# Best Polarion PH50 Image



## Ken J. Good (May 22, 2009)

I am going to have to say this one is going to be hard to top:








Taken from National Geographic Story
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tag-caves/alvarez-photography

Photographer is using a Polarion PH50 to get this image.


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## LIGHTSMAD (May 22, 2009)

now thats a beauty


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## ANDREAS FERRARI (May 22, 2009)

Ken-at first that reminded me of the oysters I had last week-but once I realized it was a cave I went-OMG!!!!


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## Patriot (May 22, 2009)

Nice, except it looks like at least three lights are being used. Were they all PH50's?


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## LIGHTSMAD (May 22, 2009)

there was a picture some time ago i found in a National Geographic book,

it had somebody's bedroom that was full of bulbs: between 500,000 to 1,000,000 it was amazing....i've tryed to find it on the web but had no luck!

anyone see this before?


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## Ken J. Good (May 22, 2009)

Actually it looks like 4 lights are being used.

One at the upper funnel, three from the internal part of the cave.

Note the caption below the photograph:
_"This is a panoramic composite of 4 images"_

It looks like the camera was at a fixed point. Searchlight moved and a new image captured. Put them all together and you get the new Full view of the cave.


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## XeRay (May 22, 2009)

Ken J. Good said:


> Actually it looks like 4 lights are being used.
> 
> One at the upper funnel, three from the internal part of the cave.
> 
> ...


 
No matter how they did it, it IS an awesome photo. Was it done on film (open the shutter multiple times on the same frame) or digital overlays ???


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## Ken J. Good (May 22, 2009)

The photographer is off on another adventure somewhere.

I am waiting to hear back from him on use of the photos. I will ask him about the technical details as well.


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## CaveDude (May 22, 2009)

Ah yes, good ol' Rumbling Falls. Definitely want to go there someday. What isn't mentioned in the article, is that the room in this photo is accessed by rappelling in through the ceiling :duh2:. 350 foot drop in pitch black anyone?


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## dudemar (May 22, 2009)

CaveDude said:


> Ah yes, good ol' Rumbling Falls. Definitely want to go there someday. What isn't mentioned in the article, is that the room in this photo is accessed by rappelling in through the ceiling :duh2:. *350 foot drop in pitch black anyone?*



Not so black anymore with a PH50.


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## Patriot (May 22, 2009)

Ken J. Good said:


> Actually it looks like 4 lights are being used.
> 
> One at the upper funnel, three from the internal part of the cave.
> 
> ...







Ah...ok. That makes perfect sense. That's some amazing square footage to illuminate even with four composites. Very cool!


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## Flashanator (May 24, 2009)

The res is far too low for a pic like this.


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## king2penn (May 24, 2009)

Flashanator said:


> The res is far too low for a pic like this.


 
Yea, i agree too. Ill rather it be billboard size... but we're have to contact the photographer for the original file


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## Ken J. Good (May 24, 2009)

I am waiting for the photographer to get back to me.

I will try and get a high-res version.


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## 276 (May 24, 2009)

Thats awesome!


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## Illum (May 24, 2009)

I love seeing pictures light painted using flashlights..like that national geographic issue of Stonehenge, Surefires own big dome caving, and this as well:wave:


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## Patriot (May 25, 2009)

I thought this was an interesting link. He used flashbulbs instead of HID. 
http://www.darklightimagery.net/RFC/RumbleRoom2.html


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## Illum (May 27, 2009)

flashbulbs can give 10K+ lumens in a few microseconds...which should be more than sufficient for the camera to pick it up if the shutters open

Imagine trying to lug a battery and a ballast in while caving:sick2:


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## Patriot (May 27, 2009)

Illum said:


> flashbulbs can give 10K+ lumens in a few microseconds...which should be more than sufficient for the camera to pick it up if the shutters open
> 
> Imagine trying to lug a battery and a ballast in while caving:sick2:





The text under the first pic in the link states "2 flash guns with 3 bulbs each fired simultaneously to provide about 1 million lumen seconds."


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## Illum (May 28, 2009)

one million lumen/second gets you just this?

gee...that's one hell of a cave then


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## karlthev (May 28, 2009)

Amazing picture! Now all I need is three more PH50s and a good camera!:thinking:



Karl


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## Patriot (May 28, 2009)

...lol yeah who wouldn't want a backpack full of PH50's :naughty:


I'm just guessing but I think one PH50 was used in each of four photos, then the four photos were stitched together to make one image. After gooling some info about the cave I became aware that it wasn't daylight that is seen entering at the top. This is also evident in the PH50 picture text where it describes how that massive cavern "rumble room" is reached. Of course this means that a PH50 was lighting that portion up also. 

I actually prefer the composition of the PH50 photo versus the brighter flashbulb photo that I linked. The PH50 photo was taken with a series of wider angle shots and from further back within the cavern. Very stunning and props to the photographer!



Ken, I'd be interested in purchasing this photo in a larger size to frame in my office. I'm eager to hear more information.


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## Patriot (May 28, 2009)

Found the purchase info at the photo link


Size 

10'' $19.95 
14'' $34.95 
20'' $49.95 
30'' $89.95


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## Ken J. Good (May 28, 2009)

URL??


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## Patriot (May 28, 2009)

Sorry, it was the "Purchase This Print" tab below the picture link in your first post:

Here it is:
http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/photo/8090727/


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## karlthev (May 29, 2009)

*"I'm just guessing but I think one PH50 was used in each of four photos.."
---Patriot36*


Well, thank goodness for that!! In addition to not knowing where I'd store them, I'm not so sure my flashlight budget could AFFORD them!!!!



Karl


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## LuxLuthor (May 29, 2009)

That is a spectacular image. I was looking at their other library of photos, and am thinking of buying some of these also.

Ken, seeing this is a part of a group of 8 photos that were all taken by Stephen Alvarez, I wonder if this other image also uses the PH50?


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## Patriot (May 29, 2009)

I wondered the same thing about this one:

http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/gallery/83157/photo/natgeo:8090729/?o=4


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## karlthev (May 30, 2009)

Lux, I believe you're morphing!


Karl


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## DM51 (May 30, 2009)

Aaaaarrgh! I've just noticed! What's happened to him? LOL!


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## ANDREAS FERRARI (May 30, 2009)

Lux,that picture has been freaking me out for the last few days-please go back to the picture we are more familiar with.


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## Illum (May 30, 2009)

DM51 said:


> Aaaaarrgh! I've just noticed! What's happened to him? LOL!



this is why we tell people not to look at the business end of their hotwires.


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## Patriot (May 30, 2009)

Illum said:


> this is why we tell people not to look at the business end of their hotwires.






LOL!!!!!!! :laughing::laughing:








His avatar is freaking me out too. I just stopped looking at it.


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## seery (May 30, 2009)

Great pic Ken. Thanks for sharing it. :thumbsup:


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## Illum (May 31, 2009)

seery said:


> Great pic Ken. Thanks for sharing it. :thumbsup:



great avatar Seery...


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## seery (May 31, 2009)

Illum said:


> great avatar Seery...



Thanks Illum. :naughty:


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## Ken J. Good (May 31, 2009)

I need to get a hold of Stephen (right now I only pinged him once on email) and find out which ones were done with the Polarion.

He had it with him the whole time for this assignment.

I didn't see these others till now. Wow.


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 1, 2009)

Got a hold of Stephen. He's been in some remote regions of Madagascar!

He said several of the photos used the PH50 and Polarion-USA is welcome to them. Can't wait to see them in High-res.

He also stated, although the National Geographic article did not specifically mention the use of the Polarion in the images, he is going to start a PR push about the article/assignment and in that effort he is going to explain in detail how these types of light change the way he works underground.


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## Patriot (Jun 2, 2009)

I'm excited to see these in hi-res also. Even 1024 x whatever would be a huge improvement to what we have access to currently. It will be interesting to here his take about how the PH50 changes the way in which things are done. Obviously it's a dramatic departure from the way the other photo was taken, by the use of old flash bulbs.


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## LuxLuthor (Jun 2, 2009)

Patriot said:


> LOL!!!!!!! :laughing::laughing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I don't know what you guys are talking about.


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## karlthev (Jun 2, 2009)

Nice ear job!:thumbsup:



Karl


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 7, 2009)

Video Link on National Geographic Magazine online:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player#/?titleID=alvarez-tag-waterfall&catID=1

Stephen told me NGM keeps on editing out his reference to the HID as a Polarion.

Here is his personal Blog:
http://www.picturestoryblog.com/2009/06/ngm-behind-the-pictures.html

Hopefully this week I can get the images in high res that involved the use of the now unnamed HID searchlight.


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## Patriot (Jun 7, 2009)

Nice short video. I noticed that in his blog that he called it a "PH40." I wonder if he got confused or that's in fact what he used.


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 7, 2009)

I believe the reason is that I gave him a PH40 that was modified to a PH50 for me by Polarion. So the body says PH40 on it.


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## Patriot (Jun 8, 2009)

I can definitely see why he thought is was a PH40 then.


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 8, 2009)

So you know, I told him several times it was a PH50. He's an artist....


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## Patriot (Jun 8, 2009)

Ken J. Good said:


> He's an artist....




Should have used a silver Sharpie marker on that thing....lol.


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 8, 2009)

On another note, I am going to do a photographic comparison between a *Xeonics Night Hunter One* (60 watt Xe Short Arc - Their most powerful system) and the *Polarion Night Reaper* (50 watt Xe Long Arc).

I may bring my SF Hellfighter as well.

There are sales folks out there telling military personnel that the Xeonics Night Hunter 3 is going to accomplish the same thing as a Polarion-USA 50-watt Night Reaper.... I don't have a Night Hunter 3, but on paper the specs are the same as the Night Hunter 2 which is a 20 watt Short Arc system or 1/3 the wattage of the actual light I am going to do the comparison with. 

I mention the 2 and 3 models, because I believe they have the identical specifications on paper and the last time I ran into a Night Hunter 2 was during a shock and vibration test with the USMC with the Polarion Night Reaper protos.

The Marines wanted to see how the Night Hunter 2 compared to our Night Reaper. I told them all I have is 40-watt lights and we are bringing our system out in 50-watts, but lets do this.

I had a group of US Marines turn their back to a large, dark wooded area. We sent 1 Marine into the woods approx 275 yards away. I told him to stand in the open, but remain in the shadows if he could.

We then told the group to fire up their NH2 and find the potential threat. I pointed/waved to a 100-120 degree area to search in. 5 minutes later they could not locate anything noteworthy and just stopped searching.

We then told the group to fire up the Polarion PF40. Wish I had a stopwatch, because in less than 2 seconds they located their fellow Marine. He was the guy standing there with his hands up to stop the incoming beam from painfully bothering his vision....

One of the Marines in the group captured the moment quite eloquently (he was getting ready for his 4th tour in Afghanistan), and I quote:
"That is F%&*G game over....Holy SH^%T" 

I am probably going to keep it under 300 yards for most of the imagery, although I might have time to go to an area that I can reach out to 1000 yards plus.

Distance is one component and an important one. Total useful coverage at any given distance if more important in my view.


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## dudemar (Jun 8, 2009)

Ken J. Good said:


> Distance is one component and an important one. Total useful coverage at any given distance if more important in my view.



I totally agree with you there, Ken.:twothumbs


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## LuxLuthor (Jun 8, 2009)

That was a great story, Ken!


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## Patriot (Jun 9, 2009)

Good story Ken. I remembered many of the details from when you told told the story a couple of years ago or so ago but it was just as good now as it was then. The 50W Night Reaper ought to blow their socks off!


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 9, 2009)

Okay hopefully these pictures will tell the story:

Xeonics Night Hunter 1 (60-watt short arc) compared to the Polarion-USA Night Reaper (50-watt long arc)

*First set of Images - 100 yards / Hillside / Ciderblock Wall*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 34mm 
Night Hunter 1 Flood
Night Hunter 1 Spot
Night Reaper
Side-by-Side - NH on Flood
Side-by-Side - NH on Spot

*385 yards to Treeline - Baseball Fence in Foreground*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 34mm 
Control Shot
Night Hunter 1 - Flood
Night Hunter 1 - Spot
Night Reaper

*385 yards to Treeline - Baseball Fence in Foreground*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 190mm 
Night Hunter 1 - Flood
Night Hunter 1 - Spot
Night Reaper

*Illuminated Building - Side Coverage approx 150 yards away*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 55mm 
Control Shot
Night Hunter 1 - Flood
Night Hunter 1 - Spot
Night Reaper

*Baseball Dugout - 247 yards away*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 135mm
Control Shot
Night Hunter 1 - Flood
Night Hunter 1 - Spot
Night Reaper

*Baseball Dugout - 247 yards away*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 82mm
Night Hunter 1 - Spot
Night Reaper

*Side-by-Side - Football Field*
Camera Settings: ISO 400 f/5.6 2.5s Oev 90mm
Side-by-Side Flood
Side-by-Side Spot

To me, the most telling of these images is the one taken of the Baseball dugout area. Note that in either Flood or Spot with the Xeonics Night Hunter, you can quite easily miss threats that are lateral to the one you are immediately focused in on. You really have to be in Spot mode to see anything with this searchlight. Flood is for all practical purposes useless.

In this image I positioned 2 people relatively close, just standing there. I've done experiments with moving people and at distance with a narrow beam, they can literally zig zag out your beam and you simply lose them in the terrain. Note that with the Polarion Long Arc Night Reaper, you have far, far greater lateral observation capabilities at the ranges these types of lights might be used in the urban battlefield utilizing Crew Served Weapons. 

In my mind, who cares if the searchlight can put a few photons on a target at an extended range if you miss everything on either side in the process?
The total surface area mapped so to speak in far more important when people are shooting back.

Note: All the images of the Xeonics Night Hunter, represent their most powerful 60-watt system. It's heavy, non-waterproof with a fairly hefty footprint. I would love to drop this thing from a couple of feet and see what happens!

Okay, I will come clean. What motivated me to do this in the first place other than I love good clean competition?

It was to dispel some "misinformation" that is starting to float around out there.

A US Army unit soon to deploy was specifically told that the Night Hunter 3 was just as "powerful" as the Polarion Night Reaper in terms of light output. Keep in mind, the Xeonics Night Hunter 3 has 1/3 the wattage of the Xeonics system photographed in the images above.

When the unit in question was shown the on paper specs..."See the Night Hunter 3 can push light out to a distance of 1.5 kilometers! It's does the same thing that the Polarion Night Reaper does".

When asked about it, we simply left them a system and told them to do their own comparison in whatever fashion they deemed appropriate.

Feedback from the unit: The word "crushed" was immediately brought forward as soon as the 2 systems were compared...

To wrap a bow on this: A short arc light is a very cool light in my mind it has an incredibly tight focus for sure. That is it's strength and that is in fact its weakness in terms of timely acquisition of fast moving targets. It may (I stress may) be great for long distance observation from a fixed position when you have all night to scan the area in IR mode.

But when you are on a vehicle looking for threats that will appear quickly and just as quickly disappear if given the opportunity, this is the not the technology of choice in my opinion.

If you lost your keys in a large field, would you look for them with a very powerful tightly focused green laser or a decent flashlight?

In the case the Xeonics is more like a laser and the Polarion's are more like a flashlight (albeit a fairly bright one...)


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## roadster (Jun 9, 2009)

Great pictures, Ken. The Polarion definitely does crush the Xeonics. I'm curious though. Can the Night Hunter be set somewhere in between flood and spot? It seems the sweet spot may be a couple of notches away from total spot. Although it wouldn't match the Polarion, it would probably provide more lateral coverage.


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## Patriot (Jun 9, 2009)

roadster said:


> I'm curious though. Can the Night Hunter be set somewhere in between flood and spot? It seems the sweet spot may be a couple of notches away from total spot. Although it wouldn't match the Polarion, it would probably provide more lateral coverage.




There is no "sweet spot" for these short-arc lights other than fully narrowed to maximum throw. Everything wider is a ringy compromise. 







Ken, you and your testers must just laugh when you're doing these types of comparisons, especially after the one was considered to be so highly touted. Not to say that it comes as a surprise to you since you have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but still, there must be a lot of grinning. 

In the baseball dugout shot, I didn't even see the guy on the left hand side initially...lol. My eyes got tunnel vision toward the right side of the picture for some reason. That's a great example. 

I can't even imagine troops in moving vehicles having to rely on a short-arc lights for spotting and IDing targets. I would liken it to going into combat looking through a couple of paper towel tubes fixed to your head. Honestly, I think they'd be better off with a $39 cyclops from Wallmart. I would think the short-arcs would be more at home mounted in a guard tower at an Air Force base or something.


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## Ken J. Good (Jun 9, 2009)

The "mid-range" flood question was already answered by Patriot, but I just want to reinforce the concept.

The main advantage/attribute of the short-arc lamp is that it can and does lend itself to an extremely tight focus. (Again, I think it's cool, just not particular useful for much of the combat environment). The lamp itself has a low volume of light (when compared to a long-arc HID) used exceptionally efficiently in that one particular focus range.

When the light is "flooded", all you are doing is moving the lamp into a different position in relationship to the reflector, taking it out of focus.
So you can say it has a focusable beam all you want. What you are really saying is that the light can be taken out of focus if you want to.

When you do take it out of focus, the relatively low volume of light in short-acr is no longer concentrated within the small envelope of optimal focus of .5 degrees. The beam signature is immediately compromised and what little light (in terms of volume), is scattered inefficiently from my observations. You see dark rings, holes and weak intensity. The photos clearly show this.

Keep in mind a Polarion Night Reaper has a collimated beam angle of 3 degrees and the corona is 20 degrees. You will note that due to the sheer volume of light, these beam angles are fairly useful. If you move the lamp assembly in a Polarion a few small fractions of an inch, the beam signature will be significantly altered to its detriment. Therefore, why do it at all?
What really would need to happen is a dynamic reflector/lamp assembly alteration. A light with a reflector that changes geometry based on user input/need. Then you would have something.

This is the long way around to telling you why I did not choose to show the "mid-range" (~5 degrees) flood on the Night Hunter. Essentially it was for all practical purposes just a non-useful as the "wide-focus" of 10 degrees.

Patriot: In terms of tactical application. As I stated, these types of lights may very well be used in limited circumstances. Yet, in these same scenarios that the short-arc may be applied, a powerful long-arc can hold it's own quite well by brute force. 

The other thing I also noticed that I neglected to mention is the effect of the color temp of the lamp itself. The bluish color of the Night Hunter does not naturally lend itself to target identification in juxtaposition to the 4300K of the Polarion's.

Therefore, in my bias opinion, the long-arc will dominate any short-arc in terms of total coverage and in the wide variety of combat scenarios that can and do unfold.


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## karlthev (Jun 9, 2009)

You gentlemen are waaay out of my league in terms of literary demonstration of your knowledge of these lights! Whew! Now, that being said, I've got a few lights with a bit of "umph" to them (one umph= lotsa light) and I will whole heartedly agree that the short arc light which have is extraordinary for long range spotting but is just not the light for my idea of surveillance around my home and out in the woods. Now, if I want to spot that elusive coyote at 400 yards, the hands-down winner is my short arc. Light up the backyard or a three block long area, my PH50 comes out in a flash--and does what is intended to do and admirably well. When de-focused (strange I'd not thought of it in that obvious way before) it has many artifacts which can be remidied (to some extent) by filtering with a lens. Different lights and different performances. I love my PH50.



Karl


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## Joe_torch (Jun 10, 2009)

Hi Ken, great pictures & story! Thanks for sharing!
Joe


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## Todka (Jun 18, 2009)

Fantastic pictures Ken.

Does anyone know the price of the Night Reaper?

I want one Badddddddd....


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## dudemar (Jun 18, 2009)

Todka said:


> Fantastic pictures Ken.
> 
> Does anyone know the price of the Night Reaper?
> 
> I want one Badddddddd....



Depending on the options you select, over at www.tacticalleds.com it's anywhere from four to seven g's.:wave:

Good luck selling the car.:laughing:


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## cue003 (Jun 18, 2009)

oh that's real nice.


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## Todka (Jun 20, 2009)

Dang..... wanting one a littlle less badddd now.

PH50 maybe then.

Hmmm, or home build.

I just want to melt clouds, not my marriage.
:twothumbs


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