Need small variable-brightness book-reading light.

There are some larger lights such as the itp SA2 and C10 that have infinite brightness adjustment, but I was wondering if such a thing exists for a smaller 1xAAA light?

My mother in law reads a lot when in bed and I was looking for a good light for her. Ive seen the cheapo 5mm LED ones but was afraid they will put out too much or not enough light. A variable adjustment one seems like it would be ideal for her needs.

From what I understand a clip or stand won't be of much use, and the light doesn't have to be very bright. I might even try one of the squeezies.. the ones that you squeeze once to turn on and again to turn off...not the continuous squeeze ones. However, she reads a LOT so they would run out of juice really quickly.
Hence she needs one with an easily replaceable battery, probably an 1xAAA ideal, but AA or even CR123 is acceptable.

Any ideas?

Any light with 3 modes can give you all the variable brightness you need. The best light for reading is one that has a flood beam and can be used hand-free, something like a Zebralight H501. I have a Quark Mini AA HCRI, Maratc AAA, and Fenix E05 which I can use for reading. The first two works adequately for reading only after I put some DC-Fix on the lens for smooth out the beam. The Fenix E05 is way too bright for reading.

My frist suggestion is get her a Zebralight H501.

My second suggestion, if you still insist on getting a regular handheld flashlight for reading, is get her any of the many available 3-mode AAA lights and put some diffuser film on the lens to smooth out the beam.

To answer my own question somewhat, Ive come up with a few options:

itp SA1. 1xAA with infinite adjust. However its one of those wierd ones where you basically have it memorize 1 light level and use it as a "mode".

Sunwayman has some true knob-adjustable ones, but man...they are expensive!!!

I'm also a bit concerned with the hotspot as the SA1 has smoooth reflector and XP-G. I like the idea of diffusing the lens.

She has already mentioned that she doesnt want any headband light for whatever reason.

I also found a few dimmable LED bookreader lights on amazon with knobs to adjust it. Plus they will already be diffused.

You can go cheap if she can stand switching past the strobe and too-bright-and-hot settings -- if so, buy a Trustfire Z1, and unscrew the reflector. The bare LED is recessed a bit and makes a very even very wide angle floodl

joe1512 said:

There are some larger lights such as the itp SA2 and C10 that have infinite brightness adjustment, but I was wondering if such a thing exists for a smaller 1xAAA light?

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The only one that I know of in the 1xAAA form factor is the Peak LED Eiger with QTC, but the brightness control is kind of fussy, and as davidt1 pointed out "infinite" brightness adjustment is probably unnecessary.

joe1512 said:

From what I understand a clip or stand won't be of much use, and the light doesn't have to be very bright. I might even try one of the squeezies.. the ones that you squeeze once to turn on and again to turn off...not the continuous squeeze ones. However, she reads a LOT so they would run out of juice really quickly.

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Even little coin-cell flashlights can run for a good long time if you use a minimal amount of light, and if they're going to be held, then they're nice and lightweight, too. The LRI Photon Freedom Micro-Light, for example, can still produce enough light to read by (at least for me) after 20+ hours, even if you leave it on maximum the whole time, which quickly uses up the batteries' capacity. It would run for even longer if you used only the minimum amount of light that you need from the start, of course, and this tiny flashlight has variable brightness control (also comes in a "covert" version that blocks the side-glare from the LED, and the batteries are easy to change by hand). This may seem like a strange suggestion, but for the price it might be worth trying out, unless you know that your mother-in-law prefers relatively bright light for reading.

You could also experiment with fake Photons or "fauxtons" that cost around $0.40 each to see how long they run satisfactorily vis-à-vis their cost.

joe1512 said:

I'm also a bit concerned with the hotspot as the SA1 has smoooth reflector and XP-G. I like the idea of diffusing the lens.

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Scotch "magic" tape seems to work OK for that, although something like DC Fix, as davidt1 mentioned, works better.

joe1512 said:

She has already mentioned that she doesnt want any headband light for whatever reason.

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She could still handhold a headlamp like the H501, though (and this option would provide the best quality of light). I do this with my ZebraLight headlamp routinely--no problem.

joe1512 said:

I also found a few dimmable LED bookreader lights on amazon with knobs to adjust it. Plus they will already be diffused.

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The Mighty Bright Xtraflex2 looks pretty decent (affordable, too), and has great reviews, although it may be a bit large to clip to a book. :thinking:

thanks. That looks pretty good and the mighty bright can use 1 or 2 of its LEDs.

The zebra can be worn on a necklace arrangement and be a good reading light.

Vortus said:

The zebra can be worn on a necklace arrangement and be a good reading light.

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Thanks for bringing up this point. How could I have forgotten about this important feature of the ZL headlamp?