mtbkndad
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,295
This is not a review. For a review I would need to test a Helios for several weeks. This is a collection of photos and my personal descriptions of the photos BVH and I took. I will also mention some final observations at the end.
When finding a site for the Helios shoot I had two different primary goals. I wanted to do some shots that would show the hotspot and corona without influence of the spill. I also wanted to so some other shots that would show the relative spill and its relation to the corona without much consideration of the hotspots. The first shots show the relative throw of each of the lights and the second shots show the near to medium field illumination abilities of the lights. First I will show day shots for perspective.
Here is a wide angle shot of the location. The Y split in the upper road on the right is what I will be shooting
Once again, in the night shots the hotspots will be focused right at the tip of the Y split in the road.
This is 130 yards away. The light color of the rock will provide a reflective surface to make judging the relative brightness of the hotspots and therefore different throwing abilities of the lights easier. More important, the steep slopes make the spill too dark to show up in my photos. The beams you see in this location are hotspot and corona only at this distance. Pay close attention to the size of the coronas since this makes a big difference in the overall illumination capacities of the different lights.
This shot is with me standing at the spot the light will be focused at looking back across the top of the canyon to where the camera will be so you can get a feel for all of the terrain in the area
Look closely at the section of dirt to the right of the well and you will see a little bench.
The camera will be right in front of that bench at the top of the slope.
I will show these lights in what is clearly their order in terms of throw.
Remember that with each of these lights there is spill that the camera is not picking up in these shots. The canyon is too steep and deep for the spill to produce enough light for the camera to pick up. The Camera is set to f3.5, 6" , and auto white balance. I prefer auto white balance because my camera gives good color rendition of the different types of beams. I know some people prefer using Daylight setting, I do not personally like that because the photos often have a yellow bias to them and that favors lights with lower color temperatures. What you will see in these photos is very close to what BVH and I saw when we took the shots. At least this is the case with my 17" Powerbook.
Costco HID
These have great throw, but if you are searching for someone in this canyon be prepared to move a heavy light a lot.
Amondotech Illuminator
This has a wider hotspot then the Costco HID. The corona is not a lot larger but is has a much better shape and provides more even light.
The Helios beam does not look so over exposed against the rock because it does not have the throw of the others. But look at how wide and bright the corona is. 83 yards of the road is lit from right to left. 115 yards of the hill is lit from bottom to top. The top of the hill that is being light by the corona is 183 yards away.
Here are crops of these shots.
Costco HID crop
Amondotech Illuminator crop
Helios Crop
I do not think it is hard to figure out which light is the best for searching for people or illuminating objects within 300 yards.
There was a series of night shots that I did not take.
The old fire lookout tower in the upper left corner is 896 yards away. All three lights could dimly light this object (Costco best, then Illuminator, then Helios). However, most people needing to be rescued or bad guys being seached for do not hover 15 feet above ground wearing light reflective clothes.
There is a dot in the middle of this picture that is 310 yards away.
My goal was to take pictures of the lights shining on this old truck water tank.
The yellow beam of the Helios could not illuminate this rusty old truck water tank well enough to clearly recognize it without binoculars. It looked like bright bushes. The Costo HID could illuminate it and the Amondotech Illuminator could light it also, just not quite as well as the Costco HID. The greener beam of the Illuminator did make it identifiable.
In all fairness this water tank is not real easy to see in daylight.
Another important point to remember is that this tank is beyond the limit of what most people can accurately identify in daylight if a person is wearing clothes similar to their surroundings. For that matter the tank seems to blend into its surroundings in broad daylight. One final point here is that the Helios did a nice job of lighting most of the canyon in front of the tank which did give the narrow spots of the Costco HID and Amondotech illuminator an advantage when lighting the truck. They simply did not light the foreground as well and our eyes could more easily see the object in the distance better with a darker foreground. NONE of these light made the old rusted dirty tank real bright like they would light colored rocks at the same distance or even twice as far away.
Now for the spill and corona shots, but first the day reference shots.
Wide angle of this downhill section of road.
The light white line on the granite wall that looks sort of like dripping paint is what I will be focusing on. All of the hotspots will be over exposed since this wall is only 70 yards away. I am showing this rock detail so you will know that BVH and I had a definite spot to aim at.
What this shot does not show is how steep this road is.
Here is a shot from the granite wall looking up the hill. The light will be placed right at the sharp edge of the top of this fire road.
Yes, the top really is as steep as it looks. Now for the photos, these do not need crops.
Costo HID
In typical Costco HID fashion there is a wide bright ring filled spill in the near field, a blazing bright hotspot and small corona.
Just like before the corona is wider and rounder then the Costco HID. The spill is more even and wider then the Costco HID. The road is also more evenly lit. This light also has the most even transition of spill to corona of the three lights.
The spill of the Helios is narrower and darker then the Amondotech Illuminator. Polarion designed the Helios this way. The goal was to have less spill and a wider brighter corona. I would have to say that they succeeded. The Helios is the only light that illuminates the steep initial drop AND the bend in the road. The corona also illuminates much more of the hill above the rock wall.
The Helios is truly a wonderful little package. It puts a great amount of light down field with it's large corona and hotspot. BVH and I spent some time talking about the "instant on" capability or lack thereof of the light. The Helios I used a couple of weeks ago seemed to be instantly bright when turned on and the beam only seemed to become stable after a few seconds. That night was rather hazy and I wonder if that may have effected what I saw. BVH's seems to warm up when turned on. It only takes a few seconds but it does seem to warm up. After trying the light several times, letting it properly cool down between tests, we seemed to come to the consensus that the light does not so much get brighter as change from rather blue to yellow over the warm up period. Anybody that followed the Amondotech Illuminator thread will be familiar with the photos I did of my two Illuminators one with a 6,000K bulb and one with a 4,200K bulb both having the same lumen ratings, the 4,200K bulb illuminates natural objects significantly better. So the Helios could be starting at the same "lumen rating" or even higher with a higher color temperature. As it quickly warms up, the beam turns yellow and illuminates objects better even though the actual "lumen rating" may be slightly lower. I do know know and would love to hear feedback from Helios owners. The official word from the Polarion rep I spoke with was that it actually does start "brighter" like I mentioned above. I would love to measure a Helios with a good light meter as it starts and warms up.
Thats all for now.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
When finding a site for the Helios shoot I had two different primary goals. I wanted to do some shots that would show the hotspot and corona without influence of the spill. I also wanted to so some other shots that would show the relative spill and its relation to the corona without much consideration of the hotspots. The first shots show the relative throw of each of the lights and the second shots show the near to medium field illumination abilities of the lights. First I will show day shots for perspective.
Here is a wide angle shot of the location. The Y split in the upper road on the right is what I will be shooting
Once again, in the night shots the hotspots will be focused right at the tip of the Y split in the road.
This is 130 yards away. The light color of the rock will provide a reflective surface to make judging the relative brightness of the hotspots and therefore different throwing abilities of the lights easier. More important, the steep slopes make the spill too dark to show up in my photos. The beams you see in this location are hotspot and corona only at this distance. Pay close attention to the size of the coronas since this makes a big difference in the overall illumination capacities of the different lights.
This shot is with me standing at the spot the light will be focused at looking back across the top of the canyon to where the camera will be so you can get a feel for all of the terrain in the area
Look closely at the section of dirt to the right of the well and you will see a little bench.
The camera will be right in front of that bench at the top of the slope.
I will show these lights in what is clearly their order in terms of throw.
Remember that with each of these lights there is spill that the camera is not picking up in these shots. The canyon is too steep and deep for the spill to produce enough light for the camera to pick up. The Camera is set to f3.5, 6" , and auto white balance. I prefer auto white balance because my camera gives good color rendition of the different types of beams. I know some people prefer using Daylight setting, I do not personally like that because the photos often have a yellow bias to them and that favors lights with lower color temperatures. What you will see in these photos is very close to what BVH and I saw when we took the shots. At least this is the case with my 17" Powerbook.
Costco HID
These have great throw, but if you are searching for someone in this canyon be prepared to move a heavy light a lot.
Amondotech Illuminator
This has a wider hotspot then the Costco HID. The corona is not a lot larger but is has a much better shape and provides more even light.
The Helios beam does not look so over exposed against the rock because it does not have the throw of the others. But look at how wide and bright the corona is. 83 yards of the road is lit from right to left. 115 yards of the hill is lit from bottom to top. The top of the hill that is being light by the corona is 183 yards away.
Here are crops of these shots.
Costco HID crop
Amondotech Illuminator crop
Helios Crop
I do not think it is hard to figure out which light is the best for searching for people or illuminating objects within 300 yards.
There was a series of night shots that I did not take.
The old fire lookout tower in the upper left corner is 896 yards away. All three lights could dimly light this object (Costco best, then Illuminator, then Helios). However, most people needing to be rescued or bad guys being seached for do not hover 15 feet above ground wearing light reflective clothes.
There is a dot in the middle of this picture that is 310 yards away.
My goal was to take pictures of the lights shining on this old truck water tank.
The yellow beam of the Helios could not illuminate this rusty old truck water tank well enough to clearly recognize it without binoculars. It looked like bright bushes. The Costo HID could illuminate it and the Amondotech Illuminator could light it also, just not quite as well as the Costco HID. The greener beam of the Illuminator did make it identifiable.
In all fairness this water tank is not real easy to see in daylight.
Another important point to remember is that this tank is beyond the limit of what most people can accurately identify in daylight if a person is wearing clothes similar to their surroundings. For that matter the tank seems to blend into its surroundings in broad daylight. One final point here is that the Helios did a nice job of lighting most of the canyon in front of the tank which did give the narrow spots of the Costco HID and Amondotech illuminator an advantage when lighting the truck. They simply did not light the foreground as well and our eyes could more easily see the object in the distance better with a darker foreground. NONE of these light made the old rusted dirty tank real bright like they would light colored rocks at the same distance or even twice as far away.
Now for the spill and corona shots, but first the day reference shots.
Wide angle of this downhill section of road.
The light white line on the granite wall that looks sort of like dripping paint is what I will be focusing on. All of the hotspots will be over exposed since this wall is only 70 yards away. I am showing this rock detail so you will know that BVH and I had a definite spot to aim at.
What this shot does not show is how steep this road is.
Here is a shot from the granite wall looking up the hill. The light will be placed right at the sharp edge of the top of this fire road.
Yes, the top really is as steep as it looks. Now for the photos, these do not need crops.
Costo HID
In typical Costco HID fashion there is a wide bright ring filled spill in the near field, a blazing bright hotspot and small corona.
Just like before the corona is wider and rounder then the Costco HID. The spill is more even and wider then the Costco HID. The road is also more evenly lit. This light also has the most even transition of spill to corona of the three lights.
The spill of the Helios is narrower and darker then the Amondotech Illuminator. Polarion designed the Helios this way. The goal was to have less spill and a wider brighter corona. I would have to say that they succeeded. The Helios is the only light that illuminates the steep initial drop AND the bend in the road. The corona also illuminates much more of the hill above the rock wall.
The Helios is truly a wonderful little package. It puts a great amount of light down field with it's large corona and hotspot. BVH and I spent some time talking about the "instant on" capability or lack thereof of the light. The Helios I used a couple of weeks ago seemed to be instantly bright when turned on and the beam only seemed to become stable after a few seconds. That night was rather hazy and I wonder if that may have effected what I saw. BVH's seems to warm up when turned on. It only takes a few seconds but it does seem to warm up. After trying the light several times, letting it properly cool down between tests, we seemed to come to the consensus that the light does not so much get brighter as change from rather blue to yellow over the warm up period. Anybody that followed the Amondotech Illuminator thread will be familiar with the photos I did of my two Illuminators one with a 6,000K bulb and one with a 4,200K bulb both having the same lumen ratings, the 4,200K bulb illuminates natural objects significantly better. So the Helios could be starting at the same "lumen rating" or even higher with a higher color temperature. As it quickly warms up, the beam turns yellow and illuminates objects better even though the actual "lumen rating" may be slightly lower. I do know know and would love to hear feedback from Helios owners. The official word from the Polarion rep I spoke with was that it actually does start "brighter" like I mentioned above. I would love to measure a Helios with a good light meter as it starts and warms up.
Thats all for now.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
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