KevinL
Flashlight Enthusiast
This light is too good to go unnoticed. It is technically a flashlight, though not in the usual formfactor that you expect. It is portable, because it is meant to be mounted aboard a professional video camera with a hotshoe, although in reality I have actually adapted other lights for that purpose via a microphone shockmount (you know, mikes are tubed shaped - so happens most of our favorite lights are too - what a coincidence!) But I've never even shot a single minute of video with my light, because it is so useful for many other things.
The Summary (first!)
------------------------
In a nutshell - 600+ lumens for as little as $40-45, variable power, runs on AA batteries, beautiful perfect even flood - what more do you want? This light is 100% flood, and meant to be.
Note that you must purchase the 'feet' separately. The light doesn't come with them and doesn't stand without them (it was meant for camera mounting).
The Light
-------------
This is a generic 126-LED light using an old technique that many CPFers are familiar with: instead of one or two ultra high tech, ultra high powered LEDs, it packs 126 of the little 5mm ones. Brute force works, because it claims ~600 lumens, and in ceiling bounce tests vs my Fenix TK40 with MC-E emitter, it's pretty close. It's darn bright, too. That's the difference - we are talking serious, SERIOUS lumens here.
The light is also fairly versatile when it comes to power sources. It requires the magic number of 7.4V - magic because to us, this is the number of two lithium ions, or six AAs. Indeed the light accepts both battery formats. Since it is designed for videographers, they supply mounting plates for various Sony and Panasonic batteries. If you would like a nice prepackaged sealed lithium ion battery pack, you can probably pick up some of these 3rd-party camcorder batteries from your favorite source to power the light, even if you don't have a compatible camcorder. Alternatively, six AAs, whether alkaline or NiMH, will do the talking. I am sure innovative CPF'ers will come up with various other power options for this light, perhaps even a fixed power source.
Now you don't always need 600 lumens, so the light comes with a nice dial that seems to be infinitely variable. It has no discrete steps, except for a click in the OFF position. Otherwise, you simply turn the dial until you get as much, or as little output that you need. There are some variations on the theme, with some lights having more LEDs, others having less. I chose the 126 as a good mix of price and performance, and because it's variable power I needn't worry about having too much.
The light is housed in a generic plastic housing, for light weight (again, imagine it being camcorder mounted). I wouldn't subject it to a beating - it probably wouldn't come back in one piece. Still, the plastic construction is.. adequate for its intended purposes.
Three plastic diffusers, clear, pink and orange are supplied. The latter two are intended for adjusting color temperature so that it matches other light sources, but of more use to us flashaholics is the clear diffuser. It creates a perfect, even, flat flood of light. While you can use the light without the diffuser and still get away with only slightly visible beam artifacts, cameras tend to be more sensitive and will pick up the artifacts better, hence the clear diffuser. Do note that the diffuser does rob some light intensity. It also serves to protect the LEDs when installed. Diffusers are pretty straightforward, you just slide them into the holder in front of the light.
The Uses
----------
This is where things get interesting. The light can be angled into various positions via two screws on its foot, and the foot fits into a standard ISO hotshoe mount with a screw to tighten it down. I purchased mine together with the additional 'flash feet' because I wanted to use it as a task light and not so much a video light. Now I have the convenience of being able to point 600 lumens of light anywhere I want, in a battery powered source, that stands on its own feet.
If you happen to have a lightstand, and I do (mainly for photography), the light can be mounted on the stand - thus making it a portable worklight. You could point it up at the ceiling as an area light, or you can direct it exactly where you want it. Remember those 500-watt incandescent worklights that you could place anywhere within reach of their AC cord? Forget the burns, forget the heat, forget the cord..
The lightstand is shown retracted so that the photo won't span two heights of your screen. The two little clips in the center allow me to rack it up to a 2 meter height.
Emergency preparedness is one use for this light. Buy a few since they are cheap (roughly $45 - I know some of us spend FAR more than that on lights), throw them around inside the house. As their construction implies they are NOT waterproof so good luck using them outside (that's what all your regular waterproof IPX8/IP67 flashlights are for!). Buy a ton of cheap AA batteries, and away you go.
The lights even have a test button on the rear with four red LEDs. On fresh batteries all will light to indicate full capacity, as the batteries run down, fewer LEDs illuminate. Great as a 'fuel gauge' to see how much runtime you have left.
Ceiling bounce test, as requested..... (I managed to convince 3 lights and a box to pose). All shots ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/15 sec
TK40:
126-LED with diffuser:
126-LED without diffuser:
I think the test is reasonable, but doesn't quite capture the whole story. The TK40 emits a much more concentrated beam, thus more of it reflects off the ceiling, whereas the 126-LED scatters light everywhere and some of it doesn't make it to the ceiling - you can see the scene is partially lit by direct light.
The Summary (first!)
------------------------
In a nutshell - 600+ lumens for as little as $40-45, variable power, runs on AA batteries, beautiful perfect even flood - what more do you want? This light is 100% flood, and meant to be.
Note that you must purchase the 'feet' separately. The light doesn't come with them and doesn't stand without them (it was meant for camera mounting).
The Light
-------------
This is a generic 126-LED light using an old technique that many CPFers are familiar with: instead of one or two ultra high tech, ultra high powered LEDs, it packs 126 of the little 5mm ones. Brute force works, because it claims ~600 lumens, and in ceiling bounce tests vs my Fenix TK40 with MC-E emitter, it's pretty close. It's darn bright, too. That's the difference - we are talking serious, SERIOUS lumens here.
The light is also fairly versatile when it comes to power sources. It requires the magic number of 7.4V - magic because to us, this is the number of two lithium ions, or six AAs. Indeed the light accepts both battery formats. Since it is designed for videographers, they supply mounting plates for various Sony and Panasonic batteries. If you would like a nice prepackaged sealed lithium ion battery pack, you can probably pick up some of these 3rd-party camcorder batteries from your favorite source to power the light, even if you don't have a compatible camcorder. Alternatively, six AAs, whether alkaline or NiMH, will do the talking. I am sure innovative CPF'ers will come up with various other power options for this light, perhaps even a fixed power source.
Now you don't always need 600 lumens, so the light comes with a nice dial that seems to be infinitely variable. It has no discrete steps, except for a click in the OFF position. Otherwise, you simply turn the dial until you get as much, or as little output that you need. There are some variations on the theme, with some lights having more LEDs, others having less. I chose the 126 as a good mix of price and performance, and because it's variable power I needn't worry about having too much.
The light is housed in a generic plastic housing, for light weight (again, imagine it being camcorder mounted). I wouldn't subject it to a beating - it probably wouldn't come back in one piece. Still, the plastic construction is.. adequate for its intended purposes.
Three plastic diffusers, clear, pink and orange are supplied. The latter two are intended for adjusting color temperature so that it matches other light sources, but of more use to us flashaholics is the clear diffuser. It creates a perfect, even, flat flood of light. While you can use the light without the diffuser and still get away with only slightly visible beam artifacts, cameras tend to be more sensitive and will pick up the artifacts better, hence the clear diffuser. Do note that the diffuser does rob some light intensity. It also serves to protect the LEDs when installed. Diffusers are pretty straightforward, you just slide them into the holder in front of the light.
The Uses
----------
This is where things get interesting. The light can be angled into various positions via two screws on its foot, and the foot fits into a standard ISO hotshoe mount with a screw to tighten it down. I purchased mine together with the additional 'flash feet' because I wanted to use it as a task light and not so much a video light. Now I have the convenience of being able to point 600 lumens of light anywhere I want, in a battery powered source, that stands on its own feet.
If you happen to have a lightstand, and I do (mainly for photography), the light can be mounted on the stand - thus making it a portable worklight. You could point it up at the ceiling as an area light, or you can direct it exactly where you want it. Remember those 500-watt incandescent worklights that you could place anywhere within reach of their AC cord? Forget the burns, forget the heat, forget the cord..
The lightstand is shown retracted so that the photo won't span two heights of your screen. The two little clips in the center allow me to rack it up to a 2 meter height.
Emergency preparedness is one use for this light. Buy a few since they are cheap (roughly $45 - I know some of us spend FAR more than that on lights), throw them around inside the house. As their construction implies they are NOT waterproof so good luck using them outside (that's what all your regular waterproof IPX8/IP67 flashlights are for!). Buy a ton of cheap AA batteries, and away you go.
The lights even have a test button on the rear with four red LEDs. On fresh batteries all will light to indicate full capacity, as the batteries run down, fewer LEDs illuminate. Great as a 'fuel gauge' to see how much runtime you have left.
Ceiling bounce test, as requested..... (I managed to convince 3 lights and a box to pose). All shots ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/15 sec
TK40:
126-LED with diffuser:
126-LED without diffuser:
I think the test is reasonable, but doesn't quite capture the whole story. The TK40 emits a much more concentrated beam, thus more of it reflects off the ceiling, whereas the 126-LED scatters light everywhere and some of it doesn't make it to the ceiling - you can see the scene is partially lit by direct light.
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