[URGENT!] Improve Night Vision Range of IR-Camcorder?

[TheWitchesTit]

Heys guys, me again.
I have a project going down three days from now and I have quite the problem!

I'm going to be using those older Sony-camcorders with built-in Night Shot. The IR-Lamps of those cameras, however, are awfully weak and have a range of about 1 meter - pathetic! That's why I ordered THESE LAMPS off Deal Extreme.

Problem: They still haven't arrived (ordered early October) and I fear they only will do so AFTER my project, at which point they'd be useless for me. There's absolutely no store around me that sells them or similar products (I'm in Germany)

Is there ANYTHING I can do now to improve the range of the Night Vision? Can I perhaps modify a regular flashlight with some kind of filter? Please help me out, I'm kinda desperate!

[usually_quiet]

Infra-red filters block visible light and allow infra-red light to pass through. Unless the light source can generate a large amount of infra-red light, using a filter won't help, and all regular flashlight light bulbs are designed to emit light mostly within the visible part of the spectrum.

[TheWitchesTit]

So I can't modify a regular Flashlight... any ideas as to a type of (physical) store I could go that might be likely to sell IR-Flashlights? I couldn't find one...

[usually_quiet]

When I searched for stores selling infrared light sources online in the US. I found stores that sell specialized photography equipment, hunting equipment and home security/surveillance equipment.

While looking around I did see some IR filters for tactical flashlights with incandescent bulbs, so apparently a filter would work, if the flashlight is strong enough and has an incandescent bulb.

[TheWitchesTit]

Alright, I tried a white-blue-ish LED-flashlight - absolutely invisible to the camera, even without a filter.
Then I tried an old flashlight of mine that has a single little halogen bulb inside and produces a rather yellow tinted light - and this one is visible. I then took a red foil (one for those huge PAR-lights), folded it a couple times and put it over my flashlight - this (almost) produces the desired effect! The red light is slightly visible to the naked eye, but quite bright on the camera's screen. So I might be on to something ...

Now I need a similar type of flashlight that has a wider angle (mine is more of a spot) and perhaps I could work with that ... only one day to go, wish me luck!