On Saturday up at Dana Meadows in the Yosemite high country I took advantage of the moonless sky and did some night photography. Probably my first real attempt. Anyway I was light-painting some trees on the other side of the Dana Fork Creek using my headlamp, and it just wasn't powerful enough to reach 30-50 feet away. Can anyone recommend a better flash-light for this?
I recommend you a Cree LED flashlight, incredible output.
Here you have one: http://www.lighthound.com/Fenix-PD30-Cree-R2-LED-Digital-2xCR-123-flashlight-6-Levels-HA-III-Black-Finish-Textured-Reflector_p_3314.html
Many others at the website, no affiliation but the owner is a good guy, you can call him to explore options.
Good luck!
Luis
Posted by Robert Cubit on June 14, 2010 at 8:20 PM
Mat, in addition to output power here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting a flashlight for light painting landscapes:
A power switch with ‘momentary’ mode that allows the flashlight to be turned on and off quickly. This allows you to selectively paint just the areas of the subject you’re interested in.
Adjustable focus, so you can focus to either a tight beam for more distant subjects or a wide beam for close subjects or to cover more area without producing hot spots.
Color temperature/white balance, which of course depends on the subject, artistic intent and whether you are attempting to match any existing ambient light in the scene. Incandescent bulbs have a high CRI (see below) but typically very warm light and are less power efficient than LEDs.
High-power white LEDs are made in a wide range of color temperatures from warm to very cool toned---unfortunately, most of the low-end flashlight manufacturers do not specify the color temperature of their products (most of the low-end LED lights have a very blue cast). Also, there is a trade-off between power output and color temperature. Warm LEDs (of the same model) provide less light than cooler ones. Of course, simple color temperature variation can be corrected in post. But this gets more complicated with mixed light sources in the scene.
An additional quality you might want to consider for more color critical subjects is the Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the light (rated from 0-100%). This is a measure of how well the light follows a full-spectrum, color-output curve. Sunlight and hot objects like incandescent light bulb filaments are at or near 100% CRI. All LEDs I’m aware of to date have lower CRI values---from 50% to about 93% and have a relatively large spike in the blue part of the spectrum and much lower output in the red. With the worst-case LED lights, his effect can produce some really off-color results similar to standard office fluorescent lighting, which cannot be corrected with simple white balance methods (although I find that the free Adobe tool “DNG Profile Editor” with an X-rite ColorChecker does a great job of this!).
Depending on your budget, there are a number of options. I find the reasonably priced, widely available Mag-Lite series flashlights are pretty darn good for light painting use. The larger ones are reasonably high-power, come in both incandescent and LED models, have a power button that can be used for either a momentary on-off or as a clicky operation and most have a focusable beam. I purchased several drop-in light-units for mine. I custom replaced the standard blue-ish tint LED in one head with a high-CRI LED (I think these heads may now be available off-the-shelf as after-market drop-ins). So with one flashlight I have a choice of incandescent, standard high-power (blue-ish tint) LED or somewhat lower output high-CRI warm tint LED. I also use rechargeable Li-ion batteries that have a lot higher capacity and will hold their charge for over one year before needing to be re-charged.
Of course, there are much more expensive LED lights available. Some work well for photography, others don’t. For more info, search the link below for CRI and photography.
The première site for everything about flashlights is the CandlePower Forums:
While it’s kind of an enthusiast’s geek site, it does have the latest info on the best flashlights, high-power LEDs and other lighting technologies. LED technology is advancing very rapidly---some of the newer LED flashlights have the light output of two car headlights in one small, hand-held unit.
Bob, wrote up a lot, I will add, I love using what is called the Roar of the Pelican(ROP) and there is a ton of write-ups on making it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMktZCXrDc4 Its a modified Maglite that holds a very bright incandescent and in my set-up(2d mag body, 2 d sized lithium ion rechargeables) I get something that outshines certain car headlights for about 2 hr runtime and not nearly as heavy as those big torch spotlights they sell at walmart and such.
Posted by Robert Cubit on June 27, 2010 at 3:53 PM
That's an excellent addition, Paul! That ROP mod is exactly what I'm also using when I need a warmer toned incandescent source. You get the light output of the higher power LEDs along with a purer (higher CRI) color spectrum. The negatives compared to LEDs are that the ROP bulb draws more power (less efficient) and gets hotter than LEDs. So you definitely need to power them with Lithium-Ion batteries and replace the stock reflector and plastic lens, with ones that can take the heat.
Dan, I should also have mentioned that, if you don't mind the extra bulk and weight, the two and three D-cell MagLites like in Paul’s link are much more powerful, adaptable and have longer runtimes than the 3 AA-cell MagLite you linked to on Amazon.
At the risk of sending everyone into ‘geek overload’, I’ll offer one more (I promise!) important factor to consider when selecting a flashlight for light painting. Most flashlights produce some degree of spill light, which is the part of the beam the exits at a wider angle than the main beam. This can be a real problem in for light painting because the foreground can easily get over exposed by this spill (due to inverse square law stuff). If the light has too much spill, a tube placed over the end of light to act like a ‘snoot’ or ‘flag’ (as used on e-flash heads), works well to prevent this. Another option is to replace the normal flat lens in the MagLite with an aspherical lens that will concentrate the beam and produce much less spill light.
OK, just ONE more! There is a very useful super black light absorbing material (light trap) that I recently became aware of that not only makes great snoots but also works for preventing flare when placed on the inside of lens hoods. And this stuff makes a great back-drop for getting really black backgrounds in studio photography, too. It’s called Protostar and comes in self-adhesive sheets or rolls. They apply some kind of flocking material on the sheet that reflects less than 1% of the incident light, much less than black felt, velvet or flat black paint. 20x28” sheets are $12/ea:
http://www.fpi-protostar.com/flock.htm
Guess much of this dicussion should have gone in the Gear Review forum. I'll post a link there.
Discussion
8 repliesI was looking at this LED MagLite as one option.
Basically they're the chinese knockoffs of the tactical weapons surefire lights the SWAT teams and such use... and come at 10% the cost.
http://www.campingsurvival.com/vespspel2mca.html
Here you have one: http://www.lighthound.com/Fenix-PD30-Cree-R2-LED-Digital-2xCR-123-flashlight-6-Levels-HA-III-Black-Finish-Textured-Reflector_p_3314.html
Many others at the website, no affiliation but the owner is a good guy, you can call him to explore options.
Good luck!
Luis
A power switch with ‘momentary’ mode that allows the flashlight to be turned on and off quickly. This allows you to selectively paint just the areas of the subject you’re interested in.
Adjustable focus, so you can focus to either a tight beam for more distant subjects or a wide beam for close subjects or to cover more area without producing hot spots.
Color temperature/white balance, which of course depends on the subject, artistic intent and whether you are attempting to match any existing ambient light in the scene. Incandescent bulbs have a high CRI (see below) but typically very warm light and are less power efficient than LEDs.
High-power white LEDs are made in a wide range of color temperatures from warm to very cool toned---unfortunately, most of the low-end flashlight manufacturers do not specify the color temperature of their products (most of the low-end LED lights have a very blue cast). Also, there is a trade-off between power output and color temperature. Warm LEDs (of the same model) provide less light than cooler ones. Of course, simple color temperature variation can be corrected in post. But this gets more complicated with mixed light sources in the scene.
An additional quality you might want to consider for more color critical subjects is the Color Rendering Index (CRI) of the light (rated from 0-100%). This is a measure of how well the light follows a full-spectrum, color-output curve. Sunlight and hot objects like incandescent light bulb filaments are at or near 100% CRI. All LEDs I’m aware of to date have lower CRI values---from 50% to about 93% and have a relatively large spike in the blue part of the spectrum and much lower output in the red. With the worst-case LED lights, his effect can produce some really off-color results similar to standard office fluorescent lighting, which cannot be corrected with simple white balance methods (although I find that the free Adobe tool “DNG Profile Editor” with an X-rite ColorChecker does a great job of this!).
Depending on your budget, there are a number of options. I find the reasonably priced, widely available Mag-Lite series flashlights are pretty darn good for light painting use. The larger ones are reasonably high-power, come in both incandescent and LED models, have a power button that can be used for either a momentary on-off or as a clicky operation and most have a focusable beam. I purchased several drop-in light-units for mine. I custom replaced the standard blue-ish tint LED in one head with a high-CRI LED (I think these heads may now be available off-the-shelf as after-market drop-ins). So with one flashlight I have a choice of incandescent, standard high-power (blue-ish tint) LED or somewhat lower output high-CRI warm tint LED. I also use rechargeable Li-ion batteries that have a lot higher capacity and will hold their charge for over one year before needing to be re-charged.
Of course, there are much more expensive LED lights available. Some work well for photography, others don’t. For more info, search the link below for CRI and photography.
The première site for everything about flashlights is the CandlePower Forums:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/portal/index.php
While it’s kind of an enthusiast’s geek site, it does have the latest info on the best flashlights, high-power LEDs and other lighting technologies. LED technology is advancing very rapidly---some of the newer LED flashlights have the light output of two car headlights in one small, hand-held unit.
Bob
Bob, thanks for taking the time to write all that up. Super helpful!
Dan, I should also have mentioned that, if you don't mind the extra bulk and weight, the two and three D-cell MagLites like in Paul’s link are much more powerful, adaptable and have longer runtimes than the 3 AA-cell MagLite you linked to on Amazon.
At the risk of sending everyone into ‘geek overload’, I’ll offer one more (I promise!) important factor to consider when selecting a flashlight for light painting. Most flashlights produce some degree of spill light, which is the part of the beam the exits at a wider angle than the main beam. This can be a real problem in for light painting because the foreground can easily get over exposed by this spill (due to inverse square law stuff). If the light has too much spill, a tube placed over the end of light to act like a ‘snoot’ or ‘flag’ (as used on e-flash heads), works well to prevent this. Another option is to replace the normal flat lens in the MagLite with an aspherical lens that will concentrate the beam and produce much less spill light.
OK, just ONE more! There is a very useful super black light absorbing material (light trap) that I recently became aware of that not only makes great snoots but also works for preventing flare when placed on the inside of lens hoods. And this stuff makes a great back-drop for getting really black backgrounds in studio photography, too. It’s called Protostar and comes in self-adhesive sheets or rolls. They apply some kind of flocking material on the sheet that reflects less than 1% of the incident light, much less than black felt, velvet or flat black paint. 20x28” sheets are $12/ea:
http://www.fpi-protostar.com/flock.htm
Guess much of this dicussion should have gone in the Gear Review forum. I'll post a link there.