How long did it take before you realized …

[JCD]

Don't be afraid to want brighter and better at the same time! :candle:

Oh, believe me, I'm not! Right now I'm working on setting up a 2 cell Surefire with 2x IMR16340 & P91 lamp assembly. The combo is brighter than my 6P with an MC-E drop-in and has a much better quality beam than any of my LED lights.

The runtime will suck, but I don't anticipate needing such a bright pocket rocket for long stretches of time.

Of course, I'm also interested in hosting something like an LF HO-4 in a 6P, for lower output levels of beautiful incan light and much longer runtimes, while having the ability to operate on a single 17670 cell.

 

[kramer5150]

The "brightest" ALWAYS comes with some sort of penalty... size, run time, weight, regulation, price, reliability

I seldomly find "brightest" to be the "best".

It took me a couple years to realize this.

 

[angelofwar]

Once I got my L1 or U2...not sure...but, yeah, high lumens is by no meas the first thing I look for any more.

In fact, looking at getting another "weak/puny 100 lumen U2" here soon...

 

[hyperloop]

always nice to have the brightest around but then when the light goes off after 20 minutes and the weaker ones are still going strong, then it sorta loses its wow factor to the others. Having the ability to switch between different levels of output or better yet, to program the output levels is even better.

Just received a Novatac 120P and i am really loving it, the minimum is so nice and low and the max while not the brightest is more than enough for my general uses, if i need more oomph, i got the R5 drop in in my G2 running on 2xRCR123s and if all else fails, got a MiNi 123 neutral on my keys.

 

[yatsunil]

The "brightest" ALWAYS comes with some sort of penalty... size, run time, weight, regulation, price, reliability

I seldomly find "brightest" to be the "best".

It took me a couple years to realize this.

+1 on that. I still want the brightest but I'm now willing to sacrifice some of that brightness for longer runtime and small size (right now that means 2xRCR123 or 1x18650).

 

[Black Rose]

It happened sometime in the latter part of the first year of the addiction.

I was taking out the garbage and was loading up the recycling bin.
I had a very bright Cree based flashlight with me and when I turned it on I was blinded.
I went inside and grabbed my $5.00 Dorcy 9-LED 3xAAA powered light and completed what I needed to do and was actually able to see what I was doing.
I admit it's not the greatest light in the world, but it produced the right amount of light for me to get the job done.

Since then I've gone from wanting really bright lights to wanting lights that have lower output, better beam, and just better light quality.

I mod or build as many lights/drop-ins as I can with multi-mode (no blinky crap) drivers so that if I need a wall of light, the option is there.
The majority of the time, my lights are set on the low or medium settings.

I've become quite fond of the Luxeon Rebels in neutral white and have started using them in some of my builds.
They are not the brightest or as efficient as the new Cree offerings, but the output they produce is very pleasing to the eye.

Over the last 2 weekends I've built some lights and P60 drop-ins using Cree XP-G R4 emitters and multi-mode drivers.
These things put out an amazing amount of light for such a tiny package, but even those are used on low and medium most of the time.

 

[hoongern]

I dunno... My Mag85 seems a bit dim these days... I need MORE brightness! 900 incan (i.e. the best!) lumens doesn't seem enough....

Waiting for my 1909 to turn it into a nice 1500 lumen incan =D

Well, I'm of the opinion that brighter IS ALWAYS better (Potentially assuming multi-level), but brightness is *ONLY ONE* variable in what makes a good light.

 

[Stillphoto]

Figured it out when I picked up my first mule from Don, and then confirmed it with the Sundrop. 70-80% of the time I need light, the Sundrop has the task covered.

Of course don't get me wrong, bright lights certainly do have their place.

 

[chmsam]

There is certainly a fun factor when you shine a bazillion lumens around.

Until you try to use it to search for something you need in a hurry in a very small, very dark place. "Ow, my eyes!!!"

Until you need a second hernia operation on your wallet.

Until you touch the business end after it's been on a long time... say 30 seconds.

Until you get the bill from the tailor for the titanium reinforced pocket that you need to carry the light and the 37 batteries and a charger so the thing will last more than a half hour. OK, I exaggerate a bit here but the run time is probably worse than the battery in my 6 year old laptop.

 

[Colorblinded]

I'm certainly in the dilemma of finding the right sort of light. I need to find something for photographic purposes (light painting) with high CRI and ideally fairly strong output. I've found things like the Ra light with a stated CRI of 93 or so and 100 lumens of output but I am not done researching nor am I convinced that's the solution I am interested in. For one thing I'd much rather stick with a battery format I already carry in my camera bag: AAs!

Sure, the Fenix TK40 looks awesome but while it offers all varieties of output levels which I would appreciate, the CRI looks to be nothing if not disappointing. At the same time, being the relative 'flashlight newbie' I'm still trying to figure out where my Malkoff modded 4D Maglite stands on the CRI front. CCT looks to be slightly warmish and CRI seems OK but I haven't got a # for it yet.

 

[strinq]

I still am looking for the brightest light possible but a lot more has come into consideration since the early days (which was only like a year ago).

Tint isn't much of an issue.
The way it feels in my hand is becoming more and more important.

 

[kramer5150]

Lately I have come to place more emphasis on CRI than either tint or Lumen output. I find a 250 Lumen ROP a superior lighting tool to a ~400 Lumen pale white tint LED. Warm tint LEDs are better, but still can't surpass a high CRI incan.

 

[PCC]

Like most people here I've gone through a maturing stage in my flashaholism where I no longer look for the brightest light possible. Bright lights are fun to play with but are not very practical for day-to-day usage unless they're multi-mode lights. I guess that the defining moment for me was when I blinded myself with my Solarforce L2 running a 200+ lumen Dereelight 1SD single-mode module while checking something in the garage a little over a year ago. I still long for some really bright lights for the wow factor but these projects have been put on the back burner for now. My current emphasis is for multi-mode lights that have low modes that are 20 lumens or less.

 

[Ray_of_Light]

From the experience of using lights you learn many different things, and among those there is the fact that the brightest and long throwing light is not always the best choice.

For upclose tasks, where you use your light at a distance of 30 cm. maybe, 50 (true OTF) LED lumens or 30 incandescent lumens at 3200 K are more than enough, distributed in the beam at 70% in a 10 cm diameter hotspot, 10% in the corona, and the remaining 20% in the spill.
With this beam configuration, you can do everything, from electronic soldering to emergency surgery. As a source, think of a Seoul P4 driven at 0.5 A in a SF KL4 reflector.
If you increase the lumens to 100 (true OTF) you need to move the light at 50 CM distance, loosing your ability to appreciate the shadows and the possibility of evaluating deepness.

For room lighting, and indoor "tactical" use, you need a different beam configuration; to visually "clear" a 5 x 5 meter room, you better have 300 LED lumen (true OTF) distributed 60% in 35 cm. hotspot at 2.5 meter, very little in the corona, and the remaining 40% in the spill. As a source, think of an MC-E LED in a medium-deep reflector, like the OL M30.

For night reading, I mean reading a light in the bed, 15 (true OTF) lumens are more than enough, but... they have to be a sort of directional spill. Even an array of three to five 5 mm. LEDs with 25 degree beam opening will force you to adjust the light as you scroll the page from top to down.
Personally, I have found that an array of 3 uncut MJLED, in a PT Attitude, make the best reading light for myself, as the beam cover evenly all the book.

For outdoor searches, you need a tighter beam, but the spill is very very important. Higher is the beam spill, less is need for a continous scan of the search area, and this increases the probability to find what you are looking for.
At the same moment, a too bright hotspot can temporarily blind yourself, and you may miss what you are looking for.
The profile of the beam for searchlights is something very subjective, as it is strictly related to your search habits, like your scan speed (the speed you scan the landscape with the light, if you are walking or riding a vehicle, if you are in a team or by yourself, if you are using binoculars, and so on).
Personally, a searchlight emitting 1000 (true OTF) lumens, with 70-80% in a hotspot of 30 cm diameter at 10 meters, and the remaining 20-30% in the spill, are my preference for a searchlight. Knowing your numbers helps to make quick and accurate evaluation of distance and speed - just with the use of your light.

These are just few examples of what your experience as flashaholic will eventually bring in terms of knowledge. There is more, as you will certaily discover.

Regards

Anthony

 

[JaguarDave-in-Oz]

I've ended up with a couple of dozen torches. After a long and intensive period of testing them all in my real world daily/nightly use (mostly outdoors) I have found that the most useful to me also happens to be the brightest one, my Eagletac P20C2 MkII with 300 real OTF lumens.

The next best is nowhere near the brightest, my led Lenser P7, BUT while it's not the brightest of my "pocket sized" torches, it does put the most light on a target thanks to its optic system. Throws futher and in spill mode the light in the area that would ordinarily be the "spill zone" is brighter than even my Eagletac.

There many times when brightness is absolute premium for my particular uses, for other times when it's not, I just use a lower setting on my brightest torch.

I've tried daily living with Quark, Nitecore, Fenix, ITP, Romisen, Maglite, Akoray and others. In fact I've tried really hard since I'd actually rather carry almost any one of them due to the fact that in most cases their size and shape suits my pocket carry better than the Eagle but I still end up going back to that drawer and grabbing and pocketing the P20C2 MkII because it's just that much brighter and more useful because of it.

How long before I realised? Life-long won't be long enough. I'm never going back to dimmer. Ever!!!

 

[USACelt]

I want as bright light I can get in a small package. I love lights with a low low, less than a lumen. The best is with a useful medium with a great run time and a sun bright high.

 

[Mr Bigglow]

Finding yourself in a risky dark situation and having to crap your pants about how the bulb is due to go or that the batteries may be on their last gasp, having had that happen- these are the things that makes one appreciate the virtues of balance in all things Flashlight- 'warmth', lumens, quality of build, and runtime. And then you love Surefire.

 

[Locoboy5150]

It took me about six months of being a true die hard flashaholic before I realized that lumen ratings aren't that big of a deal in my real world use. What what really convinced me was seeing a Maglite ROP build in person that threw and threw like crazy even though it wasn't very bright. Lumen ratings are nice, but not "all that" or at least not in my book.

Then I got into HID spotlights and that opened a whole new perspective on the whole LED brightness game.

 

[bluepilgrim]

That would have been about 1960 when I first started going out stargazing. Of course, sometimes I have wanted the brightest light I could have -- like when I'm in the woods and something in the brush is growling.
It all depends on circumstances.

 

[JCD]

Of course, sometimes I have wanted the brightest light I could have -- like when I'm in the woods and something in the brush is growling.

That reminds me of the time I was fortunate enough to see a Florida panther while I was riding my bike on a trail one night. That's only time I've ever seen one in the wild. Had it not been for my MC-E and R2 combo, I might have missed it.