KevinL
Flashlight Enthusiast
Thinking of sticking a couple of high CRIs in my lights to try them out. To be honest, I'm a photographer, and I still don't quite 'get it'. I tried a neutral XP-G and it looked YELLOWISH. Same with a Fenix E21 with neutral white, though it looked whiter. The only thing I noticed is browns and greens look a bit more natural.
I don't necessarily buy the "blue is cool" hype from the manufacturers. Actually, I haven't heard anything from them at all. White is good in my eyes. I love the pure white tints - we've been hunting these since I got into LEDs six years ago.
I'm wondering if, over the last six years, my eyes have somehow become so used to clear white LEDs that neutral is actually a disadvantage. In fact all my incans look yellow nowadays and I have to 'force' my eyesight to auto-white-balance the scene (and they do but it takes about 5 minutes). The default calibration for my eyes seems to be 100% white. I can turn on a 6000K LED and feel right at home. As a photog I white balance for 5200-5500K, not 4000.
Perhaps 'correct' color temperature, color rendering, is all a matter of perception? Am I generalizing by saying the incandescent people (especially those who have lived with incandescent light most of their lives, such as house lights) prefer warmer temps and folks like me who have spent their lives under white (flourescent, etc.) light prefer white?
About the only time I need superior color rendering is when I'm checking injuries (usually, me managing to get poked by something or something stuck in me like splinters. Nothing dramatic. I'm not a medic..)
I think I need to try the high-CRI's personally to get used to them. What emitters are you buying and where are you buying from? How much output am I compromising vs my standard high power white LEDs?
I don't necessarily buy the "blue is cool" hype from the manufacturers. Actually, I haven't heard anything from them at all. White is good in my eyes. I love the pure white tints - we've been hunting these since I got into LEDs six years ago.
I'm wondering if, over the last six years, my eyes have somehow become so used to clear white LEDs that neutral is actually a disadvantage. In fact all my incans look yellow nowadays and I have to 'force' my eyesight to auto-white-balance the scene (and they do but it takes about 5 minutes). The default calibration for my eyes seems to be 100% white. I can turn on a 6000K LED and feel right at home. As a photog I white balance for 5200-5500K, not 4000.
Perhaps 'correct' color temperature, color rendering, is all a matter of perception? Am I generalizing by saying the incandescent people (especially those who have lived with incandescent light most of their lives, such as house lights) prefer warmer temps and folks like me who have spent their lives under white (flourescent, etc.) light prefer white?
About the only time I need superior color rendering is when I'm checking injuries (usually, me managing to get poked by something or something stuck in me like splinters. Nothing dramatic. I'm not a medic..)
I think I need to try the high-CRI's personally to get used to them. What emitters are you buying and where are you buying from? How much output am I compromising vs my standard high power white LEDs?
