Looking for a small + powerful 940nm light - any suggestions?

Hi all,

I've frequented CPF in the past, but I registered today because I have a question that so far has gone unanswered, and google hasn't been a huge amount of help in my quest here. Anyway, here goes.

Basically, I'm looking for an IR LED flashlight, or suitable drop-in module, that puts out a large amount of 940nm light with a decent throw (yeah, i know, 940nm doesn't show up on cameras and some NV systems, but I need this wavelength, not the more common 850-880nm ones). Ideally the form factor of the light won't be substantially larger than an ordinary 2-cell SureFire, if possible. So far, I've found a couple hits on Google, but I don't know enough about IR lights to make an informed decision one way or the other. Here's what I've found so far:

1)
MaxMax 16 LED 940nm flashlight -- 1280mW listed output, $78
http://www.maxmax.com/XNiteFlash16LED.htm

This light looks pretty awesome, but the price seems out of whack to me for what you get... it really just seems to be 16 LEDs formed into an oversize-head flashlight. Judging from its appearance, it probably also has terrible beam characteristics. I've also never heard of this vendor, so I'm hoping to hear from someone who has.


2)
Unknown manufacturer - P60-style 940nm LED drop-in module, $25
http://www.batteryjunction.com/infrared-ir-p60-drop-in.html

I came across this item by way of a CPF post. The price seems more reasonable to me, but there are no specs on the output of the module, so I really have no metric to compare this module against other 940nm lights. I own a SF G2, so were I to get this module, I'd be doing a swap with the stock module from that light. Perhaps someone else here has used this module and can vouch for it?


Anyway, this is what I've found so far with some searching. I know very little about what to look for when purchasing a good IR light, so I'm somewhat out of my league here, and any help in finding a powerful handheld IR flashlight would be really appreciated. Feel free to recommend other products that I may not have stumbled upon yet. Thanks guys!

I'm not too sure how good of throw the drop in will have, but I know it will be better than the 16 LED light. That first one is just a bunch of regular LEDs with no reflector. Its good for scorpion hunting and checking for invisible ink, check IDs etc, but won't have any throw at all. I'm presuming the drop in will have the same beam characteristics of the regular drop ins, which is respectable.

BTW, why do you need the throw? Looking for body fluids from a distance? J/K, I'm sure there is a good reason, but I'm sure we are all curious...

Ups, wrong end of the spectrum

bkumanski said:

I'm not too sure how good of throw the drop in will have, but I know it will be better than the 16 LED light. That first one is just a bunch of regular LEDs with no reflector. Its good for scorpion hunting and checking for invisible ink, check IDs etc, but won't have any throw at all. I'm presuming the drop in will have the same beam characteristics of the regular drop ins, which is respectable.

BTW, why do you need the throw? Looking for body fluids from a distance? J/K, I'm sure there is a good reason, but I'm sure we are all curious...

Click to expand...

The throw is just to illuminate objects at distance, and to keep the beam relatively focused instead of spilling all over the place; I would prefer a narrow beamwidth to a wide one. Probably anything with a basic reflector is sufficient, now that I think about it.

I yous't bought the 940nm dropin from batteryjunction. I shoud get it next week so I can post a short review.
I actually was going to youse it with a camera, now I know this cant be done, but then what are the uses for this dropin?.

arcel1t said:

I yous't bought the 940nm dropin from batteryjunction. I shoud get it next week so I can post a short review.
I actually was going to youse it with a camera, now I know this cant be done, but then what are the uses for this dropin?.

Click to expand...

940nm can probably be seen by some cameras and night vision systems, the light's just not going to be as visible as an 850nm emitter would be. The extinction range of IR "seeing" in most consumer electronics is not too much past 850nm. After that point, the camera's ability to detect IR rolls off quickly.

Not sure about cameras, but I know all of the secure images on DLs, credit cards, and money lights up better and brighter with the 940nm lights. Its better as a security or counterfeit detection light. Not sure of its other uses though...Maybe curing epoxies and other resins?:thinking:

OH!!!! I get it now...

PI right? and you want to light up "targets" at a distance so they don't see you. The IR is so the camera can see, but they can't. 940nm is darker to the naked eye than the cheaper 840ishs which look red, but can still be picked up by the camera. Slick. I could be wrong, but this is my "educated" guess.

Here's another option. Reputable vendor....Small light, but it is a pricey light.

Scroll down to where you see the 940nm head.

CPFlightweight said:

940nm can probably be seen by some cameras and night vision systems, the light's just not going to be as visible as an 850nm emitter would be. The extinction range of IR "seeing" in most consumer electronics is not too much past 850nm. After that point, the camera's ability to detect IR rolls off quickly.

Click to expand...

Thank's next time I'l check before I buy. If it one thing I have learned after I joined CPF is it's easy to buy thing's you might not need.
But heck it might come in useful one day. At least that's the excuse.

bkumanski said:

Not sure about cameras, but I know all of the secure images on DLs, credit cards, and money lights up better and brighter with the 940nm lights. Its better as a security or counterfeit detection light. Not sure of its other uses though...Maybe curing epoxies and other resins?:thinking:

OH!!!! I get it now...

PI right? and you want to light up "targets" at a distance so they don't see you. The IR is so the camera can see, but they can't. 940nm is darker to the naked eye than the cheaper 840ishs which look red, but can still be picked up by the camera. Slick. I could be wrong, but this is my "educated" guess.

Click to expand...

Heh. I hate to disappoint, but I'm actually just experimenting with various near and far-infrared detectors. I wanted a tight beamwidth and good throw because some of the trials will put a piece of glass between the LED and the detector, and because glass attenuates IR pretty well I need a powerful light with a tight beam to maximize transmission through the glass.

By the way, while we're on the same topic, does anyone know where to find reasonably-sized far-infrared emitters, if any? Those seem to be far harder to find than near-IR emitters, most of the hits I've turned up are for super expensive lab test equipment.

Might want to check into Nailbender's P60 drop in. He just started offering a 940nm IR drop in for P60 style host like your Surefire G2.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=229637

http://www.prolightaesthetics.com/page/page/4476688.htm

Here is a link to other led lights that use different wave lenghts (including 940 nm) for acne, spider veins or other skin problems (anti aging also). If they work we should see a boom in self home health care using more powerful Cree`s.

I could use the one for spider veins as I have them in my nose after years of living in Florida under the sun. Had laser treatments but the always seem to come back.

Could any modders build a more powerful one? The one I would need would have to be 405/415 nm...according to them.

Well I youst recived the 940nm IR module from:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/infrared-ir-p60-drop-in.html
It fit's perfectly in my Ultrafire wf-502b. But as CPFlightweight explaind in
his post it dosen't work well with a camera.
It's visible but only at extremly short distanses.
What exactly are the uses for such a device?