how many lumens do you reasly need
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idleprocess
Flashaholic
Tangential, but the first XR-E flashlight I obtained - and possibly the first XR-E flashlight ever - was from a short run Sandwich Shoppe Aleph A19 1x123A. Suddenly in the palm of my hand I had capabilities that used to take multiple Luxeon IIIs and their associated bulk. It was truly a herald of what we have today in 1x 18650 lights. Nowadays, a slightly smaller D4 running an 18650 can produce some 20x the lumens, but that A19 still seems bright.
dmattaponi
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EDC - variable between moonlight (sub lumen) up through 150-200 lumens.
Outdoor activities in rural setting - variable light with up to approximately 1000 lumens with some throw.
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Outdoor activities in rural setting - variable light with up to approximately 1000 lumens with some throw.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Last night camping on a remote sea island? 0.1 - 3800. Used for night light, around camp, oyster bank spotting. etc. Needed two lights to do this, my Lumintop GTvn Mini and a Manker.
sonofjesse
Newly Enlightened
Yea I think the lumens has turned into HP ratings, and people want these huge ratings, even though some are so wrong on the actually output. Unless you do search and rescue or leave out in the "woods", you don't really need crazy amounts of lumens. I usually use 50 lumens outside to most tasks at night.
Now if your more in the country camping its nice to have 1000 lumens with some throw.
We are spoiled with how good these lights are for the money I think. It has come a long ways since I first started playing with lights as a kid.
Now if your more in the country camping its nice to have 1000 lumens with some throw.
We are spoiled with how good these lights are for the money I think. It has come a long ways since I first started playing with lights as a kid.
3_gun
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Really 100L is enough for most jobs and seldom do I need more than 400L but today 1000L came up short, doesn't happen often. Didn't expect to need more than my EDC for the time of day & sale type I was going to. Two out buildings proved me wrong. !000L worked .. barely but slowed me down. I'll try not to make that mistake again. Of course I was in much better shape than everyone else who just walked up to the door(s) with their cellphone out & walked away.
Stress_Test
Flashlight Enthusiast
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Paradoxically, the last time I needed more output (couple months back) was when it was broad daylight in a lighted building. I walked into an empty dark conference room and couldn't find the light switch, and my Quark at 100+ lumens on high didn't seem very bright, since I came from a bright hallway with windows.
I mean it's not like it didn't WORK or anything, the output just seemed puny.
I mean it's not like it didn't WORK or anything, the output just seemed puny.
richbuff
Flashlight Enthusiast
Lots and lots and lots of lumens and pre-1933 US gold coins:
3_gun
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fuyume
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My Fenix E12 v2.0 is advertised as having modes of 5, 30, and 160 lumens. I find that 5 lumens is a good low utility brightness for most things where I just need to be able to see where to put my foot at night. I've used my E12 a couple of times this past week while riding my bicycle to the grocery store at night, and I will say that for a bicycle headlight, the 160 lumen mode is about the minimum I'd feel comfortable using at anything more than a slow speed, but I avoid using it, since it eats battery power quickly.
Fortunately for me, I pedal very slowly, since I'm actually partially disabled and can barely pedal on the flat in low gear, so the 30 lumen mode works well enough. 30 lumens is fine for walking outdoors at night, but 60 would really be better if I were on unfamiliar ground.
The E12 replaced my Inova X1 as my EDC light and the X1 is advertised as producing 80 lumens and 11 lumens. I found the 80 lumen mode more than enough walking at night in the woods, and the 11 lumen mode more than enough walking around my house at night, to the point where I actually cup in in my hand to prevent from losing too much night vision.
Before that, I carried a Leatherman Serac S3, with 7/43/100 lumen modes, and as you can imagine, the 7 lumen mode was fine for most things, the 43 was fine out walking at night, and the 100 lumen mode worked when I needed to see something pretty far away.
I'm planning on getting a Fenix PD36 TAC to double as a bicycle headlight and occasional use "tactical" flashlight. It has modes of 30 (Eco), 150 (Low), and 350 (Med) lumens. I will ignore the High and Turbo modes, since those do not have flat brightness/discharge curves. The 30 lumen mode can be used the same as the 30 lumen mode on my E12, the 150 lumen mode will be great for slow riding, and the 350 lumen mode should be great for faster riding, if I actually get the electric bicycle I want.
Somewhere around here, I have a Bushnell 20154 that I think was rated at 270 lumens? 300? If you look up that product number you will see ratings of 325/39 lumens, but I'm not sure that the one I have wasn't an earlier generation of that model. I always forget. I never use the thing, anymore, and when I did use it, I mainly used its low power mode. In any case, the low power mode, whether it was 25 lumens or 39, was more than enough for a medium duty utility flashlight.
Fortunately for me, I pedal very slowly, since I'm actually partially disabled and can barely pedal on the flat in low gear, so the 30 lumen mode works well enough. 30 lumens is fine for walking outdoors at night, but 60 would really be better if I were on unfamiliar ground.
The E12 replaced my Inova X1 as my EDC light and the X1 is advertised as producing 80 lumens and 11 lumens. I found the 80 lumen mode more than enough walking at night in the woods, and the 11 lumen mode more than enough walking around my house at night, to the point where I actually cup in in my hand to prevent from losing too much night vision.
Before that, I carried a Leatherman Serac S3, with 7/43/100 lumen modes, and as you can imagine, the 7 lumen mode was fine for most things, the 43 was fine out walking at night, and the 100 lumen mode worked when I needed to see something pretty far away.
I'm planning on getting a Fenix PD36 TAC to double as a bicycle headlight and occasional use "tactical" flashlight. It has modes of 30 (Eco), 150 (Low), and 350 (Med) lumens. I will ignore the High and Turbo modes, since those do not have flat brightness/discharge curves. The 30 lumen mode can be used the same as the 30 lumen mode on my E12, the 150 lumen mode will be great for slow riding, and the 350 lumen mode should be great for faster riding, if I actually get the electric bicycle I want.
Somewhere around here, I have a Bushnell 20154 that I think was rated at 270 lumens? 300? If you look up that product number you will see ratings of 325/39 lumens, but I'm not sure that the one I have wasn't an earlier generation of that model. I always forget. I never use the thing, anymore, and when I did use it, I mainly used its low power mode. In any case, the low power mode, whether it was 25 lumens or 39, was more than enough for a medium duty utility flashlight.
Back in the day, 500 lumens was a car headlamp or low end HID lantern, 2100 lumens was a PAR36 aircraft landing light, and 200+ in a handheld flashlight was OMG. Nowadays I have a 1x18650 with 100/300/1000 but it heats up quickly at 1000 and I almost never use it at that setting. 100 is usually plenty. There are similar size lights with 3000+ now and I don't feel like I can use it.
For just getting around a dark room, Arc AAA at 3 lumen was plenty. It displaced the CMG Infinity at 1 lumen which was usable though people wanted more. By now we should be done with lumen wars.
For just getting around a dark room, Arc AAA at 3 lumen was plenty. It displaced the CMG Infinity at 1 lumen which was usable though people wanted more. By now we should be done with lumen wars.
fuyume
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I found the old Mini Mag-Lite that was kicking around my house, because I was thinking about getting a Nite-Ize LED upgrade for it. I used to have one, but I think I left it at a friend's house or in her car in California in 2013 after going to a music festival, there.
I looked up the brightness of a Mini Mag-Lite, and they are 14 lumens with a runtime of 5 h 15 m. The Nite-Ize upgrade takes that to 30 lumens and 25 h. Quite a huge difference!
I just took advantage of Fenix' Labor Day sale and ordered myself a PD36 TAC and ALB-10 bike mount. Hopefully, it will be here by the end of the week. In order to save money, I didn't order a spare battery, but when Fenix eventually ships their new USB-C charger, I plan to get at least one spare battery and the charger.
I think I still want to get an E20 v2.0 for the house, though I probably really don't need it, especially if I get that Nite-Ize upgrade for the Mini Mag-Lite. The PD36 TAC will primarily be used as a bicycle headlight, but when I am not on the bike, it will live in my handbag, and my handbag sits next to my bed at home, so the PD36 TAC will always be on hand, as will my E12 v2.0, since that is also always in my handbag, if it isn't in my hand.
The PD36 TAC's Eco mode of 30 lumens is the same as the Nite-Ize LED upgrade.
I looked up the brightness of a Mini Mag-Lite, and they are 14 lumens with a runtime of 5 h 15 m. The Nite-Ize upgrade takes that to 30 lumens and 25 h. Quite a huge difference!
I just took advantage of Fenix' Labor Day sale and ordered myself a PD36 TAC and ALB-10 bike mount. Hopefully, it will be here by the end of the week. In order to save money, I didn't order a spare battery, but when Fenix eventually ships their new USB-C charger, I plan to get at least one spare battery and the charger.
I think I still want to get an E20 v2.0 for the house, though I probably really don't need it, especially if I get that Nite-Ize upgrade for the Mini Mag-Lite. The PD36 TAC will primarily be used as a bicycle headlight, but when I am not on the bike, it will live in my handbag, and my handbag sits next to my bed at home, so the PD36 TAC will always be on hand, as will my E12 v2.0, since that is also always in my handbag, if it isn't in my hand.
The PD36 TAC's Eco mode of 30 lumens is the same as the Nite-Ize LED upgrade.
The stock minimag might reach 14lm with brand new batteries, but it dims quickly and is more like 5 lumens over most of the run. I'm sure someone has done graphs. At 5h or even 3h it is pretty dead. The thing about incandescents is as they dim, the color shifts towards orange and the light gets less and less useful. LEDs stay the same color (pretty much) and so they give usable illumunation even at super low levels.
Jean-Luc Descarte
Enlightened
It's worth noting that the 2xAAA LED version has the exact same behavior. The output isn't regulated at all.
It's regulated, it just has a timed step down to around 50% after the first half hour.
fuyume
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Having owned and used incandescent Mini Mag-Lites for over 30 years, I'm more than well aware of their limitations. I only looked it up as a point of comparison to the Nite-Ize LED upgrade for it.
Bicycleflyer
Enlightened
Short answer… 5 lms or less in low mode and about 200 in high.
I'm a pilot who has flown a lot of aircraft types. From general aviation cessnas to the 747. I've owned a number of lights. In the early days (pre LED) the FAA mandated 2 D-cell flashlights for FAR 135 and 121 operations. I used one of those bent neck military flashlights. I think it may have put out 20 lms at best. But it worked quite well for over 10 years. I used that all the way up to the 727. As LED flashlights came out I fell in love with the multi level outputs. I have discovered I like 5 lms or less in the cockpit and about 200 for the exterior inspection. That worked even on the 747. I DO NOT want flashing modes of any kind. I've owned several nice flashlights since then. Presently I carry a flashlight capable of 1000 lms, but I still find the 200 lms mode works quite well. I only use the 1000 lms mode to show off or light up deer on the other side of the runway.
Yea, I got windy.. Sorry.
I'm a pilot who has flown a lot of aircraft types. From general aviation cessnas to the 747. I've owned a number of lights. In the early days (pre LED) the FAA mandated 2 D-cell flashlights for FAR 135 and 121 operations. I used one of those bent neck military flashlights. I think it may have put out 20 lms at best. But it worked quite well for over 10 years. I used that all the way up to the 727. As LED flashlights came out I fell in love with the multi level outputs. I have discovered I like 5 lms or less in the cockpit and about 200 for the exterior inspection. That worked even on the 747. I DO NOT want flashing modes of any kind. I've owned several nice flashlights since then. Presently I carry a flashlight capable of 1000 lms, but I still find the 200 lms mode works quite well. I only use the 1000 lms mode to show off or light up deer on the other side of the runway.
Yea, I got windy.. Sorry.
3_gun
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Been thinking about this and it needs a more nuanced answer.
First you need a blackout dark house & a candle. Light the candle, walk around, set it in one place & LOOK around, move it & repeat. Notice the colors & details you can see & at what distance? Take your time. Try reading, have a cup of something. Many/most of us have never really used candlelight for lighting so it's hard to have a common baseline. (my hillbilly grandparents didn't get electric lights until 1980) Mathematically 1 lumen = 12.57 candlepower or 1 candlepower = 0.079 lumen. More to the problem, candles range from about 5 to 15 lumens depending on size, fuel and wick. Plus one candle doesn't equal one candlepower. But that doesn't really matter since our eyes aren't machines but our cameras are. Take a picture, lock in the auto setting as a memory manual setting. Now you can take the same picture using your flashlight on different settings. Do direct beam shots & bounce shots to see how they compare to the baseline. Now you have real world candle power to lumens w/o the math.
I know I NEED about 5L to see detail AND colors in 4000-4500K direct beam & 15L in bounce light. One lumen is enough to read by if the light is direct, 10L minimum for bounced light. Half a lumen is enough to keep me from tripping over my own feet. 500L lights the room to about a 60w bulb, 1000L like a 75w bulb, 3000L=daylight. (room 10x12, hard wood floor, painted {lighter matte shades} ceiling & walls)
Testing is a big reason my new EDC light has a 10L low & 1100L high & runs a 18650 instead of an AA battery & is much more a flood than throw light. Add in I can start in low / memory or high =
. It's not perfect but it's so much closer than the light it replaced BUT it's an EDC light; limited in reach & runtime. I have in one day drained the freshly charged battery with mid range light use that I didn't have the two upper light levels available anymore. So now I'm looking at 21700/26650 lights, not as EDC but more general purpose.
So how many lumens do I need? Not less than 1 to read and not more (so far) than 3000 to play god. In between it all depends on the day. One thing I've NEVER needed?? .. less runtime
First you need a blackout dark house & a candle. Light the candle, walk around, set it in one place & LOOK around, move it & repeat. Notice the colors & details you can see & at what distance? Take your time. Try reading, have a cup of something. Many/most of us have never really used candlelight for lighting so it's hard to have a common baseline. (my hillbilly grandparents didn't get electric lights until 1980) Mathematically 1 lumen = 12.57 candlepower or 1 candlepower = 0.079 lumen. More to the problem, candles range from about 5 to 15 lumens depending on size, fuel and wick. Plus one candle doesn't equal one candlepower. But that doesn't really matter since our eyes aren't machines but our cameras are. Take a picture, lock in the auto setting as a memory manual setting. Now you can take the same picture using your flashlight on different settings. Do direct beam shots & bounce shots to see how they compare to the baseline. Now you have real world candle power to lumens w/o the math.
I know I NEED about 5L to see detail AND colors in 4000-4500K direct beam & 15L in bounce light. One lumen is enough to read by if the light is direct, 10L minimum for bounced light. Half a lumen is enough to keep me from tripping over my own feet. 500L lights the room to about a 60w bulb, 1000L like a 75w bulb, 3000L=daylight. (room 10x12, hard wood floor, painted {lighter matte shades} ceiling & walls)
Testing is a big reason my new EDC light has a 10L low & 1100L high & runs a 18650 instead of an AA battery & is much more a flood than throw light. Add in I can start in low / memory or high =
. It's not perfect but it's so much closer than the light it replaced BUT it's an EDC light; limited in reach & runtime. I have in one day drained the freshly charged battery with mid range light use that I didn't have the two upper light levels available anymore. So now I'm looking at 21700/26650 lights, not as EDC but more general purpose.So how many lumens do I need? Not less than 1 to read and not more (so far) than 3000 to play god. In between it all depends on the day. One thing I've NEVER needed?? .. less runtime
I think it is the other way around, 1 standard candle = 12.57 lumen. But that is brighter real-life candles are, it seems to me. Anyway, there is no need to mess with candles for this. Just try a low powered led flashlight and see if it suffices. For walking around a completely dark house, 1 lumen is really plenty.
