[Throughthegills]

You'll need a lot more genny to push converters and HPS/MH, our light setup alone just about tabs out our 3k Honda, 2 55amo converters will need every bit of 15-1800watts so your talking another generator there.

With your converters and 8 100w MH's with HPF ballasts you'll be right at 80% max load. If my math is right your generator will run it and you be pushing about 64,800 lumens which I'm willing to bet would be a lot brighter than the led's you plan on running.

 

[Old Bald Guy]

With your converters and 8 100w MH's with HPF ballasts you'll be right at 80% max load. If my math is right your generator will run it and you be pushing about 64,800 lumens which I'm willing to bet would be a lot brighter than the led's you plan on running.

Sorry but the 50 watt leds are brighter than a 100 watt m/h.

 

[Throughthegills]

Sorry but the 50 watt leds are brighter than a 100 watt m/h.

Have you compared the two on the water while fishing?

 

[Istickem]

I agree also figure this is 64 watt led with (64) 1 watt leds. The 27 watters have (9) 3 watt leds and the 50 watt leds have 1 big led. I think it depends on the particular light and different variables such as different boards/drivers and how many leds in one housing, reflectors, warm or cool light. Bassically it is gonna take trial and error to find the right light or best set up. Figure think back when people started using HPS or MH or Halos way back when. Everybody did trial and error to find which ballast set up, how many watts or how many lights to use.We are at the same place now with the leds its all trial right now until somebody finds the best set up.

I agree, there are many many times more variables in LED lighting. Unlike HID where you cant mix ballasts and bulbs, there are combination possibilities out the wazoo.
The 50 w lights that look to have one big LED is actually an Array of small LEDs linked to each other in series and parallel.

 

[Old Bald Guy]

Have you compared the two on the water while fishing?

No. Going by published output figures.

 

[Gbollom]

Have you compared the two on the water while fishing?

I'm not all that impressed with 150w hid lighting so I'm sure I won't be with 100's, plain and simple you can almost cut generator need in half with these new led's and they're only getting better and cheaper

 

[Throughthegills]

No. Going by published output figures.

That may be the case. All I was going off of is on the water experience shooting fish out from underneath both of them. I haven't done a side to side comparison with led's vs. halides but I have done side to side comparisons with each vs. halogens. What I seen was the led's didn't project as far as 500w halogens. The MH's did and then some. 120v 50w led's aren't anything special. I can understand the benefits of going that route for a 12v set up or even a 110 if you already have quite a bit of money tied up in too small of a generator + converters. For the price difference 100w led's would definitely be the better investment on an AC set up. You get much more bang for your buck and will have plenty of light. But we're talking a grand on just fixtures alone now too.

 

[Gbollom]

Yep and not lighting up the entire bank and people's water front homes will help. Give one less thing for the critics to complain about and shows were making an effort to be considerate of others while Bowfishing. LED's may not be "the best" option yet but they are most definitely the future.

 

[Throughthegills]

Yep and not lighting up the entire bank and people's water front homes will help. Give one less thing for the critics to complain about and shows were making an effort to be considerate of others while Bowfishing. LED's may not be "the best" option yet but they are most definitely the future.

They would light up the banks too if they actually put off enough lumens to do it haha. I agree about them being the future but mainly because of the lower noise level that you can get by with to run them. I'm am glad to finally see the higher wattage ones coming down in price where people can actually afford to buy them. Before, the cost was ridiculous. The higher watt led's are fishable lights without having to buy 25 of them in order to have enough light to see good enough. I think that over paying for something that doesn't preform any better than other available items on the market is what causes people to hype them up beyond belief. Kind of like the people who get bent over and have one broke off in them after purchasing an Osprey.

 

[eman123]

The higher watt led's are fishable lights without having to buy 25 of them in order to have enough light to see good enough.

I have 10 x 27w LEDs and much prefer them over my old 10 x 300w halos. I have more than "enough light to see good enough."

I think that over paying for something that doesn't preform any better than other available items on the market is what causes people to hype them up beyond belief

Although charging batteries is a pain, i'm saving gas money every time I use them. So, i don't feel like I overpaid for them, but rather that they will be saving me money in the end.

 

[Throughthegills]

I have 10 x 27w LEDs and much prefer them over my old 10 x 300w halos. I have more than "enough light to see good enough."

You got me there. I am fluent in three languages: English, Sarcasm, and Profanity. I did go a little heavy on the sarcasm in that post.:laugh:

Although charging batteries is a pain, i'm saving gas money every time I use them. So, i don't feel like I overpaid for them, but rather that they will be saving me money in the end.

Not having a genny would be nice. As long as your happy then that's really all that really matters.

 

[Gbollom]

They would light up the banks too if they actually put off enough lumens to do it haha. I agree about them being the future but mainly because of the lower noise level that you can get by with to run them. I'm am glad to finally see the higher wattage ones coming down in price where people can actually afford to buy them. Before, the cost was ridiculous. The higher watt led's are fishable lights without having to buy 25 of them in order to have enough light to see good enough. I think that over paying for something that doesn't preform any better than other available items on the market is what causes people to hype them up beyond belief. Kind of like the people who get bent over and have one broke off in them after purchasing an Osprey.

LED's are more directional and don't disperse light as much as an HID light. While I have seen some "interesting" things on the bank and in people's back yards or even in their homes, it's not necessary. I need to light up fishable water, not an entire cove.

 

[Blackdawg]

i agree gbollum...Im not sure about the rest of you guys but for me and my style of fishing i can only shoot ethically about 12-15 yards depending on water clarity and depth, I can assure you the 20watters i just bought are just as bright and cut just as much water as my 4-400w mercury vapor setup. for those that are gonna ask about my previous setup.. i had 4-400 watt mercury vapors and 6 500w halos i could switch to depending on clarity, on a 1860 raised deck. i have now 16-20watt(actually22output) leds. and im running 350-400 watts on an inverter/ converter setup versus running 1600mv or 3000/halo which allows me to fish quieter and cheaper(gas) each time i go out. I know the inverters and leds and converters cost a lot of money but for the long term the will pay for themselves because of the ability to run genny or no genny. Oh and p.s. im almost certain the led setup i have now covers more water closer to the boat than my other setup...

 

[AimLowRobin]

While I have seen some "interesting" things on the bank and in people's back yards or even in their homes, it's not necessary. I need to light up fishable water, not an entire cove.

This statement right here sums up my thoughts on bowfishing lights. So much debating on here about brightness this and that...great conversation for some, but not for me. I need not light up the lake, only the space around my boat that I shoot, plus some so I can see the fish before it's time to do that. I have 10 of the 27w LEDs and the only question mark for me is whether or not the overall brightness is going to be good enough for me to get quality video of the fish we are shooting. If video was not in the equation, I'd be pretty satisfied with my setup. I can run all night on two batteries in parallel. Admittedly I have limited experiences with the new set up so far, probably only 8 nights worth of fishing. As I review what video we have taken and get some more time with the setup, I very well may add a few more to the mix, most likely up higher (mounted to my knee rail), and/or a few of the higher watt lights. But...like I said, that will be for video quality improvement if needed.

I appreciate the OP's efforts with the comparison, pix, etc. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see much difference between the lights in the pix presented and I wouldn't expect the LED to come close to the brightness of the 400 HPS. Certainly, at least in the pix shown, there wouldn't be any issue shooting a fish would there? Plus the bonus of getting rid of that absolutely dreadful yellow color of the HPS, lol. I hate HPS, but in all seriousness, the type of light LEDs put out, is similar to HPS except white and not yellow ...ie. - easy on the eyes.

Trust me...I am NOT trying to sway anyone in any direction with their light set ups, just giving my opinion on what I know so far with mine. Those that think their bowfishing lights need to light up the water for 100 yards down the bank, plus the bank, plus the woods, will not be happy with LEDs, at least the size LEDs that give any advantage of staying 12v or at least going to one very small genny.

 

[Throughthegills]

I appreciate the OP's efforts with the comparison, pix, etc. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see much difference between the lights in the pix presented and I wouldn't expect the LED to come close to the brightness of the 400 HPS. Certainly, at least in the pix shown, there wouldn't be any issue shooting a fish would there? Plus the bonus of getting rid of that absolutely dreadful yellow color of the HPS, lol. I hate HPS, but in all seriousness, the type of light LEDs put out, is similar to HPS except white and not yellow ...ie. - easy on the eyes.

The OP isn't comparing led's to HPS's. He's comparing them to Metal Halides. HPS has a warm (red) color temperature of around 2700K as compared to MH at 4200K. The pic I posted was of a 400w MH400UPE bulb. The color temperature of it is 4200K daylight white. That's the same color temperature as you see used for indoor florescent lighting. Each bulb has 36,000 lumens. That sucker is lighting up the top of that big oak tree every bit as bright as it's lighting up the ground. That one bulb is probably 5 times brighter than all 8 of your 27w led's so yeah there's a difference.

 

[jra55]

i agree gbollum...Im not sure about the rest of you guys but for me and my style of fishing i can only shoot ethically about 12-15 yards depending on water clarity and depth, I can assure you the 20watters i just bought are just as bright and cut just as much water as my 4-400w mercury vapor setup. for those that are gonna ask about my previous setup.. i had 4-400 watt mercury vapors and 6 500w halos i could switch to depending on clarity, on a 1860 raised deck. i have now 16-20watt(actually22output) leds. and im running 350-400 watts on an inverter/ converter setup versus running 1600mv or 3000/halo which allows me to fish quieter and cheaper(gas) each time i go out. I know the inverters and leds and converters cost a lot of money but for the long term the will pay for themselves because of the ability to run genny or no genny. Oh and p.s. im almost certain the led setup i have now covers more water closer to the boat than my other setup...

Let's see some pics and video of that setup. I'm seriously considering buying some of these.

 

[Throughthegills]

PS to Robin. I wasn't trying to be a dik head. I was just pointing out the difference.

 

[AimLowRobin]

The OP isn't comparing led's to HPS's. He's comparing them to Metal Halides. HPS has a warm (red) color temperature of around 2700K as compared to MH at 4200K. The pic I posted was of a 400w MH400UPE bulb. The color temperature of it is 4200K daylight white. That's the same color temperature as you see used for indoor florescent lighting. Each bulb has 36,000 lumens. That sucker is lighting up the top of that big oak tree every bit as bright as it's lighting up the ground. That one bulb is probably 5 times brighter than all 8 of your 27w led's so yeah there's a difference.

Yes, I know the OP's are MH (as your pix), typed too fast on my phone, but was trying to say the bonus for those using HPS is getting rid of the yellow color. I said, more than once, that of course the LEDs are not as bright. In fact, said guys that like lighting up the water they can shoot plus everything else, won't like them. The "no difference" comment was directed at the water those pix are covering and more specifically the fact that I can't see any difference in being able to shoot a fish in front of either light.

 

[bowkill]

Edit; phone didn't refresh page..people already said what I did

 

[Throughthegills]

No I just took your post for face value and that's why I added the PS. The only thing LED's can do that MH's can't is run silent off of batteries. That was the point I was making.

Perhaps robin was talking about the comparison of the halosand the leds. Not your mh

Just a simple misunderstanding because of a typo. It's all good.