SInce Scubamafia is located within 2 hours driving distance, I might have to pay a visit to them and compare their stuff to my not-so-travel-friendly 16000 lumen Salvo 200W HMI.
Yesterday I had a chance to test The Beast. It is claimed to produce up to 28000 lumens of light at max power, 300W LED.
With a group of five divers we set up to do some video work at Ojamo mine. I was hoping to do the same shots I had done with my HMI lamp in September. Unfortunately, the visibility had turned quite bad due to mammoth pumping on the outside of the mine tunnel and inward flow of water.
The only reasonable comparison of the two lamps yesterday was placing the lamps on an underwater platform (1m depth) close to shore, in parallel, about 4-5m from each other and facing outwards, and comparing the light beams from surface. It was interesting how similar the two lamps were. It was difficult to tell apart the color tone. There were 7-8 persons comparing the output visually and either no difference was observed, or, the light beam of the Beast might have been just a bit green tinted in comparison to the Salvo HMI. Both of the lamps gave a very even spread of light. The Salvo beam is quite wide, visually estimated maybe 150 degrees, but, then it has a definite sharp edge. This is useful for avoiding unintentional light spill to the camera. The Beast has a beam of similar width. However, its beam has a softer edge, which could be useful as well. The light intensity and reach of the light flood appeared the same for both lamps, atleast for naked eye. We also took a number of pictures with various cameras, but, it was difficult to tell the difference even from a picture taken at equal distance from both lamps. This test was not very scientific, we did not use light meters nor attempt to compare accurate exposure. There might have been small inaccuracy in the horizontal angle of the lamp placement. Perhaps I'll still compare the pixel values of equal locations from a photo showing the lamps in parallel.
Other notes: the Beast has a more convenient size than the rather cumbersome 200W HMI. This applies both to the light head and battery. The battery of the Beast is 2kg negative in the water. The test diver pointed out this as a need to balance the rig.
As a conclusion of this initial and unformal test, it would seem that the Beast is very much comparable to a 200W HMI: light intensity, color, beam spread and reach, price. There are some benefits: smaller size, less dry weight, smaller risk of damaging the LED light head, less problems of turning on/off the lamp, probably better availability of lamps and spare parts. The lamp is made to order.
Not tested: burn time, color reproduction, restrike in freezing water, behavior in warm water. Yesterday, the water was 7 degrees centrigrade on the surface and 5 degrees in the mine.
Disclaimer: This was an ad hoc private test, not a paid review. These are the subjective first impressions of me and other persons on site. I have no connection to the company Scubamafia. Neither do I have any earlier contacts with them. We, a friend of mine and I, are planning to purchase a number of videolights in the near future. Sofar, the Beast will continue to be on our short list.
