IR LED light

[dyyys1]

I have a friend (not a flashoholic yet; I'm still working) who wants a cheap source of LED light. He has a camera with a night vision mode and no way to light things up in IR, and I was thinking that his best choice would be a small IR LED light. What would you recommend? It would need to be cheap and use common batteries (I suppose a photon clone would work as well). I was also thinking of pointing him to a filter for his minimag, but I suppose that's a question for the Incan forum.

 

[elgarak]

The ones first coming to my mind are expensive . Surefire M1 and Kroma-Milspec.

However, googling brought me to this page. Not sure how good the lights or the shop are, but they're cheap.

EDIT: just noticed they use weird batteries.

The Photon microlight keychain light is available with IR.

 

[elgarak]

Dang it. Cannot find anything running on 'normal' batteries.

Found the Inova X5 with IR. $50, and uses CR123. Not sure if this is what your friedn has in mind.

 

[highorder]

if you ask around, the surefire 3DL and M1 can be had for around $50.00

I bought a 3DL for similar evaluation and found that it didnt work for my application. I sole it in the BST for what I paid for it.

they are available. post a WTB ad and you will probably get a few bites quickly.

 

[cuervo]

There's not anything special about IR LEDs, so another alternative would be to find a cheap light that's easy to mod, go to Radio Shack and buy some LEDs (not IR detectors), and make your own light.

 

[XtreMe_G]

i bought this from DX. not too bad. almost as good as my 5D mag with a infrared filter in front of it. only problem i have is its not floody enough

 

[chadd_from_pa]

I have seen lots of stock products on http://www.TheLEDLight.com. If you can't find it there, you might want to try a custom design by these guys: http://www.LunarAccents.com

 

[Empath]

Chadd, reveal your association.

 

[tty5150]

Cheapest IR source for close range is DIY source . Buy some IR 5mm IR LEDs (ex: http://www.ledsupply.com/l2-0-ir5th30-1.php)
then calculate circuit here: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
For IR LED Forward Voltage = 1.2V ; Forward Current= 30mA

Because Voltage is 1.2V (max 1.6V) you can power you LED set in parallel from single AAA or AA without resistors. 15 LEDs take 450 mA, so single 2500 NiMH will last for 3-5h.

 

[xenopus]

We have a couple of IR and UV/IR-selectable models -- some of which are carried by www.theLEDlight.com also.

Cheers,
Piers!