Been sitting here casting shadows of my hand on the ceiling…
You need an unobstructed light source. No lens no reflector to get a crisp shadow at that short 10-15cm distance.
What we call a zoomie flashlight comes close but not at the short distance. I now tried a flashlight with no lens and no reflector and it casts a nice circle of light and has very crisp shadows of my hand on the ceiling, closer and further away than your requirements. You should be able to get it close to just the size of the steel plate.
Perhaps take the glass and reflector out of the 10W flood and see what happens. I have a couple 12V 10W in warm white here if you need me to give a try. No cool white on AC current here at home.
I think the fuzzy shadow is from the glass reflecting back on the reflector and mimicking multiple light sources. If it works and you need brighter go with 20W. These lights are over rated so even a 20W is only about 13W actual.
Aha! I have someone doing exactly what I seem to spend hours of my life doing! I spend a huge amount of time shining lights through my peg basket. Flashlights with no lenses definitely give the right effect.
I did pretty much dismantle the 10 w flood to see what was making it blurred. I think it’s just the width of the array itself (is that the right word?). It’s not in front of me now but I think it’s about 10 mm squared or so. That’s just too broad at the distances I’m needing.
If it helps anyone: this reflector-less kind of light is commonly called a “mule”. I’d have my C8 like that, but without the reflector there’s nothing holding up the lens, and I’m not a fan of such blatantly-vulnerable hardware :confounded:
Thanks Lexel, I really appreciate your help. That sounds good.
Is that easy enough for a novice to put together do you think, or should I find someone experienced to put it together for me?
Edit…
I’ve just noticed the other posts and the photos. Thanks for all the effort, that’s fantastic.
Cheers everyone else too. Lots of stuff to consider.
I’m not weird… Honestly, I’m not. :cowboy_hat_face:
Have some lights here in various form and after reading the posts I was curious of the how or why shadows were blurry or crisp edges.
I always want to know why.
Also the light I have at the moment without lens or reflector is using a Cree XP-L HI emitter.
You are trying to accomplish what I would not necessarily want from a flashlight. Too white causes reflection back in your eyes and washes out the color. Also harsh shadows make it hard to see more. Warmer colored light or what we call high CRI emitters will offer better visual effects to bright flashlights by blending the shadows and reducing reflection back at you. The Sun in your pocket.
So Lexel… I’ve just looked in to dedoming and read that there can be a serious impact on lifespan, which might be a big problem. I think that the xpl Hi might be the best compromise.
I’ll start looking for someone local who can build what I need unless anyone on the forum feels like taking on the job?
You could make changes like replacing the battery with a set of wires, or using the threads at the front to mount it. I think it’s an excellent beginning to your art project.
Cheers Joshk. I suppose that could be the quick fix if, as mentioned above, I can saw the back off, fill it with glue and connect the right power to it.
Could I run in to problems with it cycling through the different modes when powered on/off?
I suspect that the length of the torch would be too much for this situation. The led would most likely be way too close to the metal design to cast sufficient shadows.
I agree with djozz, the Osram Black Flat “kills” all the other LEDs in this regard. 700 Lumen from a 1mm^2 DIE and it also produces a “crisp” coll-white tint which should add to the effect.
Good heatsinking is a must though at these currents!
I guess my photo editing skills are slow. So just use the head then. You can use any switch to toggle the modes. And it has mode memory, so it should stay put between power cycles.
That or the XPL - HI seem like 2 pretty good options to look in to. 700 lumen from such a small size sounds phenomenal.
When this thing is made on has good heatsinking, is there anything that you think might cause problems if I put it into an IP67 enclosure? Could it overheat and cause me problems?
