McGizmo for Photography

[kaichu dento]

For photography, I would guess that your best bet in the McGizmo realm would be a Mule with the Nichia 119 emitter. The Mule is a pure flood light, and the Nichia emitter is an LED with very good color rendition, which would probably be important in your line of work.

You beat me to it because that is the exact light I was going to suggest... at very least I'd suggest posting a WTB over there for a mule-type light with high CRI, or neutral emitter, and one of the best emitters you could end up with would be the Nichia 119.

+1 for McGizmo if within your budget you can also buy the Mule head only...

I think the Nichia high CRI LED's are well suited for your application and although they don't generate the flux of the other more high powered LED's being offered, the difference in output is typically 1 to 2 F-stops. I would guess a Mule or equivalent type light with no secondary optic would be best suited for illuminating a plate of food in a restaurant without disturbing other diners...

...my all time favorite light for photography is the Don's Nichia 119 mule. I've seen other lights with the Nichia, but somehow Don's stock has the best tint (or lack thereof) of any I've seen.

I love the Mule with Nichia 119 high CRI LED for photography (for fill light applications) ...

...you can see how nice the Nichia 119 is as far as neutrality goes.

Then I think the Mule high CRI would be perfect for you...

I got a proper Nichia Mule from Don, and although I've only had it for a week or so its beautiful, perfectly even light have the photo wheels in my head spinning. My Mule will definitely be in my pocket for most of my future assignments. I couldn't think of a better light for lighting a plate in a restaurant.

The Mule Hi-CRI is the best light for photography work.
If you make money with your photography, getting a Mule is a no-brainer; you will use it on a regular basis...

It's no Mule, which is about as perfectly uniform as any light source can be...
If they intend to use it for photography, the Hi-CRI is a must...

...I think the Mule is an excellent choice...

Thanks again everyone for your recommendations. The mule definitely got the most votes and is what I've decided to get. I sent an email to Don requesting one this morning and I just sent another email a bit ago to request the tripod clip.

Not at all a surprising conclusion to this enjoyable thread. I hope you post some pics, both of the light and ones where you've used it to light the shot.

[pjandyho]

Not so much of a hotspot as a smooth gradient, in my opinion. Holding a diffused Haiku more than a few inches away from a white wall, the beam never gets too bright for my retinas to see that the brightness continues increasing all the way to the center of the beam.

That's the way to put it! Pardon my inability to put it constructively.

[precisionworks]

Direct lighting from a Sundrop:





Why the unusual color? Wish I knew as the image is shown as it was taken, without Photoshop editing.

[Chrisdm]

Nice photos Barry! Fyi got the button yesterday, thank you.

[gapey]

Got my light last night. Very impressive. I was pleasantly surprised at how wide the beam is if you could even call it a beam. Could practically use it to light up a whole room in the dark. I will take some more pics of it but here's a quick one I took last night to show the size. My bf thought the light would be a lot longer but I knew they were pretty small. He seemed impressed. I also went to an annual SOG sale at their retail outlet in Lynnwood, WA and picked up a pocket knife posing here with the McGizmo.

[nbp]

Glad you like your Mule so far gapey. Let us know your impressions as you use it please.

Also post more pics, those are great! Even though I EDC a Mule, I never get tired of looking at them. They have a certain simple, industrial look to them, but for some reason I think they are one of the more beautiful lights ever made. Something about that bare emitter on a board behind a piece of glass, surrounding by machined titanium is so cool to me. Like looking into a portal into the flashlight, or something. I love the styling every time I see it. One of Don's masterpieces.

[pjandyho]

Hi Paula,

Welcome to the club! Surely this Mule would serve you well, and surely you will enjoy using it every time. Never ever regretted getting mine. I say that Don is one master craftman when it comes to his designs.

[kaichu dento]

Got my light last night. Very impressive. I was pleasantly surprised at how wide the beam is if you could even call it a beam. Could practically use it to light up a whole room in the dark. I will take some more pics of it but here's a quick one I took last night to show the size.

Nice shot of an instant classic and I can't wait to get mine too.
Now I'm wondering how long before you buy an hCRI Haiku to complement it for spotlighting...

[gapey]

Nice shot of an instant classic and I can't wait to get mine too.
Now I'm wondering how long before you buy an hCRI Haiku to complement it for spotlighting...

Haha don't tempt me. You can put a Haiku head on this right? Maybe sometime in the future I will get another head for it but I think I'm good for the time being.

I've already had a couple people email me and reply to my photo on Flickr asking me where I got it. So don't be too surprised if you get more photogs buying these.

I was also told my photo was the first thing that comes up when doing a google search on one of these.

[fyrstormer]

Haha don't tempt me. You can put a Haiku head on this right? Maybe sometime in the future I will get another head for it but I think I'm good for the time being.

I've already had a couple people email me and reply to my photo on Flickr asking me where I got it. So don't be too surprised if you get more photogs buying these.

I was also told my photo was the first thing that comes up when doing a google search on one of these.

Fifth link for me, not first, but hey, top ten ain't bad on Google.

Yes, the Haiku head will fit. The most direct replacement is a Haiku XP-G head, because the emitter is the same size, so the light engine can unscrew from the Mule and work in the Haiku XP-G head as well. That's the absolute minimum-cost approach, though it requires some care not to damage the emitter when transferring the light engine from one head to another. If you have the money, it would be most convenient to just buy a fully-assembled Haiku so you can use both at once, or keep each one in a different place -- the Mule in your camera bag, the Haiku on your pocket, or whatever works for you.

[pjandyho]

If you have the money, it would be most convenient to just buy a fully-assembled Haiku so you can use both at once, or keep each one in a different place -- the Mule in your camera bag, the Haiku on your pocket, or whatever works for you.

That's right. I initially thought of just buying a Haiku (complete light) and a Mule head to swap around but decided against it. I gather that I would find more joy just having complete units that are ready to use so I can have both with me for different applications. So I ended up with a Haiku XM-L for general use, Haiku high CRI for my outdoors use, and the Mule high CRI for my close-up photography as well as room lighter when at home. Cost me a bomb but I never regretted my decision. They are real pleasurable to have and to use.

[gapey]

I put my McGizmo on a Gorillapod to show off the tripod clip. It worked pretty well. I also took a pic to show how wide the light is as I don't think I've seen any photos of that and was surprised by how wide it is. The photo below was only 3" from the wall and produce about an 11" in diameter octogonal beam.

[EV_007]

Hey gapey, you are using the top fo the line in lights here for both quality and High CRI factor. As Don mentioned, shooting in RAW mode and adjust white balance from any other high quality LED would do the trick.

Strobes would be my first choice, but for a lower profile light source, flashlights work great.

I like the LitePanels band of "photography" LED lights. They offer a floody beam with filters that can run on standard AA batteries, but can cost a pretty penny.

Great pics on your flickr BTW fellow CPFr. :-)

[fyrstormer]

Cool pics. Just need to modify it to shoot a laser and Photoshop it into a scene of New York City...

[PoliceScannerMan]

Testing camera on new iPhone 4s.

[gapey]

Got some new black velvet material to use as a background for studio shots. Had to take a a test pic of the new Mule.

[PoliceScannerMan]

Wow! nice pic!

[nbp]

Sexxay! Very cool shot! How are you liking the Mule? Have you been able to use it on the job yet?

[Bass]

Nice shots gapey. Strobe lighting shows Ti at it's best IMO, you can really show the highlights which makes Ti. Double reflections of glass are not a favourite of mine personally; I have had reasonable success with standard high gloss acrylic. It is refered to as 'high impact' here but maybe known by another name in the USA. Nice stuff but does scratch easily so has a usage limit. By controlling the light fall off you can achieve a graduated gradient:





Happy New Year to all CPF'ers !

[climberkid]

for years thats all i have done. just drool over mcgizmo. i love high-cri even for general light use. i do nothing special with my lights, i just do everything with them. when i return from tech school i hope for a haiku to be my big purchase.
/end hijack

more pictures please! and id like to see some of those food pictures you guys and gals are taking!

[gapey]

Took the Mule out to a nice restaurant with some fellow foodies. They were impressed with the light and used it to take pics with their iphones. Here's some of my pics from the evening. I however didn't use my iphone, these were taken with an Olympus E-PM1.

[JAYKAY75]

great pictures there gapey, and the food looks really good too, especialle those moules

[nbp]

Excellent work! Have you been happy with your choice thus far with the Mule? Have you found it to be useful other than just for your photographs? In my opinion, the Mule is an outstanding EDC light as well.

[McGizmo]

Cool Gapey! Slightly off topic but what lens did you use for the pics? I have been migrating away from Nikon back to Olympus ( Old OM1 shooter and years of Olympus Digital until just a couple years ago). My primary focus is on underwater but as time goes I know I will end up getting glass for topsides and Olympus bodies.

[DTF]

A lot of my photo work is of music groups in clubs where the lighting is about impossible to work with and flash really isn't a good option. I use a Nikon D700 with a Nikon 24mm f1.4, this combination is one of the best for low light photography. Typically, because of the light, everything is rendered in shades of red which, more often than not, makes for a boring picture.
Here's a photo using the Ti mule.

Don't - Live at the Kenton Club 2-17-2012-0051.jpg by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

I think the color is amazingly good.

[fyrstormer]

Well, I'd say that confirms the Mule's status as a perfect Hi-CRI photo light. Notice how the light accurately illuminates her red lipstick and her blue eyes at the same time.

[kaichu dento]

Well, I'd say that confirms the Mule's status as a perfect Hi-CRI photo light. Notice how the light accurately illuminates her red lipstick and her blue eyes at the same time.

Thanks to the Nichia 119! Not only are the colors accurate due to the emitter used, but the lighting is just as strong at the periphery as it is in the center.

[DTF]

Cool Gapey! Slightly off topic but what lens did you use for the pics? I have been migrating away from Nikon back to Olympus ( Old OM1 shooter and years of Olympus Digital until just a couple years ago). My primary focus is on underwater but as time goes I know I will end up getting glass for topsides and Olympus bodies.

Hmm... I would have thought you might be a Leica man Mr McGizmo. An M9 with a Mule would be a partnership made in heaven. Personally, I lean heavily towards a camera with a full frame sensor (Leica M9, Nikon 800, Cannon 5D) For a smaller sensor size, you might want to take a look at the new Fuji X-1 pro or X100. They are today's premier small cameras.

[McGizmo]

DTF,
Thanks for the tips and I will try to keep my eyes out. I did have a Leica for a while back in film days; got it in trade for some boat hardware and supplies. Last film camera I bought was a Contax T2 (titanium, sapphire, ceramic, Zeiss.... no expense spared). I ended up giving it to PK as a gift and sample of engineering geared towards optimal function and not price point.

First and most important consideration for me with a camera is what underwater housings are available for it and how small and convenient are they. I am by no means well read or expert on what is available out there but my perception as based on the past at least was the best glass came from Europe from folks like Leica, Leitz Zeiss and I have microscope and a number of binocs and a spotting scope from these guys. But regarding camera bodies and especially the electronics seemed to be best if from companies in Japan. I had a boat owner customer/ friend when I was in the marine industry who was an Olympus rep and I advanced along the digital learning curve through the years via demo models I purchased from him. Fortunately there were UW housing manufacturers who made housings for these cameras. When it finally came time to go for a DSLR, the best and most compact housing available at the time was from Subal and designed for a Nikon D70 so I moved over to Nikon and as time passed picked up various lenses as well as advanced through a few newer bodies and darned expensive housings. I have a D300 and have kept a few good lenses for it which I can use for shore side images but the smaller scale of the micro 4/3 Olympus and UW housings built for them are much easier to comport in the water and certainly easier on the pocket book! It would be one thing if I thought I could buy a rig that I would keep and be satisfied with for 10 years or the rest of my life (which ever comes first) but it seems that today's point and shoot cameras give better images than yesterday's top end camera. I am exaggerating but you get the point.

When I heard about the Nikon 800 I found myself considering it but then hit the brakes big time! I do or did have the right glass for it at the time but in addition to the expensive body I would have to wait and hope that one of the companies would make a housing for it and such a housing would cost probably from $2500 to $6000. And ignoring the cost (as if I could) I would also be back to a large and heavy camera rig that would impede my ability to get in place for a shot.

Below is a shot my brother took of me taking a shot of a hawksbill turtle:



I am using my current rig that is a Nauticam housing for Olympus PL3 coupled with a Panasonic 7-14 mm lens behind a 6" port. The port represents a good portion of the entire volume of the rig.

Below is a shot I took of my friend Kristen using her Subal rig with 8" port and Cannon DSLR (subject being the seahorse in the foreground which I could get much closer to because of my smaller rig):



The Fuji cameras you mention sound great and I did a little bit of searching on them but couldn't find much reference to UW housings for them. It's a bit moot anyway because I have already signed on to an Olympus micro 4/3 and related gear platform as well as hanging on to some Nikon glass and camera.

I would love to see a manufacturer approach UW photography with current technology as Nikon did back then in film with the Nikonos. There are some excellent UW point and shoot cameras out there now but there is a significant gap between them and what you can get with a mirrorless and interchangeable lens platform.

[DTF]

Some UW prototypes up for the Nikon D800. http://nikonrumors.com/2012/04/11/un...e-making.aspx/ Taking a look at the available UW housing, I see that indeed a housing for a large camera like the D700/800 is several thousands more than one for a point and shoot.

Of course, the main technical advantage of the D800 is the resolution. Instead of having to get close up to the subject, just crop the picture to get close. Another advantage is the FX (full frame sensor) which takes complete advantage of wide angle lenses. No point and shoot is really going to do the same job as a full-frame sensor combined with a fast 14-24mm lens. Also, when high ISO is required, the Nikon full-frame sensor cameras (D700/800) are overwhelming a better choice. However, if most of the shots are well lit, daytime, then a point and shoot should be fine. You are right about the amazing results possible with today's point and shoot camera. I've taken pictures with a Nikon point and shoot and had it blown up to 30" x 20" with perfectly acceptable results.


It's always a balance. My D700 is one of the very best for my club work but I'm always hamstrung with a huge camera and a big hulking lens around my neck. If I could do the same job with a point and shoot, I would go for that in an instant. Still, bottom line, the truth is that the camera makes little difference. It's the photographer that matters.