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.
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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: $199
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!
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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?
Mike
Scangrip handheld light is ~$150, Offbrand (Astro ) is about $70
If this falls around that lower range it would convince me to hold off on the astro. but anywhere near scangrip and I’m out.
Jayson
You can get a virtually identical light as the scangrip from Harbor Freight. It’s made by Braun, CRI 95+,$50.
Greg
I like the fact that it uses the m12 batteries but im with you scan grip is the standard in the detailing community. im hoping for around 100 for this light but who knows.
Jason
Looks like it will be $199.
Stuart
Thanks! That is correct.
Mat
How are they not including CRI?
Stuart
I also asked this and am waiting to hear back, but it might not be available until closer to launch.
Rob H
Wouldn’t CRI be a function of the user-selectable color temp settings? I would think the CRI would vary depending on the temp you selected on the light itself. Or are you asking for a CRI for each temp? I may be misunderstanding the situation.
Stuart
I would expect there to be two CRIs – one at 2700K and one at 6500K. Any mixed-spectrum would simply have a CRI in between.
Jim Felt
Without a real CRI (color rating index) their Kelvin numbers are essentially meaningless.
Like saying “daylight” or “indoors”. AKA “marketing”…
That guy
CRI is 98+
Don’t ask how I know and I won’t get fired.
AC
Whoa! Are their True view lights that high?
Steven B
I have a few video lights I use for photography with variable temperature, RGB, and built in battery for all sorts of prices ranging from models with twice the output at $100 to ones with 75% the output, magnetic, and are super tiny and $25. They’re all over on Amazon, often sold as light wands. I love them.
I don’t do auto detailing, so I can’t speak to that precise use case. However, I do woodworking and I found it difficult to light pieces well for taking pictures. What I do is use a free light temperature app on my phone, and get the ambient temperature and then use a handful of these cheap lights to fill in shadows or draw attention to the finish or the grain. It really helped me take better pictures of workpieces.
I also use it for zoom meetings to handle backlight or fill in shadow…or just on occasion, use the RGB mode to confuse coworkers and have fun.
Nathan
there are products out there and as far as I know the cordless ones are all currently a charge up- use device not a replaceable battery device. So i think that might be novel but I don’t know I’d pick the milwaukee over there.
I only hobby detail and I don’t use a fancy light but I see paint shops use them. and most often they would be corded. Which is probably what I would use – it’s not like you want to use this outside away from any power or cords. other than just convienence. but I think it’s a good idea but it probably would have been better had they partnered with someone that is already making these.
It’s quite specialized and I see some have some extra pieces with them. Still looks like a good product.
Jared
Seems like a good addition to the M12 line. Specialized – sure, but if you’re working in automotive trades isn’t it nice to be able to consolidate?
Other than maybe photography, there’s no other obvious cross over with this tool and other industries that seem obvious to me. Still, I tend to like “yellower” color temperatures. I wonder what the price will be – e.g. will it be low enough to tempt someone who just wants a different color-temperature work light, or does the tech required for this ability make it inherently niche and expensive?
Wayne R.
Years ago we replaced “warm” fluorescents in a closet with cooler. Was only weird for a couple of days and never noticed it again.
Have a Solar Tube with a high-lumen LED in it, and if the light’s on when the sun’s out, it looks odd to someone who doesn’t know what’s going on in there.
I only mention this for those who might think a “color temp preference” is inherent. Nope, it’s quickly overcome by a little time.
Jared
That’s probably true. It’s not like my eyes don’t work in white light.
I’m thinking of what I choose in flashlights and vehicle headlights. Given an option, I skew to the yellower temperatures.
Wayne R.
I try to go for CRI rather than Kelvin. Seems a better approach.
Stuart
They’re not mutually exclusive parameters.
Let’s say there are two illumination sources:
2700K with 85 CRI
5600K with 80 CRI
The 2700K light might have higher color accuracy, but the 5600K light might have higher contrast.
And, at 2700K, there’s still going to be a yellowish tint to any color shade.
People can and do have different color temperature preferences. Yes, we can get used to different settings, but there are going to be times when different lights work better than others.
Koko The Talking Ape
I was just going to say what Stuart says below. Two different things, and almost independent.
Mike
Some people aren’t phased by color temp, then people like me who deal with it every day for a living will lose sleep over it. I’ve Amazoned light bulbs while at friends’ houses for them to replace mismatched lights….drives me crazy!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen CRI listed on any sort of flashlight or mobile light. I couldn’t even guess how low must would score. Most lighting nowadays is in the mid 80’s but you are seeing alot more come out with different names that have higher CRIs trying to get back to the good halogen bulbs, which while not energy efficient, they make a much better light.
TonyT
Doesn’t have quite the range or portability, but the Ryobi P795 hybrid 18V color range work light adjusts from 2700K to 5000K (versus 2700K to 6500K for the M12), with 1200 lumen output. I’ve thought about getting it, but haven’t been able to justify it yet.
Currently out of stock at Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-Hybrid-LED-Color-Range-Work-Light-Tool-Only-P795/304129279
rob
These lights have different uses, the Milwaukee is more to be used for closeup imperfection finding, swirls that won’t show up under normal shop lights etc. There are high end pen style lights that many detailers use, that’s where this would fit. The Ryobi is more for scene/work area lighting as a whole.
This product would be focused for detail shops or higher end driveway detailers looking for that perfect shine.
Farid
Hm mm…I can see using this sometimes as a portable setup for my closeup photography!
rob
Scangrip is probably who to go after in this market. I keep meaning to get some of their regular ol’ Nova R lights to replace my Festool syslites. I have some Milwaukee and Makita lights. They both get the job done but I wouldn’t rave about them. Milwaukee, especially, doesn’t come anywhere near the lumens or color temps they advertise. “True color” means orange I suppose.
Koko The Talking Ape
TRUVIEW just means better color rendition (higher CRI). It doesn’t mean anything about the color temp.
Also, it seems like yellower or redder lights (with lower color temp) don’t appear to bright to humans for the same lumens. A 1000 lumen green or blue light will seem brighter than a 1000 red light. We see that with headlights. A bluer headlight will seem brighter even if it draws the same wattage as a regular light (and has the same beam pattern.)
Also, lumens is just about the total light output, not how concentrated it is. A 100 lumen flashlight is bright when used as a floodlight, but if concentrated on a tiny point, it can probably start fires. So if you’re comparing lights with the same lumen rating, you have to consider how wide the beam is.
Stuart
As mentioned in my other comment, TrueView is a combination of color temperature and CRI.
And yes, a cooler color temp flashlight, e.g. 6500K is perceived as brighter than a warmer color temp flashlight, e.g. 4000K.
Personally, I prefer neutral outputs for close-up flashlights and worklights, and cooler outputs for distance illumination. I find neutral white lights to be less harsh, and cool white to offer better contrast. This all could also be what I think I’m seeing. I think I have a preference, but it’s hard for me to understand and describe the why.
Koko The Talking Ape
Ah, I stand corrected.
I also prefer neutral or slightly warm (i.e., yellowish, i.e., cool) light, to the point that the only headlamps, flashlights, worklights, etc. I buy all come from Milwaukee. Nobody else seems to care about temperature OR CRI. (Cree and other light bulb manufs do, but that’s light bulbs.)
Light perception is a mysterious thing. For example, when you’re outdoors, you perceive sunlight as yellow, even though the light itself is bluish white. Why is that?
Peter C
If you hang around long enough you will get cataracts which yellow the lens in your eye. If you decide to get a lens replacement, you will be astounded by the change in your color vision. The sky becomes stunningly blue again, and you will see those color temperature differences much more clearly. I am 75 years old and currently have the best vision of my life.
JR Ramos
The CRI on the three TrueView lights I own is actually not what would be considered high-cri – pretty average these days but it’s decent. It might be considered “high” in comparison to the yucky cold white 6500 cheap emitters that have flooded the market for so long. I don’t have proper lab equipment for an accurate rating but with some low end hobby tools all three are 80-85 CRI (it may read a little high). That’s not bad at all. The warmer CCT of their emitter choices makes for nicer viewing but it doesn’t really add some of the renditioning of true high-cri emitters. It’s all about the types and application of the phosphor mixes they apply to the die. Personally I would love it if they bumped the temp up to around 5000K and used true 90-95 CRI emitters (and of course I’ve said before that other aspects of their design approach could use some improvement).
Light and the perception of light by human eyes is a really complex area of physics. Eyes differ, preferences differ, applied situations differ a lot. A light with variable CCT can be really useful in the trade world (flashlight enthusiasts like it for…fun, if nothing practical, but it really has its uses). The target coloration and surface texture can affect what you think you see a LOT, as can the color and amount of ambient lighting surrounding both your eyes and the target. It can also change some of the colors you perceive in the light beam itself.
I’m not a paint and body guy but I can definitely see where shifting from a cold white temp to a neutral or lower temp would be very helpful across a range of targets. It’s certainly helpful in metalworking and shop operations where you may deal with different colored metals, surface finish textures, and glare. I wonder if this new light model would be more useful if used with one of the longer rectangular cob arrays rather than a single (albeit large) one in the middle of a rectangular “reflector/diffuser” thing they like to use (e.g. for use when viewing at especially low angles or in backlighting with same). I remain underwhelmed by their lights…picked up that M12 rocket tower awhile back and while it will come in useful, it was even a little more disappointing in output than I expected. I do like the other models I own but each one has shortcomings in design (my opinion) or electrical design. One of the headlamps suffers from such parasitic drain and leaky chips that the emitters never fully turn off (and illuminate at a level that is pretty bad…more than “barely visible in a dark room” kind of leakage)…battery killer in short order. That’s a big oversight for their product engineers/designers, very basic stuff to let slide.
I’m curious about this emitter, though. Interesting array and I wonder who makes it and how much it can handle currentwise. Nichia and Osram have some similar lines but a couple of the Chinese companies have started to improve their diodes and offer similar emitters as well (Getian being one).
Emilio Gonzalez
I would have like to see a 3200k light temp setting.
JoeM
I have to be honest… I had a “Moron Moment” when I saw this posted on social media… If you can believe it (feel free to, it caught me off guard too, and I’m the one who thought this weird thought.) I actually said to myself “That’s a good idea for their lineup, but isn’t this outside of Milwaukee’s Demographic?”
That’s right… That was a very stupid thing to think. Because after releasing MX Fuel? I would imagine they’ve unlocked that manufacturer powerup that grants them the time and resources to devote to filling in all the side-jobs that hover around the trades they already service. I just didn’t think of that at the time!
And, listen… I’m colourblind… I couldn’t use this thing if I tried… it’s just another flashlight that you can change the colour temperature on… it’s totally wasted on me. I’m aware I’m not the target for this thing, but I should really stop and remember who Milwaukee has become in the tool making industry.
To all of you Team Red folks? Please forgive this Team Yellow User/Red Respector for his brief brain-fart… Even I am ashamed of where my brain went on this.
rob
Milwaukee (especially 12v) has become really popular with auto mechanics for whatever reason. Auto detailing is a totally different thing, but you can see where they overlap enough (I mean…cars) to warrant making the thing.
JoeM
Yes… They’ve basically started adding the tools for the Auto Body part of the Automotive sector… And it makes 100% sense… Now… In that instance… I totally brain farted… and I felt really dumb and crazy and guilty for thinking it…
Maybe it’s my upbringing, but I felt the need to apologize for my stupidity in the moment. I needed to get that off my chest so I didn’t feel the guilt hang on me forever.
I have no idea where that sudden mass of stupid came from, but I’m sorry I had it. I hope the Milwaukee favouring users around here can accept my apologies for that brain fart… It was a stinker… and I have learned honest respect for Milwaukee over the years… I’m just invested in DeWALT, and can’t afford to go ultra wild with the spending to have both systems, or to have multiple battery systems. There’s a complete comfort that has developed with me and Milwaukee as a whole. When I first joined these boards, I would have trashed, or even said “Not even with a gun to my head” over Milwaukee products. But I’ve learned a lot since then, and realized my bias was because of Facebook, and the Zealots for both sides that take their fights over brand loyalty direct to the manufacturer’s pages.
I’m not a DeWALT Zealot… Just a user that has a path to follow along that lineup, so to keep costs as low as possible. Milwaukee is deeply respectable to me, and I like many of their products… Just don’t ask me to decode their model names… it’s not as easy as with DeWALT names… And that’s not a strike against Milwaukee, just an admission that I don’t know them as well as a true Milwaukee user does.
Jeff C
Hobbyist detailer here… This looks interesting to me. I have a Scangrip and it works awesome, but runtime can be an issue sometimes if I use it a lot during a long paint correction and don’t remember to throw it on the charger. Being able to swap out the battery quickly would be great.
Hopefully it will be high CRI. The adjustable color temp is great for seeing defects on different color vehicles (warm for light colored vehicles, cool for dark colored vehicles).
Koko The Talking Ape
I have to hand it to Milwaukee for paying attention to light quality (as opposed to just intensity or spread.) To my knowledge, no other major tool manufacturer is doing that. Even their regular worklights have better CRI (a feature they call TRUVIEW.)
I agree that we need the CRI ratings (and Stuart is right, there should be one for each temperature.) If they’re good, these lights might have applications in photography, graphic arts, etc.
But in the article, Stuart says, “Generally speaking, daylight-balanced light can help show truer colors.” I believe that’s not actually true (and Stuart says as much in his comments.) Just as an example, the Milwaukee TRUVIEW lights have better color rendition than typical, but they’re also slightly warmer (i.e., yellower) than typical daylight lights. As Stuart says, CRI is not the same as color temperature, and one can be high while the other’s low, and vice versa.
Stuart
TrueView is 4000K, and was designed to “closely match midday sunlight.”
https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-led-trueview/
Koko The Talking Ape
They say that, but it is visibly yellower than other daylight LEDs.
Regardless, I misstated my point, which was that high temperature light doesn’t have necessarily better or worse CRI than low temp. Now that I think about it, I don’t actually know what “daylight-balanced” means. If it means high CRI, then it will have high CRI. If it just means “having the same temp as daylight,” then it may or may not.
And come to that, light temperature is a very inexact way of describing the perceived color of light. It only really describes the frequency profile of black-body radiation, which LEDs are emphatically not.
Stuart
Daylight/daylight balanced is around 5600K.
4000K is usually in the “neutral white” range.
James C
When we’re talking about LEDs like this, there actually is a relationship between color temperature (CCT) and CRI. All of these LEDs would be extremely blue were it not for a layer of phosphor applied to the die. Simply speaking, less phosphor for a cooler CCT, more phosphor for a warmer CCT.
CRI is a complex topic but the single figure typically used is an average score of how accurate eight swatches of color are represented under the light source in question. The overall score may be made up of inconsistent scores for various colors (reds are usually lower with LEDs).
LEDs with cooler CCTs do not emit a complete spectrum of light and are always going to score poorly representing reds in particular.
Further complicating this, an LED can be “high CRI,” say 90, but still appear to have a green/yellow (positive duv) or magenta/pink (negative duv) tint. This refers to the delta u,v or duv.
Personally, I prefer anywhere from 3000-5000k CCT (depending upon use), 90+ CRI (with a high r9 score), and a duv of 0 or slightly negative – I hate green tints. Sorry for nerding out here.
rob
I think they may be off by one thousand kelvins. :0
Jim Felt
Eastman Kodak used to use the summer midday sun in Washington, DC as their baseline “daylight” correction first for Kodachrome and later for Ektachrome.
I’m guessing that’s neither possible and certainly of zero calibration benefit by now.
AC
Ok, since we are talking high end lights, I just bit on a 4000lm Bosch 18v. It’s an identical rebrand of a scan grip. The emitter even says scan grip. Sangrip makes two variations. One with high cri and variable color temp for auto detailing and paint work and one with lower cri, single high color temp for contractors. The Bosch is the contractor variation. I would have preferred the other but the bosch version is damn nice.
Got it refurb for $129. I bet this new Milwaukee is at least $100. Their newest 700lm M12 Rover is $70. This is new one is a huge upgrade in output and features.
MFC
One thing Milwaukee should sell with all their lights are removable plastic “shields”. Kind of like boots for impact wrenches. With any kind of painting, your lights eventually get coated. A little plastic shield would keep the light shining as intended.
Jacques
The way this works in detailing is the lower temp 2500k shows up swirling and scratches better on lighter colored vehicles. Such as white and silver. The higher temp 6500k shows up swirling and scratches better on darker colored vehicles. Black and dark grey.
We mainly use Scangrip and other other color changing spot lights on higher end details where perfection of the paint is a must for ceramic coatings.
I use the Packout system to store most of my detailing supplies and have always liked Milwaukee. I think it’s kind of odd that they are moving into the detailing industry. But I am glad they are and will be willing to give anything they come out with a shot
Stuart
Thank you!
That makes a lot of sense.
Milwaukee has quite a few auto-focused worklights, such as an underhood light and an underbody light.
https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-m12-underhood-led-worklight/
https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-cordless-underbody-light-2126/
Saulac
Finishing and detailing guys use adjustable hue/temp light because even “true sun light” could be less than ideal for them in certain cases. To look at/through the clear coat, 5K could be too white on a white pear or silver car. On a black car, you might want 7K. It’s worth noting that it is not always about “seeing the true color”. When dealing with clear coats, it’s about seeing through the clear coat or make imperfections on the clear coat “pop”. Adjust the color temp until you see the most scratches/swirl/…the pain color could actually way off at this color temp. But you are not here to admire the color.
Andrew D.
I can certainly appreciate the concept behind this. I do a fair bit of remodeling work, but I tend to shy away from painting, in large part because my eyesight has been damaged from years of incidental arc flash in my welding days. I can’t stand to do a bad job, and with painting, I pretty much will do exactly that because there will be small pinholes here and there left from the roller that I will miss due to a combination of bad eyesight and improper lighting to work with. I had one person call me up within a year of painting their bathroom because they had changed from a cooler to warmer light, and suddenly the contrast was enough to see those pin hole spots.
Don’t get me wrong, this customer was an absolute nightmare when it came to being up my backside on everything about the 3 week job, but I warranty my work, and they paid me good money for the whole job, so I came out and to ensure a uniform finish, I repainted all of the sections, just so it didn’t look like garbage. Having something like this in a larger format like a tower light would have saved me from needing to give away a free days labor masking and painting, but even the little hand light could have been helpful.
Saulac
My favorite M12 light is still the “work light” 49-24-0146 (version 1 and 2) and the older model 49-24-0145. Like most, I hate how cheap the 49-24-0146 feel and how little light it put out. But I like the “pivoting head flashlight” form factor. Same M12 battery, work as flashlight, and thanks to the pivoting head, can stand or attached to surface. Perfect for service calls. Milwaukee makes a USB light in this form factor for the same reason. I am wishing for an update of the 49-24-0146 with higher light output, battery indicator, and other function from the M12 power source such s 12V out, USB out, USB charge. This would be the M12 tool that always be with me.
Meanwhile, has any one manage to upgrade the COB LED in the 49-24-0146? Any info on where to look to do something like this?
Troy
I’m interested in this for inspecting our custom cabinet deliveries as we’ve had issues with color differences door to door or scratches etc. many time you’ll have windows covered so don’t get good quality light. Is also be using this on paint inspections when we do gloss or high gloss finishes on doors, walls and or ceilings.