# Best Handheld Spotlight



## remmy (May 18, 2015)

Hi,
I am trying to find out the latest technology available for a hand held spotlight. I currently have a 170mm Lightforce converted to 100w HID, but the reflector is now pitted & it is time to replace the whole unit. What is the brightest "pencil beam" spotlight available at the moment. Has anyone got any suggestions as to an "ultimate" spotlight? Is 100w HID the largest wattage available & where to buy?


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## Onestep (May 19, 2015)

remmy said:


> Hi,
> I am trying to find out the latest technology available for a hand held spotlight. I currently have a 170mm Lightforce converted to 100w HID, but the reflector is now pitted & it is time to replace the whole unit. What is the brightest "pencil beam" spotlight available at the moment. Has anyone got any suggestions as to an "ultimate" spotlight? Is 100w HID the largest wattage available & where to buy?



Please list your compromises.


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## remmy (May 19, 2015)

Thank you for your reply. 
I'm not too sure what compromises are, but I will assume they are my preferences.
I would like a 12v spotlight that is light in weight, lens diameter is up to 240mm (smaller if possible), & I would like it to throw a concentrated beam (pencil beam) to approx 300m. It will be powered from a vehicles electrical system.
You can probably tell I know nothing at all about spotlights & in the past I have just relied on luck to come up with a working spotlight, which have worked, but not brilliantly.
Before posting this question I tried learning by reading other posts, but I soon realised I needed help with such things as focal length etc.


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## FRITZHID (May 19, 2015)

Pencil thin & 300m..... High power, well focused lenser LED or xenon short arc are what will accomplish that. I'd just settle for an older, used Gen2 Maxabeam.


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## remmy (May 21, 2015)

Thanks Fritzhid. I googled Gen 2 Maxabeam & its design is not usable for my purposes. I need a configuration of something like a Lightforce spotlight so it can be adapted with a handle underneath to fit my remote control window mounted spotlight holder. Again I apologise for my ignorance, but is LED more of a flood light than a spotlight? What is the significance of "xenon short arc"? If I stick with the technology I know (converted Lightforce Blitz with H3 100w HID with 170mm lens),is there any way I can increase the light output, & have more control over the beam. I read on other posts that 100W ballasts is not actually 100W. Is there a way I can get maximum power from these & is there a better bulb I can get that is brighter? 
Thank you


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## Echo63 (May 22, 2015)

if you are comfortable with wiring, you could get a remote port fitted to the maxabeam, a mounting plate for the light (should bolt straight to the remote arm)
Maxabeam build a remote handle assembly, that gives you all the controls - it may be a bit of a challenge to wire it through the remote arm though (Im sure its doable though)


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## FRITZHID (May 22, 2015)

remmy said:


> Thanks Fritzhid. I googled Gen 2 Maxabeam & its design is not usable for my purposes. I need a configuration of something like a Lightforce spotlight so it can be adapted with a handle underneath to fit my remote control window mounted spotlight holder. Again I apologise for my ignorance, but is LED more of a flood light than a spotlight? What is the significance of "xenon short arc"? If I stick with the technology I know (converted Lightforce Blitz with H3 100w HID with 170mm lens),is there any way I can increase the light output, & have more control over the beam. I read on other posts that 100W ballasts is not actually 100W. Is there a way I can get maximum power from these & is there a better bulb I can get that is brighter?
> Thank you



There's allot to all this. The significance of xenon SA is that the light source is extremely small. This allows the reflector to project a thin but very bright beam vary far down range.
LED can be projected similarly but requires lenses rather than reflector. 
As far as upgrading your blitz... No not really, much higher than 100 watts and the heat alone will become a problem. 
Do you need the lamp to be controlled from inside the vehicle?
Maxabeam can be mounted on virtually anything but controlling on/off, focus, strobe/hi-lo, etc will require separate control box if you're not wanting to stick your arm out the window.


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## NoNotAgain (May 22, 2015)

Peak Beam Systems manufactures a remote cable, the MBA-84XX cable available in many different lengths.

http://searchlights.peakbeam.com/category/wired-remote-handles

I've got no idea what the price is, but with the customer support that Peak provides, they'd be the first company that I would reach out to for this application.


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## SimulatedZero (May 22, 2015)

Not to high jack the thread, but it was said that in order to have a well focused beam at 300m with an LED optics would have to be used? I was under the impression that using something like a 200mm reflector would make almost any led fairly focused. 

Just asking because I have similar goals in mind for a 12v LED spotlight.


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## FRITZHID (May 22, 2015)

For a pencil thin beam. Die projection.


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## SimulatedZero (May 22, 2015)

Well, let me ask you this, as far as making any kind of spot light, handheld or not, you need a good reflector to properly focus the output. Are their any good spot light reflectors or driving light reflectors that would work on a 7x7 mm LED with a 120 degree viewing angle? 

I know some of the higher end diy lights use home made reflectors, but I'm not sure I'm up to that level of fabrication.


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## NoNotAgain (May 22, 2015)

SimulatedZero said:


> Well, let me ask you this, as far as making any kind of spot light, handheld or not, you need a good reflector to properly focus the output. Are their any good spot light reflectors or driving light reflectors that would work on a 7x7 mm LED with a 120 degree viewing angle?
> 
> I know some of the higher end diy lights use home made reflectors, but I'm not sure I'm up to that level of fabrication.



If I wasn't running Ad Block, I could tell you the name of a company making and selling reflectors as they advertise here as a banner ad.

I've got a Surefire Hellfighter, a Maxa Beam, a NightHunter and a MegaRay light, all of them are HID lights. The NightHunter has the smallest beam angle being .5 degrees. The Maxa Beam is 1 degree and I'm not sure about the MegaRay. The most useful on of the bunch is the Maxa Beam due to light weight and the electronic focus. 

All but the Hellfighter throw a beam well over a mile and a half. The Hellfighter has the most spill light, lighting up a large area in front of the light out to around 600 yards. It's my brightest light.


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## SimulatedZero (May 22, 2015)

Yeah, I've seen their ads and taken a couple of looks. I wasn't too impressed to be honest. Their largest reflector looked to be about 81mm. That would work for an XM-L2, but I doubt I could push something like the MT-G2 or XHP70 to 200,000cd. 

I'm really looking for about 200 - 300 meters of solid light. The big question for me is how would those maxabeam, surefire, etc... reflectors work with an LED? They are geometrically designed to focus a much different size and shape light source (HID).


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## NoNotAgain (May 22, 2015)

Neither the MT-G2 or the XHP70 LED's are known for being a thrower led. 

The SBT-70 Luminus is factory dedomed emitter and has a round phosphor die. It is 7.0 X 7.0mm. 

The Nitecore TM36 uses a reflector that is around 3.5 inches in diameter and about the same depth. Nitecore rates the SBT-70 @1800 lumens while the Olight SR95S-UT that uses the same led, only rates theirs @1200 lumens. The Olight reflector is both smaller in diameter as shallower than the TM36. The TM36 out throws the SR95 by a fare margin. The TM36 produces 310Kcd minimum as tested by a few folks here. I don't know what Olight rates their light at.


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## BVH (May 22, 2015)

The Megaray tight-focused beam is 2 degrees.


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## NoNotAgain (May 22, 2015)

BVH said:


> The Megaray tight-focused beam is 2 degrees.



Thank you sir. 

By any chance, do you know where I might be able to find a manual for the MegaRay MR175 or the 250?


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## SimulatedZero (May 22, 2015)

Alrighty, so I managed to track down a solid reflector for the XHP70, the Ledil Seanna optic. It says it has a 4.3 degree beam and will easily project over 200,000cd once you hit 3000 lumens or so. This thing is rated for 4000 and people have been able to drive to 6000 lumens. You would need active cooling to run for extended periods if time, but that would theoretically be over 400k candela. Seems like a viable option for a spotlight, though not as intense as the 2 degree beam. 

Sorry to jump in on your thread, we just happen to have similar goals so I figured I tag along for the ride.


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## remmy (May 25, 2015)

Hi again,
I have been looking at all your suggestions,& I can't decide on any clear line of action. However I was talking to a chap today & he suggested I should look into LED instead of HID. I thought that LED was more of a floodlight, rather than a spotlight, but he assured me that they can also be spotlights that will achieve what I mentioned in an earlier post. He suggested I look at a Nordic N400 spot. My motto up till now is "more power is better", but that does not appear to be working for me. Does anyone know about about these lights & is 35w ,which it is, adequate to reach 300m at night & will the beam be reasonably concentrated at this distance.


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## remmy (May 25, 2015)

Sorry, I read the post after I posted it & I realised it was ambiguous. The Nordic N400 is HID & I wanted opinions on this light, but I also wanted your opinions on LED spotlights & any models you might suggest.


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## SimulatedZero (May 25, 2015)

Well, from all of my recent looking at spotlights, I don't think your going to find anything off the shelf that matches HID performance. The Stanley Fat Max is good and the Derkang Spotlight looks promising, but those still wouldn't quite equal HID. Especially not if your running a 100w system. 

If your wanted to get your hands dirty, you could mod an existing light into what you need, but that's about it. Now, outside of 12v spot lights, there are some very powerful LED lights like the Fenix TK75vn.


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## BVH (May 25, 2015)

remmy said:


> ......
> I would like a 12v spotlight that is light in weight, lens diameter is up to 240mm (smaller if possible), & I would like it to throw a concentrated beam (pencil beam) to approx 300m. It will be powered from a vehicles electrical system.



I's really going to be difficult to find anything better than the Blitz 240 modded to about 85 Watts (at the bulb) for a tight, far throwing beam in the specific configuration you want - pistol grip. But at that wattage, I would not do extended run times over about 5-7 minutes as some melting of the front lens and/or the black plastic shell above the lamp may occur. If you have not experienced that with your current rig, then I would suspect it is not anywhere near 100 Watts output. Mine produced 84 Watts at the lamp and quite nicely lit up a big tree at 900'. No LED is going to match concentrating 8,500 Lumens that far downrange in a tight beam and spot. Search for "BVH Blitz" or similar and there are some beam shots in that thread.

EDIT: Here's the post. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...n-Beam-Shots&p=2853768&viewfull=1#post2853768 Scroll down to the "long Range" Blitz shot marked as about 350 Yards. It's actually about 388 Yards. The hotspot is a bit brighter than in real life but the spill on the tree foliage is very representative.


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## bykfixer (Sep 5, 2015)

remmy said:


> Hi again,
> I have been looking at all your suggestions,& I can't decide on any clear line of action. However I was talking to a chap today & he suggested I should look into LED instead of HID. I thought that LED was more of a floodlight, rather than a spotlight, but he assured me that they can also be spotlights that will achieve what I mentioned in an earlier post. He suggested I look at a Nordic N400 spot. My motto up till now is "more power is better", but that does not appear to be working for me. Does anyone know about about these lights & is 35w ,which it is, adequate to reach 300m at night & will the beam be reasonably concentrated at this distance.



Newb comment here, so please forgive any erroneous information...

The reflector and lens configuartion also matter as much as power.
Example, I have a 201 lumen adjustable beam flashlight that throws a lot farther than any of my friends non adjustable beam lights at 600+ lumens. 
Being new to high performance flash lights myself I cannot explain why out of ignorance. But do know that if power drain and heat are an issue, light can be projected a good long ways with less power than you may think. 
The experts here can explain how and why.


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## Walterk (Sep 6, 2015)

Throwing light with a single led can be done, but ackward and disappointing for practical use.

The easiest is a Maxa Beam and make the controls yourself. No electronics in te handle, just momentary switches and any joy-stick you find usuable will do.
Just a matter of opening the unit and connect to the wires colourcoded in the manual.

Remember the Data Bank? A couple of throwing led-lights in a cluster. Thats how ship search-lights are offered nowadays in the led-version. Either reflector, aspheric or plastic TIR reflector will do. The TIR is most common for that application.


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