Doing astrophotography in the field, you are looking for complete darkness. As it's perfect for the quality of your final pictures, it's not entirely comfortable to set up your astrophotography equipment without being able to see it. The solution is simple: a flashlight. Better yet, a one that you don't have to hold in your hands. Don't know which one to choose? Fear no more: I will show you why the Petzl Actik CORE is the perfect headlamp for astrophotography in this review.
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Overview
Petzl Actik Core is a headlamp designed and built for general night outdoor usage. You can use it for night running, camping, or cave exploring. As it's great to have that additional use cases, it's not why you are reading this article. Instead, let's look at the headlamp from the astrophotographer's perspective.
What I like in Petzl ACTIK CORE as an astrophotographer
Customizable lightning - color, intensity, and mode
Petzl ACTIK CORE has customizable lighting options:
- Color - it can be white or red. White is useful to setup astrophotography equipment; red is better to preserve your night vision.
- Intensity - three levels when glowing white, one when red.
- Mode - when lightning red, it can glow normally or flash.
Replaceable and rechargeable battery
Every Petzl ACTIK CORE comes with a CORE battery. The battery is easily rechargeable via a micro USB port. You can charge it straight from your computer's USB port, or if you are in the field, you can easily use an external power bank. When I'm out and need to load some energy into the CORE battery, I often use my Celestron PowerTank Lithium to do that.
Forgot to get or load the CORE battery? Use three AAA batteries instead
The battery holder in the Petzl ACTIK CORE headlamp is compatible with AAA batteries. Throw a few into your astrophotography backpack and never be surprised in the field.
It pivots down to aim lower
Depending on your needs, you can easily customize the glowing angle to aim lower or higher.
It fits to your head size
The strap is customizable/adjustable, so no worries if you have a non-standard circuit of the head. It will fit.
What could have been done better
Sometimes (especially in the Winter), I have to click a few times to find the right spot to turn the headlight on.
When it's cold, it's a little harder to turn this lamp on. The switch is on the strict center of the rubber button, and you have to push it ideally in the middle to make it work. But after a few uses, you will learn it.
Verdict
Petzl ACTIK CORE headlight is the essential item in your astrophotography equipment bag. It gives you enough light to perform a whole-night astrophotography session. It will preserve your night vision by using the red light. Also, you can charge it in the field or power up it with AAA batteries in case of not have access to other sources of electricity. I highly recommend this headlamp for astrophotography.
- HAVE A LIT ADVENTURE: The powerful and lightweight ACTIK CORE is built for mountaineering, running, cycling, hiking, and backpacking.
- BRILLIANT BEAMS: Features two beam patterns (wide and mixed) to meet your need for high-performance lighting for outdoor activities.
- TURN YOUR BRIGHTS DOWN: The red lighting preserves night vision and prevents blinding other members of the group.
- NEVER GET CAUGHT IN THE DARK: Featuring a max autonomy burn time of 160 hours and a max power of 350 lumens.
- GET RECHARGED: Every ACTIK CORE comes with a CORE rechargeable battery that charges via micro USB port, and is also compatible with AAA batteries.
Last Amazon update on 2023-05-31 / Sponsored Ad - Affiliate Links (as an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no added cost to you.) / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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