Turn that screen brightness up! Welcome to the SSC2 - Bringing the power and the TIR optics from the popular Diode Dynamics SS3 to a smaller footprint, and a clean backlight feature to boot!
**Moving forward I think that I will do paired ditch light comparisons instead of singles. I believe that the additional light will help the camera pick it all up a little better. **
Driver's Seat Impressions:
SSC2 Pro - Combo: First off, the camera is not doing this light any favors. I believe that it is due to the cooler color temperature as I can assure you that this light is not short on output (my passenger/assistant liked this one's output the best), but I am going to present the video without manipulation. The GoPro Hero 8 settings were locked and adjusted for the Baja Designs lights, and I believe that the cooler color temp doesn't show up as well. The cooler, shorter wavelength, color temp will also not perform quite as well in the wet conditions that we experienced during this video. This light has excellent downfield throw with the driving pattern (easily the best of this bunch), and the flood actually does provide some coverage to the sides, although not as much as I would like. I will always be critical of flood patterns on forward facing lights as there is a good amount of light that is pushed upwards and lost to lighting the trees 25ft up. Take note of how far this light throws during the comparisons. I'm excited to see what it does in amber, in clear swapped amber (4000k), and in dry or differing conditions. This is now the light that I am running on my personal vehicle, and plan to keep it that way. Combo lens on passenger's side and a driving lens on the driver's side.
Rigid Industries SR-M Pro - Driving: I found myself decently impressed with this light, and I wasn't expecting a ton! It did not win in either distance or spread alone, but it did provide a good mix of both of these elements. It has a warmer color temperature which shows better on camera, and I would consider this a good overall light for lower speeds. I don't like the form factor of the housing of this light as much as the DD or BD competitors, but I was not disappointed with the output.
Baja Designs S2 Pro Driving/Combo: Most likely the current ditch light popularity king, and it is not a slouch here again. I am and continue to be a fan of this warmer 5000k color temperature, and the combo pattern is my recommendation in terms of pattern selection (unless you have a specific use case). However, if you already have upgraded fog lights or some other output option that provides better width I would probably recommend the spot pattern. If you view other videos of mine you will see that Baja Designs spot patterns open up pretty quick, and if they are pointes in a "ditch light" arrangement they will open up well for a swath of coverage, even with the spot pattern.
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Link to DD SSC2 Pro - bit.ly/31GtJVo
Link to BD S2 Pro - bit.ly/37FVeCj
Sections:
0:00 Intro
0:19 Unboxing
1:47 Backlights
3:26 Optics
4:30 Baja Designs S2 Pro - Driving/Combo
5:03 Rigid Industries SR-M Pro - Driving
5:33 Diode Dynamics SSC2 Pro - Combo
6:08 Heads-Up Comparison