I’m looking for a bright portable light that will be used mainly for low budget filmmaking purposes, obviously all night time stuff. I initially thought of a flashlight, but maybe a handheld spotlight/lantern might be better?
My needs are:
bright
spot to flood adjustable
rechargable
can run of DC power as well (for times when a power point is available for extended times)
Daylight (around 5500k) prefered (I have colour gels)
High CRI isn’t that much of a concern as I have other lights for when colour precision is needed.
Does such a light, whether flashlight or spotlight exist? If not, I would probbaly have to get a bright flashlight, in which case I would prefer consumer grade batteries like AA or something.
Main uses would be situations like spot lighting outside from the ground floor up to a small (90x45cm) third floor window apartment block to mimick street lighting, supplementing campfire lights for extra light, ambient lighting for dark night time interiors such as mimicking moonlight while someone sleeps, random streetlights in various scenes etc.
Yeah it said 131 Lumens. I don’t trust those ratings though, no idea how they rate it or at which distance etc…
Looks like that Warsun might be a good torch to get regardless, just to have.
Because the light I’m looking for doesn’t need to be small, It might be better to get something that runs off 4x AA batteries for a brighter output that lasts longer? I have a bunch of AA Eneloops for my other devices so I won’t have a shortage of AA’s
When the Watson X65 came I was impressed by its quality. The pics on Banggood say triple AAA but it does come with triple AA holder so that us a mistake it can be used with AA
The only thing wrong with it, the pill (part where the LED is mounted on) does not come out easy so modding takes more effort to begin with. However if no modding is planned it is a pretty good light.
I like the nut to use it on a tripod and it produces a whole bunch of lumens.
If it is not raining tonight I will make some beamshots and add them to nt beamshots topic.
I do not own this one, nevertheless, it might be interesting to you. Nitecore describes the beam as “Neutral white, White light.” I am not exactly sure what CCT that might mean.
Nitecore EA81 – 8xAA, Cree XHP50, 2150 lumens
Unfortunately, it is not a zoomie. Bright as hell, but not a zoomie. It’s rated at 53,300 candela.
Is that Nitecore really $120?
3 x 4 eneloop AA ~$60
4 x Warson X65 ~$60
I think the X65 is a much better option, because let’s say OP has the cells
Get 2 X65 and a basic tripod just for the extra since he has one with a maglite taped on.
$40 and an extremely versatile lighting set for a third of that Nitecore, it is BLF right?
Nice to meet you… low budget nighttime video making is what I do. I shoot a lot of short-film-type gear reviews, including ones of many flashlights. I don’t know what your budget is…. But you’ll need a flashlight without low frequency PWM first and foremost. Otherwise you’ll get scrolling lines on your video. A versatile light without PWM that can output a ton… is the Nitecore EC4S. It even has a tripod mount, and is cool white tinted. I address the tripod mount late in the video and the light runs about $90
If you need something with a controllable beam pattern, with flood to zoom… The Brinyte B158 is a budget alternative, and one of the best aspheric lights you can buy. About $30.
And one more light with a tripod, that outputs a lot of light on batteries…. I think these are currently about $90ish…
Again, my channel has a ton of videos… but these two are both great options. As fars as ones with a continous power source… I don’t know of any. They probably have some good options though in your local hardware store… the kind you can operate off cigarette lighters.
The reason I suggested the Nitecore EA81 is because of the AA battery requirement in the OP. My own preference would be not to load up any flashlight with 8 batteries, even if they are only NiMH. Too much hassle. I would use Li-ion. Roughly speaking, one 18650 battery holds the same energy as three or four AA NiMH batteries (but you already know that!)
The ThruNite TN4A is a less expensive AA alternative that gets good reviews. It runs on 4xAA. Once again, however, it is not a zoomie.
I am impressed that you were able to find any good zoomies that run on three or more AA batteries. The reason I fell back on the Nitecore EA81 is because I did not know of even one. Do you know what output levels it can sustain on 3xAA. For video work, flat runtimes may be preferable.
How close does the tint on the X65 come to the 5500K mentioned in the OP?
MHanlen’s is the voice of experience. He gives a lot of good advice. It is telling he is not recommending any AA flashlights.
I do not have good rechargeable AA cells so cannot test runtimes on the X65
plan on doing some beamshots tonight and compare it to some tints that ar known.
And will make a video to check for PWM, have to see how to upload that since our youtube channel is not done yet.
It is worth noting that the Nitecore EA81 uses the same emitter as the Nitecore EC4S that MHanlen recommends. It also has similar output modes and runtimes.
It’s beam, however, is more focused than the EC4S. More throw will mean less spill.
OK the Warson does show flickers when in low mode, as a matter of fact really nasty flickers with more no light then light.
On high the light shows no signs of flicker at all.
So on high it can be used in video production but on med and low it is worthless here.
Thanks mhanlen, I had this planned for use in the future YouTube filming. So I am going to send an email to a friend working as a techbician in a theater to send me a bunch of the filtersheets they use to adapt light colors, i was going to ask to send me one that makes skin look natural (the piece we used on camera flashes is lost) but I will ask him to add some more to darker the light as well.
Thanks Miller. I will get the Warsun x65 for sure, regardless of whether it flickers or not. Seems like a great torch to own on a budget.
Hi mhanlen, nice to meet you. Noticed you also use a BMPCC, I use one of those too. Which lens did you use in the Brinyte b158 video?
I don’t suppose the flicker has anything to do with shutter speeds? Or is it a different kind of flicker inherent in the LED design? I know some LED’s flicker regardless.
That Brinyte B158 looks fantastic! Unfortunately it’s not AA compatible, I need it to run off AA’s… that’s a shame because it looks great. Is there anything else you can think of similar that runs off AA or AAA? I don’t want to have to buy different batteries and charges and not be able to use them in any other devices. I use AA’s in other things so I already have a bunch of them to go around.
Thanks! But unfortunately as you know I need the PMW ones
Thanks for letting me know. That’s OK for now as the one project I want to use it for I will to have it on full power anyway. In future? Probably not… .but hopefully I will find something else in the mean time.
When ordering at Gearbest try the couponcodes floating around BLF (I always try BLF GB2015LED GB2016LED if memory is correct (typed it in once and now double click the field to select))
Oops. I completely overlooked the part about the AA batteries. How about something like the Sunwayman D40A? It’s a 4xAA battery light, that you can get in a cool white? While traditionally you think the shutter speed can be adjusted, that’s mostly not the case on flashlights with PWM. Now I’m theorizing a bit but I think it’s because it’s not a 60hz frequency commonly associated with A/C power. I shot this video some time back, and I had to deal with a headlamp with PWM and A/C powered Christmas lights with a strobe effect.
You can see starting about 16 seconds in, that the light has the scrolling PWM effect on some of the white and red modes. Look closely for it. Now the trick was, the Christmas lights strobed, but I was able to adjust my shutter speed to eliminate flicker on the video. The flicker of the Christmas lights, looks like a high frequency strobe… but PWM shows up like a series of scrolling lines. I have found that it’s nearly impossible to adjust your shutter angle to compensate for most flashlight’s low frequency PWM. I’ve tried every shutter angle on the BMPCC to compensate for this and can’t get rid of it about 95% of the time. So if there’s PWM on a light, and I need to shoot a video for it, I use the mode that doesn’t employ it. Which is usually the highest mode. The highest mode is often the mode which drops in brightness faster than the rest though.
Honestly I’d seriously consider getting a few batteries and a charger and going the lithium ion route. In the meantime the D40A is generally about $50-$70 depending on where you can find it. I shot my Brinyte video with a few lenses. I use a 25mm 1.4 Panasonic Leica, and a cheap security camera C-Mount 16mm 1.4 Pentax for most of my nighttime wide shots. It surprisingly doesn’t vignette on the BMPCC and I paid $20 for it attached to a cheap security camera on eBay.
yes that cscrolling PWM effect is what the Warson has on low.
Dang that Sunwayman D40A looks good, very expensive though. For that money, yes a good charger and some li ion can be bought for longer runtimes and more options in lights (well probably a light as well)
Oops, I already ordered the warsun, oh well, next time. Can’t wait till it arrives.
How do you think it would compare to the Warsun x65? When I get that, soon, I will be using that as my benchmark.
Edit: just realised d40a is not a zoomie
Yep I can see it in that video.
What do you mean “highest mode drops in brightness faster than the rest”?
Hmmm yeah I might consider that actually… don’t they require more care etc? I’m more a set it and forget it type person.
Ahhh, I’ve been meaning to get some c-mounts for the longest time. I just haven’t set aside the time to see which ones. But something in the 14/15/16mm range was what I wanted. I generally use a sigma 18-35mm 1.8 with pocket speedbooster which effectively lowers the f stop to f1.0
Set and forget is really not the way to treat li ion.
They carry a respectable amount of energy stuck away in reactive chemicals. When treated right, checked and respected very useful.
When neglected, treated wrong very dangerous with permanent fysical damage to user and the loved ones of the (mis-)user as worst outcome and damage to property second worst.
If you have AA and are using them buy lights that accept both (like the Warson and read up on li ion safety. If you want to make a he commitment you can but you don’t have to.
Being a flashoholic is foremost being careful with the li ion cells, the rest follows long after that.
