Looking for infinitely variable floodlight (no hotspot!)

[mandat]

Hello,

I am looking for an infinitely variable EDC-like floodlight (not a search light). The light should give out an even, wide spill (no hotspot!) and must be dimmable only by a wheel/ring mechanism of some kind like e.g. the Nitecore IFE2 or the Sunwayman V series ( no press and hold dimming).

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

 

[CarpentryHero]

There are great Diffusion Films on CPF marketplace where there is carry little light lost

As for preferences, the Sunwayman V10A, V20C xml or HDS Rotary would all be pretty awesome choices to add a diffuser film too

 

[Lou Minescence]

Jetbeam RRT 21 with the diffuser cap. Made to fit perfectly.

 

[mandat]

Hmm - no dedicated floodlights?

 

[joe1512]

Nope. What you are asking for is too specialized for anyone to manufacture. Just the infinite adjustment is surprisingly rare on flashlights with only a few choices. A flood to throw would work well, but there are no adjustable output ones to my knowledge.

 

[TEEJ]

Get the infinitely variable out put light of your choice, and remove the head so it produces a ball of light...like a bright candle pattern.

😀

Most of the small lights are floody anyway....but a diffuser as mentioned above would really add options. It can be as simple as a film over the lens...they work very well.

If you relax on the INFINITE part, say, a lot of levels as being ok, and, in real life, the differences between some of these levels is all but meaningless anyway...it also opens up some options.

For example, the Surefire Invictus Selfbuilt just reviewed included a diffuser, and his beam shots with it indicate a very nice pool of light w/o a hot spot, with IIRC 7 brightness levels to choose from.

My Jetbean RRT-3 XM-L has quite a few levels, including a low of ~ 5 lumens, up to a max up at 1,950 lumens....controlled with a nice ring on the barrel.

It produces a nice wall of light even w/o a diffuser....with a diffuser, it would be daylight around you.

😀

Plan D or E, or whatever we're up to...might be to simply get something like an LED Lenser T7...which has a super easy slide of the barrel to control the spot to flood focus...and, it has 2 levels. The reason I mention it despite only having 2 levels, is that when you take the same lumens that were concntrated into a spot, and spread them out over a large surface area, it makes the resultant LUX dim dramatically.

This means that as the HEAD is infinitely adjustable, added to the two brightness levels, you can essentially have a 3' spot with ~ 200 lumens on it...or fill a room with a firefly type glow.

Food for thought

 

[CarpentryHero]

Pop the head off a maglite xl100, there's your variable all flood 😀

Large die like the XML will be plenty floody. As for no hotspot, the diffuser film is the way to go.

Or instead of infinitely variable get the Zebralight h501 or Sc50F

 

[mandat]

I tried the diffusing method today and to my surprise it really worked well.

The light has to be infinitely variable. For one thing I need to have this kind of optimal control. 🙂 But more importantly I want to be able to both use it as a nightvision flashlight after an emitter swap to a 660nm led - and therefore must be able to start it off with the tiniest bit of light with a wide bandwidth control in the very low lumen regions -, BUT i also want to be able to really flood an area in deep red if I want to. 🙂

Now for that "mod" I would need a pro - as this is not my field of expertise at all - who would be up for that? - who should I best ask for this?

As for the possible choices, from what I have read, the Nitecore IFE2 can go to the lowest low of them all, followed by the Sunwayman V10, but I really do like the beam of the mentioned Jetbeam RRT 21.

 

[ElectronGuru]

infinitely variable
floodlight
wide spill
no hotspot!

I put something like this together recently. It was actually to wide, like 140 degrees side to side. 120 degrees still provides a huge walking spread and is meaningfully brighter on the ground.

 

[mandat]

I put something like this together recently.

You dont say. 😱

I would really like to know "a bit more" about this project. Do you have some pics/beamshots?

Never mind the 140 degrees. I won`t cry about that. ;-)

 

[ElectronGuru]

I would really like to know "a bit more" about this project. Do you have some pics/beamshots?

Sorry, not far along for pics. But I will say that getting a truly smooth/even beam is more difficult than it sounds.

 

[mandat]

What parts did you use for this? Would you be interested in building something similar for me?

 

[ElectronGuru]

Its a modification of an existing setup. If the first works out (as a walking light), I'll look at making more.

 

[CarpentryHero]

Sounds awesome

 

[gilly]

The HDS Rotary with a Surefire FL-01 diffuser on the end does very well for what you're looking for.

 

[fyrstormer]

Buy a Jetbeam RRT-0 XM-L. Remove the reflector and keep it in a safe place, wrapped in clean white krinkly tissue paper, inside a Zip-Loc bag, to protect it from dust in case you ever decide to sell it. Optionally, replace the stock lense with a UCL anti-reflective lense from FlashlightLens.com.

Another option, which will result in more light out the front but a very slight increase in brightness in the center of the beam, is to fit a stock RRT-0 XM-L with a frosted UCL lense from FlashlightLens.com that has the optional flash-diffuser film attached with clear epoxy. Install the lense with the flash-diffuser film on the inside surface, to protect it from damage.

A third option, which involves no modification at all, is to stick a Surefire white diffuser on the front of an RRT-0 XM-L. It will be clunkier, but it will also be easily removable.

 

[jh333233]

RRT 21 and V20C
Being very very spotty

 

[mandat]

Buy a Jetbeam RRT-0 XM-L. Remove the reflector and keep it in a safe place, wrapped in clean white krinkly tissue paper, inside a Zip-Loc bag, to protect it from dust in case you ever decide to sell it. Optionally, replace the stock lense with a UCL anti-reflective lense from FlashlightLens.com.

Another option, which will result in more light out the front but a very slight increase in brightness in the center of the beam, is to fit a stock RRT-0 XM-L with a frosted UCL lense from FlashlightLens.com that has the optional flash-diffuser film attached with clear epoxy. Install the lense with the flash-diffuser film on the inside surface, to protect it from damage.

A third option, which involves no modification at all, is to stick a Surefire white diffuser on the front of an RRT-0 XM-L. It will be clunkier, but it will also be easily removable.

Well, that only leaves swapping the emitter to a 660nm high power led. I do like the RRT0 XM-L very much though - much lower low, near the level of the Nitecore IFE2.

 

[mandat]

RRT 21 and V20C
Being very very spotty

indeed

 

[mandat]

Buy a Jetbeam RRT-0 XM-L. Remove the reflector and keep it in a safe place, wrapped in clean white krinkly tissue paper, inside a Zip-Loc bag, to protect it from dust in case you ever decide to sell it. Optionally, replace the stock lense with a UCL anti-reflective lense from FlashlightLens.com.

So it is possible with the Jetbeam at least - good to know. I just did that with a light of mine: 90 degrees of perfect flood!