Titanium Innovations L35 HID Spotlight Review

[DM51]

Looks like you missed my explanatory note after the pics about the higher exposures for that one, and the actual exposure setting labels on the pics.

No, I did see that - 1/5th sec vs. 1/50th sec. That's why I thought approx 1/10th the brightness.

 

[Dioni]

Great technical review, as always. Showing more than a others beamshot comparison. :thumbsup:

Thanks!

 

[selfbuilt]

No, I did see that - 1/5th sec vs. 1/50th sec. That's why I thought approx 1/10th the brightness.

Ah, I see what you meant. Maybe it's also how the pics look on my monitor, but the HID seems to be lighting up a lot more and a lot brighter than the secondary LED, despite the factor of 10 reduction in exposure. How much more is hard to say ... I guess that's why we don't stick with integrating carpets. :laughing:

 

[selfbuilt]

Actually, this discussion gives me a cool idea as to how to better compare relative outputs - let's let my Canon S5 IS give it a try!

I set the camera to Aperture Priority, daylight white balance, locked the f-stop at 4.0, set the light meter to evaluative, and disabled manual exposure compensation. I then let it choose the shutter speed to best match overall exposure (verified with the built-in histogram feature that it was making a good guess).

The two exposures I got were 1/250sec for the HID, and 1/2 sec for the secondary array (i.e. 125-fold difference)

By eye, the overall outputs look about the same, as best one can tell with the huge color difference. Comparing the histograms in paintshop pro, the mean/median greyscale values for the above two images were 57/47 (HID) and 56/45 (LED). So fairly close, as would be hoped.

Keep in mind this is a *very rough* comparison. The camera is not meant to produce exactly consistent evaluative exposure settings (trust me I know - I'm forever doing manual equalization adjustments in real life photography). So I imagine 1/250 and 1/1.67 (i.e. 150-fold) or 1/200 and 1/2 (i.e. 100-fold) would probably have looked pretty good too, and would have been fairly close on the histogram. But it was a fun quick comparison, and should give you the rough idea that we are likely talking at least a 100-fold difference in output. :wave:

P.S.: Despite the fact that the secondary LED array also looks like a spotbeam in these pics, rest assured it isn't - it's just an artifact of the exposure settings and distance to the wall. And the magnitude of the color tint on these daylight white balance-locked pics seems a bit excessive to my eye as well (i.e. they aren't really so green and blue).

 

[Patriot]

Selfbuilt
The two exposures I got were 1/250sec for the HID, and 1/2 sec for the secondary array (i.e. 125-fold difference)

Which happens to line up beautifully with your lux reading of 1.1 vs 146.

If you divide 146 by 1.1 it give you 132.73 which is ridiculously comparable with your 125 fold figure.

I knew the difference would be very large so even when Matt stated a 1:70 ratio I was scratching my head thinking, "I don't think so." He was just going off stated specs of the array which are probably estimated generously.


I dig the carpet shots revealing the beam angle. Very good example.

 

[HKJ]

Keep in mind this is a *very rough* comparison. The camera is not meant to produce exactly consistent evaluative exposure settings (trust me I know - I'm forever doing manual equalization adjustments in real life photography). So I imagine 1/250 and 1/1.67 (i.e. 150-fold) or 1/200 and 1/2 (i.e. 100-fold) would probably have looked pretty good too, and would have been fairly close on the histogram. But it was a fun quick comparison, and should give you the rough idea that we are likely talking at least a 100-fold difference in output. :wave:

No, they are not, most modern cameras have evaluative light meters, i.e. they try to analyze the scene and chose an appropriate exposure for that type of scene. That can spoil any measure attempt if it switches between different scene types, and different exposure priorities, when you change the light level.

What might be possible, is to add all the pixels in a picture and get a total output value (If the picture covers the total output), but you need the raw picture data for that, not the jpg data.

 

[Patriot]

Selfbuilt
The camera is not meant to produce exactly consistent evaluative exposure settings

HKJ
No, they are not, most modern cameras have evaluative light meters, i.e. they try to analyze the scene and chose an appropriate exposure for that type of scene.

Good point. Still, sometimes depending on the scene and with sufficient light they can be relatively accurate which at least seems to coincide with his stand alone meter during this particular test.

 

[KeyGrip]

It does indeed seem to be aimed for a middle-market that wants more than just a budget HID (i.e. that excellent L35 regulation and runtime), but can't afford to go for the top-of-the-line.

I fall squarely in that market. Sure, I'd love a PH50, but this is going to be my first HID, no doubt about it.

 

[selfbuilt]

UPDATE: Some additional long-distance beamshots, to show you how the light compares to others in its class.

Please see my recent 100-yard Outdoor Beamshot review for more details (and additional lights).

 

[Phaserburn]

Does the SR90 really look substantially brighter than the L35 in person like it does in these shots? The L35 should be brighter I would think.

 

[selfbuilt]

Does the SR90 really look substantially brighter than the L35 in person like it does in these shots? The L35 should be brighter I would think.

The L35 is brighter - especially in terms of its center-beam throw. That's hard to judge in these 100-yard shots (you would need to take it out further to really see the difference). The spill is also wider than the SR90, although both are wider than the camera's frame (so you can't tell).

This is part of the reason I've resisted doing outdoor beamshots until now - it's hard to accurately capture all relative aspects of the lights performance.

FYI, I've just updated the table and runtime chart is the review, to include the SR90. Here's the summary output table - I think the ceiling bounce data captures the difference well.

 

[StarHalo]

Wow, and all this time I've been saying the large-reflector 35W HIDs have 125,000 lux, I was way short..

 

[selfbuilt]

Wow, and all this time I've been saying the large-reflector 35W HIDs have 125,000 lux, I was way short..

To be honest, I'm not sure how accurate even 5m lux measures are for HID lights. The hotspot has a lot of irregularities in it, and the lux value is taken at the highest reading - so it may be over-stating it somewhat.

Suffice it to say, it throws far.

 

[Leon dai]

I prefer HID

 

[bibihang]

Sorry for an off topic question, the SR90 is estimated with about 112k lux, and Olight claims that SR90 can throw 1000 meters... that's just not make sense to me, 112k lux simply impossible to throw 1000 meters, maybe more or less 500~600 meters only. Correct me if Im wrong, thanks.

 

[selfbuilt]

Sorry for an off topic question, the SR90 is estimated with about 112k lux, and Olight claims that SR90 can throw 1000 meters... that's just not make sense to me, 112k lux simply impossible to throw 1000 meters, maybe more or less 500~600 meters only. Correct me if Im wrong, thanks.

You're not wrong. I've directly measured my SR90's centre beam throw at 5m, and working back get 100,500 lux @1m. At 1000 meters, that would translate into 0.1 lux.

Given that a full moon reaching the earth is the equivalent of 0.25 lux, I don't think too many would consider 0.1 lux an effectively useful measure of throw. But technically speaking, it does throw that far (if you use 0.1 lux as your cut-off).

 

[nightcacher]

How does this torch hold up after all this time? Is it still a great light or does it fall short of expectations?

 

[light36]

Hi Selfbuilt , any chance doing a review on a Polarion PH/PF 40 or perhaps you know of a review that has been done . Your reviews are excellent as always !!!.

 

[RemcoM]

Hi Selfbuilt,

Is the beam quite intense, of the Titanium HID spotlight, in the dark, outside the cities, when look at it, from 100, and 600 meters=

Next week i get one from my friend, for a week, he goes 1 week for work away, so i get his Titanium Innovations L35 HID Spotlight, which i am very happy with.

Want know, if it has blinding power.

Can it reach trees, and houses, at 300, and 600 meters away=

I want shine it at a house, at 1100 meters away, but i dont know, if it hits that house visibly.

I want buy it, but dont know, if it still is available.

I want compare it with my Fenix TK75.....Fenix TK61.....Olight M2X/UT Javelot......Olight X6 Marauder, Nitecore TM36, and with my Olight S80 Baton, qua intensity of the beam,

Which will win, and which will lose, in intensity.

It has also a second ledlight, is that also intense.

 

[kj2]

If, and if... , you get one next week, then why ask instead of testing and comparing then.. ?