1 MILLION LUMENS

1 MILLION LUMENS

COMPLETELY NEW FLASHLIGHTS FOR DIVERS

Text Wojciech A. Filip

A brand new technology, based on the quantum split, allowing unprecedented luminous power.

The most powerful diving flashlights reach some 10 thousand lumens. The new one is 100 times stronger. How much would you be willing to pay for such a flashlight? *link to the flashlight at the end of the article

Just like you, I am a diver.

I know nothing about the technology behind my lights, I am no expert in light measurements – I can’t measure how much a thousand lumens is and how much 8 thousand is.

I’ve been diving long enough to write about how I thought I knew something about light and bought a couple of really strong and expensive flashlights. Interestingly, when I was buying them, I fought like a lion with anyone who would dare question my choice.

What are you using your flashlight most often for?

- for night diving (so that I could see anything)

- to illuminate videos (social media )

- for communication (to signal something to my partner)

Photo Jon Borg

Experience

Get into your car on a foggy night and try to choose the best headlights for the drive.

With low beam, you are actually able to see something, with high beam you see nothing but a wall of white in front of you. Paradoxically, you will see the most details with only your position lights on.

If your high beam lights had two or even three times stronger bulbs, would you be able to see through the fog? Of course not, it would have been even worse.

What you already know, but a refresher won’t hurt

You can compare flashlight power underwater with driving at night in the fog. Beyond a certain limit, the stronger the light, the less you see. This is in part because water is more dense than air and always carries a suspension of some kind.

Torch with a good light output and no overexposure effect

Photos Isadora Abuter Grebe

Torch shining broadly with no visible communication beam – illuminates photos/videos well

Photos Isadora Abuter Grebe

Interestingly, while visibility underwater may reach several dozen of meters, the “fog” in which you can’t see a thing mainly concerns the stream of light. In other words, a flashlight too strong will create such a dense stream of light that you will see it as a white super sword sticking out of the flashlight’s head.

You cannot illuminate much with it, as it blinds you; you cannot show real colors, as all you can see is a white spot. If you switch such a flashlight on in the Baltic Sea or in a body of water with limited transparency, it would be as if you were standing in a dense fog or a blizzard – by switching on the flashlight, you are switching on zero visibility. It is then very easy to lose your sense of direction which you would probably get back if you switch off the overly powerful flashlight.

Torch with a good beam and no overexposure effect on an illuminated area

Photos on page Przemysław Zyber

An interesting combination of a torch with a good beam of light and a wide angle – very good for communication and taking photos/videos

Photos on page Przemysław Zyber

Torch shining with a broad "soft" light – the best solution for taking photos/videos

Photos on page Przemysław Zyber

How to quickly check whether the flashlight will create a white wall effect?

´- On the surface

Direct the light stream onto the palm of your hand from approx. 50 cm –look at what you can see; you should be able to see the details of your skin. If you see a white spot or squint, the flashlight is too strong.

´- Underwater

Take a peek inside a cavity – it might be a shipwreck, a pipe or simply a rock overhang – can you clearly see the tiny details of the place you are illuminating? If yes, then the flashlight is worth your consideration. If the first thing you see is a white spot, the flashlight is not a good fit.

´- On social media :) Swim towards your partner with a small camera.

Take a few photos, shoot a short video, while illuminating them. If, as a result, instead of a well-lit diver, you see your partner with a white spot in the place you are illuminating, the flashlight has too much power.

My history, continued

When I became a technical diver, I was convinced I needed special equipment. My flashlight was at the very top of my list of things to change. I researched which model is believed to be the strongest and considered the absolute top when lights under water were concerned. I bought it. After the purchase, I was sure I had the best diving light ever. It did not dawn on me that I couldn’t read the text on the side of a shipwreck because it was too bright. Neither did the fact that a fried of mine had no problem at all to read the text, although he was using a Lumen 6 flashlight (I wonder if someone still remembers these). With time, there were more and more divers with the strongest flashlights available. Can you believe that no one has ever admitted they can hardly see with their flashlight? We assumed that if someone is manufacturing stronger and stronger ones, it meant they were the best. We ignored the fact that in order to see something, we had to direct the stream of light away from the object. I bought a total of three such mega-blinders, each one stronger than the other.

Torch with too many lumens – overexposes the object being illuminated

Photos on page Bartek Trzciński

A torch properly selected – illuminates the object accurately

Photos on page Bartek Trzciński

Torch in the cave: on the left well matched, on the right over-exposing (too many lumens)

Photos on page Bartek Trzciński

It was only a few years later that I asked for the help of an engineer working in lighting technology and light measurements, who he asked me a riddle.

The riddle

How do you convince someone to buy a particular product if they know nothing about it but need it?

Solution

Show them clearly that this product is better from other similar ones. If you manage to do that, it is easier not only to show them a product better than the others but also the supreme one – something that will outclass any other similar ones (e.g. a million-lumen flashlight).

If you were to choose between two flashlights, one with 2000 lumens and the other with 8000 lumens, which one would you choose for yourself?

In such situations, lacking expertise, we are not always making wise choices.

You will choose what seems obvious to you: more seems better than less. Yet a less powerful flashlight, with 2000 lumens, will do a much better job underwater that the one with 8000 lumens, which you would probably rate higher at the beginning.

I want to buy a flashlight – how do I do it?

Before you pay for something, take your candidate model for a dive, shine it onto your hand or manometer, peek into some

underwater recess, looking for details, post a video from your testing on social media, showing your partner illuminated during the dive. Try to be objective – can you see what you are shining at or do you only see a white spot?

Are you asking for advice on Facebook? Don’t mention the brand, just show the results of how it shines.

Good luck! WAF

PS The 18th issue of Perfect Diver brings you a piece on interesting methods for testing flashlights. Hungry for more knowledge? Look there or visit the Tecline Academy, where you can test various flashlights in person!

*Alright, where do I buy this new one-million-lumen flashlight!?

Luckily, there is no such flashlight. However I am sure that if it existed, there would be people interested in buying it. By the way, the introduction to this article is a simple test on diving flashlights knowledge: did you think at first that such a flashlight is completely useless or you wondered what the price tag on it was… ?

The ideal light for the diver: despite its close proximity, it does not overexpose the signal OK and at the same time has a good communication beam

Photo Isadora Abuter Grebe

https://teclinediving.eu/tecline-academy/#/

*****ADS ******

In front of you is a GUIDE to a selection of the Island of Aphrodite’s dive spots, hopefully the best or most interesting ones.

Ideal for divers, free divers, lovers of the azure water and water sports, but also for those who accompany them.

Ask in DIVING CENTERS