Light comparison -an idea

[Arch]

Yep. I had it made to order by Rooster from C+. The run time is about 30 minutes, but as my commute is 26 minutes, that's no problem. It cost about £20, but the battery pack was separate and about £50.

I think Rooster sells lights on eBay. They are simple, but remarkably good. I think Simoncc uses one.

It's like a reverse of the saying - the lights are out, but someone is home...

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Here there are a few lights for comparison Not that many but it helps to form an idea I think.

Rick

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Ok guess I'll go first then:

Cateye EL-530 first up using new duracell plus batteries:

http://flickr.com/photos/14838736@N04/1815716206/

This is another shot this time standing well behind the light:

http://flickr.com/photos/14838736@N04/1816809479/


Next up my new AYUP using standard li-ion 6 hour battery:

http://flickr.com/photos/14838736@N04/1814863299/

and the is the update for the ayup from behind the light:

http://flickr.com/photos/14838736@N04/1816801719/

Can't fathom how to put a picture up directly on this reply. Tried image tags, file uploading but neither works so can only provide links to flickr.

Well to be honest, cannot see jack shite from your first 2 piccys with the EL-530, but I'm well, well impressed with the AY-UPS.
Now I need to see how the smarts BL 201's compare to these as to be honest the AY-UPS are well out my price league at the mo.

For a comparison on lights you need to set your different cameras on to a manual setting of say, aperture at 4.5, shutter speed at 1/30 second with the light pointing at a neutral coloured wall from say 10'. That way all pictures will have the same amount of light exposure.

Also to get a semblance of consistency I would suggest stand astride your back wheel and rest your elbows on your "cheek bones" of your saddle to take your pictures.

We are not looking for a technically correct exposed photograph here, just the amount of light a given set up would show at this exposure (i.e, light spread).

All the things being equal, the brighter lights will obviously give us a brighter circle of light.

 

[bonj2]

I got the BLT firewire today and have been out for a ride this evening in the dark on some fairly minor country lanes, and I have to say it's quite good actually.
It's not exactly like a floodlight like when you've got full beam on when driving, but it casts enough of a beam to see where you're going, which is the main thing. Prob'ly not really wide enough a beam or bright enough for MTBing, and darkness still a bit of a burden on fast road descents and/or where there's lots of tight bends, but it DOES light the way, and that's the main thing.
One thing I have to say about it is it does seem extremely well made, the battery case and the light body are really nice polished/'mottled' metal, and are very light, looks great and is very elegant and sleek. The 'stick' battery holder fits onto a pump bracket like I thought it would do, and the 'coil' cable is just about the right length.
Some reviews said the mounting was a bit flimsy - while it is fairly thin plastic, and the method of fastening the strap isn't the best in the world (it just 'clicks' through like a cable tie but that can go both ways) it does attach well enough. I thought it was going to be a bit of an arse removing it from the bike every time because the light itself doesn't unclip from the mounting, but it's actually fairly easy to unscrew it at the front and remove the mounting that way with the strap still fastened, and it does up again tight enough. Only real problem I encountered is that it kept pointing itself too much to the left 'cos it's touching on my cables and it does swivel fairly easily, I think this is 'cos it's fairly light really - but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sort this problem out.

Beam shots compared with smart polaris 2:
here is the smart polaris 2 (5 LED):

BLT firewire 4:

You can see how when shone at a darkened, not particularly reflective object, like this corner of a wall in an overgrown yard, it's clear that the smart polaris throws off little sub-beams at angles to the main one, due to the optic it uses and the fact that it's got 5 smaller LEDs as opposed to 1 bright one.
But, the smart polaris 2, while nice for commuting in lit areas, when I tried to use (well, did use it) on dark country lanes I got the feeling I was cycling blindly and randomly into the blackness, while with the BLT i did have a reasonable enough idea of what was ahead in order to go along at normal pace.

 

[bonj2]

For a comparison on lights you need to set your different cameras on to a manual setting of say, aperture at 4.5, shutter speed at 1/30 second with the light pointing at a neutral coloured wall from say 10'. That way all pictures will have the same amount of light exposure.

I just took the easy option and put my camera in its 'night' mode preset

 

[kyuss]

you need to take the photos in more or less the same surroundings. the reults willbe different for the same light if one pic. is taken outside in total darkness with no reflective surfaces and the other is taken in a white painted hallway where all the light is being relected around.

This is a very good point, which is why Domd1979's EL530 shot looks so much brighter than Doyler 78's. The conditions are totally different. Putting aside issues over camera types/settings, there should at least be some kind of rules put in place concerning the condition the shots are taken under or there really can't be any meaningful comparison.

Personally I'm not too bothered about how well my light illuminates a room or what shape the beam makes on a wall. I think most would agree that when we're doing 20-30mph the best thing a light could do would be to light up the ground in front of you for as far as possible. So, maybe the best thing would be if all shots are taken outside in a place that isn't directly lit by other means (ie back garden/park/canal towpath) with the light pointed at the ground a decent distance in front (maybe 10-15ft, more if you have powerful lights) so that it's possible to see how much use these things would be in real cycling conditions.

I'll try and get a picture of my Electron 5w+10w halogens up at some point in the next week.

 

[bonj2]

Personally I'm not too bothered about how well my light illuminates a room or what shape the beam makes on a wall. I think most would agree that when we're doing 20-30mph the best thing a light could do would be to light up the ground in front of you for as far as possible. So, maybe the best thing would be if all shots are taken outside in a place that isn't directly lit by other means (ie back garden/park/canal towpath) with the light pointed at the ground a decent distance in front (maybe 10-15ft, more if you have powerful lights) so that it's possible to see how much use these things would be in real cycling conditions.

I think basically as dark as possible, and the same conditions/location for each of the two lighs you compare. That will certainly give a good comparison between the lights that each person who's got two or more lights does.
I don't think there's ever been much hope of drawing a particularly accurace comparison between one person's photos of one light and another person's photo of a different light, but you can certainly say so-and-so light is X times better than the other light.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

I just took the easy option and put my camera in its 'night' mode preset

Just trying to make it a legit comparison bonj !!

 

[doyler78]

OK,

Happy to go again. I now know how to setup my camera manually. If anyone can agree on what setting I should be using.

The option I have available are:
With Manual Exposure On which allows me to set the:
f spot to 2.8 or 4.7 and
Shutter Speed ranges from 15 secs to 1/1000 sec.

Other menu options are:
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluo, Tungsten.
ISO Speed: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Saturation: -2 to +2
Contrast: -2 to +2
Sharpness: -2 to +2
All the RGB Colour channels: -2 to +2

This is only a compact camera so not the same range of manual control as I am sure some you have with your cameras. I can only work with what I have.

Haven't a clue what they all do but if you all can agree what we should be using I will plug them in a shoot again.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

OK,

Happy to go again. I now know how to setup my camera manually. If anyone can agree on what setting I should be using.

The option I have available are:
With Manual Exposure On which allows me to set the:
f spot to 2.8 or 4.7 and
Shutter Speed ranges from 15 secs to use 1/30 or 1/60, any less will risk camera shake 1/1000 sec.

Other menu options are:
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluo, Tungsten.
ISO Speed: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Saturation: -2 to +2 0
Contrast: -2 to +2 0
Sharpness: -2 to +2 0
All the RGB Colour channels: -2 to +2 0

This is only a compact camera so not the same range of manual control as I am sure some you have with your cameras. I can only work with what I have.

Haven't a clue what they all do but if you all can agree what we should be using I will plug them in a shoot again.

Just my suggestions as I only have a Smart Polaris 3 l.e.d headlamp and no digi camera to partake in this comparison thread !!

 

[ajc]

Doyler78, thanks for the piccies, I'd read the thread on the dinotte/cat eye debate and saw you were impressed with the AY UPS and decided to take the plunge yesterday, your piccies certainly seem to back up what you were saying. The price of the roadie kit looks good value !

 

[doyler78]

Doyler78, thanks for the piccies, I'd read the thread on the dinotte/cat eye debate and saw you were impressed with the AY UPS and decided to take the plunge yesterday, your piccies certainly seem to back up what you were saying. The price of the roadie kit looks good value !

Hope you find them as good as me. Let me know what you think when you get them.

ORIGINAL POST UPDATED WITH YET ANOTHER SET OF PHOTOS TO TRY GIVE MORE DETAIL IN THE CATEYE'S. I TRIED LOTS OF DIFFERENT SETTINGS INCLUDING THOSE SUGGESTED AND THIS IS THE ONE THAT GIVES ME THE MOST LIGHT IN THE EL-530 WITHOUT COMPLETELY BLEACHING OUT THE AYUPS WHEN I TOOK THEIR PICTURE.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Anyone know where you can get the AYUP's in the UK?

(Thinks) would it be worthwhile setting up a distributor service ??

 

[doyler78]

(Thinks) would it be worthwhile setting up a distributor service ??

Totally agree. They need to find a distributor in this country as buying from Australia will clearly put some people off as well as the ambiguities over whether VAT, Customs and Handling Fees are going to charged once imported ie nobody has a clue what the final cost will be let alone the potential costs involved in resolving any problems. I made my decision knowing all the pitfalls for some they will be just too great to risk.

I haven't been charged anything extra yet however I know that this is still a distinct possibility. I believe it could be anything up to £40.

There are lights which I seen mentioned out of New Zealand which are challenging Ayup in the Southern Hemisphere and it is only a matter of time before the UK comes up with their own version of these lights which will make importation expensive. If Ayup are to be able to compete then they need to get a distributor network for the UK setup asap or they will simply miss the boat in my opinion.

 

[magnatom]

I got my Busch and Muller Ixon IQ light delivered yesterday. It looks considerably brighter than my Cateye EL-500 (How does this compare to the EL530) and seems to have a wider throw than the cateye. It feels well built and I like the LED battery indicator. It came with a charger that plugs into the light and 4 AA rechargeable batteries (2100mAh).

I will try and compare the lights tonight when I ride home and I will try and post the results tomorrow. It might be video rather than camera footage, but I will still give an idea of what the light is like.