p.1 #1 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
so what would be the advantage, if any, of a light like this lowel gl 1 over say a nice 3rd gen led d cell maglite for things like light painting/adjusting night exposures? Any opinions?
p.1 #2 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
At a guess, apart from the obvious sticker shock, in order of importance:
(1) high CRI
(2) adjustable brightness
(3) max brightness
You probably can work around (3), and (2) may or may not be important. The CRI thing may not matter if you are not interested in getting accurate colors. But even if you don't care about color accuracy, the CRI may matter if you want good colors, depending on your definition of "good".
With low CRI, I find colors for many things look ghastly. I do not mean that as a disparaging term. I mean that more literally: things look like they have walked off a set of a horror movie into your scene. People/skin-tones especially, of course, but also plants/greenery and other stuff. And tricky to correct in post. This is especially apparent if there is some other light source in your scene (e.g., moonlight), in which case it becomes a nightmare to impossible to fix in post.
You are going to pay premium for good CRI. It is worth it in most cases for photographic applications.
On the other hand, you can get high CRI LED lamps for a lot less $700 --- more in the $100 range (look at Spark and Zebra lights: go for the "NW" or "natural/neutral white" lines) -- though maybe not with as high as output as the above, or the option for continuous dimming.
p.1 #4 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
I have never been a fan of Lowel products, most likely from years of using tota-lights so my opinion may be tainted.
I have done light painting with small hand held LED battery powered lights ($100), fluorescent work-lights from Sears, "7 million" candlepower lights from Pepboys, small speed-lights and Hensel strobes. I have had good results with all...funny that the oddest color I have run into so far are KinoFlo and really cheap chinese LEDs
I am looking at the Ice Light LED wand but they are $400 or something and I want 2 or 3
I saw some knock offs for $249 but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
p.1 #5 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
You may want to look at lights from the Streamlight brand. They are high power led and very durable such as the survivor light. I have used them in abandoned buildings and for light painting at night with very good results.
p.1 #6 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Holly ..... How has this gotten to 5 responses with no mention of surefire
Skip that thing for sure. It took me a long time to figure this out and many in my family gave me crap, for spending 100 +/- bucks on a flash light. Now I dont go anywhere with out a good flash light nor do most of the people I have gifted one to.... Surefire is the only way to go, I love my old 3 D cell mag light its in my tool box under the back seat of the truck for when I need a light and a hammer or a persuader, wheel chock, or something a bit more utilitarian
This summer I sent my well loved and nearly daily used old school 6P LED back to them for a warranty repair. Its been driven over, dropped down mountain sides, kicked, stepped on by a horse a couple of times, and who knows what other kind of abuse I have put this thing through in the last 7 years.. Well the LED had burnt it self, and light output was way down, I got my light back 13 days after I shipped it out, with a new higher output modern lamp/head assembly, new tail cap and cleaned and kinda repainted main body tube.
p.1 #7 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Surefire may make some good lights for rugged use, but CRI is not their priority. Many flashlights use Cree LEDs for their efficiency and brightness, not to mention cost. However, Nichia LEDs are best for CRI, though not as efficient.
p.1 #9 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Ha ha. $100 is cheap for a flashlight. A lot of light painters I know use the Protomachines LED2. It's an incredible tool if you like to add colors to your images. On sale through the end of November for $449. http://www.protomachines.com/
p.1 #10 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Thanks all, some very helpful info and recommendations.
I found a light painting blog and the author was recommending the coast hp7r and the coast hp7. I like the light and the price, but I notice the new third gen d cell maglites have more power modes, a lot more lumens, yet they are larger. I really don't mind the size and was wondering if there is something about the maglites that is subpar compared to the coast lights. I personally don't mind the way the maglites focus. Is the beam on flood not as even on the maglites?
p.1 #11 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Both Surefire and Streamlight make some very nice LED flashlights, and I now much prefer the smaller lights over any of the classic Maglights for personal carry of a flashlight.
But one thing that most classic flashlights have is a lot of spill light that comes out at a wide angle. The main beam may be nicely focused, but the side spill is still very much there. It is fine if you are walking a trail and need to see below, but that spill is not good for many light painting situations. If you are light painting somewhat distant objects, and there is ground or other objects that are near to you but off the main beam, the spill light hits the near objects, and they can show up in the shot as distracting or over exposed. That has ruined a lot of light painting that I have tried in the past.
There is a line of flashlights that have a special adjustable focusing lens system in the front, and they are made by a brand called Lenser. Not all their flashlights have the special lens system, but many do. The P7 is one model that does. The adjustable focus allows you to do a tight beam for painting very distant objects, and also can be adjusted to a some what wider beam, which works well for painting closer objects. But the really nice feature that is kind of an accident due to the way they focus is that there is very little spill light that can cause issues. The focusable Lenser flashlights are a bit more expensive, but for light painting, they are great. I have both a large one and a small one now, and really like them for that use. I do not know specifically about their color output, other than to say that it has not been an issue for me for shots I painted.
Another thing about the Lenser adjustable focus flashlights is that the beam is very uniform at what ever size it is set at, and the edges "cut off" much better than most flashlights. Between the beam size adjustment and the uniform light in the beam, it makes it easier to paint things in and do a good job. The uniformity is much better than any other flashlight I have ever seen.
p.1 #12 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Thanks for the comments.
There is a new line of maglites though, and i wonder if people's comments apply to the new line. They just came out in August so I wasn't sure.
Here is a video on two of the new third gen maglites. Not sure if you can tell if the spread of the beam is good or not from the footage? But they do have three power levels though, which I find very very appealing. The two cell comes in at 40 bucks too, which isn't bad at all. For my use, I don't mind a beefier lite either. Maybe I should just get one and stop harping on it
p.1 #13 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
Here is a link to the larger M14 LED Lenser light that I specifically got for light painting. I all ready use rechargeable AA cells for other things, and this model takes 4 of them. I invite others to check out the features listed, and as I said above, I really like the adjustable beam with the very low side spill for light painting.
p.1 #14 · Expensive handheld lights compared to maglites
I know this isn't that big of a purchase, but I am leaning toward this coast Hp7 light at this point. It's within my budget and seems to have a nice even spread like Roland is talking about. I'll have to pick up some aaa rechargeable a is all.
so my opinion may be tainted.
