Beamshots!

saabluster

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This post will be the main spot to house all the beamshots I take for the foreseeable future.

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saabluster

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Can i request the FandyFire next? That's closer to my budget range. :)
You mean beamshots? They are there. That is the one labeled STL-V6.


thank you. A bit underexposed? Please post camera settings.
Yes it is a bit underexposed. I try to err on the conservative side to avoid deceiving anyone. That said it is a little more underexposed than I expected it to be once I got home and saw the pics on my computer screen. I am not the most technically capable when it comes to electronics and software so I am unsure how to tap into that hidden data some people can get to. EXIF or something like that? I think the settings I used were 1/1.3 F3.0.
 

Chicken Drumstick

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Thanks for the beamshots. I guess for consistency it'd be nice to see what the exposure (shutter speed/F stop) is for each pic (presume you use the same settings for all). And any white balance settings, ISO and of course what camera you used. All this goes into making all your beam shot photos directly comparable to each other.

Cheers and good luck!

:)
 

TEEJ

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You mean beamshots? They are there. That is the one labeled STL-V6.



Yes it is a bit underexposed. I try to err on the conservative side to avoid deceiving anyone. That said it is a little more underexposed than I expected it to be once I got home and saw the pics on my computer screen. I am not the most technically capable when it comes to electronics and software so I am unsure how to tap into that hidden data some people can get to. EXIF or something like that? I think the settings I used were 1/1.3 F3.0.

Yeah, that adjustment always makes me go back and tweak too...it looks more underexposed on this site because of the resolution limits. So what looks right on the computer screen and host site at full resolution, shows up as darker/less detail when posted on CPF threads.

Its one of the reasons I use multiple range targets in my beam shots when possible: I can then write down what I see that night...say the 6th telephone pole is bright, the 7th is dimly lit, the 8th is dark....etc. That way, when I post the pics...I can double check that the exposure didn't lit up that 8th pole, or did dimly light the 7th, and so forth. The end results for me, so far at least, do allow me to at least have the pics show what I could see and not see when actually shining the lights.

With a single target (A box, a tree, etc...), its VERY hard to note HOW brightly or dimly lit it is, unless I put a lux meter out there and record readings....my next project. :D
 

Diablo_331

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I'm really liking the STL-V6 Michael! It's going to be my next flashlight purchase for sure. This may be off topic here but how long are the current wait times for your STL-V6 build?
 

saabluster

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TEEJ I do plan on taking shots from much farther. The conditions that night just did not allow for me to finish the shoot. I am thinking about adding a meter at the far end of the beam as well. Also I am going to be making a "man" to stand down there so there is something consistent to compare with as the seasons change and the leaves fall off. Just need to figure out what the best way to dress him would be so that the result yeilded useful data. So what color shirt would be best? Should it have multiple colors to kind of see how the beam renders different colors? Maybe a gigantic color swatch should be put down there to help see the color rendering? Any thoughts anyone has on that I am eager to entertain.


Thanks for the beamshots. I guess for consistency it'd be nice to see what the exposure (shutter speed/F stop) is for each pic (presume you use the same settings for all). And any white balance settings, ISO and of course what camera you used. All this goes into making all your beam shot photos directly comparable to each other.

Cheers and good luck!

:)
The camera is a Nikon P510. I got it because of the monster zoom. 42X!!! Since I am taking super long shots with these crazy lights I need to be able to zoom in close enough that detail can be evident on a computer screen and a proper comparison made. I did not change the settings shot to shot. I am unsure if some options are on automatic such as the iso. The menu setup for this camera is a nightmare. You can't get to all the relevant info you need in one place. The settings I posted earlier were what was on the screen when I shot. I just adjusted until it looked about right. I guess the first number is the exposure? The second is clearly the F stop right? F3.0 At any rate I kept the settings the same for all shots.

I'm really liking the STL-V6 Michael! It's going to be my next flashlight purchase for sure. This may be off topic here but how long are the current wait times for your STL-V6 build?
Thanks. The STL-V6 are already built.
 

hahoo

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TEEJ I do plan on taking shots from much farther. The conditions that night just did not allow for me to finish the shoot. I am thinking about adding a meter at the far end of the beam as well. Also I am going to be making a "man" to stand down there so there is something consistent to compare with as the seasons change and the leaves fall off. Just need to figure out what the best way to dress him would be so that the result yeilded useful data. So what color shirt would be best? Should it have multiple colors to kind of see how the beam renders different colors? Maybe a gigantic color swatch should be put down there to help see the color rendering? Any thoughts anyone has on that I am eager to entertain.



The camera is a Nikon P510. I got it because of the monster zoom. 42X!!! Since I am taking super long shots with these crazy lights I need to be able to zoom in close enough that detail can be evident on a computer screen and a proper comparison made. I did not change the settings shot to shot. I am unsure if some options are on automatic such as the iso. The menu setup for this camera is a nightmare. You can't get to all the relevant info you need in one place. The settings I posted earlier were what was on the screen when I shot. I just adjusted until it looked about right. I guess the first number is the exposure? The second is clearly the F stop right? F3.0 At any rate I kept the settings the same for all shots.


Thanks. The STL-V6 are already built.



shoot as low as iso as you can and with a tripod.........
also, its always better to overexpose at night a tad, rather than under, as underexposure will always bring out iso noise when brought up to proper exposure in editing...

set it in av mode try and keep it a 100 iso, 200 max....
set the f stop at 8 or higher....that will keep the field of view wide, and not just focus on the center point, and blur the rest..
always shoot far away subjects and landscape shots at high f stops when possible..

first number you should see in viewfinder is shutter speed, then f stop, then iso....


id def set the focus manually, as af at night is hit and miss at best...

this link is the candlepower forum of the camera world......theres a wealth of info on your cam, and some good forums to ask questions...

keep up the good work sir and cant wait for more beamshots....


heres your cam......


http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p510
 
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Devildude

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Awesome beamshots! The TK41 looks like it has some potential for improvement. Now I might have to order the STL-V6 as this looks too good to pass up. Not that I need any more toys. Keep up the great work.
 

TEEJ

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TEEJ I do plan on taking shots from much farther. The conditions that night just did not allow for me to finish the shoot. I am thinking about adding a meter at the far end of the beam as well. Also I am going to be making a "man" to stand down there so there is something consistent to compare with as the seasons change and the leaves fall off. Just need to figure out what the best way to dress him would be so that the result yeilded useful data. So what color shirt would be best? Should it have multiple colors to kind of see how the beam renders different colors? Maybe a gigantic color swatch should be put down there to help see the color rendering? Any thoughts anyone has on that I am eager to entertain.

There is a large difference is visibility between light and dark clothing. When doing search and rescue, generally, if they are wearing white, its a godsend. Other than a reflective finish, you can see white off further by a large margin...but even out of range, white won't show up either.

The other factor is contrast. For example, if there is snow cover....white is now camouflage rather than easier to see. :D

If looking for year round visibility, a combination of colors is going to work best to provide contrast with the background/foreground.

If looking for how much light on target can find someone hiding/less obvious for example, then black, grey, browns and greens can all be hard to see....and need more light, unless its in a field of snow, etc. For myself, red is hard to see at night, and depending on the color vision of the spotters, other colors can be equally challenging. (Color vision is degraded at night, as we switch to mostly rods instead of cones when we become night adapted, etc.)

Unless having "seasonal wardrobes", I'd use a combination pattern so that you can see what shows up at different ranges for a given light, etc. The elements of the pattern should be large enough such that an individual patch/element can be resolved by eye at the ranges of concern in daylight.

:D
 

Trevtrain

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shoot as low as iso as you can and with a tripod.........
also, its always better to overexpose at night a tad, rather than under, as underexposure will always bring out iso noise when brought up to proper exposure in editing...

set it in av mode try and keep it a 100 iso, 200 max....
set the f stop at 8 or higher....that will keep the field of view wide, and not just focus on the center point, and blur the rest..
always shoot far away subjects and landscape shots at high f stops when possible..

first number you should see in viewfinder is shutter speed, then f stop, then iso....


id def set the focus manually, as af at night is hit and miss at best...

I just had a cursory look at the DPReview write-up....

hahoo's advice is pretty good except on one bit - use M (manual) not AV (aperture priority)
In AV mode, you choose the aperture and the camera will then vary the shutter and/or ISO in order to produce a "correct" exposure, based on the light levels detected by the inbuilt metering. This is not what we want (but is often all that may be possible with less complex cameras).

To compare beamshots accurately, you need to:

set the ISO to something other than Auto - 100 or 200 for instance
set the aperture to greater than f5.9 (the maximum for this camera at full zoom) - f8 would be fine
vary the shutter speed to whatever is required in order to get an acceptably exposed picture
(I didn't see mention of a histogram function but if the P510 has it, use the histogram to evaluate the exposure rather than trying to judge what "looks right" on the LCD display.)

...and also, it would probably be best to set the white balance to something other than Auto - daylight/sun for example

If you don't control the big 3 (ISO, Aperture, Shutter) manually, the camera is very likely to vary the exposure between shots, making the beamshots somewhat invalid for the purposes of comparison.

I know finding out how to work this stuff can appear complex for some people (I teach it for a living) but I've seen a bit of your work Michael so I've no doubt you have the smarts to figure it out. Best of luck.



PS: Was saving for a T31 but now looking enviously at the OneStop modded version. You may hear from me again.........
 

Diablo_331

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I'm really liking the STL-V6 Michael! It's going to be my next flashlight purchase for sure. This may be off topic here but how long are the current wait times for your STL-V6 build?

Michael, After talking to you at the last DFW meet and greet I promised you that one day I would own one of your creations. I recently picked up a second hand DEFT EDC on the market place with a neutral tint. The seller claimed that you said it was pumping out 50k lux so a little better than the normal EDC. I am very impressed with it to say the least! So much so that I just had to have more. I recently lost my Vinhnguyen modded 7G5v2:mecry:so being in need of a thrower, I just pulled the trigger on your modded STL-V6! I cannot wait to try it out! I'll let you know what I think of it when it arrives.
 

Turbo V6 Camaro

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You mean beamshots? They are there. That is the one labeled STL-V6.



Yes it is a bit underexposed. I try to err on the conservative side to avoid deceiving anyone. That said it is a little more underexposed than I expected it to be once I got home and saw the pics on my computer screen. I am not the most technically capable when it comes to electronics and software so I am unsure how to tap into that hidden data some people can get to. EXIF or something like that? I think the settings I used were 1/1.3 F3.0.

i know this is old, I'm a hobby photo G set camera to M mode (manual) and do the beam shoots that way, then you can really see the differance in them in the photo othe wise a brighter beam will just make the shutter speed fast to balacne the photo.

every time you cut the shutter speed buy half you reduce light buy one stop, so if you have a beam at 1/100 and another at 1/200 then you have nearly double the light.

I would also set the camera to spot mode (for metering) for beams

how moded is the STL-v6? I have one and it already pulls near 3A at the tail caps, not sure it could get much brighter?
 
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