LED Shootout - Relative Output Comparison (Ceiling Bounce Shots)

[RichS]

I asked a few of my local flashaholic buddies if I could borrow a few of their lights to do a comparison of good number of current LED lights on the market right now. Included are the vast majority of LED types available now, from XR-E, XP-E, XP-G, to SSC P7, MCE, SST-50 and those with single or multiple LED configurations. Also, there is a good mixture of cool, neutral and warm tints in the mix to provide an idea of how each illuminates. This comparison was done using ceiling bounce shots, so we can see the relative difference between say an 80 lumen light and a 200 lumen light.

It is also interesting to see how they stack up in real life compared to their "advertised" rating. I did my best to order them by lowest to highest output. There were some shots that were almost too close to call, so you can be the ultimate judge.

All lights had new primaries or fresh rechargeables loaded. All shots were done using the same camera settings in manual mode. The settings were: Fuji F30/Manual Mode/ISO 100/0.5 sec exposure/WB Daylight

If interested, I can create an animated gif of specific lights per request to see a more direct comparison.


The lights

1. 4Sevens Quark 123x2 (18650) Q3 5A XP-E
2. 4Sevens Quark MiNi 123W - XP-G Q5
3. 4Sevens Quark MiNi AA - Q3 5A3
4. 4Sevens Quark MiNi CR2 Ti - XP-G R5
5. Coast LED Lenser V2
6. Coleman Exponent Headlamp
7. Dereelight C2H Q3 5A
8. Dereelight CL1H Q4 5B
9. Dereelight CL1H Q5 WC
10. Dereelight DBS - Q5 WC
11. EagleTac M2CX4 - 3 x Q3 5A
12. Fenix LD01 - Q5
13. Fenix LOD - Q4
14. Fenix PD20 - Q5
15. Jetbeam IIIM - Q5
16. Jetbeam Jet II IBS - Q5
17. Leef 1x18650 / C2 / SST-50 4500K
18. Malkoff MD2 M30W
19. McGizmo Haiku - XP-G R2 4000K
20. Milky Project-M eXtreme - 4 x Q4 5B
21. Nitecore Defender Infinity - Q5
22. Nitecore EX10
23. NovaTac 120P
24. Olight M30 Triton
25. Rayovac Sportsman 300 Lumen Lantern
26. Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3W
27. River Rock 3xAA LED Lantern
28. SureFire A2 Aviator
29. SureFire L1 Q4 5B
30. Wolf-Eyes Sniper P7

Soon To Be Added

• HDS Systems EDC High CRI
• HDS Systems Twisty High CRI

So here we go..

 

[Connor]

Re: LED Relative Output (Lumen) Comparison - Ceiling Bounce Shots

Awesome, thank you!

 

[Starlight]

Now we need some pictures with all the lights identified.

 

[276]

Seeing some of the warm and neutral emitters makes me want to get some.

 

[Painful Chafe]

Great shots. Very good job.

Man, look at the spot and output of the Olight M30. It is still one of my favorite lights.

Thanks.

 

[tre]

very nice, thanks for taking the time.

 

[entoptics]

Excellent.

Could you edit your OP to include a list of flashlight names.

 

[skyfire]

great shots! thanks!

 

[LED_Thrift]

Thank you, thank you. Very informative.

 

[strinq]

Great indoors comparison. :thumbsup:

 

[jhc37013]

Very nice pics thank you, two things come to mind as I look at them. First I am reminded again how well the neutral/warm tints look in a room in tailstanding position, it looks very nice and pleasing to the eyes.

Second I think this is a good example of how a good tail standing light is a better indoors than a lantern. Just look at the glare of the lantern if your eyes was say at or right above pillow level.

 

[lois]

so beautiful, beautiful torches, beautiful pictures~

 

[vasp1]

These are really great reference pics and I'm sure will sway purchasing decisions.

In the opening line-up photos when I saw the lantern my initial thought was "Why has he included a juicer?"

 

[offroad]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, quite a range of output there.

 

[XRAYBoY]

These are really great reference pics and I'm sure will sway purchasing decisions.

+1 :goodjob:

 

[RichS]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Now we need some pictures with all the lights identified.

Excellent.

Could you edit your OP to include a list of flashlight names.

Yep - I guess that would be helpful.... I've added labels to the pics of the lights in the OP to aid with the identification.

 

[entoptics]

I've added labels to the pics of the lights in the OP to aid with the identification.

I was thinking "search function" with my suggestion of naming the lights. The search can't find the text "rayovac" if it's part of a picture.

 

[Midnight Oil]

That's one sexy Leef host. Where did you get it? Are those Leef bezel and tailcap or Surefire parts?

Thanks.

 

[DM51]

This is a novel way to do a beamshot - combine it with a ceiling bounce. It is a very useful indicator indeed - all too often, the centre spot in a beamshot is "washed out" as white, but here, even where that happens, there is the illumination of the room to give a true indication of how bright the light is.

It's an excellent and comprehensive piece of work, which I'm sure members are going to find extremely useful when they want to see comparisons.

I'm moving it to the Reviews section.

 

[RichS]

I was thinking "search function" with my suggestion of naming the lights. The search can't find the text "rayovac" if it's part of a picture.

Oh, gotcha. What's wrong with me?? I should have known what you were thinking...

Text list added.

That's one sexy Leef host. Where did you get it? Are those Leef bezel and tailcap or Surefire parts?

Thanks.

I picked up several of the Leefbodies in different sizes back when Lighthound had them available about a year ago. You can find them from time to time for sale here on CPF, but they are getting pretty hard to come by now. If you get one, my advice would be to hold onto it.. The bezel and tail caps are both SureFire parts. The SW01 on the Milky build is courtesy of our own DM51..thanks again DM!!

This is a novel way to do a beamshot - combine it with a ceiling bounce. It is a very useful indicator indeed - all too often, the centre spot in a beamshot is "washed out" as white, but here, even where that happens, there is the illumination of the room to give a true indication of how bright the light is.

It's an excellent and comprehensive piece of work, which I'm sure members are going to find extremely useful when they want to see comparisons.

I'm moving it to the Reviews section.

Thanks for the nice feedback DM - much appreciated.
I thought it would be helpful to post some beamshots that help to actually "see" what the real-life difference of some of these lights were vs. the difference in lumens numbers on paper. I do think it will add some perspective.

I also want to use animated gifs for more direct comparisons, but am having a hard time pinning down what would be most useful here. I'll also have a few more lights to add to the comparison soon.