The C8 eLED Plus, made by Underwater Kinetics, are primarily designed as a dive light, but also serves as excellent all-weather, bright light. This is one of a series of pistol grip dive/all-weather lights which all come in both alkaline and rechargeable versions. The body is ABS and polycarbonate and is available in black and yellow. An adjustable rubber sleeve lanyard can be attached to the base of the handle. Inside the bezel is are two 5 Watt Nichia LEDs and regulation circuit. When the safety-lock switch is turned in one direction you get full output, in the other direction you get half output for longer battery life. Since it uses LEDs there are no lamps to blow and LEDs are impervious to shock.

Body: The body is made of ABS, a high impact polymer. The handle is removable and is ergonomically shaped for improved grip. The handle comes unattached. To attach the handle, slide it in the groove in the base and tighten the Phillips screw inside to lock it in place.

Bezel/Head: The front of the light is different from every other dive light you'll see. The reflector has circular ridges to smooth out the beam from the two 5 Watt LEDs. These LEDs are attached to a metal post and point at 90 deg. to the front of the reflector. Their light is captured by the reflector and sent forward in a surprisingly round beam. The metal post where the LEDs attach protrudes through the front of the clear plastic lens window allowing heat to transfer to the atmosphere, or water, depending on where you use it. Water is more efficient at conducting heat away from the heat transfer button, so the light actually runs brighter underwater, but for a shorter period of time since the batteries are drained quicker. A pair of plastic protective cages are included with the light for attachment to the heat transfer button so you do not accidentally touch the hot bottom to gear or skin. Let me tell you, that little button gets HOT!

Heat transfer button in center of lens

A look deep inside - you can see one white LED (center, left) on the metal heat transfer post.

Protective cage attached over the heat transfer button

Output: The white light produced by the LED is a absolutely gorgeous. It's a wonderful white light with no hint of tinting at all. The beam is very smooth and only slightly oblong considering the fact that it actually uses two LEDs and essentially two reflectors.

Beam at one meter at target center

Runtime Plot: This is an odd one. I don't know if they all do this or if the circuit in the one I got is flaky, but it does have a very weird output graph. When the regulator kicks in to control the output from the light, you get a very significant sine-wave-like wobble in the output. The wobble in the output may be a result of thermal management of the LEDs to prevent them from overheating. Either way, you probably won't notice this in actual use since your eyes adapt rapidly to slight changes in output and since the change is pretty smooth. Expect 4-5 hours of good use in air, less in water (but with brighter output).

Runtime completed with Duracell brand batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

Switch: The switch, which has a safety lockout that must be pulled downward for the switch to move, can be rotated in either direction to select either full output or 50% output. The low output mode results in less light but extended battery life.

Seals / Water Resistance: Depth rated to 500 feet. There are only three openings in the light, all protected by O-rings.

If it gets wet inside, just disassemble as much a possible without tools and let it dry before using again.

Ergonomics: It's big and it's heavy, but what do you expect if you're toting around 8 C cells? The handle provides good balance, and it's lighter in the environment it is designed for (in the water). The switch is easy to operate.

Batteries: After removing the batteries through the front, the internal contact plate at the back of the light will slide out with no additional effort than inverting the light. This allows easy cleaning of the inside of the light and the contacts if the light should become flooded with sea water. For power you can use C cells or an optional rechargeable battery pack. The contact plates are designed to prevent accidental reversal of the batteries.

Accessories:

What I Liked: Waterproof, Tough/impact resistant, Regulated, Bright, Easy battery change, Dual output

What I Didn't Like: Heavy (unavoidable).

Picky Little Things: Weird regulation curve bothers me a bit, but I ran the light until quite hot and could not see the variation in brightness with my eyes.

Conclusions: Fantastic output and a very good light in general. Regulated, waterproof, tough, well made, dual output. I think it will serve a diver very well and definitely competes well with similar-sized incandescent lights. I have a coworker who dives and I'll be giving them this light to try out in October 2006, so watch for the full report from a certified diver!

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