Noturne birdwatching flashlight

[Andre Adeodato]

I am Brazilian and nature photographer, recently bought a flashlight Bela Police 120w zoom for pictures of nocturnal birds (owls, murucututus, etc.) know she has 120w but it pleased me to focus the beam of light when using the zoom. I am now thinking about buying one better for the same purpose, I want a flashlight to illuminate the medium and long distances, need a more concentrated beam of light and not so scattered, I thought a Trustfire Tr-1200 with Cree LED 5 but do not know if light beam is concentrated as it Bela Police. Can anyone help me?

 

[MedusaOblongata]

So you're looking for a flashlight that throws pretty far. If you can answer a couple of questions we'll be able to better recommend flashlights that will be ideal for your purpose:

How far away do you need to see (in feet, yards, meters)?
Will you be using rechargeable or disposable batteries?
Do you care whether it takes AAs or CR123As or any other particular battery shape?
How much do you have to spend?
In general, a flashlight with a wider head will throw farther, but will also be harder to pocket carry. Do you have any specific size requirements?

Welcome to CPF! I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

 

[HotWire]

If you are going to use the flashlight as a light source for photographs an incandescent light like the Mag85 or ROP would give better color rendition than most LEDs. If you choose an LED, choose a high-CRI LED. The incandescent lights and high cree LEDs give better color rendition.

 

[Patriot]

Given the range of lights that could fit into the parameters given, I think the two big factors will be size/weight and price.

HID spotlights are typically the first tool I think of for this application since they produce the most light for the least amount of space and still have good run-time. I've done some wildlife night photography myself and LED's typically aren't capable of producing the amount of light that's required at any distance more than 25 meters. The shutter speed ends up being too slow unless the subject is perfectly still. With image stabilization I typically need 1/30th minimum shutter speed to get reasonably sharp images. The other nice thing about 4300K HID is that your colors come out nice as well. Here are some models with ascending price points. I've only listed lights that are portable, 3-5lbs.

Stanley HID $69
Mozo HID Ebay $75-100
Ti Innovations N30 $179
Ti Innovations L30 $299
Ti Innovations L50 $799
Ti Innovations L70 $999
Polarion X1 40W $1595