New Focus Light Review

As part of the conversion from film to digital systems, a new focusing light is in order. Currently, we have been using the Underwater Kinetics SL4, a 4 'C' cell light that throws a long, narrow beam, for both a focusing and general night dive light. At the November DEMA Show, we purchased 2 of the new Nanos and used them on our last film trip in Indonesia. Following is a brief review of these lights.

Summary.

A very well engineered light with a smooth, even beam pattern though 4 power levels. It is bright enough to use as a general dive light in medium to clear water. At reduced visibility, ~10 ft., light reflects back similar to a car head lights in a heavy fog. It appears that there is a color shift across the various out put power levels. The retail cost is US$500.00

Details.

The package includes a light, extra 'O' rings, cover sleeve, 110/240v charger with 4 interchangeable end plugs, a connector cable, detailed instruction book and is packed in 2 padded draw string pouches.

The light is approximately is 6" long and 2.2" in dia. It is machined from aluminum and has a 'frosted' front lens. The body is sealed to the end cap with both a piston and a groove compression 'O' ring. The handle has a 8 mm taped hole for mounting purposes. It uses lithium manganese batteries and 10, 20 or 35 watt bulbs. The power switch is magnetic and will operate the light at 4 power levels plus an automatic SOS blink. Complete specifications are here http://www.hartenberger.de/english/hartenberger.html

Impressions

1. In general this is an expensive light; it is highly engineered, very well made and with a 20 watt bulb at power level #3 it puts out more light than you'll need.

2. At power level #2, the burn time is 100 minutes and at #3 it is 65 minutes.

3. As a general dive light in tropical waters, the vision range is about 15-20 feet. For longer distances, our SL4 light beam will reach out better.

4. With reduced visibility, the wide beam reflects back and a narrow beam light is better as a general dive light.

5. The dual voltage charger has 4 different interchangeable male plugs and will effect a full recharge in 2 hours. It can be charged through the rear cap with out opening the unit - a nice feature. When doing this, dry out the charging ports with a 'Q' tip to prevent electrolysis corrosion.

6. The light is 7 oz negative under water. The supplied sleeve is 1/8"thick and contributes little to buoyancy.

7. The rear cap has 4 green LEDs to identify out put power level, remaining battery charge, a 'soon to go dead' warning and charging information. There is an internal over pressure warning indicator

8. The front of the internal unit has 2 storage slots for bulbs. These are good for disabling the light for travel and also storing a spare bulb.

Concerns

When taking some shots of the beam pattern on the inside of my garage door, I noticed what appeared to be a color shift across the 4 power levels. The door surface is a yellowish white. So I mounted a sheet of white ink jet paper with a small black circle on it for aiming purposes. I then took a shot at each of the 4 power levels at a distance of 6". As can be seen from the attached test shots, there appears to be a shift. This was also confirmed when opened in Photoshop and a 5x5 RGB sample was measured in each circle.

Conclusions

This is a high end, quality light.

Is it worth the cost?

Is a new DSLR set up worth $10,000?

Afraid so ....................

As a well known U/W pro was rumored to have said,

"We don't have children, we have cameras!"

Okuma,

I also have one of these new lights.

As a focus light, it is second to none.

I purchased mine solely as a focus light and I am extremely happy.

Quality of workmanship is supurb.

Bruce

Ocuma the nano switch off automatically when the flash comes on ?

has this function ?

Ocuma the nano switch off automatically when the flash comes on ?

has this function ?

No, the "Nano" is not connected to the camera/strobe, only bolted to the housing. It is fully independent of the camera system.

One think that i cant understand is how can take a macro photo at night without burn the subject with the focus light !! (if the light dont switch off automatically)

To take a macro photo you must by realy close to the subject isn't that correct ?

Sorry if my question is silly but iam new on this !

Typically, there's no worry. Depending on what you use as a focus light, your stobe will have a higher light output than the focus light and there won't be a noticable hotspot in the resulting photograph. Think of it this way: if someone shines a dive light in your eyes, its unpleasant, but you can cope with it, but if someone were to set of a strobe in your face you'd be temporarily blinded even though the flash is just for a fraction of a second.

Some folks use small dive lights that project a narrow and intense beam. These are the kinds of lights that might generate a hotspot in your images. The lights that do best as focus lights emit a wide, diffused beam with no hotspots, such as the light in this review. It also has an adjustable power setting so you can dial in just as much light as you need to attain a focus lock with your camera.

My focus light stays on for every picture I take, and I've never gotten a hotspot in my images because of it. I'm much much much more likely to overexpose an image because of too much power from my strobes.

And yes, you need to get close for macro photography.