For light painting in photography, you need light sources in addition to the camera. And LED flashlights are the first choice for beginners. Attention should be paid to battery-powered flashlights.
Lumen is the unit of measurement for the amount of light produced by a light source. This amount of light with the unit symbol lm should not be confused with lux! Depending on the application, a large amount of light is required. In practice, it has been shown that up to 1000 lumens is useful. Anything above 1000 lumens requires a specific application, such as illuminating an extensive landscape.
Since some flashlights have a very small light source, 50 to 100 lumens are sufficient to write or draw text in the air, for example. Just try it out!
The important thing with flashlights is that they are easy to use. It must be easy to switch the flashlight on and off again in the dark.
Old models have a switch on one side (side switch). New models often have a button on the back (end cap switch). The advantage of the rear-mounted switch on LED flashlights is not clear at first. If you imagine the position of the flashlight, then it becomes clear. Police and security services hold the flashlight in their fist and their thumb is at the end of the torch to be able to operate the end cap switch quickly. It must be clear that the lamp head is not only used to illuminate, but may also be used as an impact weapon. We therefore have a defined location above the end cap switch to quickly find the switch.
The posture when light painting will be less of a fist position (imagine a painter with a brush holding it in his fist). We have the lamp in our hand so that we can make sweeping circles. It is part of the exercise to be able to operate the switch well.
There are still flashlights with a rotary switch, such as the Fenix PD40R V.20
The focusability of flashlights is a quality criterion. Many models offer the option of making the light cone very wide and also producing a very narrow light cone. Depending on the case, one or the other is advantageous or intermediate steps thereof.
The light cone should be very uniform in all variants. If the light cone is brighter in the middle than in the outer area, this can lead to unsightly image effects.
In addition to modern LED light sources, there are also xenon, halogen and fluorescent tube light sources for flashlights. Each light source has its own specific color temperature and light quality. This is for the sake of completeness. The LED flashlights are sufficient for our tests.
Tip on the design of flashlights: we want to attach a “light shaper” in front of the flashlight. To do this, we need a connection between the flashlight and the light shaper. It is therefore practical if the flashlight runs straight at the head and does not have a conical head.
There are various options for the connection between the flashlight and the light shaper. These are presented in the following chapter on light shapers for flashlights.
In stroboscope mode, the torch flashes. This mode is intended for defense at night and can greatly irritate an attacker. Of course, this is not our aim with light painting, but the mode is still very interesting for certain effects. However, please clarify in advance whether people with epilepsy are in the team. In this case, the use of the stroboscope mode is absolutely not recommended in order not to provoke an epileptic seizure.
Here is a non-exhaustive selection:
In the following tutorials, the MT14 from Ledlenser (here at Amazon (affiliate link) is used.
My used flashlights and their light intensity: