What's the deal with Nite Rider?

So has anyone used these lights? I don't know anyone that has but it looks like an interesting design.

Billy

I was considering these until I learned about the Light and Motion Sunray 1000s or 2000s. Now I'm looking closely at these instead. Seems to be many more advantages.. closer to Daylight color balance than the NightRiders, instant on/off no warm up time to get to color, three power settings, a long "bulb" life... if you can call it that... which should reduce ownership cost in the long run... and the power cords are underwater pluggable like the NightRiders. Plus a separate battery pod for each light head (= redundancy). I recently saw the Sunray 1000 at a dive show and was very impressed. No.. I dont work for these guys.. just was impressed with the light thats all.

Argh, I thought this going to be a really interesting topic about David Hasselhof!

I have used a pair of Niterider Pro HID 10's for about 4 years now. They work well, I like the wet connectors, and I quite like having the battery on my BC cumabund. OK for macro and night dives.

However if I was buying now I would go for the Sunrays. More control over light intensity, immediate start-up, long bulb life and longer burn time. (HID bulbs are not cheap and they don't like being turned on and off) I prefer to turn off the lights between shots so I don't frighten the critters and don't upset my buddies

Roger

I use the the Pro 40's...

Negatives:

Not a super big fan of the HID time to get up and running (but that is HID), They do give a slight hotspot when you have full power, so you need to adjust accordingly. The switches are not that positive so it can be hard to determine the power that you have set the lights too. I normally turn them on and while they are warming up I have a quick look.

Positives:

Compact, wet connectors work well, battery and charger simple fairly quick and last for ages ( I don't know what the official time is but I have used them on 3 dives off and on for macro and then done a 50 min night dive without charging in between (I was a little lazy) and they never died. They also seam pretty tough and you can use them without a housing as a normal torch too...

I have used the pro20's for about 4 years. Good for macro - not enough power for wide shots (except at night). I also have one of their lights for night mountain biking that is really cool...

If you want to get an idea of how they work with my HC7 - check out my pics/videos here (usually a video at bottom of each page) - www.mydivinglife.com/ScubaBob

Argh, I thought this going to be a really interesting topic about David Hasselhof!

You and me both!

Thanks everyone for the advice. LED's are definitely the now, I was just hoping that there was a well priced lighting solution out there. Everything I'm shooting is wide angle so the Nite Riders are definitely out.

Now it's time to find info on the L&M Sunray 2000's.

Billy

Please let us know what you find out and how it goes!

I know its off topic.. but finally, my Gates HC7 housing, and Sunray 1000s LED lights should arrive later this week.. I really wanted to get the 2000s but I had already exceeded my budget, so I'll give the Sunray 1000s a try.

I'll post some info about these lights once I"ve had them in the water.

Curious to see how you like the mount with the Sunray batteries on the Gates housing. I still don't like the concept of the battery pods functioning as the housing base/stand.

Curious to see how you like the mount with the Sunray batteries on the Gates housing. I still don't like the concept of the battery pods functioning as the housing base/stand.

Light and Motion now supplies a bracket, called the G.A.S. adapter, for mouting the Sunray pods to the bottom of Gates, Amphibico, or Seatool housings. Here's a photo of the adapter, installed on the Gates HC7/HC9 housing, and being used with other housings too. Or check out LMIs website, they have some better photos there.

I've used the pods on a few housings. The pods are typically tough enough to withstand use as a base, but I don't prefer it. It also tends to throw off the natural buoyancy characteristics that the housing manf. worked so hard to establish. The pods always threw of the balance underwater of every camera I mounted it to. Note: The little latches and o rings need to be looked after judiciously. I had several students, and me included who didn't latch properly resulting in a flooded pod. $$$ if you buy replacements from L&M.

These days I tend to use hip-mounted canisters with wet connect cables to the light heads. Work out better with regards to handling the camera, and handing it up from a rocking boat to a topside crew. Just have to remember to take off the wet mount.

I had suggested to L & M two years ago to have a hip-mounted alternative for the pods, or some bracket which allowed a webbed loop. Their suggestion was make something something yourself. Thanks L & M - could have thought of that myself. However, they did suggest I could upgrade to a new, and more expensive system as my older HID's weren't really be supported much anymore.