DarkBuster HID 24W

I just got my hands on one of these.

Darkbuster HID's 24 w and made in Taiwan.

Will test it out over the coming days but first look is, it's cheap, very bright and is simple to recharge. They are slightly negative underwater.

DarkBuster HID 24w

Wags

Wags,

I just purchased the same Darkbuster light. How did it work for you?

Kent

Kent. for the price of the thing and the 24 watt HID power they put out for 130 mins..I'm happy. ...infact I have another one coming.

I did have to make a white diffuser up as the one that came with it still left hot spots. You need to put them out on some good arms as well. You can take the diffuser out underwater if you want to shoot a subject in the distance abit during the day as well.

Charging is easy, even by 12 volt car if you want and they are a neat package.

I took it camping the other night as well and boy are they bright.

For 24 watt HID's I think they are very good value for money. One guy I know had 6 on his setup

When the other one turns up I will take them for a night dive.

What did you pay for yours?

I purchased from Kalex in California. With the case, $450.

How about you? Where did you find yours and at what price?

Also, what did you use for the diffuser?

As for the arms, I've ordered some ULCS arms. Will that work?

Lastly, what adapter did you use to attach the light to the arm?

Thanks

Kent

I got mine for $450 , I got it off a guy who imported 16 of them, he sold me mine for a very good price.

I used a cur up white plastic BBQ plate ...worked great and it fits under the diffuser keeper ring not probs. It allows me to fill the screen with even light when shooting close to the ground or take out the duffuser and zoom in on a subject in the distance.

Yes I have the same arms as well. You can get a special connector from Brightstar I see to connect them to arms. I'll post a pick of how I attached them to the arms etc next.

I like tha fact the it's all one unit, no wires & no batteries needed to be slung somewhere and you can still use them uptop.

Looking forward to getting two up and running.

Wagsy,

Did you purchase the spot or the flood (video)? I have the flood (video).

Also, I've read a lot about the more 'bluish' light of the HID, and this light comes with a filter to add a warmer tone and bring the temperature to around 5600K from the normal 7000K. Have you tried using that?

Thanks for all the info...

Kent

Kent, I got the flood (video) one and even with the diffuser it comes with, you still get a hot spot up close on things but shooting subjects in the distance it's fine.

The one I made cuts the light but there is now no hot spots and with two on you will have heaps of power..

Yes I notice the warm filters it comes with but I just WB the camera and it looks fine. It's a very cheap light for what it does but I'm impressed with its performance and who cares if it only last a coupe years, just buy another one as it's still heaps cheaper than spending like $6000 on a set

Remember with two on it's like having 150 watts of normal light and they go for over 130mins.....The things even have lithium-ion batterys in them for quick recharges etc.

Anyhow here is the link for anyone interested.

BRIGHTSTAR

Have two of those Darkbusters on the Phenom now.

Not bad with some custom diffusers..and cheap as... 48 watts of 130 min running HIDs for under $1000 AUD and you can take them camping

Wags,

I have got two of the same lights, probably from the same guy in Aus, what did you make the different diffuser from ? I have these on my HVR-A1p and doing alot of learning with it, so any help will be much appreciated.

With colour correction in Premeier how are you doing this ?

regards

Dave

Hi Dave.

Yes he goes by that same name as yours... in Perth there. Same guy is it?

Well I got some simple disposable plastic BBQ plates and cut out the circles from the bottom of them. Cuts the lights back but no hot spots, they are just two big white glows now.

Also put some black tape around the edge on the front sides of the lens there so it's not glowing white in your face.

CC in Premiere Pro just with the standard Premeire RGB one. Apsect HD is horrible on open water stuff. I have Edius now, much better NLE for what we do.

What housing did you get?

Cheers

O Dear.. is it the ULCS being out abit or what?

Are the little Evo Pro...just did a review on it.

http://hdvunderwater.com/EVO%20review.html

Premiere Pro, just go to image control folder in the effects section and drag the CC balance RGB to the clip and then adjust as fit.

If you need more info, go and place a post asking about in so we don't fill this one up with another topic etc.

I use a NLE now called Edius by Canopus.

Geeday Wags,

A pair of bright star saved my *ss in Sulawesi this year.

My reliable old primary HIDs weren't, but luckily I hired a pair of brightstars from scubacam in Singapore.

I didn't buy them cause my initial impressions was, plastic? Taiwanese?

One had a dodgey switch, but managed to fix after few attempts. The light from them was great (considering I had nothing else, beggars can't be choosers) Good for macro in particular.

Made a similar dish diffuser, which took out most hotspots for wide.

They recharged in under an hour to from memory.

All in all a good choice for secondary/ or backup! or primary lighting, particularly on a budget.

As you say, if they die after a year or 2 so what!

STU

About the versions of brightstar and retail price...

http://scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=155452