JTICE - 4Sevens LED Tint Comparison Review (white, neutral, warm)

[jtice]

4Sevens LED Tint Comparison Review (white, neutral, warm)
http://jtice.com/review/lights/led_tints

~John

 

[Jack Reacher]

Thank you for that link John.

As a flashlight newbie, it was of great interest to me to see the side-by-side comparison with a specific reference to the terms as applied to each type of output.

Why is it that we can't then choose the colour temperature that we personally prefer when we buy a "brand name" product — say a Fenix TK40 — which sells for nearly $200. It seems colour temperature is a pretty important issue for most folks (judging by the sheer number of time it's mentioned on CPF).

Why doesn't Fenix (say) offer a choice of either a cool, neutral, or warm tint emitter for a light that costs so much? Why are we effectively forced into accepting whatever tint comes randomly (apparently) out of the bin in China?

Or am I simply asking for the technically (and/or economically) impossible?

—Cheers, Jack.

 

[jcw122]

When did 4Sevens ever make a Neutral White mini?

 

[MichaelW]

When did 4Sevens ever make a Neutral White mini?

There was a run around new years where the xp-g was substituted for an xp-e Q3 5A

There will probably be a new run with an xp-g R4 4500K

 

[jtice]

Some lights, especially from 4Sevens are going to start being offered with color options actually.
Specifically white, neutral and warm.

Making 3 versions of a light instead of just one will always drive up costs, so i assume thats why its not done alot of the time.

~John

 

[LEDninja]

4sevens has snagged a couple reels of 4C0 and 4D0 R4 XP-G LEDs. These are a little cooler than the more common 5A/5B neutral tints we have seen so far but is almost as bright as the cool white R5.
He has a poll out asking what models of 4sevens lights to put these in. Go vote for the model you would like to see.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=227751

 

[phantom23]

4Sevens LED Tint Comparison Review (white, neutral, warm)
http://jtice.com/review/lights/led_tints

~John

"The following photos are a bit exaggerated, but they will give you an idea for the differences in the led tints.
The neutral tint shows a bit purple in these photos, thats not the case in real life."

In real life white looks like 'Neutral', neutral looks like 'Warm' and warm is even warmer (orange/red, like incandescent light).

 

[Unforgiven]

Nice download speed phantom23 but you'll need to resize the sig image though. It's too big.





Nice reviews John. Good to see you posting too. :thumbsup:

 

[UnknownVT]

"The following photos are a bit exaggerated, but they will give you an idea for the differences in the led tints.
The neutral tint shows a bit purple in these photos, thats not the case in real life."

In real life white looks like 'Neutral', neutral looks like 'Warm' and warm is even warmer (orange/red, like incandescent light).

Yes, those were my initial thoughts too.

But since our eyes adapt to different light conditions and do not necessarily see the same way as a camera - three beams on a single photo has some validity as a comparison - since all the beams get the same white balance treatment - so the "ratio" (as if it were) of differences should be about the same.

I note looking at the EXIF metadata that jtice is using a Canon PowerShot G9 with white balance set at "Custom 2" -
so I am hazarding a guess that jtice has deliberately set the white balance for these shots - perhaps showing the Neutral White as "neutral"/gray as possible - hence the extra blueness of the Cool White and less amber/red of the Warm White almost tending a little toward gray.

Whereas using the Fixed Daylight White Balance (sun icon) would show the photos closer to the way phantom23 described.

John/jtice -

Can you please tell us what your Custom 2 White Balance is set to?

Thanks.

 

[jtice]

I am pretty sure that I set the white balance with all three lights shining on the white wall, and set it to that.
That way it should have been set to a happy medium between all the lights, giving the best chance of showing the difference between them.
I played around with a few other settings, none looked true to real light really.
Each will lean one way or another.

~John

 

[UnknownVT]

I am pretty sure that I set the white balance with all three lights shining on the white wall, and set it to that.

John,

Not intending any disparagement -
but pointing the camera at a white wall and setting a manual white balance -
is very dependent on the lighting -
ie: whatever was lighting the white wall at the time
eg: it could have been -
regular tungsten household lighting,
fluorescent lighting,
or some mixed lighting...
daylight through a window,
direct noon-daylight (including the sun -
unlikely unless you have a white wall outside....)
- so this is rather a bit of a big variable.

My guess is that your overall lighting for the white wall was about 4100K
since that probably would be the average color temperature of the three lights -
this is probably the equivalent of using the AWB (Auto White Balance) on your camera
- hence the "neutral"/gray looking Neutral White.

It may seem less technical to just set the Fixed Daylight White Balance (sun symbol) - but that is the equivalent to manually setting a white balance on a sheet of white paper out in the noon-day sun - a reference that most of us understand - eg: hence phantom23's response.....

 

[jtice]

Actually, there was very little ambient light at all, I did that on purpose so it wouldnt fact that in.
but you do have a valid point, I dont have the lights anymore, but next time i will try many different settings, and see which ones look closest to real life.
Again, thats why i mentioned that my photos were only to see the amount of difference between then, but the actual colors themselves.

~John

 

[UnknownVT]

Actually, there was very little ambient light at all, I did that on purpose so it wouldnt fact that in.
Again, thats why i mentioned that my photos were only to see the amount of difference between then, but the actual colors themselves.

John,
Sorry, I had just edited my post to make it clearer.

My guess is that your overall lighting for the white wall was about 4100K
since that probably would be the average color temperature of the three lights -
this is probably the equivalent of using the AWB (Auto White Balance) on your camera
- hence the "neutral"/gray looking Neutral White.

 

[kito109654]

Thanks for the write up and the pictures, it has been very useful for me!