Cell phone's camera flash LED as a light anyone?

[this_is_nascar]

I'm looking for an Android flashlight app that allows for multiple brightness levels.

Anyone know of anything?

 

[Swedpat]

According to my experience some people don't buy a flashlight because they think the smartphone light meet their needs. And yes; the built in light of modern phones is pretty bright, maybe 50-60lm so it works for some tasks.
Personally I prefer a real flashlight, though. As well because I don't need to drain the phone battery and because a flashlight is more comfortable in the hand. My present smartphone, Samsung S5 Neo has a pure flood light and with warm tint, that's good. Still it's limited as soon I need to shine up several meters ahead.
So: my personal opinion is: nothing bad with having a built in light in the smartphone. But replacing a real flashlight? Definitely not.
Of course: NO flashaholic will answer that a phone light will make a flashlight superfluous!

 

[KuroNekko]

Anyone ever end up using their cell phones as a light?

While I don't have an edc light yet, I'm still surprised sometimes when friends don't bring a flashlight when we go places we know will be dark.
I went with a couple people to climb a rocky hill that overlooks the city when you reach the top. Surprising I was the only person to bring a flashlight. It wasn't anything amazing, but easily nicer and brighter than the typical $2 light or maglight. I end up passing the flashlight over to someone else and using the LED flash on my android phone as a second light.

I'd usually rather not waste the batteries on my phone, but I've found having a flashlight app on my phone surprisingly useful in various occasions. It's just shown me how useful always having a light can be.

I go night hiking in an area very similar to what you described. There's a rocky hill that you have to climb and the summit overlooks the city and in fact, much of the county given the flat terrain. It's near a large university so there's always young people there. Every time, people are using their cell phone lights to get around in the dark, especially on the hill which can be dangerous as there's loose sand over rocks that you step on. When I go, I'm always packing proper flashlights so lighting up the path is not a problem. In fact, there is no comparison between a proper flashlight and a cell phone light.

Last night, there was a group of three heading down the hill when I was going up. Only one had a cell phone light so they were moving very slowly. After I passed them going up, I stopped and lit up the entire hill for them to see with my brand new tester Rofis R1 on Turbo. They were amazed and after realizing what I was doing for them, they thanked me and were able to move a lot faster. Once they made it to flat ground, I resumed to go up the hill. I then heard one of them remark that I was ascending so much faster than anyone they've seen. It's because I had a proper light to see and find the best footing. This allowed me to move much safer but also faster.

Once at the top, I pulled out my Klarus XT12GT. I then lit up the area below the top of the hill, including some bench areas where the three had gone to. They started laughing nervously given the spotlight effect on them despite the distance.

In the past when I didn't carry around a flashlight, I used my cell phone light. It's great in a pinch, but really not ideal. Since then, I bought a Jetbeam Mini-1 which is on my key ring and always with me. Despite its minuscule size, it is so much better than a cell phone light given it's actually a flashlight by design. Most people who see one in action want one and that included my girlfriend and her friends. I gifted one to a good friend of mine who's a helicopter pilot for his birthday and he loves it. There is really no comparison even between a 10180-powered flashlight and a cell phone light.

 

[MX421]

If it's vocational or even truly about ones situation, I get it. If you're a field service tech, mechanic, law enforcement, work in a steel mill, EMT, whatnot you'll need such tools often enough that carrying them is the opposite of an imposition. Or perhaps you find yourself walking on dark trails at night, live in the country, etc.

It's the gear fetishists who live similarly to me insisting that without the likes of 3 flashlights, 4 knives, 2 guns with 2+ magazines each, a first aid kit, emergency rations, and multiple forms of radio comms that they're apt not to survive the day that confuse me. It's one thing to own being an enthusiast like someone commuting to work everyday in a >500HP just-shy-of-a-racecar vehicle because sometimes there's a clear onramp and it's fun to stomp on the accelerator or execute a pass, but another to claim that it represents a genuine need and without it you're going to get run over on the highway.

I follow an EDC group on Facebook and the practically framed for Instagram photos of "today's carry" with multiple color-themed sets are a bit over the top. I know a few of those folks personally and they live remarkably predictable lives as office workers in the city. If it brings them pleasure, fine, but pretending that their perfectly-arranged hank/flashlight/knife/knucks/bottle opener/phone case/watch/lighter/morale patch/etc is much more than a fashion statement strains suspension of disbelief. The more interesting "pocket dump" photos seem to come from people that are more working-class (and often as not overseas) with smaller collections of well-used and well-considered tools representing function over form.

Don't you believe being prepared is a good thing?

We had a hurricane here not long ago and guess what? That generator that had been taking up space in my garage sure came in handy. I've now used it for three hurricanes and a few power outages. I was prepared and it paid off.

Same thing with flashlights (and knives). Sometimes i go offshore and usually take the night shift and my light becomes more valuable as a work task tool that i use during my entire shift. However, for the majority of my work, i am an office worker as you mention above. When everything goes well, the office, garage and all in between are well lit and i have no issues. Thats not why I have the light though. In the office as much as i like my "toys", for the most part, the reason for their appeal to me is that i try to prepare for the unexpected. I must admit i am carrying more lights than are neccesary at the moment, but that mainly because i am experimenting to see if one tool will work better than another.

I am always in the process of re-evaluating what i carry, and i've noticed that i carry far too much these days and have thought of paring down what i carry. However, i'd rather have it and not need it that not have it and need it (or even want it to ease my efforts).

 

[CarpentryHero]

I use the light on my phone for hide and seek with my son, since most my lights are overkill for checking the closets for MiniHuman

 

[bykfixer]

Very cool CH... very cool indeed.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

The best light is the one you have on you...

Wallet, keys, phone. That's my edc. I don't regularly edc a light, knife or much else, unless I know there's a reasonable likelihood I'm going to need it.

For most everything else my phone light is great. I use it for less than a minute at a time and the pure flood beam is suitable for most of those tasks.

 

[bigfoot]

I follow an EDC group on Facebook and the practically framed for Instagram photos of "today's carry" with multiple color-themed sets are a bit over the top. I know a few of those folks personally and they live remarkably predictable lives as office workers in the city. If it brings them pleasure, fine, but pretending that their perfectly-arranged hank/flashlight/knife/knucks/bottle opener/phone case/watch/lighter/morale patch/etc is much more than a fashion statement strains suspension of disbelief. The more interesting "pocket dump" photos seem to come from people that are more working-class (and often as not overseas) with smaller collections of well-used and well-considered tools representing function over form.

LOL, some of us here resemble that remark a bit. :laughing:

 

[RobertMM]

I harvested a LED from an old Blackberry phone and made a P60 dropin out of it, for direct drive use with one CR123.
30 lumens initial output, slowly fading to maybe 10-12 lumens by 12 hours.

Does that count? Hahaha

 

[idleprocess]

Don't you believe being prepared is a good thing?

We had a hurricane here not long ago and guess what? That generator that had been taking up space in my garage sure came in handy. I've now used it for three hurricanes and a few power outages. I was prepared and it paid off.

Same thing with flashlights (and knives). Sometimes i go offshore and usually take the night shift and my light becomes more valuable as a work task tool that i use during my entire shift. However, for the majority of my work, i am an office worker as you mention above. When everything goes well, the office, garage and all in between are well lit and i have no issues. Thats not why I have the light though. In the office as much as i like my "toys", for the most part, the reason for their appeal to me is that i try to prepare for the unexpected. I must admit i am carrying more lights than are neccesary at the moment, but that mainly because i am experimenting to see if one tool will work better than another.

I am always in the process of re-evaluating what i carry, and i've noticed that i carry far too much these days and have thought of paring down what i carry. However, i'd rather have it and not need it that not have it and need it (or even want it to ease my efforts).

My emphasis is on carrying practical goods on your person, where mass and volume constraints are significant. More than two decades of living where I do in the DFW area and working this particular vocation for more than 10 years have shown that my general "kit" - eyewear, watch, wallet, keyrings (yes, plural because I separate car keys from house keys) with a flashlight each, phone, pocketknife, work ID, and occasionally a carry pistol - is more than adequate and can be comfortably and inauspiciously carried under nearly all conditions. The last item involves the most sacrifice for the least day-to-day utility - the most mass and volume for something that I have yet to use as intended and sincerely hope never to need. Everything else I've used often enough that I opt to carry them daily and unconditionally. Someone else's needs may be different.

I have other preparedness items in varying degrees of proximity - a work-carry backpack (work and personal laptops, laptop accessories, raingear, USB charging kit, two flashlights - Astrolux S41, Manker E11 presently - spare cells for my lights/mice, a small toolkit, bluetooth headphones, pens, writing pad), vehicles (flashlights, bottled water, emergency rations, emergency blanket, toolkit, USB charger, spare engine fluids, air pressure gauge), and a plethora of items at home. While these do tend to be close-by, none of these are EDC items since they're not on my person most waking hours. The cost of stocking these items is also almost zero relative to on-person.

As such, I feel there are practical limits on the I'd rather have it and not need it that not have it and need it sentiment, particularly in the midst of one's everyday life.

When an unusual situation presents itself - such as a hike in the woods, road trip, or severe weather - I feel that one should exercise caution and over-prepare, particularly if there are significant unknowns. A hike in the woods you should have the physical margins to be prepared for exposure to the elements and delays. A road trip you should maintain your vehicle, plan your route, pack a map, and be at least minimally-prepared for a breakdown. Severe weather you should carry raingear, layer your clothing, apply sunscreen, or bring a hat as appropriate.

Things I feel one cannot reasonably prepare for via true practical EDC include - but are not limited to - the zombie apocolypse, Red Dawn, the catastrophic failure of your automobile's entire drivetrain, fighting off an entire platoon of baddies, being abducted then escaping into the wilderness with your EDC curiously still on your person, and the sudden end of organized civilization.

 

[terjee]

Living in Norway, where it can be dark when you go to work, and dark when you go back home, I'm surprised there aren't more people EDCing flashlights. Power outages are not that common, and they don't usually last that long, but they do happen from time to time.

It would take me about an hour and a half to walk home from the office (just figuring walking as a worst case scenario with traffic challenges as a result of blackout).

Taking that walk with a cellphone flash LED as my light source, in near freezing, without gloves, and in rain, seems like a very uncomfortable idea, and one the phone would probably not survive.

Carrying a light is generally useful enough to be worth it on it's own to, so it just makes sense overall.

Carrying five might be a bit overkill though, but they just fit so nicely where they are *cough*.

 

[yossxp]

Three days ago, or three nights ago to be precise, I start a night shift as a traffic police officer with another PO - it's almost midnight and we drive around to make sure the roads are clear.
We get to a this car at the middle of a Y junction with the hazard lights on and three people are leaning on the dangerous side of it - we pull over and turn the blue and red police lights so we'll be noticed by other drivers and go out to see what's going on.
Three clueless guys outside of a black BMW with a flat tire - two holding cell phones with the LED lights turned on while another is trying to lift the car - they were so clueless they couldn't get the jack right.
They were in a place where there's plenty of light from road light poles, yet we couldn't see a thing around the car, even with the phones' LED flash on.
So after a couple of minutes, when I realized that we're gonna spend the night there if we don't help them out, I pulled out my Blue Convoy S2+ and suddenly - daylight (that's the first time I used it in the field since I got it last week, and it was perfect), I moved the gun I was carrying (automatic, not a pistol) to the back and took over the tire replacement task - 5 minutes later, we shook hands and sent them home safe.

I started carrying a flash light after a case where we were in the middle of nowhere, in the darkest spot of the road, and our police issued, baseball bat sized, maglites have failed after about 5 minutes of use. Those old flashlights are so bad that even when working, you get some orange-ish pale light that's mostly useless - we have some Pelican 7060 LED, which are quite good, on the way but in the meantime, we're stuck with those awful maglites.

Anyway, I'm so impressed and satisfied with that Convoy S2+, fits perfectly in my jeans or uniforms, and does a great job when light is needed.

Oh, and I'm kinda new here so 'hi everyone', and already hate this forum, since I now have 5 flashlights more than I had 4 weeks ago, and another one on the way, plus I now need (not 'want') a thrower - what's wrong with me?

 

[irongate]

yossxp Nothing wrong with you, you are just like the rest of us when we all got started!
The S2+ is a nice little light for what it does.
Take your time looking for a (Thrower) some really nice ones out there, what do you plan on using it for and how far?
Welcome to the spending club of Flashlights!