Obtaining a flood/diffused beam with lights I already own

Hello everyone. I own the following lights:

Fenix E01 (one wife's keychain)
Fenix LD01
Preon 2
Quark 123 regular
Surefire C2 P60 incan

Now here is my problem, I am visually impaired (legally blind) and have been this way from birth in both eyes. The problem that I am having is that the lights I have other than the Fenix E01 have a hotspot in the middle of the beam with a dimmer surround to the beam. The E01 has a sanded LED in it (it came to me that way) and has a nice floody/disfused beam, however it is just not bright enough to walk with at say 3 feet. What can i do to defuse the beams of the lights that I already own so I get an even amount on light from a distance of 6 inches to 6 feet or so? I am looking for a beam similar to my E01 or an Inova X5 (these are my only references) that gives me a ball of light with no hotspot. If this can not be done with my current lights, then what is out there that will? I am willing to trade light for light if someone has a flashlight like I am looking for.
It does look like this would help for the Quark 123 regular that I have, but it has a bend in it and I can not just put a defuser right on the front of the light. http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_304&products_id=1973

Re: Obtaining a flood/defused beam with lights I already own

One thing that works on all lights is 'frosting' the lens.Take some Armour Etch(available at any Michael's) and etch the lens of your light.There are many threads on CPF on this topic so do a search.There is also a film that can be put on the lens to diffuse the beam.Either method will produce a very smooth beam.You can also sand the lens with very fine sand paper(200 grit or better) to achieve the same results.

If after you try these methods your lights don't produce enough light than you need brighter lights.

Last year I built a 2C ROP with a LOP reflector/a sanded lens/and a etched bulb and produced a very pleasing beam.Unfortunately the light emitted was half the light it originally did.

Re: Obtaining a flood/defused beam with lights I already own

lovenhim said:

Hello everyone. I own the following lights:

Fenix E01 (one wife's keychain)
Fenix LD01
Preon 2
Quark 123 regular
Surefire C2 P60 incan

Now here is my problem, I am visually impaired (legally blind) and have been this way from birth in both eyes. The problem that I am having is that the lights I have other than the Fenix E01 have a hotspot in the middle of the beam with a dimmer surround to the beam. The E01 has a sanded LED in it (it came to me that way) and has a nice floody/disfused beam, however it is just not bright enough to walk with at say 3 feet. What can i do to defuse the beams of the lights that I already own so I get an even amount on light from a distance of 6 inches to 6 feet or so? I am looking for a beam similar to my E01 or an Inova X5 (these are my only references) that gives me a ball of light with no hotspot. If this can not be done with my current lights, then what is out there that will? I am willing to trade light for light if someone has a flashlight like I am looking for.

Click to expand...

Hi - you'd be surprised what can be put together with any old plastic thing to make a (removable) diffuser. If you'll never let the light go you could sand the window on it, but I hate to see good glass (and most resale value) die. A clear (milky white) film canister is a close fit for many lights - if you trim its walls to be shorter it won't affect heat emission much, and you can glue it on any old way.

Water bottle lids (the clearish ones) are also good options, and anything you can stick them on with works. I understand that Fenix has a standard diffuser, and your Quark will take one if you lightly sand the rim of the diffuser so its inside diameter is larger. Good luck!

Hmm, anything else... The surefire could be treated this way

The LD01, E01, and Preon you may have to get clever.

The quick and dirty way to do it is just to just Glad Press'n Seal wraps. Coating the window with the wrap is super quick, super easy ,and super cheap! From my experience this give a semi permanent film on the glass.

Give this method a try before you go any more modification. As I can always go back to the original spec by peeling the wrap off.

Diffuser you ask? As close as the end of your thumb. Just smudge the lens w/ your fingertip until you get the degree of diffusion you desire. $0 cost and easily cleaned up.

Old photographers trick was to use a tiny bit of petroleum jelly on lens, more diffusion but a bit more work to clean off...

There was a post someone had offering a P60 drop in that is used for csi stuff.

It offers a perfectly round, evenly illuminated beam, no hot spot, the whole area of the beam is the same intensity. should be perfect for your C2

Thanks for the help. Now for the Fenix LD01 and Preon 2 a simple cap from a tube of lip balm works great. I have not tried anything else yet. I like the cap idea because you can pop it on and off when needed. I do not want to do any mods to my lights because they cost money and second it might damage the light. I am looking into those cheap, simple mods that can be added and removed in seconds without having to remake the defuser everytime you use the light or remove it. Now the defuser option for the Fenix is a neat idea because i have a Fenix P3D coming from a trade on another forum, however that device is a bit too small to fit the Quark 123 regular. Keep the ideas coming.

From this thread:

Kestrel said:

OK, I finally set up my Fenix LD01 with diffusion film. While it's not a night & day difference, I did get a smoother overall beam and a slightly more diffuse hotspot.
(My LD01 is the earlier 'XRE-Q5' version, which is somewhat more 'ringy' than the current 'R2' version.)

Note the somewhat more-diffuse hotspot in the last photo on the right, plus (more importantly) the less-pronounced outer ring features that are shown near the flashlight itself - these rings just outside of the 'spill' have always bothered me for indoor usage.

Click to expand...

I can punch out a number of circular self-adhesive disks from this sheet - it is removable and even reusable.

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LH, if you'd like, PM me your mailing address and how many disks you want (sized for the LD01 lens) and I'll mail them to you. 'Milky' was kind enough to send me this sheet (as it was out of stock online) so I'd be happy to help you out on this.

Edit: if you need any sizes larger than the LD01 lens, PM me the diameter(s) and I'll see if I can punch out larger disks for your other lights.

For the C2 incan go with the FM-34.

I used it with a Malkoff M60 and a P61. It turned the M60 into an M60F, with the flip of the lens. With the P61 (a brighter version of the P60) it was like walking around with the sun in my hand... just a semi-sphere of ambient incan sun light.

Scotch tape (the matte kind) works pretty well, and is cheap.

Kestrel said:

From this thread:



I can punch out a number of circular self-adhesive disks from this sheet - it is removable and even reusable.

----------

LH, if you'd like, PM me your mailing address and how many disks you want (sized for the LD01 lens) and I'll mail them to you. 'Milky' was kind enough to send me this sheet (as it was out of stock online) so I'd be happy to help you out on this.

Edit: if you need any sizes larger than the LD01 lens, PM me the diameter(s) and I'll see if I can punch out larger disks for your other lights.

Click to expand...

I borrowed a milkyspit SF-M1 that had been modded with this film and a green lux-3 emitter. it still had a fairly pronounced spot in the middle, but it definitely smoothed out the spill artifacts. A nice little light.

i know some types of camera LCD protective sheets that have some degree of diffusing properties. the largest of them will provide enough coverage for a few lights.

Word of caution about photographic diffusion films, not all of them are capable of withstanding higher temperatures. If you go the DIY route Make sure you get a film that is designed for high temps when you use it with the C2-P60.

My wife had an idea, so I am playing with this idea, but not sure at all how to make it work. Wax paper is what she suggested to try. I cut a small sheet and went into a dark room and tried it and it works well if you fold it. I liked what I saw when you have 4 lasyers of wax paper in front of the lens. To my eyes it makes the hotspot go away and you are left with a solid ball of light. The question is how can I place it on the light? I guess I could just drape it over the tip of the light with some rubber bands but that looks kinda junkyard dog-ish. The lip balm caps block a lot of light because the only ones I have are white, maybe a frosted cap would work well and let more light through, the trick is finding one.

Here are the beams shots that I took using the Quark 123 regular in stock form and then while holding 4 layers of wax paper over the lens. This works fairly well.

Cut the 4 round disks and drop them in the bezel.
You'll have to cut them just the right size though so they don't touch the lamp module. Fiddle with it and run a few tests before calling it good. Perhaps an o-ring or gasket between the reflector and paper would be best.

Wait, I just realized you may not be up to taking the head apart!

Some pics....
ITP-A3








E2L

You did there what I was thinking, a frosted cap from some lip balm, and I can see in the pics that it does work. How much light do you lose doing it this way? I like the idea because it only takes seconds to install and remove and no money is being spend on this solution.

lovenhim said:

You did there what I was thinking, a frosted cap from some lip balm, and I can see in the pics that it does work. How much light do you lose doing it this way? I like the idea because it only takes seconds to install and remove and no money is being spend on this solution.

Click to expand...

I am not sure how many lumens get lost, I have never measured it in the BC sphere. Ceiling bounce does not work because a lot of light is cast sideways and never hits the wall.

I did make a conscious effort to pick a bottlecap and chapstick cap that were more transparent, and not a solid white.

I tried a solid white and it cuts too much light. I will find a frosted one like you have and see what happens. I think that may be my best over all solution without any mods and only a $1 or so invested.