FINISHED!
;)
The light is housed inside of a DOA CG500 canon battery charger. It uses the charging plate on the front to pull power from a canon camera battery. The LED light has a voltage regulator so the light will continue to function even as the battery drains. The hotshoe mount is temporarly mounted to the side, until I return home this summer.
;)
The LED array is two sets of 3x10, for a total of 60 LEDs. The LEDs are mounted on a custom made PCB that is the exact size of the orginal charging PCB. I simply cut a hole in the back for the LED to poke through. I have already designed a new PCB that has 78 LEDs and covers the entire back of the charger, however I won't be able to make it untill I return home to my shop.
The effective range of the light is about 3 feet, maybe a little farther in a dark room. The LEDs were a little more directional than I would have liked, and you can see the halo they cast in the above picture.
Overall I am very happy with the results. Although I wish I had started this project a little earlier. I ended up finishing the PCB the night before I left for SCAD, and I soldered all the components in a motel room just outside of Savannah GA.