light for light painting???

haringharing Registered Users Posts: 281 Major grins
edited June 27, 2016 in Technique
What type of light do you recommend for light painting buildings, large objects?
Lot of people recommending the Brinkmann Q-beam spot light. I have looked at it and the internal rechargeable battery fails often.

Do you have any recommendation?

Thank so much!

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 23 Big grins
    I use anything I can get my hands on. If it makes light , use it .. Always have fun .. and dont color in between the lines.
  • gptwinsgptwins Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins

    I tried this one with a photography group, I used a simple 3C Maglite. I even did some with colored lenses in front of the light to add a little drama. I should do that one again. It was fun.

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator
    edited January 4, 2020

    I think it depends a bit on your shutter speed. If you are shooting shorter shutter speeds - shorter than 1/50th or so - then a larger light is helpful. If you're wanting to stop motion say..

    BUT, if you are shooting longer exposures - 0.5 -> 5 or 10 seconds - then a LumeCube 2.0 or a similar variant, or even some of the higher power LED flashlights work well. Wayne Suggs used Cineroid light panels - the L10-BC a couple years ago, but today the LumeCube 2.0 work pretty well also.

    The LumeCube uses filters to alter color, while some of he CIneroid panels allow altering the color temp by a rotating button. The L10-BC allows altering the color temp from 2700K to 6500K

    https://lumecube.com

    http://cineroid.com

    For light painting mountains and large landscapes, large halogen lanterns like the Q Beam had some success, but I think their lead acid batteries didn't fare will without frequent use and charging. Modern Lithium batteries offer a much better solution, today. I don't know of a great LARGE LED lantern like the Q Beam yet, maybe other readers here know of some.

    A quick trip to Amazon displays a nice fluorescent green Brinkmann Q beam 5Watt LED Rechargeable Powerful Spotlight which DOES have a rechargeable Lithium battery for $39.99 with almost 54,000 Candela - that might work

    Amazon also lists a NoCry 18W waterproof rechargeable flashlight/floodlight that sports a 3000 mAh rechargeable Lithium battery for $44 bucks that sounds very appealing too. And it has a 4 year waranty.

    Addendum: I actually went back and bought the 18W NoCry flashlight - it is smaller than it looks, not like a large Coleman floodlight, but more like a 2D cell flash light with a pistol grip. But it is plenty bright for most light painting of objects smaller than mountains. I kept it as it is rechargeable as it comes with both 110V and 12V cigarette lighter type chargers, so one can recharge easily in a vehicle.

    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • gptwinsgptwins Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins

    I did a light painting with a MeetUp group once. Just about any type of light will do. I used a 5-C MagLight but others used battery powered spot lights and other such things. I even modified my MagLight with the color filters from my swimming pool lamp so that I could add Red and Blue coloration to add some interest. I lost those images a long time ago. I want to recreate something like that again.

Sign In or Register to comment.