It would seem HID is dead.

How about “ultraportable”, “affordable”, “HID”…“headlamp” ?


No.

Just… no.

WOW bro! There is really something crazy behind that picture.

That’s a beamshot of the Maxabeam from DM51 over on CPF. It’s one of the nicest beamshots I have ever seen.
Because of the pictures age (~2008) it’s probably a Gen2 Maxabem with 3-6Mcp depending on the used bulb. The current Gen3 Maxabeam does 12Mcp. It also seems like the bulb isn’t positioned perfectly in the reflector (beam and spot are a bit fuzzy).

Hey Driver!

Yes this is surely a monster thrower. Like your LED version of Maxabeam here

But I have to admit that I would like to see some monster emitter in your edition and sacrifice throw a bit :slight_smile:

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the BLF Giga Thrower really should be using HID instead of LED?

Only, when the luminance is the same or higher ;).
I am getting a BLF GT for bigger emitters (it has more batteries).

Not possible at this price point. Also only a standard car HID would be possible (35-80W). A short-arc would probably require 10x the cost.

I think LED is taking over HID in term of throw.

It will only get better in the long run when LED technology improve further :slight_smile:

HID bulbs are still faaaar ahead of LED.

I think I will be able to pass the maxabeam with my next LED flashlight build, but it’s gonna cost a lot of money and be pretty large.

Kudos to you for even attempting it!

I would still recommend saving up for a (used) Maxabeam. It’s such a great toy with motorized focus :D. The current models have no Step-Down and all Xenon bulbs have 100cri, so the light quality is much higher compared to LEDs.

Enderman will build another Zooka :laughing:

Thanks :slight_smile:
It’s expensive though, like $500+ usually, which I could put towards my next flashlight project.
On top of that, it is like 1.5x more expensive for me thanks to the canadian dollar xD

Certainly, I will not stop until I have a non-bulb flashlight that can beat all of those short arc lights on that graph :wink:

Well I guess you’re gonna need some serious XXXL aspherics for that… Good luck :+1:

Not this time, it will be reflector only :smiley: and thank you

I made an ‘invention’ for a reflector LED light:

“Wavien dome”

The dome will have to be attached to the glass lens

Pretty similar to the design often used for short arc lamps:

Compared to a lens+wavien collar of the same diameter it will have less lux though, since the lens won’t have the dead spot in the middle.
The lens will also give a tighter beam since all of the points on the surface will be at a longer distance from the LED.

Thanks but no thanks, I don’t really want to cosplay as Captain Toad.

Sure, but it would be fun (difficult fun) to try on the GT for example.
No more spill and a bit more beam.

Yup.