Decent consumer orientated flashlights / torches with strobes useful for light painting photography are getting few and far between. Many manufacturers have moved to using alternating frequency strobes and/or hidden strobe modes that are not memorised or easily accessible from off.
There are now quite a few flashlights specifically designed for light painting photographers with adjustable strobe frequency and brightness. These include the Light Painting Paradise LightPainter - Ryu's Lightworks V2, and Ants On A melon RGB Critter BT. Whilst these lights are highly recommended, they cost more than US$150, and for cheaper secondary lights you might want to consider a flashlight with Anduril user interface (UI).
Some reasonably priced (US$30-85), single LED, tail switch flashlights use Anduril UI - notably the Noctigon KR4 (SFT-25R or 519A 5700K Domed), and Noctigon KR1 (XHP70.3 HI 6500K or 90CRI 5000K). The Wurkkos TS10 SG and TS10 MAX will be tested soon. Discontinued Anduril flashlights used by light painters include the BLF/TLF FW3A, Lumintop FW1A, FW1A Pro, and FW21.
Anduril UI is designed for flashlight enthusiasts, and has adjustable strobe frequency at a fixed brightness level. Anduril is very complex to use, but mastering how to use it pays dividends. These lights generally don't have internal charging, so you may need to find your own high drain 18650 batteries and Li-ion charger, which may add to cost (unless you have them already).
Click Frenzy
Anduril 1 and 2 are both designed for single button/switch flashlights. Thus lots of clicking is required. This is notated as the the total number of clicks, and whether the last click is just a click, or hold (0.5s or more).
1C = click.
1H = hold
2C = click, click
2H = click, hold
3C = click, click, click
3C = click, click, hold
Most "holds" are a 0.5s long press, but in the case of tactical mode, brightness or strobe ramping,.and some configuration modes, you may need to keep holding for light output, required brightness/frequency, or the required configuration step respectively.
Anduril 1 or 2?
Firstly, you need to determine if you are using Anduril 1 or 2, and if you are using Anduril 2, getting from Simple UI to Advanced UI. This isn't always as simple as it sounds as Simple UI functionality varies between flashlights, Anduril 2 versions, and Anduril 2 lights may arrive in either Simple or Advanced UI. Most new Anduril flashlights will be Anduril 2.
If you are unsure of whether the light is running Anduril 2, click 4 times (4C), then click 4 times again (4C). If the the light is now off, you are in Anduril 1. If the light is on, you are in Anduril 2.
If you using Anduril 2, but unsure if you are in Simple UI or Advanced UI, click 3 times (3C) for battery check. If it runs through one set of flashes, you are in Simple UI. If it keeps cycling through the flashes, you are in Advanced UI.
Source of Anduril 2 Advanced UI diagram:
Anduril 2 - Simple UI to Advanced UI
Most Anduril 2 flashlights will arrive in Simple UI, but not always. If you triple click (3C) into battery check mode, a single set of flashes shows that you are in Simple UI, if the flashes keep repeating over and over, then you are in Advanced UI. To access Anduril 2 Advanced UI, click 9 times, and hold for 0.5sec on the 10th click (10H). Once you have done this, you will only need to change from Simple UI to Advanced UI if you intentionally or accidentally reset the light, or accidentally switch from Advanced UI back to Simple UI (10C).
Basic Use
Basic use involves a single click (1C) to turn on or off. A hold (1H) ramps or steps the brightness up or down between ramp min and ramp max settings (which are configurable) until you release the switch. A double click (2C) jumps to Turbo mode, and 2C again to return back. A triple or 6 click from on (3C or 6C) switches between ramped and stepped brightness, with 7 brightness steps by default. I prefer stepped brightness for consistency. There is last mode memory for the stepped/ramped modes, so when you turn the light off, it will turn back on at the same brightness setting. You can also engage momentary mode - see the momentary section for more information.
Please note that there are some differences between how Anduril 2 works with different torches. As there are multiple versions of Anduril 2, and it is frequently evolving, there may be differences in functionality from what has been stated in this article. It is also possible to heavily configure settings, or even flash custom versions of the firmware, but these are beyond the scope of this article. Dual or triple channel Anduril 2 use is also out of scope of this article.
Strobes
One of the most useful features of Anduril for light painters is the adjustable strobe frequency. The two most useful modes for light painters are:
Party Strobe - 1.3-3ms on-time - 4Hz to 90Hz (this may vary between lights).
Tactical Strobe - 33% on-time - 2.5Hz to 80Hz (this may vary between lights).
To enter strobe mode, the light must be off, and you do a click, click, 0.5s hold (3H) from off. It can take a few attempts to get this right, and it is easy to accidentally change from ramping to stepped mode (3C from on), or enter battery check (3C from off). Strobe mode should turn on to the last used strobe setting. Once you are in strobe mode, a double click (2C) advances between modes in a loop - Candle > Bike Flasher > Party Strobe >Tactical Strobe > (Police Strobe in some lights)>Lightning Storm >... A hold (1H) will increase the strobe frequency by ramping until hold is released, and a click, hold (2H) will decrease the strobe frequency by ramping until hold is released. It takes approx. 8 seconds to ramp through the range of frequencies. Now you can light paint using this strobe setting. Be aware that if you turn the light off, you will need to 3H to get back to strobe mode. Thus for more fine control of strobe, you need to enter momentary mode...
Momentary Mode
To use the strobe setting or any constant brightness setting in momentary mode in Anduril 1 or 2, the light needs to be set to your desired strobe or brightness setting. Then click once (1C) to turn off the light, pause, and then click 5 times (5C). In Anduril 2, you can either do the above, or additionally set your desired strobe or brightness setting, keep the light on, and click 5 times (5C). The light will flash once to acknowledge that you are in momentary mode. Now, when you hold down the switch, the light will be on in that memorised setting only when you fully hold down the switch. This is really useful for light drawing, light plants/flowers, and light calligraphy. Note: Some of the earlier Anduril 1 flashlights do not have momentary for strobe - this was added based on my feedback after the BLF/TLF FW3A group buy.
Be aware that brightness step-down is disabled in Momentary mode. This is good in that the brightness level will be consistent. However if you keep holding the switch down on higher brightness levels, the light may get very hot. For light painting such as creating light plants where each light trail has an on-time of 3-7 seconds, overheating will not be an issue.
The only way you can exit momentary mode is to break the power between the e-switch and the LED driver. With the Lumintop FW series lights you have to completely unscrew the head, and screw it back on again. With the Noctogon KR series lights, you just have to slightly unscrew and rescrew the tail or head cap.
Tactical Mode
An added feature on newer Anduril 2 lights is Tactical Mode. This can be enabled or exited with 6C. This then allows access to 3 saved settings (continuous or strobe) with momentary functionality via 1H (hold), 2H (click-hold), or 3H (click-click-hold). Configuration can be changed via 7H - see diagram. This is potentially useful for light painting as you can then access three saved settings with momentary functionality, bearing in mind that 2H and 3H have a risk of mis-click. The default settings are not consistent between lights. Be aware that if you save the 0C save the last used strobe/mood setting, it will remember the last used strobe/mood setting, not the last used strobe/mood setting at the time you performed the save.
Settings you may need to disable
There are quite a few settings that you may need to disable for light painting use depending on the Anduril 2 version and default configuration, and whether the light has auxiliary RGB LEDs. Many non-light painters may also want to disable these settings.
Turn off RGB auxiliary LEDs - 7C from off cycles Low>High>Blinking>Off. Thus to get from Low to Off, you will need to 7C three times. If you plan on using Tactical mode, you will need to do the same from Lockout mode, which is accessed with 4C from Off, 7C to cycle through the aux LED settings, and then exit with 3C.
Turn off "smooth steps" - if this is enabled by default, the light fades on/off rather than instantaneously. To disable this, 10H from off, release hold after 5th flash, and don't click until the light stops flashing at you (note: it is easy to miss the first flash). Whilst I generally prefer this disabled, when enabled and you are using 1C for on/off, it will create a fade in at the start and a fade out at the end of the light trail.
Turn off post off voltage display (POVD) which uses the RGB auxiliary LEDs when the light is turned off - 3C from off enters battery check mode, then 7H, release hold after 2nd flash, and don't click until the light stops flashing at you (note: it is easy to miss the first flash).
A few other things
A few other things to note with Anduril strobe modes and flashlights:
Tactical Strobe appears to now be at "Turbo" brightness, and was "7/7 ramp max" brightness on older versions.
Party Strobe is much dimmer than Tactical Strobe due to the short on-time waveform, so you will need to adjust your exposure settings appropriately. (The very fastest Tactical Strobe speed also has the same issue).
Bike Flash is useful for unusual light trails, with triple pulses.
Police Strobe just uses Blue and Red auxiliary lights and is useless for light painting. It is only enabled on some lights with auxiliary RGB LEDs.
Lightning Mode is not useful for light painting, but fun on Halloween. It's very random, so don't stare at the LED on this mode!!!
Party Strobe set to slowest setting, and then set to momentary is useful for creating "Fairy Dust" effects by pointing the light directly at the camera. Single LED lights have better "Fairy Dust".
Not all lights with Anduril have strobe modes, or may have different strobe modes (such as some older lights from Fireflies). Some LED emitter and driver options don't work well with strobe modes.
Most Anduril UI flashlights have high max lumens to thermal mass ratio, and thus continuous brightness can reduce very rapidly due to thermal throttling if left turned on. Thermal throttling does not occur on strobe modes.
Anduril based lights are not for everyone, but with trial and error, and a bit of patience, they can be very useful in your light painting arsenal.
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I too am looking for a light painter. freq wld be nice but mainly concerned with a light that will gv me adjustable brightness and focus.
william