Tag: lumens

Categories
Cycling

Night Shift bike lights are simplicity wrapped in attitude

No matter the terrain, a well-lit bike ride is a safe one. But with a plethora of options that are functionally suitable for the job, picking one is less about what it can do and more about how it looks.

As such, the rally-styled Night Shift bike light by GRIT makes the choice easy. The product is a combination of a high-powered tactical flashlight wrapped in a bomber-style silicone holder, making it both rugged enough to withstand all sorts of abuse, while being modular enough to always have choice in what lights to use. Because of this, riders can switch out batteries or entire lights on the fly, and aren’t limited to one charge as with other products like Double O. The 200 lumen Fire Road model goes for $28, and the 700 lumen model goes for $58, although it’s possible to only buy the silicone housing for $14.

The product’s modularity, simple styling, and color selection instantly make this something to look out for, and marks a break from increasingly smart bike lights like the Augur Wolf. It’s simplicity affords it a lot of versatility, something that will appeal to many.

The $8,000 campaign is ready for mass production, with an expected delivery date of April of this year, but only if it raises the money by the time the campaign ends on March 8.

Categories
Imaging Video

Vela One delivers high-speed flash photography faster than you can blink

Being a photographer is an expensive gig, and treading into the waters of high speed photography, even more so. The equipment currently used to film those well-known shots of small events like water droplets falling and frogs jumping cost big money, so it’s not hard to see why it isn’t more prevalent. Matt Kane wasn’t a big fan of the excessive costs, and created the Vela One to make it more affordable to do quality high speed photography.

The Vela One does away with the need for a high-speed camera costing tens of thousands of dollars as an LED-based unit that packs one million units into a sturdy polycarbonate box. The Vela One is capable of pulses as short as 500 nanoseconds, 100 times faster than standard speed light flashes and fast enough to shoot a rifle bullet. Since the device isn’t based on high voltage sparks and doesn’t require dangerous equipment to operate, it’s so much more versatile and accessible. Photographers can combine the Vela One with the fps1000 for truly low-cost, quality shots, making the former practically necessary to most any photographer. A donation of £550 (~$856) will get backers a Vela One by May 2015 should the product reach its campaign goal of £25,000 (~$38,900).

 

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories

Smartphone Projector Case lets older iPhones show off their new image

Those old iPhones still need some love too, you know. It can’t be right to throw them off to the side after they’ve faithfully served us for so long, can it? Instead of chucking it to the side, reconsider its value while attached to the Iron Man of phone cases: the Smartphone Case Projector.

Although the product might be a little too simplistically titled, it gets a little tricky depending on which iPhone model you have. The iPhone 4/4S version of the case comes equipped with a built-in .5W speaker, a modest 15 lumen lamp, and projects images or video on up to 50″ surface. The iPhone 5/5S version of the case is a lot more versatile, equipped with a brighter 50 lumen lamp that can wirelessly project images, videos, and even Internet pages for up to two hours while simultaneously being able to dock and charge it. The case is in good company as many other products are exploring the hybrid projector model, like the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro.

Unfortunately, the creator didn’t have Tony Stark’s sense of design and, as a result, the Smartphone Projector Case is a behemoth that wouldn’t realistically pass most people’s limits of bulk, especially for just a single feature like projection. If the case still intrigues, the iPhone 4/4S version goes for $200, while the iPhone 5/5S version goes for $300. The campaign is seeking $100,000 to make this longshot a reality.