An illuminator (1) an elongate inner housing (10) having a substrate (20) on which there is a linear array of light emitting diodes (24), wherein the diodes have sufficient power for illuminating objects at a distance of at least 1.5 m. A drive circuit (30, 31) is mounted in an upper compartment of an outer housing (2) at least partly surrounding the inner housing (10). There is a diffuser (22) over the diodes. There is a pair of side reflectors extending substantially parallel to an axis of the illuminator, being side walls (26) of the inner housing. The inner housing (10) is coupled to the outer housing (2) in a modular manner so that it is interchangeable. There is a series of reflector baffles (23) extending from a plane of the diodes at intervals along the length of the inner housing. The baffles (23) have textured surfaces and have a dimension normal to the substrate sufficient to act as visors to limit glare in the longitudinal direction.