Help me find a dim light (found?)

This question doesn't seem to get much play around here!

I would like to find a light that's great for indoor use, including reading at night.

Have tried several "booklights" but found them disappointing - TOO dim, yellowish light, hard to hold, don't attach to books as they are supposed to, and they have no other uses...

Desired characteristics:

Very low level(s) available (additional, higher levels okay)
Very white light, no visible flickering
Broad, floody beam - no hotspot (this rules out the VB-16 for example)
Small, light, but does not get hot in extended use in a warm environment
Long runtime on a low level
Takes rechargeable battery(ies) - a single 18650 might be ideal
Not too expensive - say < $60

Suggestions?

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Arc AAA (not "P") should do the trick.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Best option would probably be a Gerber Infinity Ultra. Less than $20.00, extremely long run time on single AA.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

The Eternalight Derringer has multi-levels plus other modes and makes an excellent reading light.

Geoff

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

The CR2 ion aces the first five needs in your list - cost and rechargeable batteries are another consideration.

The flood on the ion is amazing. The reflector is very deep and the flood is very very smooth. There's no annoying hotspot. For example, in the first image below the light is being suspended about 14" above the floor. It provides a wide swath of light - easily enough to read the 1400+ page physics tome in the picture (the book takes up about 10" x 16" in the picture). As you can see the cree is very white. Prehaps the fact Endeavor is handpicking the best Cree's for these lights has something to do with it, but they are amazing. Compared to most incandescent lights the Cree looks very white. Even better though is the light is tolerable for reading. Some LED lights really bug my eyes when I try to read something for any length of time. I've already completed several books under Cree light (need to test the runtimes of various batteries)

You get 30-40 hours of regulated light using the ion on low. Many lights will list long (100+) runtimes, but since they are not regulated only a fraction of those hours will be useful before the light is stumbling dim.

As for the last two items on your list.. well this in an expensive light ($150.00) - but you get what you pay for. I'm also happy to be supporting something that's entirely made in the US (no disrespect meant for those outside of the US). True the ion does not work as well using rechargeable batteries - however cr2's can be found online for $2-2.50/cell and considering you get 30-40 hours of light per cell you can get a substantial amount of reading done on one battery.

Second image is to give you a sense of scale on the ion. It's that small. Really like this light.

{EDIT - since the ion uses current regulation is does not flcker on low. Runs cool too.}

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Waion's VB-16 is $55 shipped and has 32 levels. The lowest (level 1) on mine is very, very low (good for late night navigation). Level 2 is about 1/3 watt. Puts out about 1500 lux at the highest level 32. Current regulation, not PWM.

The beam has a typical hot spot. For more flood, you need to either cover the lens or maybe get the Turbohead (another $22 I think) which, counter intuitively, makes the beam more floody.

I really like mine. At level 2, it should run 50 hours or more. At level 1, I think it will run thousands of hours.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Take a look at the Photon Freedom "to the Max" at http://www.batteryjunction.com/phfrmipesafl.html

I would suggest the 'covert' model which prevents light from spilling back into your eyes.
This model is brighter than the Infinity Ultra, but it can be continuously dimmed to suit your needs. It comes with a clip to help you mount it on a hat or someplace where it will be convenient.

The Infinity Ultra is usable for reading, but it's much heavier than the Photon. A small AAA light would also be quite useable, but the Photon is cheaper, smaller, lighter, easier to mount and plenty bright for what you want.

Oh yeh. The batteries. The Photon uses CR2016. They can be had for as little as 17 cents delivered on eBay. It's been reported in a thread on CPF that the Photon will last for many hours on a set of batteries. In an emergency it will produce usable light for many days.

I don't know if it flickers or not.

There is a review at flashlightreviews.com
Here is a recent Photon thread with a link to a runtime test http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=144508&highlight=photon

I have a Fenix L0P. It is a wonderful, small bright light. I was using it to read in bed the other day, and it was getting annoyingly warm. Not hot, but it was drawing attention to itself. It would be most helpful to have the light clipped to something so it becomes less obtrusive.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

I use a cr2 ION for late ight reading. It works very well.
Yaesumofo

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

If you are going to be using it for mostly reading, consider a small headlamp. Some use multiple LEDs and give a good flood. I use a Streamlight Septor for this although I think there are headlamps which are smaller and have an even better beam. The small ones are quite comfortable, leave your hands free to work the pages and point to where you are looking.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Lights that I believe might be ideal for the task would be the CR2 Ion, the Streamlight Stylus, or the Fenix E0. The latter two have a more pronounced bluish tint than a Lux/Cree based light but they are still pretty white...

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

It's not a matter of brightness or color. The main thing you want is an extremely even, wide flood beam with no hot spot at all. The original McLux/McFlood is my favorite. The CR2 Ion on low might also be good.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Check out the Safe-Light Super Brights. It has two beam settings for brightness. The first one is pretty dim but fine for reading or close up work. I use mine to test my blood (diabetic) in the middle of the night. Bright enough to see and read my meter but not bright enough to wake the wife up. We are running a special on them now. You can throw the free red LED one in the glove compartment for reading maps.

Safe-Light $11.99
https://edcdepot.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=5&products_id=92

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

My trusted reading-in-bed-and-don't-disturb-the-wife light is a CMG Infinity. It's the original model, which is dimmer than the Ultra. Lasts forever on a single AA alkie. A model of simplicity and built like a tank---I'll probably be using it after all my other lights have gone to flashlight heaven.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! They are very helpful. They inspired me to take a close look at:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=146540

Based on beam profiles, I ordered the Pierce M10 package that is currently offered in a "blowout sale" at $70. This includes both narrow and wide optics. Hopefully, the wide optic on low level will work for reading.

Runtime was tested at 70 minutes to 50% on "high", so should be decent on low. For rechargeability, it may need L1R's.

The beam width to 1% is almost the same as for the Ion (41 dgr vs. 46) and the throw at 30 lumens (normalized) is close: 9 for Ion, 12 for Pierce (same as Ion XRE) - so the Pierce should be floody with a slightly more concentrated center than the Ion. Even on low it is brighter than many of your suggestions, but I think that's what I want. Compared to Ion it offers greater runtime, greater flexibility, and a much lower price (in a slightly larger form) - so it seems a "must try".

If it doesn't work for reading, it will work for something else, and if not, there's always the BST.

Thanks again.

Re: Help me find a dim light (?)

A good question indeed, I have a number of such set-ups. +1 for Safelight Superbright, and don't let the 9v battery bother you, I can't use up all of the "dead" ones I have accumulated to use in it - it really takes the last bit of juice from the battery, and runs a long, long time on the lower setting, with no dimming as the battery dies, since the battery voltage is always greater than what the LED needs.

Big fan of the Gerber Infinity Ultra, which now is coming with the much brighter Nichia CS LED's, which is usually a good thing. But if you use a low AA in it, you will get a lower light level, and for a lot longer than the 10-12 hours that the really bright light from a fresh alkaline battery lasts. Same applies to Gerber Sonic's (AAA), Arcs, Dorcy AAA's (but the newer ones don't have the floody beams, they are a spotlight lense), etc.

The River Rock headlamp with low and high settings, from Target, is a nice option, 25 hours advertised on low, but I like to use NiMH's in mine, so the brightness is constant. A little blue, and somewhat of a hotspot, so Writeright on the lense might be a help, but that can also be adjusted somewhat by rotating the bezel, even though they don't advertize the feature.

Probably my most favorite low lights are MJLED or SMJLED based, though. Just stuffing one into a AAA (or AA if you don't mind the weight) Minimag with the reflector bored out is a great option, and the state of the bateries will determine the brightness. It is only really bright on fresh alkalines, or with lithium batteries. Like the Infinity, it will make huge hours of low light on partly depleted alkalines. More often, though, I reach for a cheap 2AA light with a PR2 conversion in it. The boosted ones are available at the Sandwich Shoppe, but they are very bright when using fresh batteries. I make my own direct drive "bulbs" by buying the loose LED and soldering them into a gutted PR2 bulb base. Again, battery state will determine exact brightness, and at lower levels, they run CRAZY long - direct drive is VERY efficient. I suggest the Eveready 2AA Contractor light from Home Depot as a host - four bucks and a nice wide hotspot, although it is still a hotspot.

Hope this helps, rather than confuses, please ask if you want any more detail on any of these options .

EDIT: Was typing while you posted, I have been tempted by the Pierce also, I think you will like it, but I am glad you are interested in it for other than reading as well. I think you will find the 400 ma (low) Luxeon to be a bit much for that use.

Hondo

Sorry to jump on so late.

I would second the suggestions of either the Gerber Infinity Ultra or ARC AAA. I would also add the Fenix E0 for 10+ hours of similar, regulated output.

We've come a long way when a Luxeon 3 driven at 400ma is considered dim. All Hail Flashaholics!

Thanks for the additional help with this.

I cancelled the Pierce order as it may well be too bright for reading, and not that useful for other purposes either, because it can't be used more than 10 minutes on high due to excess heat. Maybe the low is okay for walking but I like more throw for that.

I'm concerned that a Nichia light like the EO (and Gerber?) will be too blue.

I'm going to try the Safe-Light, and keep looking.

I find the EO too bright for use when waking up in the middle of the night.
Low on the L1 with a diffuser (FO4) is better, but I am going to try a Peak Shasta single LED with a light dimmer cap. I have one on order.
If it works just right, I'll let you know.

You know what's funny, I just modded a Mini-maglite Nite-Ize module last night to put a Cree XR-E into it. The resulting beam is a flood with no hotspot and when I showed it to my Dad, who doesn't see too well, he said "wow that would be a perfect reading light!"

So maybe that would work for ya, here's more info
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/147679