Favorite Small Lantern?

The ZebraLight headlamps are all flood lights (or almost flood) and I think they produce a nice even ball of light.

If you use a canister stove (and therefore are already carrying a canister) the Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern might be a decent option. I carried one before I lightened my load in 2006. It is 3.2oz without the canister.

Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern

Thanks Brad – don't use a canister but that is a cool idea!

If it's basically for ambience and glow, a mini candle lantern might do the trick for 3.2oz. I find hanging a headlamp to work pretty well, though, and probably lighter. But if you're photographing, you'll want one headlight on you and one in the tent…

You don't have to use a light inside the tent if there is a moon.

This was taken entirely by moonlight, many years ago, on the Tumut River. (Olympus OM2, Kodak Gold II, time exposure on a tripod)

Cheers

Hi Brad (Groves),

I think I could make do with one inside only, as these type of shots work best when there is a SMALL amount of ambient light to give some definition to the outside landscape, as opposed to pure darkness. A candle lantern is something I have considered – it might add a nice warm ambience if nothing else, compared to the hung headlamp. Need to do some testing I think.

Hi Roger,

I myself love taking long exposures by moonlight, however in this case I'm looking for glow coing from within the tent, as opposed to just lighting the tent up to see in a night-time photo.

I really like my Black Diamond Orbit at 3.9oz w/ 4 AAA bats. It gives off a lot of light for such a small lantern
and it comes with a hook to hang it and is very stable too–It also pack very small

-Jay

Have to second the candle-lantern. I have used a Uco candle-lantern for about twenty years now. Wouldn't give it up for the world. I think it would probably give the look you want. (warm yellowish)

Guyot Designs Firefly Bottle LED Lamp

3.65 ounces with the batteries (3 AAA) + 3 or 6 ounce Nalgene type bottle

Changing the batteries requires an eyeglasses sized Phillips head to change the batteries. The battery compartment is not waterproof and the contacts on mine have started to rust. With that said, it puts off a fair amount of light and you can choose different colored Nalgene bottles for different effects. You can hold down the on/off switch and the light will dim until you let go, so you can vary the strength of the light inside your shelter for your pictures. Works good for a night light for young kids too.

You may also want to put something reflective or white on the floor of your shelter to brighten things more. A space blanket or a tyvek groundsheet might help.

+3 on the Candle lantern. Like the downward reflector for them too.

Here is mine- with a new tea candle it weighs 1.1 oz

REI sells a nice candle lantern that uses tea light candles. 3.7 ounces according to their page.

.

So is the 3.9 oz weight with batteries INCLUDED?

I am almost certain that a few models of headlamps have optional diffusion filters for them, turning them into lanterns, or a sort. Like those wands you can clip on a flashlight. Should work for your tent-at-night photo application. I think I just saw one in REI. I'll see if I can find more info…

Fenix makes something called a "diffuser", but that's not quite what I'm talking about.

http://www.fenixlight.com/viewnproduct.asp?id=50

Still looking…

Here are threads on some homemade monstrosities:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=237718

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201889

One of them is just a clear water-bottle cap laid on top of the flashlight lens. Another guy uses one of those semi-clear 35mm film canisters.

AHA! Here are some lantern diffusers for flashlights, but they aren't for a headlight:

http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/fenix-torch-accessories/fenix-lantern-diffuser-for-tk-and-ta-models.html

http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Accessories/Solarforce-LT-1-Lantern-Attachment-p19.html

But I KNOW I recently saw a headlight that had something similar, and thought it was useless at the time…

Konrad on this thread, http://tinyurl.com/yla5rff, gives a interesting idea of using the Maratac flashlight and a ChapStick cap as a lantern. Might work for what you are trying to accomplish plus having the added benefit of having a flashlight if needed.

Hi Chris

> I'm looking for glow coming from within the tent,
OK, understood.

If you are taking a time exposure from the outside, you are allowing for a very low external light level. So you really only need a very low light level inside the tent. There are two (UL) ways of getting this:

* Have someone inside wave a LED light fairly fast around pointing at the roof of the tent. Even a button-cell light like a Photon would suffice. The camera will integrate the spot of light as it dances around.

* Use a 'birthday candle' and set it on your cooking pot inside the tent. That's one of those tiny candles about 4 mm diameter and 50 mm long that you stick into birthday cakes. They burn a bit fast, but they do emit a fair bit of light.

Cheers

Hey Chris,

I use the Black Diamond Orbit like some people here. BDEL’s site says it’s 3oz or 84g without batteries. Really not a bad weight for how much light this thing puts out. Definitely something I bring along on every trip, and it works great for those tent pics you’re describing.

I like the Orbit as well. I really like the fact that I can dim it if it's right in my face. I did a video review of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F778FrkZepU

Enjoy!

If you have the camera on a tripod set for a long exposure, you can "paint" with light, getting inside the tent and carefully moving the light around the inside, covering the walls with the beam. You can illuminate a large building, train, truck, etc, with the same technique and practice. Remember, you only need to do the side of the tent facing the camera. I agree that a diffused source will work better. You can achieve near shadowless illumination when painting with light, giving some other-worldly effects– you are literally wrapping the light around the subject.

A flash with a test/manual trigger button can do the same, making several spaced flashes while the shutter is open. You can balance interior and exterior illumination. For complex lighting shots, pro photographers sometimes use flash with radio controlled triggers. Both techniques are common for architectural photos.

With digital stuff, you could take two exposures, one of the exterior lighted the way you want and another of the tent illuminated from the inside and combine them in Photoshop. Of course, the camera can't move between the two shots.

Back in the Good Old Days, we took many exposures on silver-based film, using calculations and experience. Pretty amazing when it was done right.

I just tried aiming my LED headlamp straight down into a clear plastic dry roasted peanut jar. The internal reflections cause the whole outer shape to glow. Try it with whatever you carry water in. And if all else fails a white balloon or a white paper or nylon lantern can be your softbox.

"For complex lighting shots, pro photographers sometimes use flash with radio controlled triggers. Both techniques are common for architectural photos."

I was going to mention that… I recommend either SkyPort or the AlienBee version (I can't think of the name of the AlienBee version) due to size, weight, and relatively low price. Team them with some of the LumoPro speedlights that MPEX and LumoPro designed for the Strobist community, and you're good to go. With those you can also do a lot of very cool stuff by painting with light…

slightly off-topic but is the black diamond orbit bright enough to do misc. tasks within the tent like reading?

presently i use one of those micro LEDs to read.. shines a very bright but somewhat focused light on the page. would this be a good replacement? would it consume less power than a micro LED?