Somewhere along my way to discover new and useful Photographic tricks, I managed to stumble on an expensive search for just the right tool. Now I wish to share what I have discovered.
I enjoy taking time lapsed photos, and I really enjoy using a Flashlight to paint the picture, to achieve the desired effect. Try it sometime. Its a lot of fun.
But the common flashlights I have tried, all seem to have a HOT SPOT. Rats! this is unacceptable. So I bought any kind of odd flashlight I could locate. My wife thought I was a FOOL! Its is obvious she does not understand the passion that drives a person in Genuine Unscientific Research.
I was looking for a diffused light source that I could stick in my pocket, and use at will. I finally found a solution in an odd object.
A broken LCD TV. Someone gave me one to disassemble, and I discovered there are four layers of film used to diffuse and spread the light evenly. So I disassembled the TV and placed the sheets in front of the flashlight. Holy Cow! it worked very well. Too well. It also works great in front of a strobe for a close-up. And it was Free.

Now my search continued for a Color correct flashlight. A Google search revealed nothing. But then on a Police Tactical store on Ebay, there it was. A miniature Color correct flashlight, that uses two AA batteries and output of 80 lumes.
Yep! I ordered it, and Yep! it has a Hot Spot in the center. But with the diffuse sheets from the LCD TV, it works great. Is the color correct? I am no scientist, but I did experiment, and I would judge it to be 86% color correct. The TerraLUX penlight is not cheap. At $20 it a lot for a flashlight, but a very handy gadget.

Ok! thats all I got to say. I am Happy, and my wife is Happy that I am no longer buying too many flashlights. She is not a happy camper about all the broken LCD TVs I am storing in the garage.

I have experimented with night photography and even do experimenting with light painting. My preferred tool is a trusty ol' MAG-light. Usually I use a 14" one. People are less lightly to mess with you when you are toting one of these. The adjustable focus on it really helps when you are trying to highlight one or two objects in a night scene. A light diffuser like you mentioned above might be a worthwhile addition to my tool bag.

On the note of colour correction, found this discussion thread: candlepowerforums.com

Check the post by harisastro at 08-29-2011, 06:46 AM.


For some more amusement.. in addition to that provided by pastureyes' OP ('Original Post'), read the last post by Paul_in_Maryland on the above linked page. And I quote;

"Since my daughter has set her sights on ob/gyn, I hope her Preon 1 Warm White will serve her well!"

'Wait.. what?'

A very interesting read Les. Thanks. I would of never thought that the medical community was concerned about color correct flashlights. I read with great interest about using colored filters to bring a warm effect. I have tried this, as well as using colored theater gels and I have even purchased a pack of tissue stuffing used in gift bags. These work very well, but do not diffuse the light. I have even tried to use prizzemed reflectors as provided with some strobe units.
Only the film I gathered from the disassembled LCD TV seems to work well, BUT, (there is always a but), does not work very well in distance shots, unless the light source is very strong, above 100 lumes. By the way, I looked up the price of some of the other mentioned flashlights, $40 and above for a penlight, why thats too rich for my pocketbook. Besides, my wife would make me sleep in the hardware store if I purchased yet another flashlight.