COOL TOY ALERT!!
I just found an upgrade kit for Mag lights. I got mine at Lowe's Hardware store, but they are available on-line too. You pop the top off and replace the reflector. Then you pull out the lamp and plug in the new LED lamp... which is actually 3 LEDs. Mine also came with a push button on off switch. You unscrew the cap in the butt and replace that with another piece. I got the white one but they also come in Red, Green, and Blue. It looks like it's such a new product that the colored LEDs aren't available yet. They are releasing an LED upgrade for the C and D cell Mags in April too.
I think it's brighter... it's at least a higher color temperature. Unfortunately, the focus feature doesn't work. It's locked at a little wider than the narrowest focus a mini mag produces... but I think it has a larger hot spot. The Twist off, twist on feature still is in effect and over rides the push button so it's sort of like having two switches. You can push the button on and off all you want but it does no good if it’s twisted to the old off position. I think I'm going to just switch back to my old base and forget the switch. The LED part of the unit looks durable enough so with 100,000 hour lamp life, it should last pretty much forever. The manufacturer claims it has 4 times the battery life. I just think it's cool. You can also still easily gel the inside of the light if you need to use it backstage or again try the colored kit... I’ve got to find one and I’ll let you know how it is.
I got mine for $9. It looks like the kit without the switch runs about $7.50. If I had known I wouldn’t have got the one with the switch. They are made by a company called Nite Ize. Who also make the “lite bite” another useful gadget for your mag. Here is the link to their Mag-lite accessory page on their website:
http://www.niteize.com/category.php?category_id=28&PHPSESSID=31b4471dce514b7da916cebfebd38f1a
I just found an upgrade kit for Mag lights. I got mine at Lowe's Hardware store, but they are available on-line too. You pop the top off and replace the reflector. Then you pull out the lamp and plug in the new LED lamp... which is actually 3 LEDs. Mine also came with a push button on off switch. You unscrew the cap in the butt and replace that with another piece. I got the white one but they also come in Red, Green, and Blue. It looks like it's such a new product that the colored LEDs aren't available yet. They are releasing an LED upgrade for the C and D cell Mags in April too.
I think it's brighter... it's at least a higher color temperature. Unfortunately, the focus feature doesn't work. It's locked at a little wider than the narrowest focus a mini mag produces... but I think it has a larger hot spot. The Twist off, twist on feature still is in effect and over rides the push button so it's sort of like having two switches. You can push the button on and off all you want but it does no good if it’s twisted to the old off position. I think I'm going to just switch back to my old base and forget the switch. The LED part of the unit looks durable enough so with 100,000 hour lamp life, it should last pretty much forever. The manufacturer claims it has 4 times the battery life. I just think it's cool. You can also still easily gel the inside of the light if you need to use it backstage or again try the colored kit... I’ve got to find one and I’ll let you know how it is.
I got mine for $9. It looks like the kit without the switch runs about $7.50. If I had known I wouldn’t have got the one with the switch. They are made by a company called Nite Ize. Who also make the “lite bite” another useful gadget for your mag. Here is the link to their Mag-lite accessory page on their website:
http://www.niteize.com/category.php?category_id=28&PHPSESSID=31b4471dce514b7da916cebfebd38f1a
