OrcaTorch D850 Dive Light Review
by Torbjörn Gylleus
review articles
The OrcaTorch D850 is a handheld dive light with max 2,500 lumens. The D850 is launched at the beginning of the year for both recreational diving and technical diving, as an alternative to a canister dive light.
The D850 comes in a hard plastic box, which also comes with two rechargeable batteries of the type 26650. There is also a charger for two batteries, extra O-rings and a hand strap. An extra cable is included in the charger for charging the batteries from a cigarette lighter socket.
The first thing that impresses me is that the light, which is made of aircraft aluminum, weighs a little more than I had imagined, and it gives an extremely robust impression. Perhaps not so strange, since it is made to withstand 150 meters depth.
It is comfortable and balanced in the hand, and the button switch for controlling the light is easily accessible with the thumb. With a first push, you get full power, and after another push, it goes down to half strength. If you press again, the effect is changed to low, and with a fourth press you switch off the light. In front of the button is a small indicator that shows the battery status when the light is on. On the underside, there are three holes with threads for mounting the lamp on a Goodman handle, ball bracket, clamp or the like.
Diving test
I have attached a pistol hook to the back end instead of the wrist strap to be able to keep my hands free when I am not using the light. When I come down a few meters below the water, I unplug the lamp and light it up. It has a powerful, focused light that is perfect to communicate with and that penetrates the somewhat cloudy Baltic water without any problems.
At the same time, the optics scatter some of the light, so that you also illuminate the surroundings. On some other lights with only a narrow light beam, I have sometimes experienced a bit of tunnel vision, but here OrcaTorch has succeeded in balancing the spread with a smooth transition without any clear hot spots. When I press the button to step down the brightness, it slowly fades the light down to the next level.
Overall, The OrcaTorch D850 is a high quality and trustworthy dive light