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Milwaukee has sent out an early announcement about their new M12 Paint and Detailing Color Match Light, which will be showcased at tradeshows in February.
Milwaukee says that the new M12 Paint and Detailing Color Match Light, model 2127, provides the best LED color quality and runtime for illuminating metallics in paint and identifying scratches for autobody work.
This is an automotive and transportation maintenance-focused lighting solution, but some of the light’s features might appeal to broader types of users.
The new M12 cordless worklight is expected to launch in May 2022. More details will be available as we get closer to its official launch.
From the initial product images, the Milwaukee M12 worklight has a COB (chip on board) type of LED emitter. These types of emitters are typically bright, and I like that they only throw a single shadow.
The light delivers up to 1000 lumens of brightness and has 3 brightness modes. It can operate for up to 14 hours on an M12 XC 4.0Ah battery.
Here’s how it’s different from all of the other LED worklights on the market – the M12 2127 has 5 color temperature settings, ranging from 2700K to 6500K.
Features & Specifications
- 1000 lumens max output
- 3 brightness settings
- 5 color temperatures
- Magnetic mounting
- Runtime: up to 14 hours with 4.0Ah XC battery
Color Temperature Settings
- 2700K
- 3500K
- 4500K
- 5500K
- 6500K
Price: TBA
ETA: May 2022
Discussion
To be frank, I’m not fully up to speed on auto detailing lights, and so I will only touch upon color temperature. Please feel free to educate or share your auto detailing light experiences!
Color temperature refers to the hue of a light source. Generally, 2700K is a “warmer” tint, similar to that of incandescent light bulbs, while 6500K is a “cooler” tint – bright white that might sometimes have a tinge of blue.
5500K is often considered close to “daylight” or “daylight balanced,” and 4500K is usually “neutral white.”
Basically, 2700K to 6500K ranges from yellow-white to bright white.
Color temperature adjustments allow users to match ambient lighting conditions.
Generally speaking, daylight-balanced light can help show truer colors. 5500K color temperature is comparable to sunlight on a clear day, and 6500K is like sunlight on an overcast day. Warmer colors can offset everything with a yellow hue, similar to what you see closer to sunset.
It seems to me that you might want neutral or bright white lighting for accurate color representation, and ambient-matching illumination for blending or repair work.
I’ve got some research to do. In the meantime, what questions might you add to my own?
