Floody headlamp with warm color temp?

[Marsel]

I'm looking for a headlamp, and ideally it's pure flood without a hot spot, and a warm color temperature.

The headlamp I'm using now, is a Zebralight H600Fc III. I like its throw and the many output settings, but it does have a bit of a hot spot and the 4000K LED has a slight greenish tint to it. I would prefer the look of incandescent.

I will use the headlamp to light paint during night photography.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tachead]

I'm looking for a headlamp, and ideally it's pure flood without a hot spot, and a warm color temperature.

The headlamp I'm using now, is a Zebralight H600Fc III. I like its throw and the many output settings, but it does have a bit of a hot spot and the 4000K LED has a slight greenish tint to it. I would prefer the look of incandescent.

I will use the headlamp to light paint during night photography.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Hint of green? Your the first person I have ever heard say that. ZL uses a 2 step Easy white emitter in the c's. Mine has no green at all. What are you comparing it to? Maybe you got a lemon. You could send it back for an exchange.

You might want to go even warmer if you want it to look like a traditional incandescent as they are 2700K.

You might have to go with a custom if you don't want to go for the ZL H603c MKIII and/or want something warmer. Armytek offers a warm high CRI option(3000Kish) in some of their headlamps but, they have a honeycomb optic that gives a beam pattern similar to the frosted Z's like you Fc.

 

[iamlucky13]

You said "pure flood," but it sounds like you want "floody" like your H600Fc? I ask because Zebralight has both "flood" and "floody" models, with the former having very little throw, but basically filling your entire field of view.

As Tachead said, the Armytek headlamps have a very similar beam to Zebralight's "floody," and they're offered in a warm version. Mine is probably right around 3000K, so even warmer than the H600Fc. Mine was also specifically sold as a 90+ CRI model. It has no hint of green.

I can't guarantee their regular warm models, which are not advertised as high CRI, as free of tint artifacts as mine is, but I think Woods Walker has the regular warm Armytek Wizard Pro and could give his opinion on the matter. They seem to have phased out their high CRI models at the moment. I'm not sure if this is part of the v2 to v3 transition and they'll be coming back soon, or if they're getting some of the better XP-L and XHP emitters that already achieve 80+ CRI and not bothering to market an additional product. My light is a v2.

Separate comment, I don't light paint, except a little bit of dabbling just to understand the technique. If I did so around other lighting sources, I suspect I'd probably want a couple lights of different color temperatures, or I'd have a good neutral tinted light and several filters to use with it so I could match or complement my light to the other light sources.

 

[Marsel]

I have four of them, they're all the same. Detecting a color cast is part of my job, so when I say 'a slight greenish tint', that's what I mean: slight. I would prefer the light to be a bit warmer so that I can photograph at cooler white balance settings for the ambient night light, while keeping a warm tint in the light coming from the headlamp.

I had a look at the Armytek headlamps, but they don't specify the color temperature of their products - or do they. All I saw was 'white' and 'warm'. Is there anyplace else I can look for the exact specifications?

Thank you very much for your help, it is much appreciated.

 

[Marsel]

Thank you for your feedback. 3000K sounds great, so I guess I'll have to contact Armytek for the exact color temperature of their current line-up.

I often use several lights for light painting, and I need them to all be exactly the same. Here's an example of what I use them for:

[video]https://vimeo.com/squiver/namibian-nights[/video]

I am also looking into the Goal Zero Lighthouse Mini, as they're 3500K.

 

[blah9]

My Armytek Wizard Pro is warm and has a gorgeous floody beam. It's also the warmest tinted light I own so maybe 3000k is correct. I'm not sure though. But I am completely satisfied with it. Mine is not the high CRI version but it really looks good.

 

[roger-roger]

Thank you for your feedback. 3000K sounds great, so I guess I'll have to contact Armytek for the exact color temperature of their current line-up.

I often use several lights for light painting, and I need them to all be exactly the same. Here's an example of what I use them for:

[video]https://vimeo.com/squiver/namibian-nights[/video]

I am also looking into the Goal Zero Lighthouse Mini, as they're 3500K.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[YahFargo]

My Armytek Wizard Pro is warm and has a gorgeous floody beam. It's also the warmest tinted light I own so maybe 3000k is correct. I'm not sure though. But I am completely satisfied with it. Mine is not the high CRI version but it really looks good.

I also have the xhp50 warm. I'd say it's around the 35 to 3600 mark. Noticeably warmer than my 4k nichia 219b, but quite a bit cooler than the incandescent house lights.

 

[Marsel]

So I've contacted Armytek, and they said that the warmest light they use for their headlamps is 4500K. I think I'll look into the Orfos.

 

[blah9]

Cool, thanks for the info!

 

[YahFargo]

I think the Armytek employee is misinformed. CPF member Maukka does excellent reviews and measured the Astrolux A01 nichia 219b to be right around 3950K. I have an A01 and my Wizard Pro XHP50 Warm is warmer than the 3950K Astrolux. Here's a comparison pic, wizard on left and a01 on the right. http://i.imgur.com/LA9ey1d.jpg

 

[blah9]

Interesting. Yeah might be worth another look. Wish I had some known tints to compare with to help out as well.

 

[iamlucky13]

So I've contacted Armytek, and they said that the warmest light they use for their headlamps is 4500K. I think I'll look into the Orfos.

Odd claim. 4500K isn't warm. It's pretty neutral.

I checked the white balance on my Tiara Pro Warm 90+ CRI with my D7000 and a grey card this weekend specifically because you were curious, and both Nikon and the 3rd party RAW converter I use agree that it is 2800K (checking different spots across the beam profile, it looks like it ranges from ~2750-2900K, which is pretty good consistency, in my opinion).

Then again, Armytek is not selling this particular variant anymore.

I'd actually say 2800K is warmer than ideal for most uses, including time lapses like you showed (Nice work, by the way. I shared it with my wife, since she was close by, and she thought it was really cool, too). I still like this light in general, but when converted with a daylight preset (5200K on Nikon), it appears more orange on camera than the golden warm it appears to the eyes.

I think the Armytek employee is misinformed. CPF member Maukka does excellent reviews and measured the Astrolux A01 nichia 219b to be right around 3950K. I have an A01 and my Wizard Pro XHP50 Warm is warmer than the 3950K Astrolux. Here's a comparison pic, wizard on left and a01 on the right. http://i.imgur.com/LA9ey1d.jpg

I'm pretty certain your general point is correct, but don't assume your A01 is 3950K on the basis of what Maukka measured. Nichia bins their emitters fairly broadly, as is typical for markets where strict CCT control is not critical. Looking at their datasheet, it looks like 3710K to 4260K is one of their standard bins, so I'd bet yours in somewhere in that range. XHP50's are also binned in 500K increments, so assume similar variation.

Perhaps their "white" models are 4500K and up, but I very seriously doubt their "warm" models are.