LED Head Torches
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:33 pmMy head torch finally got to the point where I decided to replace it. this is annoying, because it's only on its third set of batteries - but it's a cheap LED Petzl, and the switch is one of those annoying slide ones and it's failed. The rest of the torch is fine, it's only a couple of years old. But a set of batteries is good for about 150 hours of use, and I only use it for half an hour at a time, so the switch gets hammered. So my advice is only to buy led torches that have nice rugged push buttons to turn them on and off.
Looking at Flashlight Reviews site is a bit scary. There are good head torches, cheap ones, and there's the Petzl Myo. The only major downfall of that light is that it's unregulated, so the output falls off quickly as the battery voltage drops. But the competition is 4x the cost ($OZ130 delivered vs nearly $OZ500) even if it is a much better product. So I bought the Petzl model that has a detachable battery pack and built a 4-cell pack. I get about the same voltage from four rechargeable cells as 3 brand new disposable cells, only they sit on that voltage for 80% of their discharge capacity.
Playing with it I'm really impressed - the 3W LED gives ample light for wandering around in the dark, and on full power with the diffuser on it's enough to see the dark spots when digging around my bag under street lights. The technology has come a long way since I bought my last one
Testing this give me exposures of 1/3s, f/2.8, 800ISO, 85mm at 5m. That's just using the torch. And I could focus in pitch darkness at 10m (our hallway is 10m long). The expensive model has twice the power output, so hopefully ~1/6s under the same conditions. But significantly more expensive (also more waterproof and with a much better battery life).
Looking at Flashlight Reviews site is a bit scary. There are good head torches, cheap ones, and there's the Petzl Myo. The only major downfall of that light is that it's unregulated, so the output falls off quickly as the battery voltage drops. But the competition is 4x the cost ($OZ130 delivered vs nearly $OZ500) even if it is a much better product. So I bought the Petzl model that has a detachable battery pack and built a 4-cell pack. I get about the same voltage from four rechargeable cells as 3 brand new disposable cells, only they sit on that voltage for 80% of their discharge capacity.
Playing with it I'm really impressed - the 3W LED gives ample light for wandering around in the dark, and on full power with the diffuser on it's enough to see the dark spots when digging around my bag under street lights. The technology has come a long way since I bought my last one
Testing this give me exposures of 1/3s, f/2.8, 800ISO, 85mm at 5m. That's just using the torch. And I could focus in pitch darkness at 10m (our hallway is 10m long). The expensive model has twice the power output, so hopefully ~1/6s under the same conditions. But significantly more expensive (also more waterproof and with a much better battery life).
