LED vs. Bulb

[Vlane]

I've noticed there is a gradual shift of more lights becoming available in LED rather than bulb. I've owned a Dorcy 180 lumen LED light that was very bright but lost it . I did use my Dorcy alongside a bulb light at one point and it was much brighter than the bulb. I know diodes will last much longer than bulbs, but are there any downsides to LEDs? On the flip side, are there any benefits to regular bulb lights?

My main use would probably be night dives and occasional deeper dive with little ambient light.

[CompuDude]

LED blow "regular bulbs" in the Halogen, Xenon, etc sense right out of the water.

They fall short compared to bigger HID lights, however. LED's don't scale up quite as well. They can compete against the smaller HID's (like the 10w HID level) but they can't compete against 21w HID's, and bigger. LED's are super efficient at smaller sizes, but they lose efficiency quickly as you scale up, and they end up being too hot and requiring too much power to compete.

But for smaller dive lights, I wouldn't want anything other than LED at this point. They're far more durable, and more efficient (batteries last longer) than incandescent bulbs at this point. The color temp is better as well (more white, less yellow). (HID's also have this advantage)

LEDs are the future. Newer, better LED emitters are coming out all the time. For big lights (21w+ HID) they can't compete... YET... but it won't be long before they win that contest as well. Not today, though.

The sole advantage regular incandescent bulbs have is they are very cheap.

[Tassie Diver]

Just to play devil's advocate...

Is the whiter light of LED good? Topside photography uses the warmer light of sunset/rise (the magic hour) to produce photos that are 'friendlier' and generally considered asthetically pleasing. Does a whiter dive light make everything more clinical and detract from the experience?

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by Tassie Diver

Just to play devil's advocate...

Is the whiter light of LED good? Topside photography uses the warmer light of sunset/rise (the magic hour) to produce photos that are 'friendlier' and generally considered asthetically pleasing. Does a whiter dive light make everything more clinical and detract from the experience?

Considering how much blue there is in the water, and how off white balance usually is anyway, no, not really an issue. In fact, the white light (closer to daylight spectrum) of HIDs and LEDs seems to pierce the murk better than the yellowish light of incandescent bulbs did, IMO.

The idea of light is to (a) give light when there's none (duh) or (b) return the reds lost at depth. Giving everything a yellowish tinge doesn't really help matters any. They eye learns to compensate, but after diving with HIDs and LEDs for a while, when you see someone with an incandescent light (they're getting more and more rare), it's actually shocking how yellow the light is that they put out.

[Tassie Diver]

Sounds good. I use an Inon strobe for my U/W pics and it is known to be cooler than 'older' strobes. Considering older pics (film/slide) first showed the way, I was curious what others thought. At least with digital we can make the colour temp whatever we want!

[comet24]

CompuDude hit all the major points.

Unless your looking for a very bright light(over 21 watts) I would stick with LED. Over 21 watts watts your looking at HID and at that point your into a canister light. I think at the 10-12 watt level your best with LED. 21 watts it's up for grabs. HID will usually give you a tighter focused beam but LED will give you durability and life.

Personally I like LED although if I every decide to drop some change on something over 21 it will be HID with today's tech. I hope LED continue to evolve. You just can't beat their durable. I have some Surefire(non diving) lights that have taken some amazing abuse without a single hiccup.

[db83]

I use a LED flashlight while my gf uses a bulb one. Granted, hers is a bit older, but the difference is huge. LEDs are better in every way.

[DevilDiver]

Originally Posted by Tassie Diver

Sounds good. I use an Inon strobe for my U/W pics and it is known to be cooler than 'older' strobes. Considering older pics (film/slide) first showed the way, I was curious what others thought. At least with digital we can make the colour temp whatever we want!

I believe the discussion was based on regular handheld flashlights not strobes.

Most strobes run 5500k-5600k, some of the Ike's run 4800k witch is a little warm IMO. But you are correct, this all can be modified with basic exposure control to suit the photographer.

[Vlane]

I was thinking LED would be the obvious advantage for a non-canister light. I'm looking for a primary light and Princeton Tec had some good looking ones that were either LED or bulb. Looks like LED is the way to go though.

[Tassie Diver]

Originally Posted by DevilDiver

I believe the discussion was based on regular handheld flashlights not strobes.

Most strobes run 5500k-5600k, some of the Ike's run 4800k witch is a little warm IMO. But you are correct, this all can be modified with basic exposure control to suit the photographer.

Yeah, I picked that the OP was referring to lights not strobes, but used the strobe temperature as an example of how different colour temps can change one's perception of the scene

I agree 4800K is getting a little warm. I find it's easier to warm a cold scene than cool a warm scene in post-processing