Beamshot Videos [new post linked]

Please go here for further responses Figured I'd mention my other thread here for the few folks who subscribed to this one. I refined things quite a bit, and wanted to start from scratch.

I've been experimenting with my "new" camera, Adobe Flash, and my new flashlights. The following link to my YouTube playlist is the result.

Beamshot Time Lapse Videos Playlist Please watch in 720 HD (full screen if possible). They are short and small, but full of visual info.

Side By Side comparison vids
EagleTac T20C2 (1st Gen, Warm tint) vs MagCharger

The videos are time lapse shots of my main flashlights fired down my hallway (EagleTac T20C2, MagCharger, 3D Maglite, NiteCore D10 high, iTP EOS A3, and MiniMag). Let me know what you think, and if this sort of thing is a useful addition to the information here on CPF. Other than blacking out my apartment for a few hours at a time, it's actually really easy, so I could happily do more.

All videos are the same settings (camera, exposure, f-stop, white balance). Videos have an embedded timer, but are also timed such that each second of video is equal to 0.1 hours (10 seconds of video = 1 hour realtime). Bathroom wall is ~20 feet from light/camera.

After doing these experiments, I've noticed a few important things.

1) Alkaline Maglites aren't really "bright" overall and they get a bad rep for runtimes. The initial drop in brightness from fresh cells is so fast, you probably won't notice it in the time lapse videos (within the first 6-12 minutes in real time or 2-4 seconds in the videos), but they do have a decent runtime for an incandescent once they "mellow out".

2) NiCd battery packs appear to get a bad name too. My 8 year old OEM MagCharger pack is still friggin impressive. I've never "maintained" it, and have done the "short use" then recharge a billion times and it still is cranking out massive light on par with reviews I've seen of MagChargers with new battery packs.

3) High mode burn times as quoted by manufacturers for all of my LED lights are pretty accurate. Within 6-9 minutes regardless of battery type.

4) The EagleTac T20C2 (1st gen, warm tint) is a friggin MONSTER. Check out the insane brightness, flat output vs time curve, and crazy runtime.

4) Li-ion is the bomb!

5) I'm eventually gonna have to do some faster exposed time lapse shots to truly represent the MagCharger, EagleTac, and D10. 1/2 second at f 9.0 and 800 ISO is too overexposed near the image center to really demonstrate the brightness differences for lights above ~100 lumens.

Anyway, these vids aren't as precisely controlled as wall shots and light box readings, but I think they give a VERY good real world view into light performance.

Let me know what you think.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Very cool entoptics it's like a 3-D runtime graph. Great job keep it going and I like how you put the pics inside the.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Wow those are great videos. It would be cool to see more videos like that in the future. This thread in subcribed to now!

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Glad you guys like them. After constructing a Flash template, I can go from the camera to youtube in 15 minutes. Just wish I had more flashlights to test...



EDIT: I just discovered that the iTP EOS A3 medium power run was snapped at 1250 ISO (1.5x the exposure of the other vids). I removed all the videos with that run from youtube, and tried to delete all the links on CPF that refer to them.

My wife has the little fellow on her keychain, and she's in another state, so it'll be a few days before I can do a rerun and get a fair comparison video back up. In the meantime, I didn't want a bunch of false information running around.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

I think these videos are fantastic! Their very innovative and are a great visual tool for comparing lights. You may have created a new type of beamshot "live", "real time", "dynamic" whatever you'd like to call them. I definitely want to see more. :twothumbs

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Subscribed! This is a great idea.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Great!
Even better would be to have a simultaneous view of all at once, kinda like the "Brady Bunch" with multiple squares of video, each doing there own thing at the same time, so that you don't "forget" what you just saw while watching the next one.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

cityevader said:

Great!
Even better would be to have a simultaneous view of all at once, kinda like the "Brady Bunch" with multiple squares of video, each doing there own thing at the same time, so that you don't "forget" what you just saw while watching the next one.

Click to expand...

EDIT: Link Removed, I did the medium run on a different ISO. I'll get another one done soon.

That's the iTP EOS A3 medium vs high mode. Different battery choices though. High is using a Duracell and the medium video is using a Titanium Enduro LSD.

Pretty new to flash video, but getting the hang of it enough for these crude videos.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Subscribed... nice work and great idea. :thumbsup:

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

I would also suggest thumbnails you can pick to compare runtime drops side by side.

This si like the duracell bunny adds - great idea yet so blooming obvious

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

terrific idea!

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Let's get ready to ruuuummmbbbblllllllllle!

MagCharger vs EagleTac T20C2 Two equivalently priced lights duke it out side by side. Place your bets.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

These are absolutely outstanding! Thanks for putting in the time to share them with us. I see these evolving into a new standard. There's one problem through, you need to collect a bunch more lights and/or school the rest of us. I have several lights that I would like to video in the same manner. I have been eyeing my first DSLR thinking of the Canon EOS Rebel T2i can it take video like these?

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Gazerbeam said:

There's one problem through, you need to collect a bunch more lights and/or school the rest of us. I have several lights that I would like to video in the same manner. I have been eyeing my first DSLR thinking of the Canon EOS Rebel T2i can it take video like these?

Click to expand...

I'm happy to accept light donations!

I suppose I really could accept a few lights by mail for testing, but I don't have the cash for a bunch of return shipments, and I'm not sure I want to be responsible for babysitting someone else's prize light. I also think the Mrs would have a conniption if I try to black out the apartment too often.

As for doing these yourselves, the videos are just a series of still images, so all you need is a camera capable of time lapse photography, a tripod, and a simple video editor program. My older Canon S5 IS has time lapse, and I'm sure there are quite a few cameras out there with the capability (point-n-shoots and DSLRs both). Also, there is CHDK (Canon Hackers Development Kit), which can be installed on most Canon cameras and unlocks the ability to do all sorts of cool stuff, including time lapse and motion detection.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Thanks for answering and for the link entoptics. How far apart is the timeline between stills?

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Only thing about using a point and shoot camera for timelapse is the battery life. I had a Canon G9 that would do timelapse video, but the battery on a full charge was only worth usually only good for a bit under 2 hours with the LCD turned off, so they probably won't be good for doing battery life videos for a lot of lights. DSLRs don't usually suffer from the same problem because of bigger batteries and lower power consumption because their image sensor isn't running constantly, or because some of them can be plugged in. Great idea btw!

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

Good call babybird. Some time lapse capable cameras do "sleep" between shots though, so battery life may not be an issue. My Canon S5 IS did, and it took 4xAA so it had no problem going for several hours. Something to consider for sure though.

Gazerbeam, the shots are 3 minutes apart. At 2 frames per second video, that equals 0.1 hrs per second. Depending on software and camera, you can experiment with a frame rate that works for you. In my case I made sure to set the time far enough apart for a bathroom visit...

guess the links got moved

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

SYKO said:

guess the links got moved

Click to expand...

Sorry about that SYKO, I just discovered that the iTP EOS A3 medium power run was snapped at 1250 ISO (1.5x the exposure of the other vids). I removed all the videos with that run from youtube, and tried to delete all the links on CPF that refer to them.

My wife has the little fellow on her keychain, and she's in another state, so it'll be a few days before I can do a rerun and get a fair comparison video back up. In the meantime, I didn't want a bunch of false information running around.

Re: Beamshot Time Lapse videos

babybird said:

Only thing about using a point and shoot camera for timelapse is the battery life. I had a Canon G9 that would do timelapse video, but the battery on a full charge was only worth usually only good for a bit under 2 hours with the LCD turned off, so they probably won't be good for doing battery life videos for a lot of lights. DSLRs don't usually suffer from the same problem because of bigger batteries and lower power consumption because their image sensor isn't running constantly, or because some of them can be plugged in. Great idea btw!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight babybird and :welcome:. I'm going to look into what my Canon G11 can do in this circumstance.
Thanks for the numbers entoptics; I guess if I'm going to give this a try I'll have to learn some new tricks.
Need More Videos!!!!