Focus light, Fisheye or Hartenberger?

My focus light suddenly died today with no apparent reason. No flood. I have tried with spare bulb and spare battery. Its about 7 months old and only lightly used. It’s a Fisheye Fx hg20dx

I have been quite happy with the light except the burntime has been a little short in cold water.

Im sending it to have it fixed or replaced.

Im considering the Hartenberger Nano as a focus light . Is there anybody that has done any comparison of this two?. maybe used both ? pros or cons?

Or is the fisheye simply the best there is out there?

regards

Lasse

My focus light suddenly died today with no apparent reason. No flood. I have tried with spare bulb and spare battery. Its about 7 months old and only lightly used. It’s a Fisheye Fx hg20dx

 

I have been quite happy with the light except the burntime has been a little short in cold water.

 

Im sending it to have it fixed or replaced.

 

Im considering the Hartenberger Nano as a focus light . Is there anybody that has done any comparison of this two?. maybe used both ? pros or cons?

 

Or is the fisheye simply the best there is out there?

 

regards

 

Lasse

Lasse,

Check out Brad Brown's article at backscatter:

http://www.backscatter.com/learn/article/article.php?ID=5

My vote would be for the Hartenberger. I have used one for three years now without any trouble. The ability to charge the battery without removing it from the case is a super feature. Unless the bulb burns out -which mine has not in over 40 hours under water- one never has to open the light. As long as one has access to power on the camera table you can dive for days just charging the battery between dives.

Vettediver

My vote would be for the Hartenberger. I have used one for three years now without any trouble. The ability to charge the battery without removing it from the case is a super feature. Unless the bulb burns out -which mine has not in over 40 hours under water- one never has to open the light. As long as one has access to power on the camera table you can dive for days just charging the battery between dives.

Vettediver

How long burntime have you experienced with the Hartenberger Nano?

Anybody else that have experience with this two, or maybe another i should consider?

Lasse

I have never had the Hartenberger nano even come close to losing power on a night dive. the light at 1/4 power provides plenty of light for finding critters (and not immediately scaring them) and I typically never have it at full power. My night dives are typically 60 minutes long and I usually come up with at least 1/2 the power still remaining. Nice light- Im pleased with it so far.

If you are looking for a replacement light, the new LED's that are coming out for cave divers are really impressive. I just picked up a new 3 watt Raider 1 light from Oxycheq that that is really bright, has a four hour burn time, and runs on three AA batteries. You heard the last part right, three AA's.

Here's the kicker. It only cost me $70.

Here is a link to OxyCheq: http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/Torch-Backup.html

Ansd where to buy one: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?...ED_Backup_Light.

I use the Hartenberger Nano, never used a Fisheye. I am completely happy with the Nano, it's a great focus light plus a great primary for night dives... just sits on top of my housing so my hands are free. I use it at half power for night dives and it gets me though an hour comfortably. It's the best light I've ever owned.

Fletcher

I've been using a Fisheye FIX HG20DX Halogen for several years. I absolutely love it, other than the fact that if you're not really careful about how you remove the back (to change the battery), you can leak water into the battery compartment, which is exactly what I did. Enough to fry the electronics (my fault). Since it was covered by insurance, I researched other options before I decided to get another Fisheye exactly like the one I had.

The beam of light is very wide and softly diffused. You don't get a narrow beam like on many focus lights. I also would seldom use it at full power. Usually I could turn it way down and it would last at least a couple of dives. I could use it all day on one battery plus do a night dive.

Its small and light weight, which is very convenient considering the amount of gear I travel with. Underwater I don't notice any difference in the weight of my rid when I attach it or not. I'm very happy with mine. Its the best dive light I've ever owned.

I forgot to mention that its also a GREAT light for a model to hold, even at a distance. At full power it is VERY bright.

If you are looking for a replacement light, the new LED's that are coming out for cave divers are really impressive. I just picked up a new 3 watt Raider 1 light from Oxycheq that that is really bright, has a four hour burn time, and runs on three AA batteries. You heard the last part right, three AA's.

 

Here's the kicker. It only cost me $70.

 

Here is a link to OxyCheq: http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/Torch-Backup.html

 

Ansd where to buy one: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?...ED_Backup_Light.

Here is a link from

If you are looking for a replacement light, the new LED's that are coming out for cave divers are really impressive. I just picked up a new 3 watt Raider 1 light from Oxycheq that that is really bright, has a four hour burn time, and runs on three AA batteries. You heard the last part right, three AA's.

 

Here's the kicker. It only cost me $70.

 

Here is a link to OxyCheq: http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/Torch-Backup.html

 

Ansd where to buy one: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?...ED_Backup_Light.

How is this light to use as a focus light? Isnt the beam to tight?

Lasse

Owned two Fisheyes and had problems with both. Have used the Hartenbeger Nano for 2 years now and its worked great. Even use it as a video light for macro and night dives. Get about 50-60minutes at full power.

"How is this light to use as a focus light? Isnt the beam to tight?"

Not at all, the beam is wide enough to see by for even wide angle. Although the Oxycheq Raider I is designed as a back up light for cave diving, I am simply amazed by the amount of light kicks out. More than enough for night diving. Have since sold off my Dive Rite 10-watt HID, going to replace it with either an Oxycheq Raider III or Dive Rite 500 LED because it is becoming apparent that LED technology - smaller, lighter, tougher, longer burn time with increasing comparable light out put to HID is the way to for cave and wreck diving pursuits.

I looked at the Fisheye LED. $270 for it vs. $70 for the Raider I, what do you think.

I think I'd like to see proof that a light specifically designed for cave diving isn't too narrow for use as a modeling light. Cave lights have narrow beams.

The Raider lights are rated at 250 lumens so if their beams are really bright it's because they are focused. Perhaps with a diffuser they may work well as a modeling light. I'd prefer one with AA batteries AND variable power, though, and the Fisheye LED offers that. I don't see any of the Raider lights being better for modeling than either Fisheye. That's not their intended purpose.

There is a youtube video link on the OxyCheq page referenced by Walt above. Shows the light shining on a door about 7 feet away. As Craig mentioned it looks like a pretty tight beam. Distances are hard to judge on the video but there are other example lights there for comparison. Check it out. Just for one more data point I am really impressed with my FIX LED48DX. I dove it all week in Bonaire on the same batteries and the variable power with the red diffuser was very useful at night. FWIW

Steve

I agree on the FIX LED light. It's not perfect, it could use a little more beam width and a little more power, but otherwise it is great. I think the perfect modeling light has yet to be built.

What we need is a comparison between the OxyCheq and the Fisheye, if Walt or other can do perform such a check it will be great.

I have the OxyCheq Raider I 3w LED backup, and while it's a great backup light, I don't see how it would make a very good focus light.

I'm no pro, but my impression is a good focus light provides just enough light for the focus to lock easier, and it should be a nice, wide, even spread that will easily be washed out by the strobe when it fires. This way you have no "hot spot" from the focus light.

If I am correct in my thinking, I don't see how the Oxy light could possibly make a good focus light, since it is indeed very tightly focused and would make a very noticeable hot spot on the final photos. (Mind you, since I use it only as a backup light I have not actually tried taking photos using it, but that's what my gut instinct tells me.)

I've had two Fisheye Fix lights, and they are not the best spotting lights I've ever used. Toasted the first one doing the same thing as Bonnie did, opening the back and having water drops splash up into the battery compartment. I think the back is badly designed because the way that it pops off is just inclined to get water bounced into that compartment. I have several friends with these lights as well, and have seen at least two of them with the leak detector going off because of this very problem. Second problem I have with them is the issue with the charging units not working consistently. See Cor's old thread about this problem. I've also seen my same friends experience the charging problem, as have I. So the Fisheye Fix light I have left sits unused in my camera cabinet.

My first good spotting lights were the Light & Motion Mod Lights, and I had two of them that worked perfectly and consistently. These are the second best spotting lights I've ever used. They were also smaller and lighter than either the Hartenbergers or the Fisheyes, great for travel. Unfortunately, they were recalled, and I figured it was just a matter of time before they failed. I used them for six years. LMI was originally swapping them for the Sunray lights with the battery packs, and I didn't want those, so I just kept using the mod lights. Then they made arrangements to swap them for Hartenberger Nanos, so I sent my two in to Backscatter, and go two Nanos in exchange. A pretty good deal, even though I hated giving up the Mod lights.

The Hartenbergers are the best spotting lights I've ever used. I really like being able to charge them without opening anything. They have nice long burn times. Switch is easy to use while wearing dry gloves. They are heavier than the Mod lights or the Fisheye lights, and due to the attached handle, are bulkier for packing as well. But at this point, I wouldn't trade them for anything!

Linda

Owned two Fisheyes and had problems with both. Have used the Hartenbeger Nano for 2 years now and its worked great. Even use it as a video light for macro and night dives. Get about 50-60minutes at full power.

My same exact experience with the Fisheyes (had two) and went with the Nanos instead and all the pros about the Nano are my experience, love just being able to shake the water off and plug in and charge.

I agree about the Fisheye halogen battery issues. The Fisheye LED uses 8 AA batteries though. You can go days in between battery changes with that light.

The appeal of a AA-powered modeling light is very much dependent on whether your strobes use AA.