Posted by Ross-O on January 13, 2004 at 19:30:18:
In Reply to: Dive lights posted by Deep down on January 13, 2004 at 15:47:39:
You will find that HID lights are less rugged and have more failure points than incandescent. They can also be 10X more expensive. However, even the all of the problems, most people who use one underwater at night will never want to use anything else.
Of all the HID lights, the light cannon is by far the most affordable. A good second option is one of the old style Halcyon Helios lights on E-bay.
Chris has a very good point about cycle time. I'm a big fan of my little SL4 since I like to turn the light on and off a lot to look under holes during the day. If I'm diving with other with HIDs, we'll usually leave them on during day dives and use them for communication. You can get someone's attention with them even during the day under most circumstances.
Cheers,
Ross-O