Please help purchasing spotlight

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monkey4122

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I wanted to ask the experts so I came to this forum after hearing about it from a friend. I am looking to spend around $400-$450 I want the brightest spotlight possible, I dont know much about spotlights so HID, or Halogen doesn't matter just want it to be bright. I am using it to keep in my car and would need it to be portable so able to run on batteries, and the ciggarette lighter from my car if possible. If spending $500 would get me a much brighter light than that is an option too. Thank you for all your help links and personal opinions would be great.
 
Welcome. Do you have any specific application or size requirements?

I would suggest starting with a Stanley HID or a Professional's Favorite 20M CP spots - each for about $60. You can purchase them locally, see if they fit your need, and return if not what you are looking for.

Another option is the Sunforce 25 Million Candlepower HID Rechargeable Spotlight

Step up would be a AMONDOTECH TITANIUM MEGA ILLUMINATOR 35W HID
About $200 but out of stock til Jan.


If you need a handheld "flashlight" size - Microfire makes a Microfire Warrior III K3500R 35W / 3500 Lumen HID

I'm new here, but spend some time browsing and using the search helps find just about anything. Good luck and let us know what you end up getting
 
:welcome:

I guess the questions I have are: How portable do you need it to be? How much runtime do you need? How far away do you want to be able to light up?

Running from the 12V car socket knocks out A LOT of your quality options.
If you're okay with just being able to charge in your car a simple DC> 110V AC inverter will bring a lot of the good stuff back to the table.

First response for you though is look into the L35 HID from Batteryjunction. Very portable and bright. Perhaps not the farthest throwing option available but the trade-off in small size and weight is worth it. It's backordered till January.

Nothing can touch an HID when you consider size and runtime.
 
Thank you for all the great feedback. In answer to your questions I am looking for a nice light to keep in my car that I can use for hunting, camping, on the farm, and other general uses. I do not need it to be that portable it will stay in my car most of the time. The run time also does not need to be very long as I can charge it in the car, and I am definitely willing to use the DC> 110V AC inverter in order to buy a better light. As for as how far I want it to throw , as far as possible without sacrificing brightness. So to sum up....size is not a problem, it can be big and heavy as long as its bright. I can run it from a 110v ac inverter. Do not need a very long run time. Does not need to light anything up too far away, however the further the better. And willing top spend up to $500. Thank you again.
 
Given all your comments, I would go with the L35 from Batteryjunction.com. The larger, 13 lb lights are just too big and heavy and only "throw" a bit further. However, the overall Lumens output is the same - same amount of light. Another benefit - the Lithium Polymer battery. That means no daily 1% - 1.5% self-discharge. It will be charged when you need it.
 
monkey4122 said:
I wanted to ask the experts so I came to this forum after hearing about it from a friend. I am looking to spend around $400-$450 I want the brightest spotlight possible, I dont know much about spotlights so HID, or Halogen doesn't matter just want it to be bright. I am using it to keep in my car and would need it to be portable so able to run on batteries, and the ciggarette lighter from my car if possible. If spending $500 would get me a much brighter light than that is an option too. Thank you for all your help links and personal opinions would be great.
Click to expand...
my pick would be streamlight H.I.D. LiteBox.
http://www.streamlight-flashlights.com/hid-litebox.html
 
Thanks for all your help guys, I am leaning towards the L35 just a few questions so with the L35 its possible to charge in my car with an inverter, and is it ok to run the light while it is plugged being charged? And if I wanted to go a step up from the L35 which light would I be looking at, and also if I wanted to go a step down what light would you recommend? Also, is their a light that is comparable to the L35? So, if I wanted a light comparable to the L35 but not the L35 what would you recommend? I am just trying to weigh all my options. I probably will end up with the L35 after researching it I really like it. Thanks for all your help.
 
Good questions. Not that I'm connected in any way with BatteryJunction, but they offer a wide range of HIDs.

The L35 can be charged right off a cigg adapter or power outlet in the car. No inverter necessary. Comes with a 12V DC charging cord. It cannot be run while charging off either 120V or 12 Volt chargers.

Step down - Their N30. Almost the same as the L35 but a 30 Watt'r with a Nimh rechargeable battery. Not very much difference in brightness and sometimes, depending on the individual light, they're about the same.

Step up - Their L50. An HID with a different shape that is on-the-fly switchable between 35 and 50 Watts. Very nice light. Lithium battery.
 
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Thank you for your feedback guys I appreciate it. I am pretty sure I will go with the L35. I just have a few more questions. So, you are saying for the amount of money I am willing to spend the brightest light I can get is the L35? Also, if I was willing to spend $500 and just wanted to get the brightest light possible meaning no restrictions, it could be permanently mounted on my car, could be a hand held flash light, could have short run time, does not matter how far the light went, could be really heavy and bulky or really light weight, HID, LED, Halogen, anything, just strictly considering brightness what lights would you recommend? So pretty much not being that practical just an extremely bright light what would you suggest?
Also while researching I came across the Golight Profiler™ II can you tell me if this light is any good? I am just wondering because I like how you can attach to your car via magnet. Would this light be comparable to the L35 in terms of brightness and throw? Does any one have any experiance with this light or any feedback to provide me with?

Thanks I am just wanting to find out as much as possible before spending $500 on my first light.
 
The next power level up from 35 Watts is 50 Watts and IIRC, all of the 50 Watt'rs, on-up, start around $700 - $750. Don't remember how much the L50 is on sale (I think I saw it on sale). There is the Polarion Helios 40 Watt but that's over $2,000.

You could always buy an Ebay 55 Watt HID kit bulb and ballast and mod a spotlight. The 55 Watt kit ballasts put out around 43 Watts to the bulb and are brighter than the typical 35 Watt'r flashlights. That would be much cheaper than $300 to $500.
 
That Golight looks similar in spec to the Titanium L50 being that its a 55w HID. It looks as though HID is going to be the route for what you want.

Now to entertain your wondering about 'no restrictions, the brightest/farthest for $500' I guess the smart alec response would be a laser or a flash strobe - both are intensely bright, but either in a tiny focused beam, or a quick flash.

Now first off, i'm no 'flashaholic' but realistically, my guess is that those 55 watt HID's are it. OEM HID's are 35 watts, you can get kit ballasts that are 55 watts. So think 'car headlight, but handheld'. For $500 you could get two sets of 55w ballasts, bulbs, and projector lenses, for 4 lights total. Then just run the relay wire to your car battery and put them in some sort of handheld, or car-mounted housing and thats going to be pretty damned bright.

Have a read here to learn more about HIDs, ballasts, color temp, projectors, and kits.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/
 
monkey4122 said:
I wanted to ask the experts so I came to this forum after hearing about it from a friend. I am looking to spend around $400-$450 I want the brightest spotlight possible,
Click to expand...


Like BVH and Phantom stated, in that price range the L35 would be the hands down favorite. It's performance in all categories and compactness are really unmatched. I have nothing against larger reflectored HID's for fun but they're useless unless you're using them from a base camp of some type i.e. a back porch, vehicle, or camp. No one in their right mind or who is an experienced outdoorsman is going to strap one of these around their shoulder and go for a walk. When it comes to usability and mobility, smaller is better. That means that the smaller the light with the same given lumen output and run-time is better in my experience. I do own 3 large 7-9 inch spotlights. They sit in my storage closet and are pulled out from time to time for comparison beamshots or maintenance charging. The rest of the time I rely on small, backpack-able HIDs because they offer the strongest combination of "firepower" vs mobility.
 
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Haha...yeah, yeah... speaking of that, I didn't get out tonight for beamshots. Ended up working on some project.

I see that N30 got snapped up by a new member though.
 
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