hmmwv
Newly Enlightened
I've been asked to do some product engineering for
3 different products (none of which really compete
with what we have today, so comparisons are going
to be tough) - I'm looking for your input as a user
of any or all of these -
Product A - is a searchlight - something brighter than
a pelican 8d or a lightbox, but not as bright as a
maxabeam. Typical applications would be search and
rescue, fire, etc. Price would be more than a lightbox
($100) but less than a maxabeam ($1700) - rechargable,
with ac/dc chargers, etc. Light quality would be
excellent, as would beam quality. There may be a
startup delay due to the bulb technology (metal halide)
Questions -
On a scale of 1-10 (10 is very important, 1 is not)
A1 - how important is it that the light be at full
intensity 1 second after pressing the on switch
A2 - how about after 5 seconds (some light, but not 100%)
A3 - how about after 10 seconds (almost 90% of the rated light)
A4 - As a searchlight - how many lumens would you want?
1 - 50 (surefire 6R)
2 - 500 (surefire 12Z)
3 - 750 (uh... a couple good lights)
4 - 1000 (you get the idea)
5 - 2000
6 - 3000
7 - One of those 1,000,000 cp spotlights is perfect
8 - maxabeam is not enough - I want more.
A5 - How much runtime do you want?
1 - 15 minutes (like the handheld spotlights)
2 - 1 hour (lightbox, etc)
3 - 2 hours
4 - 3 hours
5 - 4 hours
6 - 8 hours
7 - 12 hours
A6 - If the beam focus were fixed, what spread would you
want in a searchlight?
1 - 1 degree
2 - 3 degrees
3 - 5 degrees
4 - 10 degrees
5 - 15 degrees
6 - 20 degrees
A7 - how heavy will you tolerate a searchlight
1 - 1/2 lb
2 - 1 lb
3 - 2 lb
4 - 3 lb
5 - 4 lb
6 - 5 lb
7 - 7 lb
8 - 10 lb
For product B - it is a video camera supplemental light
intended for pro-sumer grade cameras ($900-$5000) -
These lights are not the plastic "junk" that you see in
the bubble pac on the shelves at video stores, but machined
precision lighting much like we've become accustomed to
from surefire, streamlight, and others
B1 - assume a 3100K source, how many watts of light
should it produce?
1 - 1W
2 - 3W
3 - 5W
4 - 8W
5 - 10W
6 - 15W
7 - 20W
8 - 40W
B2 - what should the beam look like
1 - lots of rings and dark spots, like a maglight
2 - bright in the center, tapering off at the edges
3 - even throughout the lit area
4- brighter at the edges, less in the center
B3 - If you mount this on the camera's hot-shoe,
how much weight (with batteries) will you tolerate
1 - 2 oz
2 - 6 oz
3 - 9 oz
4 - 12 oz
5 - 16 oz (1lb)
6 - 20 oz (1lb 4oz)
7 - 24 oz (1lb 8oz)
B4 - how much runtime do you expect
1 - 5 minutes
2 - 10 minutes
3 - 15 minutes
4 - 20 minutes
5 - 25 minutes
6 - 30 minutes
B5 - Would you pay more for a light that used lithium ion
or lithium polymer chemistry to give more runtime and
less weight, or prefer a heavy nicd light that cost 30%
less? Yes - pay more -- no - want cheper light
B6 - would you rather have the batteries integrated in the light with
less runtime, or belt mounted for more runtime? 25 minutes on
light versus 90 minutes on belt with connectnig wire.
b7 - Assuming the light was 2" in diameter,had integral lithium
rechargable batteries, produced 40W of even 3100K light for
25 minutes and was entirely self-contained to be mounted to
the camcorder, how much would you be willing to pay for it?
b8 - now assume the light was 1" in diameter, had integral lithium
rechargable batteries, produced 15W of even 3100K light for
25 minutes, ad was entirely self-contained to be mounted to
the camcorder - how much would you be willing to pay?
B9 - if the light had a feature to turn off the lamp entirely but
run infared LEDs for a much longer duration (2-3 hours) - would
this feature increase the value of the product to you, and if so,
how much more would you pay for it?
Please email your answers (DO NOT POST HERE - I want YOUR opinions, not
the collective discussion and debate of the forum).
Email address is [email protected]
Thanks!
3 different products (none of which really compete
with what we have today, so comparisons are going
to be tough) - I'm looking for your input as a user
of any or all of these -
Product A - is a searchlight - something brighter than
a pelican 8d or a lightbox, but not as bright as a
maxabeam. Typical applications would be search and
rescue, fire, etc. Price would be more than a lightbox
($100) but less than a maxabeam ($1700) - rechargable,
with ac/dc chargers, etc. Light quality would be
excellent, as would beam quality. There may be a
startup delay due to the bulb technology (metal halide)
Questions -
On a scale of 1-10 (10 is very important, 1 is not)
A1 - how important is it that the light be at full
intensity 1 second after pressing the on switch
A2 - how about after 5 seconds (some light, but not 100%)
A3 - how about after 10 seconds (almost 90% of the rated light)
A4 - As a searchlight - how many lumens would you want?
1 - 50 (surefire 6R)
2 - 500 (surefire 12Z)
3 - 750 (uh... a couple good lights)
4 - 1000 (you get the idea)
5 - 2000
6 - 3000
7 - One of those 1,000,000 cp spotlights is perfect
8 - maxabeam is not enough - I want more.
A5 - How much runtime do you want?
1 - 15 minutes (like the handheld spotlights)
2 - 1 hour (lightbox, etc)
3 - 2 hours
4 - 3 hours
5 - 4 hours
6 - 8 hours
7 - 12 hours
A6 - If the beam focus were fixed, what spread would you
want in a searchlight?
1 - 1 degree
2 - 3 degrees
3 - 5 degrees
4 - 10 degrees
5 - 15 degrees
6 - 20 degrees
A7 - how heavy will you tolerate a searchlight
1 - 1/2 lb
2 - 1 lb
3 - 2 lb
4 - 3 lb
5 - 4 lb
6 - 5 lb
7 - 7 lb
8 - 10 lb
For product B - it is a video camera supplemental light
intended for pro-sumer grade cameras ($900-$5000) -
These lights are not the plastic "junk" that you see in
the bubble pac on the shelves at video stores, but machined
precision lighting much like we've become accustomed to
from surefire, streamlight, and others
B1 - assume a 3100K source, how many watts of light
should it produce?
1 - 1W
2 - 3W
3 - 5W
4 - 8W
5 - 10W
6 - 15W
7 - 20W
8 - 40W
B2 - what should the beam look like
1 - lots of rings and dark spots, like a maglight
2 - bright in the center, tapering off at the edges
3 - even throughout the lit area
4- brighter at the edges, less in the center
B3 - If you mount this on the camera's hot-shoe,
how much weight (with batteries) will you tolerate
1 - 2 oz
2 - 6 oz
3 - 9 oz
4 - 12 oz
5 - 16 oz (1lb)
6 - 20 oz (1lb 4oz)
7 - 24 oz (1lb 8oz)
B4 - how much runtime do you expect
1 - 5 minutes
2 - 10 minutes
3 - 15 minutes
4 - 20 minutes
5 - 25 minutes
6 - 30 minutes
B5 - Would you pay more for a light that used lithium ion
or lithium polymer chemistry to give more runtime and
less weight, or prefer a heavy nicd light that cost 30%
less? Yes - pay more -- no - want cheper light
B6 - would you rather have the batteries integrated in the light with
less runtime, or belt mounted for more runtime? 25 minutes on
light versus 90 minutes on belt with connectnig wire.
b7 - Assuming the light was 2" in diameter,had integral lithium
rechargable batteries, produced 40W of even 3100K light for
25 minutes and was entirely self-contained to be mounted to
the camcorder, how much would you be willing to pay for it?
b8 - now assume the light was 1" in diameter, had integral lithium
rechargable batteries, produced 15W of even 3100K light for
25 minutes, ad was entirely self-contained to be mounted to
the camcorder - how much would you be willing to pay?
B9 - if the light had a feature to turn off the lamp entirely but
run infared LEDs for a much longer duration (2-3 hours) - would
this feature increase the value of the product to you, and if so,
how much more would you pay for it?
Please email your answers (DO NOT POST HERE - I want YOUR opinions, not
the collective discussion and debate of the forum).
Email address is [email protected]
Thanks!