Best Small LED Flashlight for Photography?

[gwhite]

I'm a hardware engineer, and also build a lot of stuff In my home shop. I'm constantly documenting things by taking photographs of various gadgets, or setups on machines.

The problem I have is lighting. I get reflections from the camera flash, and really need a couple adjustable light sources I can shine from the side to eliminate shadows. In a pro studio, I'd have lots of flood lights I could move around for big stuff and a copy stand for small stuff. Or I could get the macro flash kit for my Nikon. I haven't the space or the budget for any of these.

What I think would work well is a couple of LED flashlights (or headlights) that I could attach to adjustable stands. The stands I can make, or pick up fairly cheap. The Joby Gorillapod tripods http://joby.com/products/gorillapod/would give me a lot of flexibility in placing them. The question is what sort of LED lights to get. I have several Sceptor headlights, but they tend to be very blue in color.

I need something small, with a broad beam, rather than an intense spot. I also need something with a fairly good color, i.e. not too blue, yellow, etc. I've seen aluminum flashlights at hardware stores & the like for under $10 with 8 or more LEDs that might do the trick, but I have no idea what the beam or color characteristics are like. Something that runs on a single AA cell would be great, although lots of them seem to use 3 AAA cells like the Sceptor. I took a look at the LEDMuseum reviews, but there is SO much info it's hard to pare it down. One I found that looked interesting is the Task Force 9-LED that Lowes sells.

Any suggestions to help me narrow my search would be a big help.

Thanks!

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, gwhite.

The light that would give you the most accurate color rendition also happens to have a wide flood beam that sounds suitable for your purpose, and is an extremely high-quality custom light made by one of our own members here. It is the Sundrop, by McGizmo.

 

[romteb]

The question is what sort of LED lights to get. I have several Sceptor headlights, but they tend to be very blue in color.

The problem is not so much the color of the led, color temp can be modified easily with digital cameras, it's the mixing of different color temp light sources.

You should determine the color temp of your other light sources, and find similar color temp led lights.

If some of the lightning is coming from traditional household incan color temp is typically below 3200 K.

 

[Light Sabre]

At work, I'm the photo guy that people go to when they want good pictures. All of the equipment we make are all metal and flash creates horrible glare. I solve that problem by not using a flash at all. I just place my camera on a tripod, because of the longer exposure times, and set the timer so that the tripod/camera setup stops shaking before the pic is taken. The colors look very natural that way. Sometimes if I think it just might help, I will also take a 2nd pic with the flash on, but generally the pic without the flash is the better one. I have used a handheld LED flashlight to help light up places that I think won't show in the pic because they're so far back in the shadows. Nothing special about the flashlights. Most expensive one is $6. I get rave reviews about my pics. :thumbsup: Some of them are in the companies brochures.

 

[genotypic]

Hi gwhite,

If you're taking lots of product shots, I'd say you should consider getting an external flash unit. You don't need to get the macro flash kit, but a simple Nikon SB-600 external flash unit costing about the same as a sundrop would do.

It makes a huge different in indoor photos compared to the on board camera flash and gives you almost limitless lighting options.

Depending on your camera, you may trigger the flash wirelessly which helps a great deal in obtaining directional shadows. You can also diffuse the light from the flash by adding on a flash diffuser or by doing a ceiling or wall bounce. For magazine quality shots, you can even try making your own light box quite easily..

IMO, flashlights aren't the best source of lighting for photography unless they are diffused well. You're right saying that the light should ideally be a floody beam, but light from a flashlight is still from a point source, and will give you harsh shadows.

Get yourself an external flash! You won't regret it

 

[gwhite]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The Sundrop would be great, except I think I could buy a complete Nikon multi-head flash setup for the price of one.

I use long exposures with available light, but I'm often working in my shop with overhead recessed ceiling lights. This produces multiple shadows, which I am hoping to wash out with the flashlights.

The article on the Sundrop is over a year old. I know that Cree now has CRI 92 LEDs, but I have no idea if anyone is putting them into affordable flashlights. Most of the cheap ones I've seen use multiple 5mm LEDs, and I suspect there isn't a lot of work being done on getting good CRI's with the 5mm LEDs.

One other option would be to get some fixtures for MR16 mini-spots, and get Cree's CRI 92 bulbs. I'd probably have to go with a corded power system, which woudln't be nearly as convenient as the flashlight approach.

 

[Dan FO]

The Ti PD-S Mule seems to work pretty well.

 

[Light Sabre]

I have used 2 different LED flashlights in the pix that I have taken for work. One is a penlight with a rather narrow beam. That's exactly what I needed in one situation. A wide beam didn't work, that's what I tried using first. The 2nd LED flashlight has a diffuser on the lens so that smooths things out. Have only used them a handful of times with all the pix that I have taken at work. The equipment we make has a lot of black anodizing, and I was trying to make a black part on top of another black part and both were in front of another black part stand out and both were in the shadows of another black part. Tricky situation, but I got the pic that I needed. Took some flash pix too, but that didn't work at all. The flash was on the camera and didn't have external flash available.

Another time I had to take a pic of clear glass beads in a clear glass container. The glass beads were so small they were hard to see anyway. Something like 0.1 mm. Pulled that one off too. The scientist loved the pic and used it in a manual that he was creating.

 

[jblackwood]

The tint on the Nitecore EZAA is 5B. I know that's a little more red than yellow, but it IS only $52 at 4sevens.
It has a hole on the tailcap that is the same size as those on a camera for tripod mounting. If you buy it, make sure you write in the comments "warm tint" otherwise they'll send you the standard cool tint.

I'm not sure if they said the warm tints will be limited or not. It's my first warm tinted flashlight and I'm REALLY loving it.

 

[alpg88]

well, you already have many good recommendations, but.
i have Olympus tough 8000 camera, it has wide, very bright led(for the purpose), there is a setting macro with led, I'm in building maintenance business, i use that camera all the time, pic quality of valves, panels, breakers, in that mode come out great

 

[saabluster]

I know that Cree now has CRI 92 LEDs, but I have no idea if anyone is putting them into affordable flashlights. Most of the cheap ones I've seen use multiple 5mm LEDs, and I suspect there isn't a lot of work being done on getting good CRI's with the 5mm LEDs.

One other option would be to get some fixtures for MR16 mini-spots, and get Cree's CRI 92 bulbs. I'd probably have to go with a corded power system, which woudln't be nearly as convenient as the flashlight approach.

Just to correct one point there. Cree does not have any "high" CRI LEDS on the market. The 92 CRI you have seen is after several LEDs were mixed to fill out the spectrum and is only available in fixtures.

 

[gwhite]

Aha! That's something I didn't know. I can't seem to find the high CRI MR-16 bulbs I Googled up yesterday, but most of them seem to use 3 LEDs. I checked Cree's web site, and the color binning is very complex. I can easily see how you could fill in any spectral gaps by combining several LEDs.

I've done more reading, and the Sundrop still looks perfect, but WAY out of my price range. I'll have to dig around and see if any mass-produced lights use the Nichia LEDs. I'd love to try retrofitting Nichia's into an existing light, but I've already got too many projects in the works.

 

[DM51]

I have found a possible alternative line of enquiry for you.

CPFer mudman cj did some work modifying lights with high CRI emitters, and he had a sale thread here for these.

That was ~6 months ago, and I don't know if he is still offering them, but it would certainly be worth your while sending him a PM or posting in that thread.

 

[apontes]

I'm a hardware engineer, and also build a lot of stuff In my home shop. I'm constantly documenting things by taking photographs of various gadgets, or setups on machines.

The problem I have is lighting. I get reflections from the camera flash, and really need a couple adjustable light sources I can shine from the side to eliminate shadows. In a pro studio, I'd have lots of flood lights I could move around for big stuff and a copy stand for small stuff. Or I could get the macro flash kit for my Nikon. I haven't the space or the budget for any of these.

Any suggestions to help me narrow my search would be a big help.

Thanks!

gwhite,

What is the size of the stuff you need to take pictures of? If relatively small, you could find or build a simple lightbox, which is ideal for this kind of photography. Lots of resources out there on the subject.

As for the lighting, I've succesfully used some flashlights with bare emmiters, shining directly on the subject our bounced off walls/ceiling, or through the lightbox, size permitting.


Now a question of mine: I usually tape the flashlight to something to have it pointed in the direction I need. It would be more elegant (for lack of a better word) to mount it on a tripod. Is there some kind of adapter to attach a flashlight to a tripod head or quick release plate?

 

[gwhite]

The size of stuff I photograph varies a lot. Anything from 1" square to a couple feet. I have a light tent ("Cocoon" brand), but it's a bit of a pain to set up & take down, so I hardly ever use it.

As for a tripod, the flexibility of the Joby Gorillapods looks good, and would allow me to park & point lights all over the place. Some flashlights have a 1/4-20 socket in the tail cap for a tripod screw, and I've even seen one flashlight that comes with a mini version of a Gorillapod for that purpose.

I'm assuming that trying to find a good light with a tripod thread would limit the search excessively and that I'd have to rig up something. It could be as simple as a 1/4-20 nut epoxied to a length of popsicle stick, which then gets tie-wrapped to the light. Having a machine shop at home, I'd probably make something a bit more elegant once I'm convinced the light(s) I've chosen will do the job. A snap-on black Delrin clip with a threaded insert of some sort, most likely. I haven't found a "universal" flashlight mount. They come in so many sizes & shapes it would be difficult to come up with a good design.

 

[PhotonSuperposition]

I've used the Zebralight headlamps several times for extra light in tripod-mounted no flash long exposure shots. Works great at side lighting. I have both a H51 and a H30. The H30 is a bit brighter on high, but uses a more exotic battery than the H51. Often I just set them on a surface, but I suppose I could tripod mount too.

 

[gwhite]

There's another thread on finding a good reading light (flood, with no hot spot), and the Zebralight is the top contender. The 501W sounds like it might be better than the 501, but it's hard to tell. Zebralight lists the full details on the bin they use for the 501W, but not for the 501. I looked at the Cree data sheet, and they don't list a CRI rating for the LEDs.

The 501w uses a XR-E Q3 5A, and they claim it is a warmer white than the 501. The only Q3 5A I could find is listed as a neutral white, which could be perfect. The 501 is just listed as using an XR-E Q5 bin, which appears to be a cool white LED.

The catch is the price. At $59 a pop, plus tripods, I'd be looking at close to $250 for 3. That's getting close to the cost of a used Nikon macro flash setup. Still, it's awfully tempting to get at least one to try out.

 

[Yucca Patrol]

Honestly, get yourself one or two of these. LED flashlights are not really your best choice when you have the option of AC powered lightbulbs

 

[pipspeak]

agreed... LED lights are not the best for photography. You'd be better off buying a tungsten work light for $20 or using an off-camera flash unit with a good diffuser/reflector.

 

[markus_i]

You said '...up to a couple of feet' - so the stuff still fits on a workdesk? In that case, use something like the table lamps suggested and fit them with photographer's CFLs (if you have daylight) or whatever matches the colour of your ambient light. Small LED flashlights won't provide the power to illuminate that area - and you'll have the added problem of not only matching the LEDs to your ambient light but also matching the LEDs to each other.

Bye
Markus