What torches to use for painting?

[cphosavanh]

Hi everyone,
I'm kinda new to night photography, and I was wondering what led torches would be good to use for illuminating trees/buildings/various natures stuffs,etc.
I looked at a couple Maglites, but man, I never knew torches could be so expensive.
How many lumens do you think I'd need?

Side note: I found a Nikon page talking about something like this a while ago but I forgot to bookmark it Kudos to anyone who finds it

Thanks in advance guys and girls.

[hakka]

http://www.fenixlight.com/viewproduct.asp?id=122

I use one of these, dont look down the barrel or you wont be able to see for an hour

Its powerful enough to be able to light a scene without aiming it directly at anything in the shot, for example i can light up a tree behind the camera and the light reflects on to my shot, giving soft light rather then harsh direct light.

Also comes in handy for focusing on distant objects in darkness, beam throw is 200m in the right conditions.

[jjphoto]

...How many lumens do you think I'd need?

....

That's a 'how long is a piece of string' kind of question. The simple answer is the more the better (as much as you can afford) as you can always dim the light with gels, but you can't make it brighter.

I think an important consideration is the type of battery used. For example I have stacks of AA NiMH batts so a light that uses AA's would fit in with my existing routine.

[fillum]

I can't help much with the torches, but if you are looking at lighting large areas maybe a spotlight might be more effective than a led torch?

Side note: I found a Nikon page talking about something like this a while ago but I forgot to bookmark it Kudos to anyone who finds it

Probably not the same one, but well-known sports photographer (and Nikon-user) Dave Black also does lightpainting and made an 8-part series of posts about it last year. He lists his gear (which I guess would be pretty expensive) but it might give you an idea about lumen values etc. Here is the link to the first post in the series, but search his site as from memory there are some older posts as well.

For inspiration and ideas maybe check out the illuminated landscape website of Sydney photographer Peter Solness.



Cheers.

[cphosavanh]

Thanks for your replies guys
much appreciated.
I'm currently taking a look at the Inova Series.
Never seen LED torches go for more than $2 :c
This is gna be pricey..

Thanks for the link Phil.

[Rattus79]

Something else to consider is the colour temperature of the light thrown. Some LED's are a very cool blue, others almost pure white. It can affect the end look/feel of your images.

I personally use a $10 cheapie from Aldi. It's one of those headlight ones, but has a 1w focusable LED and rivals some of the better Mag lights etc for output. I think I got super lucky with it.

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day cpho

I have several 250lumen lights that I use to light up dark areas
here's the mob I buy this stuff from...
"http://www.dinodirect.com/torches-led-k01b-cree-q5-modes-lumens-camping-hiking-outdoor-currency-AUD.html?DDID=3520-616"

Regards, Phil

[mechawombat]

If you are going to spend the cash go for a LEDLENSER