Hi all, I am new to professional flashlights and this is my first post.
Could you please recommend flashlights for the following use case?
I do urban exploring and need a good flooder to illuminate indoor areas like tunnels, bunkers, rooms, etc.
The current light that I have is not powerful enough to illuminate an area the size of say 3, 4 basketball courts.
The beam is also concentrated in the center so my photos look overexposed in the middle and underexposed at the edges.
I am looking for a flashlight that can provide uniform illumination with tint that allows the color in the photos to turn out as accurate as possible.
I did a search and found the Emisar D18 to be of interest since it also allows customization of the LEDs.
If there are other good flashlight that you know of that can do the job, please do share.
Dedicated flash units are much better for general still photography use. A flashlight would be better for video use I guess, but even then an LED panel light would serve your purposes better.
Even a cheap unit like a Godox TT600 costs only about $40-50, throw in a few more bucks for a wireless flash trigger and you can do remote triggering/strobist. With a speedlite you won’t get issues of uneven hotspots etc.
Technically yes, but you have to be careful because the optic is typically what holds pressure down on the MCPCB to secure it to the shelf. If you just take the optic out you could end up with desoldered power leads or burned up LEDs.
Whenever this issue appears here, I tend to recommend the Wuben TO50R.
It is not the most budget flashlight, so perhaps you can get less expensive solutions.
Still, it is a flashlight that gives you 90CRI, through its 4 x Samsung LH351D 5000K.
I took some beamshots in my review a while ago, either at close and large range. You can check them here in case you consider this flashlight:
Thank you all for the very helpful advise especially on using a dedicated camera flash. I understand it is always better to use the right tool for the right job and hence, at one point of time, I did consider those flash panels. Allow me to explain why I am looking for a flashlight to achieve this instead.
1) Looking to replace current flashlight
I bought the current flashlight few years ago not knowing much about flashlight. I just knew I wanted something more powerful than a pocketable one for night walks. However, this flashlight has become too heavy and bulky by today’s standards. So since I am getting a new one anyway, might as well get one that allows me to use it for taking photos and move around in darkness.
2) Thinking of just using smartphone camera
I am impressed by today’s smartphone camera that are able to take nice photos right out of the box without post processing especially in low light conditions. I am no expert in photography using just a prosumer camera; does not do any post processing; and definitely not familiar with all the camera flash peripherals available in the market.
3) Terrain and conditions
Sometimes, the places I go have tight spaces and wet like a flooded tunnel. It would be difficult to maneuver with so many things without damaging them. Therefore, I am thinking of settling with just a smartphone camera and flashlight.
D18 wastes a lot of energy on heat due to linear driver, Fireflies doesn’t have a good customer service or qc reputation
D18 also has no magnetic tailcap option afaik
Hank/Emisar is great as a seller but he really needs to switch to efficient buck drivers, it’s worth the extra cost by a long shot. And a mule option centered like fireflies’ is
Yes, I have two. They’re well constructed and have a very nice driver.
Keep in mind, this light has no optic/reflector so it is very floody (almost a 180 degree wall of light). It won’t be able to illuminate things at great distance. However, it works quite well as a photo/video light.
The kind of light you want depends on what you want to light up, obviously.
With a tunnel, a floody light will light up the periphery close-in insanely bright, but farther down might as well be a black hole. If you’re in Der Bunker, you’ll need something floody to light up everything, so you wouldn’t get the spotlight effect on the far wall. Point being, you probably want at least 2 lights, one floody and one throwy, in the same color/tint, and use relative brightneses to light up things the way you want.
The TO46R comes in a reeeeeeeeally nice ~4000K high CRI, and would be a great flooder. The thrower… depends on how throwy you’d want it. Tunnel, you’d probably want a pencil-beam. Big room, a semi-thrower with TIR lens. Carry circles of diffusion-film if anything’s too throwy, to smooth out the beam.
