Night Photography / Thrower recommendation needed.

[wgreen]

I'm looking for a pretty specific flashlight -at least I think I am- and was hoping you could recommend something. I am pretty much a newbie to flashlights and definitely new to the forum, however I've been reading posts and lurking here for a while.

I plan to use this light mainly for night time photography and lightpainting. I've been frustrated by the lights I have in this context. Here's what I am hoping to find:

UI: A genuine ON/OFF switch. Press it and it goes ON or OFF. None of this cycling through various brightness levels and flashing patterns. I'm not opposed to those features as long as they don't play a role in turing the thing ON or OFF. I prefer a body mounted switch. But could live with a tail switch.

Format/Size: I'd like a flashlight but a spotlight might be an option to if it meets all the other requirements. I'm looking for something medium everyday carry, hand held.

Emitter: LED as far as I know. But that's not very far.

Batterys: I prefer standard formats (AA etc) if possible.

OTF: A ridiculous amout of light. A thrower with as much lumens as I can afford. Also would like a narrow beam. I'd ultimatelty like a focusable light but I'm coming to realize those are kinda rare.

cost: $100 give or take. For now.

So far the best option I've found is the Fenix TK41, however I'm not sure on the beam spread? is it narrow or wide?

A lot of photographers I know use LED Lensers but I've never actually used one myself.

Your thoughts are welcome, thanks in advance.

 

[Ezeriel]

A TK41 is a throw monster, with a very narrow beam, how far do you need to shine the light (in feet)

 

[wgreen]

A TK41 is a throw monster, with a very narrow beam, how far do you need to shine the light (in feet)

I'm struggling with a good answer to this, the issue being I really don't know. I guess I will be adapting my photos to the qualities of the light. In my mind I am thinking --really really far!

 

[roadkill1109]

You know, the TK41 might be the light for you. Just be wary that it eats up so many AA batteries so it might finish all the AA cells of your camera's flash. A more efficient light would use only two 18650's and get the same output, throw and maybe even better runtime.

Since you need big light output, you may want to consider venturing into the lithium ion territory, believe me it is scary as first, but when you learn to use and respect the lithium ions, you'll forget using AA's and just leave them in your camera's flash.

That's what I did. When I need to do photography, I reserve the AA's for my camera's external flash, then the Lithiums for my flashlights.

But im not saying abandon all usage of AA-based lights, it is good to have a light which uses regular cells so should a zombie apocalypse occur (he he he), you can scrounge up an AA cell in any abandoned mall or outlet store.

 

[Gunner12]

The Fenix E40 has a narrow beam from what I hear. It is dimmer then the TK41 though but it uses less batteries.

There are some budget 1 AA zoomie lights, but at full focus, you get an image of the LED die itself, and a ringy beam, so beam quality isn't great. The lights can be had under $10 though (Sipik SK68).

For photography, wouldn't a neutral white or high CRI LED make better pictures? Or could you easily correct for the lower amounts of red, cyan, and violet of a cool white LED light?

:welcome: