Thread: Darklight LED Lights

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A while back I posted a tutorial on building your own plug and play LED lights using used USB hubs and a computer power supply. They work great for the cost and simplicity. But I got to wondering how they stack up against a commercial product. I noticed that the folks at Darklight Precision Lighting have posted some very useful information on several threads pertaining to LED lights so I decided to order a few and see for myself how well the “worlds smallest and brightest LED lights” really worked.
I ordered a red, blue, and amber with the 12volt power pack. When I received them the first thing I noticed was the quality of the light. The housing appears to be machined aluminum with a strong L-bracket to secure it to any surface with the connections being simple and secure.
In a few words the performance is simply amazing. These light individually provide more light than some 50 watt floods I have seen. I cannot believe the amount of light that these small little buggers put out. The sweet thing is that due to their size they are easily concealable, portable, and more importantly storable. I can see where they would be great for a haunted walk or a haunted house. You could also wash a scene easily with one of these or a whole graveyard with 3-4.
The only consideration that comes into play is the cost. Each light is $44.99 and the power pack is $17.99. In the tutorial I did I think I had about 30 bucks into the whole setup for 20 lights. With that being said, these lights are in a whole different league. There is no comparison between the output of these lights and the ones I made. The lights I made do very well as a “spot” light on a tombstone or prop. But if you are looking for something more and frankly a “professional” lighting system I would seriously consider this product. I am considering getting maybe 6 more and doing away with lugging around my 75 watt floods.

Thanks for the review. I have been thinking about trying the sampler package, http://www.darklightsystem.com/produ...52d-Flood.html I will probably order this week before the special ends.

I bought the Precision Z and X and power supply. I love them all. I plan on switching as much as I can over. I also bought the Module that simulates lightning. The best part of the module is that it is tottaly random so there is not pattern to it.

Bought 8 precision Y's and they were great this year! I plan to buy maybe a UV one and add two precision Z's for next year, depending on what expansion occurs.

I think these lights rock! I plan on converting the whole thing over. I did buy a UV "Y" which worked nice, but a "Z" is so much more powerful. My only problem was with me. I used several of the small power supplies and couldn't get my wire to stay in. Then by chance, I looked down at the quick connector and seen the directions. I was not lefting the srm up all the way! Duh, Once I did, all was well.

i used 19 of these in our Home Haunt this year, and can't say enough great things about them. 7 Precision z's, 8 Precision y, and 4 precision x's.
I originally only bought 2 lights from their website to "see how they'd do"...... and i was absolutely amazed by them. Found a nice gentlemen on hauntworld selling a set of these lights for a decent price...snatched them up as quick as I could. I will be buying more of these lights next year.... running speaker wire wherever i needed to light up props/books/etc.... So impressed at how easy the setup was and the amount of light these things put out....it's just right!

These are fantastic. I used my spot lights on my tombstones. It rained and the lights still worked, no shorts. These are fantastic and I recommend them highly.

When ever I think I am settled on the type of LED lights I want this year, may it be home made or manufactured I read another posting. I was set to try and build my own, but I don't want to spend the time making them only to find out I should have bought them in the first place. Question, does it really all come down to the cost of the home made vs the manufactured? I am guessing if all of us had an open check book the manufactured ones would be the way to go?

Originally Posted by CrematoryKeeper

When ever I think I am settled on the type of LED lights I want this year, may it be home made or manufactured I read another posting. I was set to try and build my own, but I don't want to spend the time making them only to find out I should have bought them in the first place. Question, does it really all come down to the cost of the home made vs the manufactured? I am guessing if all of us had an open check book the manufactured ones would be the way to go?

Hi CK,

Our company specializes in professional lighting and thus with the price you pay, you get a professional product and service. Our most popular products are often the higher output spotlights (Precision Z and Precision DMX) where a haunter simply CANNOT make a low budget equivalent because there's a lot more complexity that goes into high output spotlights. Sure, there are plenty of tutorials that teach you to make mini-pinspots for just a few dollars, but they just don't compare in the brightness, durability, compactness, safety, and quality of our products.

We also understand that haunters are on a budget and often elect to make their own LEDs, which is why we also offer a variety of controllers that can work with their own system.

To see beyond the simple cost of a lighting fixture, one must see the added value we provide: we make the tools for you to make your displays look awesome, we save you time because you don't have to worry about making your own tools. Most customers who try out our product never go back to making their own LEDs because they enjoy spending time on the more important (and fun) stuff.

- Quan

Ah my counter part Crypt Keeper! Thanks for the reply. I have no doubt that your product is top notch.