Gadget review: ViewPoint Gen3 Headlight

Commuting by bicycle at this time of the year means riding in the dark. My
primary lighting until how has been a PlanetBike DualSpot which is good
enough as a "be seen" light in its flashing mode. Its steady modes, I've
found, however, are not great for lighting up the road ahead.

Lately, however, the roads have been torn up by lots of construction, and
it's become more important for me to ride carefully, lest I drop a wheel
somewhere nasty, and crash during the evening rush.

It was time to get a new light. Most battery-lighting solutions are either
feeble but compact and affordable (like my DualSpot) or as dazzlingly
bright as they are stupendously expensive.

Into this comes the ViewPoint Gen3 headlight, which I picked up from my
local shop--which happens to be a Performance shop, about which more some
other time.

For the princely sum of 39 U.S. dollars, here was a LED headlight claiming
to be brighter than a 10-watt halogen lamp and run 9 hours on a set 4 AA
batteries. The bulb wouldn't ever need replacing, either, being a LED. I
was intrigued, and picked one up.

The lamp housing is about the size of a typical single-halogen headlamp,
and it sits over the flat battery pack which holds 4 AA batteries (not
included, of course). Bizarrely, there is a wire leading from the battery
pack which must be plugged into the appropriate place on the lamp. I
mention this because the battery pack and the lamp are actually
inseperable, so I can't work out why on earth one would ever need to
disconnect the power cord.

Technically, the mounting bracket and the lamp are two pieces, but, since
the bracket mounts with a quick cam similar to my DualSpot's, it is
possible to keep the unit together. The quick cam clamps securely to my
Jamis Aurora's drop bars, although I had to loosen it quite a bit. I
loosened it too much and ended up accidentally taking the cam clean off.
the threads are very fine, and I was frantically trying to get things back
together. Let that be a less to you, kiddies--never test gear for the
first time in a dark Metro parking lot!

On the road, with the lamp on at its brightest setting, I was actually
able to spot irregularities in the pavement ahead quite well. I've never
ridden with a 10-watt halogen, but I can say for certain that the LED in
this thing was at least an order of magnitude brighter than my previous
light. While it threw a rather diffuse beam, the difference I could
immediately notice was that I could see *and* be seen. Quite
confidence-inspiring in early-evening, crowded suburban traffic.

In fact, the light it threw out reminded me of the last decent set of
lights I had on a bike--a horrid Union plastic bottle generator dynamo
lightset. My new light actually threw off as much light as that whirring
contraption did which has immediately set me to thinking about getting a
dynamo and a LED headlamp sometime in the future. Why not get one now, you
ask? Because I needed a light *now* for commuting, and no shops in my area
stock dynamos, that's why.

Overall: Money well-spent. This "high-power emitter" stuff is not a
gimmick, at least not to me.

-Luigi

--
mark
"Luigi de Guzman" wrotet...

In fact, the light it threw out reminded me of the last decent set of
lights I had on a bike--a horrid Union plastic bottle generator dynamo
lightset. My new light actually threw off as much light as that whirring
contraption did which has immediately set me to thinking about getting a
dynamo and a LED headlamp sometime in the future. Why not get one now, you
ask? Because I needed a light *now* for commuting, and no shops in my area
stock dynamos, that's why.

Overall: Money well-spent. This "high-power emitter" stuff is not a
gimmick, at least not to me.

-Luigi

www.peterwhitecycles.com and http://sheldonbrown/harris/ both stock all the
dynamos (hub and otherwise) you could want, along with a full range of
headlights and taillights. The only LED headlight I've seen that will work
with a dynamo is a rather expensive ($120) Busch & Muller, high price is
apparently due to the rectifier circuitry needed to work with a dynamo. The
halogen bulb B & M Lumotecs work extremely well, and you can keep the
Viewpoint Gen3 as a backup.
--
mark

Luigi de Guzman wrote:

For the princely sum of 39 U.S. dollars, here was a LED headlight claiming
to be brighter than a 10-watt halogen lamp and run 9 hours on a set 4 AA
batteries. The bulb wouldn't ever need replacing, either, being a LED. I
was intrigued, and picked one up.


Overall: Money well-spent. This "high-power emitter" stuff is not a
gimmick, at least not to me.

That light looks like a re-branded version of the NiteHawk Emitter. It's
an OK light, pretty comparable to a good 2.5W halogen light, like the
Cateye MicroII. The battery life seems much better (I've had one for a
year) than the halogens, with the advantage that, as the batteries run
down, the light stays white, just gets gradually dimmer, so the usable
battery life is excellent. The Cateye has been selling for as little as
$10 though.

Peter Cole wrote:
Luigi de Guzman wrote:

"On the road, with the lamp on at its brightest setting, I was actually
able to spot irregularities in the pavement ahead quite well. I've never
ridden with a 10-watt halogen, but I can say for certain that the LED in
this thing was at least an order of magnitude brighter than my previous
light. While it threw a rather diffuse beam, the difference I could
immediately notice was that I could see *and* be seen."



That light looks like a re-branded version of the NiteHawk Emitter. It's
an OK light, pretty comparable to a good 2.5W halogen light, like the
Cateye MicroII. The battery life seems much better (I've had one for a
year) than the halogens, with the advantage that, as the batteries run
down, the light stays white, just gets gradually dimmer, so the usable
battery life is excellent. The Cateye has been selling for as little as
$10 though.

I agree with perhaps ten thousand other cyclists that the Cateye Micro
II is a very good little light, perhaps better than all of its
flashlight-battery halogen competitors. In my experience, it's fine
for at least 15 mph riding. Part of the reason is the excellent
optics. The beam is well controlled, putting the light where it's
needed.

Being the resident optics freak, I wonder: Can the LED from the
Specialized / NiteHawk be fitted into the reflector head of the Cateye
- or, for that matter, the head of a generator headlight? If such a
scheme worked, it would improve the "diffuse beam" that I see with
every LED light I've inspected.

Recently, Andreas Ohler (IIRC) pointed to a German website, in which a
guy detailed how he fitted a couple 3 Watt super-LEDs into a generator
headlight shell. The operation was greatly complicated by the need for
a large heat sink. Is there a big heat sink or electronic package that
must sit attached to the Nite Hawk LED?

- Frank Krygowski

Luigi de Guzman wrote:

Overall: Money well-spent. This "high-power emitter" stuff is not a
gimmick, at least not to me.

I've had one of these for a year or so (and it's been much discussed in
the group, usually referred to as the "Emitter," which is what
NiteHawk, the manufacturer, calls it).

I use it as an ancillary/backup. It's not bright enough by itself for
my commute, which takes me through some dark areas, although it's much
better than nothing. I also have a Light & Motion Vega, which is a
3-watt Luxeon LED (which L&M pushes to about 3.8); the Emitter is a
1-watt Luxeon. The Emitter is vastly less bright than the Vega, and the
Vega in turn is about on par with a 12-watt halogen I compared it with.

I use the Vega and the Emitter together. The Emitter lights the
pavement directly in front of me; aimed up, the Vega provides enough
brightness to see through turns and over to the sides. I find all this
a worthwhile upgrade from bottle-battery lights with their extra weight
and loss of a bottle cage.

However, I've been recommending the Emitter heavily to co-workers who
are suddenly bike commuting in the face of Philadelphia's transit
strike. It's a lot of light for the money, it's easy to manage, and
within the city it's more than sufficient.

RichC

On Thu, 03 Nov 2005 07:32:28 -0800, frkrygow wrote:


Recently, Andreas Ohler (IIRC) pointed to a German website, in which a
guy detailed how he fitted a couple 3 Watt super-LEDs into a generator
headlight shell. The operation was greatly complicated by the need for
a large heat sink. Is there a big heat sink or electronic package that
must sit attached to the Nite Hawk LED?

- Frank Krygowski

It doesn't put out much heat, at least not that I can tell. In fact, the
most remarkable thing about it is how cool it runs.

It actually puts out enough light to please me...enough to make me wish I
had a dynamo version mounted on my fork crown. Time to start saving my
pennies for a call to Mr. P. White...

-Luigi

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
snip. I
mention this because the battery pack and the lamp are actually
inseperable, so I can't work out why on earth one would ever need to
disconnect the power cord.


They do it for production reasons. Nighthawk sells the same headlamp
with a different battery pack for a camping-style headlamp. They only
have to make the cord longer and change the mounting for the battery pack.

snip

I agree this light is sufficiently bright for city riding. Twice I've
been flashed by cars who see to think I have my brights on. That's how I
know it's misadjusted .

On a dark path with no moonlight I think two of these lights would be
sufficient. But then if my commute was that dark, I'd probably be
investing in an HID lamp.

-C

Collin O'Neill wrote:


I agree this light is sufficiently bright for city riding. Twice I've
been flashed by cars who see to think I have my brights on. That's how I
know it's misadjusted .

Sounds like lumens are being wasted by bad optics.

On a dark path with no moonlight I think two of these lights would be
sufficient. But then if my commute was that dark, I'd probably be
investing in an HID lamp.

I find a dark path with no moonlight to be no particular problem. My
eyes adapt to the darkness, and my 3 watt generator set lets me see
well.

- Frank Krygowski

rdclark wrote:
: Luigi de Guzman wrote:
:
: Overall: Money well-spent. This "high-power emitter" stuff is not a
: gimmick, at least not to me.
:
: I've had one of these for a year or so (and it's been much discussed
: in the group, usually referred to as the "Emitter," which is what
: NiteHawk, the manufacturer, calls it).
:
: I use it as an ancillary/backup. It's not bright enough by itself for
: my commute, which takes me through some dark areas, although it's
: much better than nothing. I also have a Light & Motion Vega, which
: is a 3-watt Luxeon LED (which L&M pushes to about 3.8); the Emitter
: is a 1-watt Luxeon. The Emitter is vastly less bright than the Vega,
: and the Vega in turn is about on par with a 12-watt halogen I
: compared it with.

When you say the Emitter is not bright enough for dark areas, I think
perhaps you mean that the pattern of light it spits out doesn't illuminate
enough of the road ahead to make you feel confident of what's in front of
you. I say that because I think the Emitter is plenty bright (especially on
a dark night) but the beam isn't wide enough so you can't really see much
that isn't directly in front of you. That's why I now have two of them,
hoping to put on on either side of the handlebar.

Of course, I realize that I could be wrong as I really don't have much to
compare to as you do...these lights are pretty pricey....so it's hard to
gather first-hand data and gleaming what someone else means isn't as easy as
one would hope, either. For example, I'd say the Emitter's light is bright
white, why I've heard others say it is bluer than some other lights.

Figuring this light thing out is a pain in the butt, if you ask me. And
expensive, too.


:
: I use the Vega and the Emitter together. The Emitter lights the
: pavement directly in front of me; aimed up, the Vega provides enough
: brightness to see through turns and over to the sides. I find all
: this a worthwhile upgrade from bottle-battery lights with their
: extra weight and loss of a bottle cage.
:
: However, I've been recommending the Emitter heavily to co-workers who
: are suddenly bike commuting in the face of Philadelphia's transit
: strike. It's a lot of light for the money, it's easy to manage, and
: within the city it's more than sufficient.
:
: RichC

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...

When you say the Emitter is not bright enough for dark areas, I think
perhaps you mean that the pattern of light it spits out doesn't illuminate
enough of the road ahead to make you feel confident of what's in front of
you. I say that because I think the Emitter is plenty bright (especially
on a dark night) but the beam isn't wide enough so you can't really see
much that isn't directly in front of you. That's why I now have two of
them, hoping to put on on either side of the handlebar.

Well, if you aim it right into your eye, it's plenty bright.

If you aim it at the point in the road by which you'd be able to stop going
18mph, it's not very bright.

Of course, I realize that I could be wrong as I really don't have much to
compare to as you do...these lights are pretty pricey....so it's hard to
gather first-hand data and gleaming what someone else means isn't as easy
as one would hope, either. For example, I'd say the Emitter's light is
bright white, why I've heard others say it is bluer than some other
lights.

That was me, and I have an emitter and a Vega right next to each other. The
Emitter is bluer.

Figuring this light thing out is a pain in the butt, if you ask me. And
expensive, too.

Buy from a place that will give you no-questions-asked refunds. This
includes any of the big mail-order places.

RichC