Using Darkbusters? Waggsy, others?

Wow....wow.... Very nice.

Yeah, zero hotspots, none. The only time you saw evidence of the lights was when the right side was over a coral head and the left was not. And that was just a brighter area without a real spot.

The shark and the grouper shots are good indications of the lightable distance. The grouper didn't like Wagsy in his face. :-)

There is even a lot of particulate but no backscatter. That is a perfect combo for you.

I'm wondering about translating this "australian": "WB the colder colder is no problems". You meant to say you have no problem WB the cooler color on the computer?

How are you WBing to get it warmer? I'm thinking you have more control on your camera than I...

Class is almost over. :-) Thanks.

Hi guys

I use HID\'s as they are much brighter than the same watt ratings as halogens plus they go way longer... like two dives no problems.

WB the colder colder is no problems on the puter now days but I like to have the camera abit warm with the lights on anyhow.

With the home made diffusers the power of the lights are knocked back quite abit but no hotspots and no back scatter.

 

I think the best way is to make your own minds.

Here is another video clip I did...as you can see I like getting very close on full wide so they work for me.

This was shot with the Phenom with it\'s 94 degree port on.

 

http://www.hdvunderwater.com/flashHD/lights/lights.html

Glad to see u saw my post on these lights.

So are u getting interested in them yet or are u still on the fence?

Wags! I got mine a month ago and ate a heap of yogurt mmmmm and after many different flavours found the strawberry "ski" was the best for the diffusers...

Went on a night dive the other night in Sydney with my girlfriend and got them wet for the first time with an even cruder mounting setup than yours Wagsy. 3 cable ties onto each housing handle using the pistol grips. lol. Couldnt position them at all, but shooting Wide angle it was ok. The light was great from them both but am glad I purchased 2, as I turned one off mid dive and was surprised of the differance it made. The arms and clamps turned up today so the ties are outta here.

There was a crowd of onlookers as we surfaced all facinated and wondering what this 20ft white blob underwater was. I was amused. had a look at the footage before post and was more than happy with the results.

I also shoot close and found no hotspots and an even coverage of light with great color.

I was however harassed by 6 Port Jackson sharks that were I believe attracted to the light. They were all jumping over oneanother to be the closest to the cam. I ended up having to can the dive and fend them off.

Shasta - I ordered mine from Scuba.com and had nothing but problems with them. After a month to the day my order was still being processed and still no goods. LOOK ELSEWHERE!!!!!!

If your in Australia I could recommend the co. I recieved mine from. I had them 2 days after ordering them online.

I found the light with the 2 DB's fantastic and no backscatter with the diffusers. They are as said just and I mean just slightly neg boy. The start up time is actually fairly quick for HID's, and as an electrician I have used many types of HID's and am really impressed by the punch they give.

All in all fantastic lights for the price, size and weight.

Well, I jumped off the fence now! I'm a Darkbuster guy now! :-0

I was really leaning to the complete package from the housing manufacturer, but multiple factors pushed me back to the Darkbusters. (To convince myself, I'll list them)

- lack of hotspots without having to position the arms. This was one of my top concerns as the halogens were great light output but without careful arm positioning, you can get serious hotspots.

- no backscatter - another concern with the great light output of the halogens

- I figured I could always sell the lights to tech divers.

- the tray for my housing INCLUDES ARMS! :-) I just need to buy the light attachment and clamps.

Last but not least is cost. After looking at scuba.com as the only retailer, I found scubatoys.com had them! And the price, along with a discount for being a member of another forum, crushed the scuba.com price by US$218. EACH. Yes, each. And free ground shipping for me. I've had great experience with them and would not hesitate to recommend them.

Only concern is bulb cost and durability.

So I've made my bed. This trip, I'm preparing 3 months out, so I should have time to deal.

Glad to see u saw my post on these lights.

So are u getting interested in them yet or are u still on the fence?

Wags! I got mine a month ago and ate a heap of yogurt mmmmm and after many different flavours found the strawberry "ski" was the best for the diffusers...

 

Went on a night dive the other night in Sydney with my girlfriend and got them wet for the first time with an even cruder mounting setup than yours Wagsy. 3 cable ties onto each housing handle using the pistol grips. lol. Couldnt position them at all, but shooting Wide angle it was ok. The light was great from them both but am glad I purchased 2, as I turned one off mid dive and was surprised of the differance it made. The arms and clamps turned up today so the ties are outta here.

There was a crowd of onlookers as we surfaced all facinated and wondering what this 20ft white blob underwater was. I was amused. had a look at the footage before post and was more than happy with the results.

I also shoot close and found no hotspots and an even coverage of light with great color.

I was however harassed by 6 Port Jackson sharks that were I believe attracted to the light. They were all jumping over oneanother to be the closest to the cam. I ended up having to can the dive and fend them off.

 

Shasta - I ordered mine from Scuba.com and had nothing but problems with them. After a month to the day my order was still being processed and still no goods. LOOK ELSEWHERE!!!!!!

If your in Australia I could recommend the co. I recieved mine from. I had them 2 days after ordering them online.

 

I found the light with the 2 DB's fantastic and no backscatter with the diffusers. They are as said just and I mean just slightly neg boy. The start up time is actually fairly quick for HID's, and as an electrician I have used many types of HID's and am really impressed by the punch they give.

All in all fantastic lights for the price, size and weight.

Good to hear.

I really wouldnt worry about the globe cost. HID's run for ever. and $100 in a year or 2 is not really that big a deal. Unlikely they will both go at the same time. And they seam to be a fairly robust unit. They are designed to be used underwater and on land as a torch.

Geez your getting them cheep then. I guess what u save on the lamps you will spend on the mounts and clamps.

I am sure you wont be dissapointed with them.

Hey great to hear....remember though don't expect them to be as good as $$$$ lights, they do what they do great for the price they are and that is a very good price indeed.

Take one outside one night and try it out, they put out some pretty good light.

During the day you would want to use lighter diffusers for them.

Probie sound like you had a fun dive, be it cold though and I would of kept rolling on those little sharks.

Funny, I just got my new globe in ($110AUD), and now it looks like the lithium battery pack has failed on one. I pulled them apart and the pack is made up of 6x4v lithium cells configured in 3x2 parallel-serials and looks like the end two have failed. I was going to buy two new cells from the battery wholesaler and try fixing it that way but I think I will just buy another $120 battery pack then I have spare cells for next time around.

Yes there is now a guy in VIC (AUS) selling stuff, Google him... he seems pretty good.

I was however harassed by 6 Port Jackson sharks that were I believe attracted to the light. They were all jumping over oneanother to be the closest to the cam. I ended up having to can the dive and fend them off.

That's funny, I was diving last week and shooting some PJ's when I thought a friend of mine was tugging at my leg... turned out to be a couple of PJ's getting a little friendly!!! Gotta love those little tykes!

Geez is that all thats in them. nice pic

Prob better off replacing the whole battery. the other ones may have been over compensating for the damaged two and may be on there way out now too.

The PJ's: it was a full moon that night. Maybe they were a bit frisky. Its a bit distracting having 6 PJ's swimming straight at you and raming your camera. Makes it difficult to shoot other things.

Yeah Wagsy it is a little cool down here (16deg C) brrr hopfully temps are on the soon.

I purchased my DB's from Paul Shadforth at www.luxhid.com.au down in the mornington peninsula Melbourne I think. had them in 2 days.

Great service...

Esspecially when I had been waiting 4 weeks for Scuba.com to just process my order.

Where were you diving Jonny.

I had one Darkbuster for like 2 weeks and never got to dive it. I returned it 'cos it wouldn't keep a steady light, sort of flickery. After returning it to tech service, it turned out it wasn't even properly sealed and I was told it would have flooded had I taken it underwater. Anyway, I got rid of it and got two UK 100's with diffusers. Not that I love them, but they do offer a steady light AND more light than you really need.