Best Flashlight

[ElizaMM]

I thought that this was a simple question. I Googled "what is the best flashlight for light painting?" I thought that I would get a few brand names. Instead I got so much information, that it was meaningless. Do I need coloured lights, attachments - cones, cylinders and brush shaped devices? Is there one, efficient, all-purpose light I can use?

 

[Dao]

What type of Light Painting photo are you going after?
I did orbs and words with just a small regular LED flash light before. But I just wrapped a little white cloth on the flash light head so that is glow with the flash light is on.

 

[Designer]

I thought that this was a simple question. I Googled "what is the best flashlight for light painting?" I thought that I would get a few brand names. Instead I got so much information, that it was meaningless. Do I need coloured lights, attachments - cones, cylinders and brush shaped devices? Is there one, efficient, all-purpose light I can use?

It's not a "simple question". You should think about what TYPE of flashlight you want, then your search results can be restricted to that type of light.

 

[Buckster]

Yeah, there are simply WAY too many ways to make light, each with it's own style / signature, to boil it down like that.

Start by deciding what you want your first light-painting project to be. Orb? Flying sparks? Writing? Light trails? Where? What's the setting? What kinds of props, if any? What colors do you want in the final piece?

You need to get a plan together first, and then you can decide the proper light and or modifiers to use for that specific plan. The next plan may need something entirely different.

I've seen a few "kit" type light sets popping up here and there over the past couple of years. The ones I've seen were way too expensive for what they included, IMHO. Most folks doing this kind of work are making the lights themselves from various flashlights they've tested, cannibalized LEDs, fire, sparklers, tape, wire, switches, colored filters, etc., often attached to DIY apparatus to control their movement.

Painting with light is performance art. It's about planning and timing and movement - and trying it repeatedly until you get the end result the way you want it - the way you planned it.

Here's one of mine:

 

[ElizaMM]

I did orbs and words with just a small regular LED flash light

Do you have an example somewhere in this forum?

think about what TYPE of flashlight you want

I think I need something with a long beam, so that I can highlight treetops in star trail shots to inject a bit of colour. I still get hundreds of hits and I would be interested to hear what others, here, are using.

 

[Dao]

If that is the case, I think you just need a powerful flash light and find a way to mount a gel at the front of the flashlight for color. Just something with higher lumen number. For flash light stuff, I usually go to the CandlePowerForums

 

[ElizaMM]

Here's one of mine:

Impressive! I can't even think of something like that, for the moment--I just want to light up a few tree tops, about 150' away, 30/50' up, to have them form a partial frame in the finished image.

 

[Buckster]

I just want to light up a few tree tops, about 150' away, 30/50' up, to have them form a partial frame in the finished image.

Using whatever flashlight you can get your hands on, if you can see it lighting up the trees at all, then your camera shooting a long exposure for the night sky will see it too.

You'll need to experiment a bit to figure out how long to shine it on them during the exposure. A more powerful light will require less time.

Gels are easy to come by so that you can color it any color you want. Be aware that very bright spotlights can get very hot, and will melt gels if they're making contact with each other.

 

[snowbear]

Maybe one of these?

 

[Designer]

For a long-range bright light, search for powerful spotlights, such as what I found here:

15 Million Candle Power Rechargeable Spotlights : Lights & Flashlights - Walmart.com

and here:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_3xmb9diw1k_b

 

[Jamesaz]

I've used regular d cell lights and covered the light with a cc filter holder that has some spring clips for attachment and small barn doors for some limited control. I've also used a device called a "hosemaster" which is a fiber optic that runs on AC power. They were all the rage in the early 90's and came with a lot of accessories. Never tried it with digital but don't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe one could find a used one on eBay or somewhere like that. Light output with hot lights is quite a bit less than strobes but easier to control (and burn yourself) Have fun.


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