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MacGyver
 
location:
St Paul, Minnesota
Gender: Male
"Someone go find me a paperclip, a D-cell battery, and a cheese grater"
 |  | LED fob light review
< on 10/8/2003 3:38 PM >
|  | | | I have been in the market for one of those spiffy LED keyfob-style lights for some time, but they always costed around us$20 wherever I saw them. When I noticed a model going for us$7 that looked to be pretty high quality, I bought it. The Microlight, made by Inova boasts a constant on/off switch as well as a squeeze trigger, lithium batteries, water resistant housing, and a one mile night visibility. There were several different colors available, but I picked blue because it looked like it was brighter than the others and less scientifically, I sort of like blue lights.
When I got home, I set up a tripod pointing under my desk for a comparison. I took a set exposure picture of the nearly dark space illuminated by several different light sources familiar to explorers. The results are that the blue light is about as bright as a 2AA maglite!
I've been carrying it around with me now when I wander the campus at night poking around. It's certainly bright enough to be useful. A slight drawback is that it's difficult to make out color distinctions under blue light. I find myself having to look longer at things to identify them than I would with a yellow/white maglite. This is peeking through the holes on a manhole cover, mind you, so your results may vary.
Another thing I've found it useful for is framing shots at night. When I can't see anything through the viewfinder of my digicam, I sure as hell can't see a thing on the LCD. I can stick the microlight up against the viewfinder and use it backwards, effectively lighting the field of view. I shined it against a wall and took a picture to illustrate the effect.
I was surprised to see how much the viewfinder is off, especially when I zoom in to 3x (and excuse the lack of focus).
The only real drawback I see in this light is the clip it comes attached to. It is just the wrong shape that the fob will snag on the bend and potentially break if a lot of force were exerted on it. If it hooked its self like this in your pocket and you fell on it, the case would probably crack or maybe the clip would bend. I plan on removing the clip and replacing it with a short lanyard instead. I'd rather girth hitch the light onto something than clip it anyways.
The light is quite small and delightfully thin. Here's a size comparison against some household items (and that quarter is from the 1970s.):
Like a fiend with his dope / a drunkard his wine / a man will have lust for the lure of the mine
"If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent." |
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Mochi
 
location:
West Jordan, Utah
Gender: Male
Stare deep into a kitty's nose.
| |  | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 1 on 10/8/2003 4:09 PM >
| | | | Thanks for the great review, Krazy. RHS and I always use the little photons on missions, just because we love them so much and play "cop" on the ride home. (blink red-blue in pattern)
By far, the blues do seem to have the best distance and power to them, but I'm just so danged partial to my greens... (super green.)
>_< Mochi, holy holy holy holy holy crap.
JESUS SAVES!!!
(And then he redeems his tickets for free prizes!) |
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Avatar-X
    
Alpha Husky
location:
West Coast
Gender: Male
yay!
| |  | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 2 on 10/8/2003 8:54 PM >
| | | | Posted by Krazy
When I can't see anything through the viewfinder of my digicam, I sure as hell can't see a thing on the LCD. |
Your digital camera's LCD doesn't have a backlight?
huskies - such fluff. |
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Krenta
location:
Saint Paul, MN
Nope, wasn't me.
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 3 on 10/8/2003 9:03 PM >
| | | |
I think he meant the whole trying-to-compose-and-focus-in-near-darkness thing.
Oh, and Krazy: How close were you to the wall when you took those last shots, of the LED through the viewfinder? If you were reasonably close, you've just beautifully illustrated the concept of "parallax error". 
Have Speed Graphic, Will Travel. |
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MacGyver
location:
St Paul, Minnesota
Gender: Male
"Someone go find me a paperclip, a D-cell battery, and a cheese grater"
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 4 on 10/8/2003 9:09 PM >
| | | | Good point, Krenta. The camera was about 3 feet from the wall. I'll try it at 15 or 20 feet some time. The viewfinder window is above and slightly to the right of the lens as it would be seen from the back of the camera. I just played with it and it appears the verdict is right on.
Yeah there's a backlight, but when all the camera sees is blackness, all I see on the screen is a mysteriously-glowing (backlit) blackness.
Like a fiend with his dope / a drunkard his wine / a man will have lust for the lure of the mine
"If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent." |
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Krenta
location:
Saint Paul, MN
Nope, wasn't me.
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 5 on 10/8/2003 9:12 PM >
| | | |
Yep, your viewfinder's not off (any more than any other rangefinder viewfinder is inherently off), you've just met Mr. Parallax. It's usually a problem out to 4-6 feet or so.
Have Speed Graphic, Will Travel. |
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MacGyver
location:
St Paul, Minnesota
Gender: Male
"Someone go find me a paperclip, a D-cell battery, and a cheese grater"
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 6 on 10/8/2003 9:17 PM >
| | | | oddly enough, I remember taking a picture of my car (we'll call it that for simplicity & obscurity. Krenta's seen it.) and I framed it up with the viewfinder. I took the picture and looked at the LCD to see what it looked like, but it was framed quite a bit up or down (don't remember which) from how I had framed it with my eye. I tried it a few more times and decided that the viewfinder must simply be off. The car was 30 feet away, so it shouldn't be due to parallax. I think it is pretty close while zoomed out, but goes north fast when you zoom in. Any ideas on how this happens or if it's possibly adjustable?
Like a fiend with his dope / a drunkard his wine / a man will have lust for the lure of the mine
"If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent." |
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Servo
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 7 on 10/9/2003 2:59 AM >
| | | | I'll add my usual these-are-nice-but-expensive post:
http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcaaa.html
Under daylight or bright fluorescent light, it pales in comparison to my Surefire. But in near total darkness, it'll throw enough visible light to see out to about 40 ft. Completely waterproof/shockproof but it doesn't float. :/
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Noah Vale
location:
Portland, Or
It's nobler to never get paid, than to bank on shit and dismay
| | | | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 8 on 10/9/2003 3:46 AM >
| | | | I have the exact same light except mine is red. Great for preserving night vision, not so great for distance and color differentiation. I recommend them as well. Mine was 7 usd as well.
"Dallas is a magnificent and wide open city, and I'm deeply envious of any urban explorers who have the good fortune to live there." -Ninj. |
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Freak
location:
Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male
Hypocrite
| | | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 9 on 10/9/2003 7:10 AM >
| | | | I have a couple of the really cheap LED keychain lights, the kind they give away as party favors and promotional items (plastic squeeze case with two watch batteries touching the contacts on an LED, very simple). I took the LED out of one and stuck it in my mini-maglite, and for some reason it worked (I think the batteries are worn down so the voltage isn't enough to burn it out). They're great for 2nd backups and adjusting camera settings when I want to keep my night vision, but I don't use them for much else.
Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137 |
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StealthFoot-420
| | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 10 on 10/9/2003 7:20 AM >
|  | | | Photon Emitter is just a fancy word for flash light.
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Ben
Noble Donor
location:
Mojave Desert
Gender: Male
| | | Re: LED fob light review
<Reply # 11 on 10/9/2003 4:14 PM >
| | | | Actually, it's a fancy name for any light.
For the electrically inclined, here's a couple ideas from an interesting website. A Pixel, a little wearable battery pack made to have an LED plugged into it. The Joule Thief, a circuit that uses a tiny transformer to steal every last bit of juice from a dead battery, and use it to power a LED. It would be good to carry around as an emergency backup, when your AA or AAA batteries aren't working in your flashlight or headlamp any more.
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