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Introduction
This article discusses various headlamps, cycling lights, etc, many of which are applicable to photography. It is a work in progress, and will be expanded and updated periodically.
Last update: April 27, 2007
Lupine Lighting Systems Wilma LED headlamp
This outstanding light deserves an article of its own. See Lupine Lighting Systems Wilma.
Lupine Lighting Systems Wilma with optional headband
Basic headlamps
To be completed. Various brands using AA, AAA, CR123 batteries. These lights
are very compact, relatively dim, but a good choice for certain uses.
Surefire flashlights
Surefire flashlights are awesome (I own 6 different models), and their beam brightness and uniformity has to be seen to be believed. They can all be useful for photographic purposes, self-defense, emergency use, etc. For most uses, I prefer the bright and long-lasting LED models, not to be confused with “El Cheapo” LED lights—these units are top quality. Click the image above to see 5 models up close. The M6 Guardian uses an incandescent bulb which can be destroyed by a harsh shock (personal experience), but is far and away the brightest flashlight you’re likely to ever see. You can get them at amazon.com( One of my all-time favorites is the 95.6-gram L4 Lumamax, which is bright enough to hike or bike with. Its beam is wider than the tactical (narrow) models and its brightness obliterates my 3 “D” cell conventional flashlight. The beam pattern of conventional flashlights is also grossly inferior to the L4 Lumamax, or any of the Surefire lights. The usual reaction is “wow!”, though occasionally an appreciative expletive is heard. The instant on/off capability, together with the “lock-out” tail cap is terrific. Except for the M6 and C3, which require a twist to stay on, most models also have a click-on/off tail cap. All of the lights are sturdy enough to be pressed into service as self-defense weapons against an attacker (use the beam first!). The use of CR123 batteries mean you can leave these lights sitting in a drawer for a *long* time and know they’ll work when you need them. Consider your needs carefully—these lights aren’t cheap (but you get what you pay for). Some models are long burning with lower output, and others are extremely bright, but with relatively shorter burn-time. All are far brighter than ordinary flashlights. Even the diminutive E1L Outdoorsman (see table below) is superior to a two “D” cell flashlight. Light quality of the Surefire lights can range from yellowish (“warm”) with the incandescent M6 Guardian, to fairly blue (“cool”) with the E1L/E2L Outdoorsman models. Warmer light is generally preferable to cooler light, as the human eye is more sensitive to yellowish light than to blue light, and thus visual acuity is higher. As a rough comparison, the incandescent units emit light similar to a standard halogen car headlamp, and the LED units range from being very close to daylight (sunlight) to noticeably blue. So far, the absolute best color rendition I’ve observed comes from the U2 Ultra. I had a chance to swap K1L LED heads between an E1L and E2L (both ways to rule out batteries and the flashlight body), and found that there is also variation in color temperature even with the same model of lamp. Whether this applies to all such units is unknown to me as the E1L and E2L units use a TIR lens (“Total Internal Reflection”), which might vary more (or less) than the other LED units. Note that color as perceived by human vision is both a function of light intensity and actual color temperature. NOTE: the “buy” links are for reader convenience; diglloyd Inc receives no commission from batteryjunction.com. Don’t forget to use the discount code.
*tactical beam: center bright area with a broad
and even surrounding gradient. Surefire also offers the unusual Kroma, with white, blue and red LEDs for nighttime work, such as map reading, but I haven’t used one. Surefire offers rechargeable models as well, but I favor the regular models, because CR123 batteries hold a charge for years. My only complaint about the Surefire lights is that they do not offer a “flash” mode
or SOS mode. Many of the LED headlamps offer such a mode. |
Buy a Surefire flashlight
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PowerFlare emergency flasher
| PowerFlare |
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If you’re a cyclist [blog] [manufacturer’s brochure] , this is a terrific flasher to hang on the rear of your bike. If you’re a motorist, the fact that this unit runs on one CR123 lithium battery means that you can keep one (or several) in your vehicle for emergency situations for many years without worrying about the battery being fresh. The unit weighs 192 grams with battery. The unit is sold directly by PowerFlare, the manufacturer, which supplies a video of the PowerFlare being run over by a fire truck and still surviving, so it’s pretty tough! Read a review at imagometrics.
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Conclusions
There are some great options out there for lighting.
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