Color Temperature and Help Choosing 3000K vs 4000K...

[Nichia!]

I have that in my Malkoff MD2. Absolutely amazing! At first glance it seems too warm, but since there is basically no tint, it's very pleasant. If it were the usual yellow/green Cree at 4000K, it would be horrible.

Yes, It is amazing

 

[Nichia!]

90%-95% of my flashlights collection comes with nichia LEDs and I found not all nichia led have good tint! Some are very yellow (very bad yellow)..

 

[karlthev]

5000 and above for me....USUALLY....


Karl

 

[wolfey1]

90%-95% of my flashlights collection comes with nichia LEDs and I found not all nichia led have good tint! Some are very yellow (very bad yellow)..

My thoughts too with my manker e14 with 219c 4000k. I prefer 5000k nichia and will probably swap the emitters in the manker.

 

[Fireclaw18]

I have a Malkoff WCv5W in 3000K which I enjoy using very much, and there are certainly others on CPF who appreciate output this warm .... I think the recent custom runs of HDS are down to even 2700K this time.

However, I would guess that far more here prefer 4000K over ~ 3000K (or less) and probably slightly even more like ~ 5000K, as long as the tint is reasonable too.

For most purposes, I think 4500K is near-ideal for me, but tint > CRI > CCT in terms of priorities, if we are to split hairs.

I disagree. I would rate them color temperature > tint > CRI in terms of priorities.

Color temperature is instantly noticeable. You can see instantly whether you have a cool, neutral or warm white light the second the light is turned on. In contrast, tint (whether it looks greenish or rosy) is slightly more subtle, and CRI (how much the colors pop?) is extremely subtle. I'd take a 70 CRI light at my preferred color temperature over a 95 CRI light with a color temperature I can't stand any day.

In response to the original poster's question:

3,000K is very orange. For comparison, a typical incandescent bulb is just slightly warmer at around 2700K. I personally don't care for 3,000K indoors as everything just looks too orange, but I do find 3,000K to be somewhat pleasant for outdoor use.

4,000K is much more neutral. Perhaps not quite as pleasant as 3,000K outdoors, but much better than 3,000K for indoor use. Personally, I would always go for 4,000K color temperature over 3,000K. My favorite color temps are 4,000-4,500K. I usually can't stand 3,000K or even 5,000K.

Note that personal taste and even age comes into play in determining what temperatures a person finds more pleasant. Apparently as people age the eye's receptivity to cooler temperatures diminishes. The result is older people might prefer cooler color temperatures than younger people.

 

[bykfixer]

To me, given the same amount of light on an object with warm, neutral or cool:

Cool allows me to ID something quicker. But also seems to cause my pupils to want less light at first.

Neutral allows nearly as quick of an ID with my pupils being less aggrevated.

Warm is my pupils favorite tint, but it requires my brain to take a little more time to ID a given object.

For purely functional purposes I'd go with a neutral.

For pleasure I prefer warm.

My self defense lights are cool. The harshness is better at blinding the would be perp for that precious first few seconds while my brain conducts an evaluation of the flight or fight scenario.

Neutral lights are my go to lights for lighting up darkness in general. Walks, looking in crevices etc.

Warm tinted are my go to for late night nature calls or a 2am cupboard raid.

When I need a light in artificial lighting like street lamps, automobile lights etc, cool can be the way to go there. It is better at competing with light pollution.

Neutral works well in the daytime, and warm is best in those really dark situations where the stars above cause you to squint.

So it really depends on what you will use it for the most. And remember, 2 is one and one is none in the event of failure, so buy both.

 

[Fireclaw18]

Good advice Bykfixer.

I recall a couple years ago Imalent made a "variable color temperature" light. I didn't get one, but the design was interesting. It had 2 LEDS each with their own reflector. One LED was cool white around 6500 or maybe 7000K. The other was warm white around 3000K or warmer.

By controlling a slider on the touchscreen interface you could supposedly smoothly cycle the color temp to anything between the warm and cool LEDs. The light would adjust power accordingly to each LED to give you the selected CCT.

 

[archimedes]

I disagree. I would rate them color temperature > tint > CRI in terms of priorities.

Color temperature is instantly noticeable. You can see instantly whether you have a cool, neutral or warm white light the second the light is turned on. In contrast, tint (whether it looks greenish or rosy) is slightly more subtle, and CRI (how much the colors pop?) is extremely subtle....

Note that personal taste and even age comes into play in determining what temperatures a person finds more pleasant....

I must be really sensitive to green, because any greenish tint (even more than blue) just jumps out at me instantly :sick2:

Whereas I have some ~ 4800K, 5000K, 5200K rated emitters that seem tough for me to easily distinguish apart, when they are used as the primary source of illumination.

 

[twistedraven]

I look for tint bias first, then color temperature, then CRI. Of course when I buy or choose an emitter, I'm going to start out with my desired color temp (4-5000k), but if it's greenish I won't like it at all. On the flipside I'm okay with using cool whites that have no green bias (the black flat in my T21 is as very pure cool white of around 6500-7000k, but, no green at all.)

CRI is very subtle indeed. I think people usually say they prefer how high CRI emitters look, because there's less green or magenta to them, and they are (sometimes) closer on the BBL, which is more of a tint thing. Although I have seen some truly spectacularly ugly green high CRI emitters.

It would be very hard to compare two sources that are the exact same tint and color temperature, with the only difference being one having higher CRI, but if it were possible I would imagine it would be very hard to distinguish them.

I would lean towards 4000k more than 3000k for most uses. 3000k does make objects look too orangish. However, I would probably go with the 3000k for very low illumination scenarios, like a firefly mode, or 10 lumens or less.

 

[archimedes]

.... CRI is very subtle indeed.... It would be very hard to compare two sources that are the exact same tint and color temperature, with the only difference being one having higher CRI, but if it were possible I would imagine it would be very hard to distinguish them....

First thing I'd do is light up stuff saturated red.

 

[Fireclaw18]

I wonder if some EDC lights would benefit from how some dive lights do it.

Some dive lights have cool white main LEDS for primary illumination, but then add in some red XPEs on the side to boost the red and make things rosy.

 

[StarHalo]

I like 4000-5000K for EDC, but the ~3000K warm tint lights are perfect for power outages; it's nearly demoralizing once you're without services to then have to sit with your family in what appears to be garage workshop lighting - the cozy warm tints are relaxing and welcoming like light from the fireplace. Highly recommended if you haven't tried it (I would say "the tint, not the power outage," but you're here, so we know you're partially hoping for the next one..)

 

[FRITZHID]

I like 4000-5000K for EDC, but the ~3000K warm tint lights are perfect for power outages; it's nearly demoralizing once you're without services to then have to sit with your family in what appears to be garage workshop lighting - the cozy warm tints are relaxing and welcoming like light from the fireplace. Highly recommended if you haven't tried it (I would say "the tint, not the power outage," but you're here, so we know you're partially hoping for the next one..)

I agree 100%

Here's MY power outage light Incan warm as they come!

https://imgur.com/a/xYRkE6b

 

[staticx57]

Nichia E21A SM653 R9080 on the left and Nichia E21A SM203 R9050 on the right. You be the judge

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

I feel like I'm on drugs, because I'm seeing weird colors, man... What color is that wall?

 

[Nichia!]

I feel like I'm on drugs, because I'm seeing weird colors, man... What color is that wall?

Same here!!

 

[Nichia!]

I think it's white wall but these LEDs playing games with our brains!

 

[staticx57]

Yes, it is a white wall. The difference between 2000k and 6500k is too much for my camera to deal with

 

[bykfixer]

First thing I'd do is light up stuff saturated red.

Fleshtones. Light up fleshtones for the true test.

Higher CRI lights can make reds 'pop', sure. But how it makes a skin tone look will distinguish if the CRI will be relevant in cases other than red. Shades of light blue, or grays etc can become muted by a light that makes red look more appealing. But if the skin looks good, it's likely going to be good at getting the other colors correct.

Intensity also matters. Say you shine a spot biased light on a really shiney red object like a car, the color can be easily overwhelmed by the brightness. Turn that light down or spread the photons and you get a much clearer understanding of it's potential accuracy.

Older xenon flashbulbs for example were way-way over driven to provide a "white" flash. So when intensity is correct a pure white LED can be very accurate regardless of what the numbers on a chart say. As a photographer we learned early on that if you must use flash, dial the intensity of output correctly and you achieve the desired result on film or digital sensor. Those other tinted LED's would require adjustments of the sensors bias or chemicals in developing to compensate for the change.

Now flashlight use differs greatly from photography as photo flash lasts less than a second. And flashlight output is sustained long enough for the brain to decide it's preferences. But if you understand the basics of flash photography it becomes easier to pick a "tint flavor" when accuracy matters in a hurry. If decisions required for accuracy are not hurried, then our eyes can decide what tint our brains decide is the best (or appealing).

 

[archimedes]

I understand what you are saying, but "skin tone" is not a reference color.