I was curious to see how the Skyline, being all throwy and such, compared to some of the other lights I use, so I did up a few beamshots this evening. I've put some thumbnails first, then larger versions. Exposure and white balance are the same in each...

_{Solarforce Masterpiece, Solarforce Skyline I, Solarforce L2,
L2 with DX xenon dropin, Fenix LD20, 4Sevens RGB,
Zebralight H50.}






Solarforce Masterpiece - this is an MC-E based light, like the Fenix TK40, that runs off two 18650 batteries. It's by far the brightest of any of these lights. It's just silly, really. It's a big light - it isn't going in a pocket.


Solarforce Skyline I - a pure thrower. It out-throws all the others, though the Masterpiece puts up a good showing. This is another light that probably isn't going to fit in a pocket.


Good old Solarforce L2, with an R2 dropin. It's a reasonable thrower, without being completely dedicated to the task.


L2 again, but this time with a cheap xenon dropin from dealextreme.


Fenix LD20. The 4Sevens Quark beams are similar to this. I've always liked this beam for general... doing stuff.


4Sevens RGB, neutral tint. Smooth, wide beam with no hotspot. No throw at all, as a consequence. I use this light more than any other for photography.


My ZebraLight H50 headlamp - close range diffused light, great for working by. Pretty useless for photography.

I lit this with just the Masterpiece (on high power).

ISO200, f/11, 10 seconds, and it was *still* way overexposed (I've tried to rescue it a bit in lightroom). It's a bright light.



Amusingly, it looks like my pants are falling down because they are. I had chest waders rolled and belted around my waist, but the belt slipped off, and the waders fell down. Fortunately, I noticed before walking back through the deep section

Very informative review Meta thanks for sharing. I am looking to get one of the quark RGBs the neutral-white version. I am curious how well it will reproduce gel colours, I have noticed the cold tone to most LED lights tends to skew the normal colour of gels. Since this light is considered neutral does that mean it will reproduce colour better? It looks quite warm in your photo and not really neutral.

The RGB certainly looks warm in comparison to the regular LEDs - it makes me wonder how much warmer the 'warm'-rated 4Sevens lights are!

I've found that the colours in the RGB are very pure, which is great if you just want to isolate an area for later manipulation. I find I generally mix a colour with some white as well, though, to tone it down a bit - the blue in particular is just too much for the camera to bear, otherwise.

I don't use the colours all that much, but the RGB is definitely my most-used light for photography.

I will most likely use the red, green and blue emitters quite often but I was more specifically wondering about gels for example the ones available from Lee Filters, any experience using those with the neutral emitter?

Posted by accessgranted I will most likely use the red, green and blue emitters quite often but I was more specifically wondering about gels for example the ones available from Lee Filters, any experience using those with the neutral emitter?

A filament light has a bell curve of output across the spectrum. That is, it outputs photons at many different frequencies. Any white LED will emit mostly blue and yellow. "Neutral" or "Warm" LEDs do better in the red and green range. A gel filter in red will be disappointing on any LED, but worst on a cold (normal) white. Blue and yellow will come out nicely, as do magenta, orange, and most green.

Posted by accessgranted I will most likely use the red, green and blue emitters quite often but I was more specifically wondering about gels for example the ones available from Lee Filters, any experience using those with the neutral emitter?

I occasionally use a CTO filter on the neutral RGB, but I really haven't used anything crazier than that. I'm going out tonight - I might take some test shots to compare the neutral to a cooler LED, with gels.

Hmmm, thanks. Red is definitely the one that I noticed the biggest problem with when it comes to led. I read somewhere that is you added ct warming gel it would make the red look more natural and it definitely works but it's just a pain in the ass to hold them in front of the lens especially when you are using the small ones from the sampler pack. I think the RGB will be a welcome addition.