seen any light system besides HMI-lights do this so effectively. HMI-lights are from what I understand way more powerful compared to the dual 50W system. Unfortunately they still are much more expensive as well.

One downside with this HID-system is that you "only" get 65 minutes of burn time per charge. With the same battery pack and my 18W HID primary light, I get six (6) hours...

Well, it sounds like I already have made up my mind, hasn't it? I guess I just have to take the plunge and order a new set of these lights. I could not find any used ones.

Anders

Anders,

Can't wait to hear about your experience with the lights. let us know when you take the "plunge".

shawn

It will apparently take two to three weeks for Halcyon to build it for me, so I have to wait until then.

Why do we always have to wait for these good things? First the lens, and now the lights...

Anders

Are you only looking at HID? What about good ol' halogen? With the watervisions head and a 400W 24V xenophot, you have upwards of 14000 lumens which is more than the HMI (which I have) and is much cheaper. The head is a true 180° reflector so it's wide and no hot spot.

I've used them before ( I think Craig Jones also has them) and if you want something that is strong and easily replaceable (HMI bulb may last a bit longer but at $15 a bulb there's no contest).

Do you have any more information on Watervisions lights ? The only thing I can find is a webpage from 1997.

Thanks for the information Scubadru,

That is an interesting package. I have not seen it before. It looks like the 400w requires 36V which would mean a MLS 3 stage unit (I did not know DiveRite still manufactured MLS cannisters). I wonder how long the burntime is on this unit since Halogen lights consume more energy.

How would it look in the video if you have mixed lighting of the 3300K of Halogen and 5600K of HID? The divers we will film has a Primary light of 5600K.

I have, in the late nineties, owned the DiveRite MLS one and two stage units, and in Sweden this model of battery cannisters (jokingly) achieved the nickname Multi Leak System. I never had any problems with the cannister though. Only one light head that was leaking and got replaced free of charge, but that is a different story.

One big problem I see with the MLS cannisters (besides the bulk and size of a three stage unit in relation to its possible burn time) is the amount of potential failure points. You have six openings (including cord and switch attachments) in the MLS 3 that are sealed with o-rings/rubber. In a solid Delrin Cannister you only have three, which decreases the leak risk with at least 50%. That is probably why even DiveRite these days have moved over to the solid delrin construction. If they however still use lead-acid batteries in the MLS-canisters, the battteries are way cheaper to replace compared to NiMH.

I personally prefer the HID/HMI light solution, I actually like the whiter light they produce. It is a more expensive solution, but seems to be the way to go. If I presently could afford it, I would instead use two HMI lights carried by two other divers and no lights on the housing. I have seen wreck videos produced with that type of lighting and they look really clean and interesting.

Do you have any advice or input?

Sincerely

Anders

Do you have any more information on Watervisions lights ?  The only thing I can find is a webpage from 1997.

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Watervisions Aqualight

Subatec use to have a 24v 400W bulb... they stopped carrying it last year I think. I may have 1 or 2 left but god knows what it is now. My watervisions were stolen at LAX 2 years ago so if you find them on ebay and there's a heart engraved on the lamphead... it's MINE!

I have a Watervisions Aqualight head thats been sitting around my office collecting dust. I originally bought it back in '98 along with the DiveRite Goodman battery configuration. Was going to use it on a shoot in Belize but the damn thing flooded on its maiden trip. Not a happy rabbit about that one so wrote to both Watervisions and DiveRite who between them replaced the unit and shipped it down to me on location. Second time around, same thing, bloody thing flooded again (the battery pack that is) a second time.

Waited until I got home after a 6 week filming trip in Belize and Fiji and set about making my own battery pack. The darn thing was the size of a bus!! 3 12v motor cycle batteries stuffed into a section of 10atm proof drainage PVC piping with a clear plate plastic welded to the base. 3 quick release clips on the top for charging and access to the batteries and I could finally bask in the light of this phenomenal light.

Unfortunately my $60 home made battery pack lasted only six months whereupon we parted company in heavy seas off the Canary Islands where it now finds eternal rest at around 600fsw, I was just thankful it was disconnected from the main lighthead

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for good battery packs for use in conjunction with these light heads.

Cheers guys,

Mark.

Watervisions Aqualight

 

Subatec use to have a 24v 400W bulb... they stopped carrying it last year I think. I may have 1 or 2 left but god knows what it is now. My watervisions were stolen at LAX 2 years ago so if you find them on ebay and there's a heart engraved on the lamphead... it's MINE!

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Just found out that Subatec still carries the 400W 24V bulb. That's over 28k lumens with 2 400W heads. For getting the right color temps, you can always use diffusers or gels. I can get 2 watervision heads and 2 battery packs and still have change compared to the HMI from Halcyon.

So we are down again to HMI vs Halogen.

One HMI head has 15k lumens, 38+min (max) burn time (my experience from my pack) and very blue 6000°K color temp. The beam pattern is 80+° and weighs 15lbs. Switchable 100 or 200W, 2 minute warmup.

Cost: $5000

replacement bulb ($400)

Halogen approach:

2 watervision heads with 250-400W each.

Burn time with 24V 8amp battery pack: 26+mins (250W), 15min (400W)

brightness 2 x 250W (18k lumens), 2 x 400W (28k+lumens), switchable power from 0-100%. 100% brightness in 2 seconds.

180° lens wide beam, 3200°K color temp.

Cost: $3500. Bulbs: $10 (250W) $16 (400W) Gels: $50.

Thanks for the breakdown Dru.

For the Halogen approach what battery pack, in your opinion, would be best suited in relation to ruggedness, durability and reliability. Using the Xenophot bulbs would also be an option at 200w for extended burntime I would imagine.

I've never really been one to think much about lighting. I've mainly always worked wide angle with larger creatures. I do love macro filming but hardly get a chance for it. Now that we're coming into slower times here in Palau for the coming months I may well look at spending some time to come up with a Macro Critters of Palau feature.

In advance, thanks.......how's the trip going?

Mark.