Some Polarion HID Searchlight Images

[Ken J. Good]

Playing with a new camera tonight trying to get a feel for what will accurately represent what the Polarion PF/PH40 HID Lights are capable of.
I used a Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000 laser range finder to determine distances.

Got a few shots.
f/5.6 3.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...ower384yds.jpg

Zoom Shot of Same Tower
f/5.6 3.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 160mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...-TowerZoom.jpg

f/5.6 3.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 108mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...-Cityscape.jpg

f/9 8.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm
Not setup well....1/2 moon out tonight....Just playing
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polarion-PF40-Moon.jpg

f/7 2.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm (for the Night Shots)
I should have exposed the Night shots of this bridge a bit more because you could see more with your eyes, but you will get the idea.
Also, I was offset of the light a bit on the bridge shots, so you don't get true picture of what you actually see.

http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polarion-Bridge-Day.jpg

http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...idge-Night.jpg

http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...idge-Light.jpg


f/7.1 2.0s ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm
On this shot, I put the camera just over and behind the light. Literally a wall of light coming out.
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...rossValley.jpg

[Patriot]

Thanks Ken! I love beamshots and yes I love Polarion lights. One of these days I'll be able to afford one.

[scott.cr]

I love how you can see the electrical tower's shadow on the mountains in the distance.

[Litbobber]

Very nice beam shots ken,someday I will get one.

[Kiessling]

HID beamshots are certainly ... different
Thanx for showing !
bernie

[Ken J. Good]

Yes they are.

Maybe I should do a 3-watt LED verses a 40-watt HID side-by-side....

After the comparison, it just may convince folks an HID light is the EDC choice!

I mounted a pistol to my SureFire prototype Beast a few years ago...Note I did not say I mounted my light to my pistol....



The ONLY issue I had with the revolver was quick reloads.
Also you can see my 1911 / E2 Executive setup. This would allow me to hold onto the pistol like T-Handle and also light around corners without having to actually look in that direction...For some reason, I just could get anybody to go with me on these innovative concepts....

[Ken J. Good]

Just got back from the desert, which in this case meant very little moisture in the air, which is a significant factor in what an HID light can or cannot do for you at the longer ranges.

As many of you know, I am more interested in how these types of lights can be applied in a tactical situation, so I am always thinking in those terms.

In these conditions, here is what was noted when an individual went downrange with a radio in his hand. Keep in mind my friend has never seen one of these types of lights in action and was a former Police Officer.

When I first lit him up directly from 230 yards, he was simply amazed not at what he could see, but what he could not see. He made several comments centering around the idea that anybody could be doing anything in relationship to him and there is nothing he could do about as he had no good visual information anymore....Perfect....That's what I want to hear.

When he was back at the 430 yard range, he commented that he could see everything in his immediate vicinity using only the light that was coming from the PF40 into his location. I asked him what he could see back in our direction. He stated that more of his peripheral was opened up, but there was still a large area that he was denied visual information. He also stated that is was down right uncomfortable to look at the light at this range.

I could without the aid of any magnification or optics, clearly see a man with a Black shirt in the ravine at 430+ yards. When he moved to 673 yards against the black skyline I could not see him without some magnification unless he was moving and down on the hill a bit. This required some careful observation.
On humorous note, as he walked from the 430 yard position to the 674 yard position, he was sniveling on the radio, because he had to go down a steep grade, over another set of hills unseen in the image and then up the furthest hill visible in the image. After looking at the Google Earth Map…I see why. We had not scouting this area out by day…This was an impromptu event to some degree.

When the subject was at the 674 yards range, without his knowledge, another individual within 50 yards of him on the ground, in the ravine and he was unaware of his presence as the light was preventing him from seeing the encroaching individual.

The 200 mm images are all taken with the same settings on the camera. The light was moved incrementally after 230 yards image as I was trying to get the best light on the subject, I wish I had not done that to maintain absolute consistency in the lighting conditions with the reference image.

What I captured on camera is a very close facsimile of what I was actually seeing with my eyes in this area. I used a Laser Rangefinder to determine distance.

f/4.5 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...-Reference.jpg

f/4.5 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 55mm (Sorry - I forgot to use the timer to trigger the shot - You see the camera shake)
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...0yards-ref.jpg

f/5.6 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 200mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...o-230yards.jpg

f/5.6 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 200mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...o-275yards.jpg

f/5.6 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 200mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...o-430yards.jpg

f/5.6 for 1.6 secs ISO 400 Focal Length 200mm
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Polar...o-674yards.jpg

What I cannot really capture here is how much area I can cover with these lights when I leave ground level and get up on a peak....People from camps all around were making comments which I could easily hear from a up to a 1/2 mile away when I was up on the ridge-lines. Several people actually drove over to our area to check out what kinda light we were wielding. These lights continue to amaze me. I just wish I could do a better job of capturing the imagery. Hopefully through practice and a better eye, I will start to approach that.

[Ra]

Very nice shots Ken..

We want more !!


Ra.

[Ra]

Ken,

I love playing with Google Earth:



Could this be the place?? Of cource I don't know in what direction you took your pictures, but this was the only setup I could come up with: The only high dune exactly 675 yards from the position you mentioned at your pics..

Zoomed in:




Quite a desolate place you have there !!!


Let me know if I'm on the right track..



Best regards,

Ra.

[ViReN]

Nice flood light

[Ken J. Good]

Ra,

You are right there..."Virtually" of course. But you are facing too far South. Images were taken basically facing East from the Camera.
From this point forward I am going to try and include the GPS coordinates of the camera as well as the targets the lights are shining. Will also include the compass heading from the camera's point of view.
Download the Map to your desktop for Google Earth HERE (Right Click and "Save As")

430 Yards


673 Yards


Here is another angle facing north from the camera of a 400 Yard perspective from the Goggle Earth point of view:
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Anzo-400Yard-View1.jpg

Here is the ground view from the camera:
http://polarion-usa.com/images/Anzo-400Yard-View2.jpg

Climbing up this draw and looking back South and East gave a dramatic demonstration of how much ground you can cover with these lights. I was using an X1 for that purpose.

Then I got on the radio and asked somebody back at the reference point to shine the PF40 into our position which was 400 yards on the button. That's when I personally read the fine print on the X1, verifying what my friend had told me earlier from his 430 yard position.

Unfortunately I did not get any images of folks in and up this draw.

I was tired after riding and taking the other images and was really there for a break from the day-to-day grind, so I elected to stop....Which is something I rarely do. I wanted to be relatively fresh for another day of riding starting early the next morning.

[DM51]

Amazing! Ra tracked you down by satellite, lol. Superb shots!

[Ken J. Good]

I "heard" Google's Satellite uses a Polarion HID Searchlight to get the correct lighting for their imagery.......

[Ra]

It all makes sense now.. Thanks Ken.


So I was off by some 32 degrees with the direction you took your pictures.. Not bad I think.

Seems like a perfect location to play with powerfull lights without disturbing people..


Best regards,

Ra.

[Bushman5]

what happened with the individual on the ground, 50 yard from your friend?

qoute: When the subject was at the 674 yards range, without his knowledge, another individual within 50 yards of him on the ground, in the ravine and he was unaware of his presence as the light was preventing him from seeing the encroaching individual.

[Ken J. Good]

The guy who was approx 50 yards away was another individual in our party.

What actually happened is that the individual who had the light pointed in his direction asked me to turn the light off because he thought he heard something.....He was whispering on the radio.

He drew his weapon.....Whoops....

We all figured out fairly quickly that it was somebody from our camp. After talking to our stalker, he said he was there for a few minutes as we setting up the photograph, then he tried to move closer and ended up giving up his position.

Not a good idea to try and sneak up to an armed guy at night who maintains excellent situational awareness.