Aiming Lights

Hi Bob!

Be sure to post me how the 360 works etc. I got a 100 $ giftcard from P&H, so if the 360 is really good (and when PH start's selling it) I just might order it myself and leave the Nano for backup

Cheers,

Scubamoose

I have been remiss in that I have not reported my experience with the LED 360. I had a minor flood (a few drops) during pool tests prior to my Phi. Trip. I notified Fantasea. During my trip, the light failed on my second night dive (both dives were fairly shallow). Fortunately, I had the little nano light as a backup spotting light.

Fantasea made an adjustment with me which included LED 44 which does not blink with flash. In mucky conditions, a light that illumines a broad column of water will produce a lot of undesired backscatter. I will return to the technique I used before I got the LED 360; using a spotting light (like the LED 44) to spot and barely fringe the subject and the nano (which does blink) to assist with focusing.

Bob

Recently I purchased a Fisheye FIX LED500DX. I really liked the idea of rheostat for variable brightness so I chose a light like this instead of an ordinary dive light. I just returned home from a week of diving on Cozumel with the Fisheye FIX LED500DX. Here are the grades:

As an aiming light for close-ups & macro: A+

As a general aiming light: F

As a backup or primary dive light: F-

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX uses 8 AA batteries. I purchased 20 brand-new high-quality Eneloop AA 2000mA NiMH batteries. These are low self-discharge and have a long shelf life. They came fully charged and ready to go. In the week before I left for Cozumel, I ran all batteries through the "break-in" mode of my MAHA MH-C9000 "smart charger." During the dive trip, I cycled the batteries through both the strobe and the Fisheye FIX LED500DX, and recharged them every night on the MAHA MH-C9000.

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX and the MAHA MH-C9000 smart charger

As a focus light for night-time close-up and macro photography, I loved the Fisheye FIX LED500DX. It made night photography so much easier. The beam was wide and even. At full power it can even provide some additional illumination of the subject that is not entirely overcome by the flash.

As a general focus light and dive light, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a total failure. The light is advertised as having a 72 to 90 minute life as a primary dive light. It will automatically switch to the low-power mode when the batteries become low.

I found that, when turned to the full power setting, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX reverted to the low-power mode in only two minutes! I was unable to turn the light back to the bright power mode for the rest of the dive. In the low-power mode, the light had a life of several hours.

In the lower power mode, there was enough light for close-up and macro shooting. But I could not get the camera to autofocus on anything more than 3 feet away, and I could not see anything in the camera's viewfinder if the subject was more than 5 feet away..

I took my camera set-up on a cave dive on Cozumel Island. I had my primary 18W HID light clipped off to my right D-ring and used the Fisheye FIX LED500DX as my primary dive light. This too was a total failure because the Fisheye FIX LED500DX immediately reverted to the low-power setting and I was unable to get the camera's autofocus to work properly in such a low-light environment. I had to use my 18W HID light for focusing.

THE FISHEYE FIX LED500DX SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A PRIMARY DIVE LIGHT AS ADVERTISED.

Recently I purchased a Fisheye FIX LED500DX. I really liked the idea of rheostat for variable brightness so I chose a light like this instead of an ordinary dive light. I just returned home from a week of diving on Cozumel with the Fisheye FIX LED500DX. Here are the grades:

 

As an aiming light for close-ups & macro: A+

As a general aiming light: F

As a backup or primary dive light: F-

 

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX uses 8 AA batteries. I purchased 20 brand-new high-quality Eneloop AA 2000mA NiMH batteries. These are low self-discharge and have a long shelf life. They came fully charged and ready to go. In the week before I left for Cozumel, I ran all batteries through the "break-in" mode of my MAHA MH-C9000 "smart charger." During the dive trip, I cycled the batteries through both the strobe and the Fisheye FIX LED500DX, and recharged them every night on the MAHA MH-C9000.

 

The Fisheye FIX LED500DX and the MAHA MH-C9000 smart charger

 

 

As a focus light for night-time close-up and macro photography, I loved the Fisheye FIX LED500DX. It made night photography so much easier. The beam was wide and even. At full power it can even provide some additional illumination of the subject that is not entirely overcome by the flash.

 

 

As a general focus light and dive light, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a total failure. The light is advertised as having a 72 to 90 minute life as a primary dive light. It will automatically switch to the low-power mode when the batteries become low.

 

I found that, when turned to the full power setting, the Fisheye FIX LED500DX reverted to the low-power mode in only two minutes! I was unable to turn the light back to the bright power mode for the rest of the dive. In the low-power mode, the light had a life of several hours.

 

In the lower power mode, there was enough light for close-up and macro shooting. But I could not get the camera to autofocus on anything more than 3 feet away, and I could not see anything in the camera's viewfinder if the subject was more than 5 feet away..

 

I took my camera set-up on a cave dive on Cozumel Island. I had my primary 18W HID light clipped off to my right D-ring and used the Fisheye FIX LED500DX as my primary dive light. This too was a total failure because the Fisheye FIX LED500DX immediately reverted to the low-power setting and I was unable to get the camera's autofocus to work properly in such a low-light environment. I had to use my 18W HID light for focusing.

 

THE FISHEYE FIX LED500DX SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A PRIMARY DIVE LIGHT AS ADVERTISED.

 

I would send the light back to whomever you bought it from. My experience over the last 50 dives or so is that it easily lasts at 90% power for more than an hour using eneloops charged up the day before the dive. Mine will switch to low power sometime after 75 minutes or so.

Bill

I wonder if you have a bad eneloop battery. Have you tested them with a pulse tester?

Also have you tried a set of alkaline batteries?

Elmer

I did some additional burn-time testing of the Fisheye FIX LED500DX with alkaline batteries.

Let's review the owner's manual:

"Continuous burn times (with included alkaline batteries): 90 min. (max output) - 720 minutes (minimum output). Then switches to low power for 20-30 minutes extra reserve burn time."

Here are my test results:

Batteries - Burn time

Included alkaline batteries - burn time of 16 seconds at max output before reverting to low power

Brand-new Energizer Max alkaline batteries - Burn time of 7 minutes 11 seconds at maximum output before reverting to low power

The data speaks for itself.

THE FISHEYE FIX LED500DX SUCKS

yes, the data speaks for itself, you have a defective light.

Send it back for a new one.

I have both the older Fisheye HD20DX and LED48DX, and have been very pleased with them.

They work very well.

yes, the data speaks for itself, you have a defective light.

Send it back for a new one.

I have had many, many people write to me and say the same thing. They got a defective Fisheye FIX LED500DX at first and had to replace it.

That fact speaks for itself. The Fisheye FIX LED500DX is a terrible light.

I've just been reading this thread while researching focus lights, and it looks like the Fantasea 360 has been discontinued due to design faults leading to leaks.

Thought i'd just add it to the thread for future readers.

I've just been reading this thread while researching focus lights, and it looks like the Fantasea 360 has been discontinued due to design faults leading to leaks.

 

Thought i'd just add it to the thread for future readers.

Damn. That looked like the perfect focus light for me. The Fisheye ones are nice as well, but wow, spendy. The little Nano has worked well for me, but there isn't a good next step up, it seems.

I had ordered the LED44, but I somehow missed that it doesn't blink out when you take the shot, so I think it's not what I'm looking for.

Damn. That looked like the perfect focus light for me. The Fisheye ones are nice as well, but wow, spendy. The little Nano has worked well for me, but there isn't a good next step up, it seems.

 

I had ordered the LED44, but I somehow missed that it doesn't blink out when you take the shot, so I think it's not what I'm looking for.

Yeah..me too. Hopefully they will revist the design and get a MK11 out soon. Does the nano switch off during exposure?

Yeah..me too. Hopefully they will revist the design and get a MK11 out soon. Does the nano switch off during exposure?

Yup! Great little light. Just wish it was a bit bigger. You know, like the 360.

The Big Blue 1x5 does as well.. Can't say it's completely reliable at shutting off for me, but then

the nano wasn't either. Definitely much brighter if a bit oversized. Only two dives on it, but

overall I like it so far.

Yup! Great little light. Just wish it was a bit bigger. You know, like the 360.

The Big Blue 1x5 does as well.. Can't say it's completely reliable at shutting off for me, but then

the nano wasn't either. Definitely much brighter if a bit oversized. Only two dives on it, but

overall I like it so far.

Yeah, I'll admit they've been of interest... the price is somewhat reasonable (compared to high end lights, but not horridly more than the Fantasea lights). I just can't get past the size and the looks. Hate it.

I recently picked up a Fisheye Fix mini LED, which is identical to the Fantasea Nano, and so far so good. I was initially highly

dubious about this light due to the many reports of people flooding this design and now I have one I can understand how.

The twist on/off mechanism looks vulnerable with potential for grit to be drawn across the o-ring. But performance wise the

light is ideal for Macro use with even light bright enough to do the job and Like others have mentioned the auto cut-off feature

is a great boon. I will be very careful with the maintenance of it and make sure to only twist switch just enough to turn on or off.

I had like others been looking at the now discontinued Fantasea 360 for the extra brightness and after looking at a friends Big Blue

decided that was to large for my liking. Hopefully there will continue to be some affordable compact lights to fit this niche. It will be

interesting to see what new releases come out in the near future.

Cheers,

Jim.

The Big Blue 1x5 does as well..

What's the beam width like on that? As I said upthread, I had a good experience with a rented Fisheye, and a large part of that was the very wide beam width. The little Princeton I bought was difficult to aim because the beam width was so narrow.

- Gus

What's the beam width like on that? As I said upthread, I had a good experience with a rented Fisheye, and a large part of that was the very wide beam width. The little Princeton I bought was difficult to aim because the beam width was so narrow.

I'd be interested to know this as well (beam width of the Big Blue 1x5) ... especially, how the beam compares to the Fisheye LED44 and Fisheye Mini LED.

I'd be interested to know this as well (beam width of the Big Blue 1x5) ... especially, how the beam compares to the Fisheye LED44 and Fisheye Mini LED.

The big blue 1x5 is substantially wider and brighter than the Fantasea equivalent of the Fisheye mini. I have not seen the LED44 yet to know the comparison. The 1x5 is wider than my 60mm micro needs for anything close and perhaps too bright for shy subjects. I am thinking of adding a colored filter to reduce the brightness.

The 1x5 appears to be bright/wide enough for a main light on a night dive though I have not tried it for that yet. It seems slightly less bright/wide than my former Fantasea 360.

THe 1x5 is considerably heavier than either the LED44 or the mini, as its aluminum.

Hope that helps a bit.

The big blue 1x5 is substantially wider and brighter than the Fantasea equivalent of the Fisheye mini.

What I'd really love to see is a photograph of a light's pattern at 1', rather like the Backscatter article comparing various focus lights.

BossK claims a beam angle of 60°. The Fisheye HG20DX I rented in Bonaire had a beam angle of 100°, which is substantially better, but seemed like overkill when actually shooting.

- Gus

The big blue 1x5 is substantially wider and brighter than the Fantasea equivalent of the Fisheye mini. I have not seen the LED44 yet to know the comparison. The 1x5 is wider than my 60mm micro needs for anything close and perhaps too bright for shy subjects. I am thinking of adding a colored filter to reduce the brightness.

The 1x5 appears to be bright/wide enough for a main light on a night dive though I have not tried it for that yet. It seems slightly less bright/wide than my former Fantasea 360.

THe 1x5 is considerably heavier than either the LED44 or the mini, as its aluminum.

Hope that helps a bit.

That is helpful, thank you. The Fantasea360 (man, I wish they would fix and re-release that model!) is about the same as the LED44, I believe, so if the 1x5 is just slightly narrower, that's good solid info.

Still not sure I want to buy the 1x5, though. It's just too dang big, especially since I'd be mounting it on a tiny Fix S90 housing.

I was seriously thinking about getting a Big Blue 1x5 or 3x5, at least in part because I'd like the auto-off feature. I've been toying with this since I got back from Bonaire, but felt I really needed to get my act together since we're now seriously discussing our next dive trip.

I ended up ordering a Fisheye 500DX. I decided the flexibility of having a dial to control brightness was important to me. The Big Blue lights have only 70% and 100% settings, and from my experience with the HG20DX, the dial brings power down to about 30% of maximum if you want. And for the most part, I did want it that low most of the time with the HG20DX, and the light output of the two lights is similar. That's also an argument for the Big Blue 1x5, which is only 34% as bright as the 3x5 or the 500DX, but it's also nice to have the option of the brighter light if you need it. That, and I'm really quite confident that the 500DX is designed as a really broad beam focus light, and Reef Photo has some images of the Big Blue beam that look a lot narrower.

- Gus