Any neutral or warm white budget LED flashlights?

[Cemoi]

DX and the like seem to carry only cool white LED flashlights as far as I can see. Do you know any so called budget flashlights (preferably the "best" ones like Romisen or Ultrafire) fitted with warm or neutral emitters?
If not available, the best option is probably to swap the emitter on an easy to modify budget light, e.g. Ultrafire C3.

 

[sol-leks]

shininbeam offers a number of romisen lights with warm emitters.

I believe you can also find warm p60 dropins for fairly budget prices. The ITC shop on ebay has a warm p4 for 10.39

You also used to be able to get quark minis in neutral and warm tints but I think they are sold out.

Lastly the fenix e21 is fairly budget and available in neutral.

 

[kramer5150]

I have been very pleased with the DX:12501

Its 5A tint is a near-exact match when I compared it to a Malkoff M60W and an M30W.

 

[vali]

I saw some neutral (called warm there) MC-E ultrafire ones. Search for Ultrafire M5, WF502B or WF501B.

 

[sol-leks]

I have been very pleased with the DX:12501

Its 5A tint is a near-exact match when I compared it to a Malkoff M60W and an M30W.

Thanks don't know how I missed this one, looks very nice.

 

[Slasher42]

shininbeam offers a number of romisen lights with warm emitters.

I believe you can also find warm p60 dropins for fairly budget prices. The ITC shop on ebay has a warm p4 for 10.39

You also used to be able to get quark minis in neutral and warm tints but I think they are sold out.

Lastly the fenix e21 is fairly budget and available in neutral.

I recently purchased one of the Rominsen lights in warm tint from Shining Beam. Its amazingly similar to an old incan mag I had to comare it to.
Its certainly much much warmer then the Proton Pro or Mag XL100 led lights I had near to hand to compare to... I think its the RC-N3 (At work right now and dont have it with me) that I have.

 

[^Gurthang]

+1 on the 5A tint emitters [WW] that Bryan at Shining Beam uses. I've got two, 1 in a P60 drop-in the other mounted in a 2C M@G, love 'em both.

Bryan just listed an XPG R4 3D neutral tint emitter too! I'm ordering several for more M@G mods.

 

[Cemoi]

Thanks to all for your replies.
I should have mentionned that I have not yet taken the plunge to Li-Ion, so my current search is for NiMH AA and AAA models.

I believe you can also find warm p60 dropins for fairly budget prices.

I'm not familiar with the P60 dropins. As far as I understand, this includes a driver + an emitter + the reflector. Can the emitter be easily swapped in such dropins if I want to upgrade it in the future.
I assume you also need to buy a body and a (clicky?) switch.
Can P60 dropins be used with twisty switches also?

Bryan just listed an XPG R4 3D neutral tint emitter too!

Too bad I've just ordered an XP-G emitter from DX, but they only have very cool white available.
You say "3D neutral tint" but I thought 3x was still very cool white, and neutral white being more in the 5x or 6x range.

 

[LEDninja]

By the time you pay for a drop in + body + switch + 18650 + charger you are very close in price to a Quark MiNi AA.
Most people who recommend drop-ins usually already have hosts and a stash of batteries (i8650 and/or CR123A).

If the Quark MiNi is out of your price range Shining beam is the place to go.

DX is not famous for the quality or reliability of its bits.

 

[^Gurthang]

The Cree 3D bin has a color temp of 4700K to 5000K and is classified as "outdoor". There have been TONS of threads discussing tint, CRI, binning and color rendition.

Long story short, emitters w/ high CRI, warm/neutral tints are coveted commodities. You'll have to spend some $$ to get a select grade emitter. Those lights do exist but not necessarily in the "budget" category. The FourSevens Quark is one good source for such an emitter.

 

[brted]

There is a Black Cat AAA at KD that has a warm Osram LED. The description says 5000K but really it is more like 3500. You can do a search at kaidomain for "5000k" and you will find them (black or red). Less than $8. I have been really tempted to get one, but you never really know what tint you will get, and these look almost too warm.

The ones at DX are cooler white. There is a photo of the warm vs. cool at Post 39 here:

http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/519

 

[shark_za]

I have been very pleased with the DX:12501

Its 5A tint is a near-exact match when I compared it to a Malkoff M60W and an M30W.

Seems like a great buy, pity its made of unobtainium. DxUn.
Anyone get one of these recently?

 

[riccardo]

Seems like a great buy, pity its made of unobtainium. DxUn.
Anyone get one of these recently?

I got one two or three months ago.
Nice drop-in, it works fine with one or two li-ion, nice tint and no silly modes. Probably work a bit better with two li-ion or two primary cells, anyway there is not a huge difference.

It can be a good module to play with, if always used with one li-ion it is possible to try a driver swap..

Next time I'll have to buy something from DX I'll take another just to play.

:)

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

I've read glowing reviews of the UniqueFire AA-S1, which uses a 3W Osram LED. Though not marketed as such, the Osram is said to produce a neutral/warm beam.

 

[RCantor]

This one's pretty good

Technical Specifications

- Model: UltraFire U4-MCU
- Construction: Hard Anodized Type III Aluminum
- Lens: Glass
- Reflector: Textured Aluminum
- Bulb: CREE XR-E Q5-WC LED
- Brightness: 230 Lumen Maximum
- Mode: Three - High, Low & Strobe (Half click to cycle)
- Operating Voltage/Current: 3.6V - 8.4V / 800mA - Power Supply: 1 x 18650 3.7V 2 x 123A 3.6V or 3V or 3 x AAA 1.5V batteries(not included)
- Switch: On/Off on the Tail Cap
- Dimension: 133mm(length) x 42mm (body) x 42mm(head)
- Weight: 183g

 

[flatline]

Umm...WC tint is cool, not neutral or warm.

--flatline

 

[RCantor]

Not only that but this search on DX reveals lots of choices. Look for the ones with good reviews.

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/ultrafire+warm

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/ultrafire+neutral

 

[cave dave]

I just got a 2xAA/ Cr123 "Romisen RC-N3 II NW Cree XP-G R4 Neutral White 2-Mode LED" and yes that is the full name, they have many models over at ShingingBeam that all look alike. I have some very nice lights but I was looking for a simple budget light I could loan to less than trustworthy freinds and this seemed to fit the bill.

The 3D tint is noticible cooler than a Neutral Quark, but has a nice creamy white hotspot with a hint of purple in the outer spill, the larger reflector also produces a tighter hotspot. Two mode UI is straightfoward for a loaner. The lower level uses a fairly noticeable PWM and is still pretty bright in the 50-80lm range I would guess.

I personally wouldn't order from DX, KD, etc so its nice a budget light like this is available from a NY merchant. I got mine in 3 days.

 

[jacktheclipper]

I've read glowing reviews of the UniqueFire AA-S1, which uses a 3W Osram LED. Though not marketed as such, the Osram is said to produce a neutral/warm beam.

I should be receiving mine any day now , ordered 2/17
I'll let y'all know

 

[brted]

The Uniquefire AA-S1 has a more neutral tint than the typical cool white, but it isn't really a true neutral. Here is a beam shot at 1/400 second exposure of an AKOray K-106 modified with a cool white XP-G, then the Uniquefire AA-S1 with Osram LED, and then a flashlight with a XP-G R4 5B1 LED that I got from Cutter.