My LED fling is over

[kelmo]

This summer I got a NovaTac P85, Fenix P1 CE, and a BOG Cree Premium drop in for my 6P. They got plenty of use this summer but the novelty has worn off. The NovaTac and Fenix are in my hiking gear that will see very little use during the rainy season and my 6Cree is now in my trucks emergancy kit.

I always come back to my incans. The E2d has reclaimed its rightful place in my backpack. My turboheaded 9P once again is my bright light of choice. My 9P has fresh cells and it's SC1 is ready for grab'n and go'n. The ding on my E2e bezel is not an annoyance anymore and is now a loving reminder of my wife (she dropped it).

No more belt carrying a small LED. The cooler weather means pockets for incans and spares carriers. It just doesn't feel right not carrying extra cells and lamps with your light.

I love this time of year!

 

[MikeSalt]

What moved me to LEDs in the first place was the promise of a 'white, crystal clear beam' compared to the 'sickly, yellow beam' produced by incandescents. Whilst this description holds true for poorly driven incandescents (most stock Maglites), I had an education to learn.

I had a 6D Mag, with stock Krypton bulb which was less than impressive for the size. This looked weak compared to my P1D-CE. However, when I learned about the Magnum-Star Xenon bulbs, I gave them a whirl, and was instantly impressed.

Of course, curiosity got the better of me, and that lead to 6 NiMH D-cells, a Magcharger glass window, FM reflector and of course Pelican ROP bulbs. This had me hooked on incandescents, and soon saw plenty of use outside. However, the Uniross 2600 cells took 16 hours to charge, and they kept failing on me (made in France). I was fed up taking them back for replacements. Eventually I decided that ROP high was too much current draw for these cells, and went back to a ROP low, which is still impressive. The size is hardly EDC-able.

So, I invested some more, and built a 2D ROP. I used high quality (not made in France) cells and a FM 6AA>2D adapter. Using a fast charger, it will charge in less than three hours. I carry it everywhere in my Uni/Hiking rucksack just in case I need it. It is fantastic!

 

[lctorana]

Never say it's over. LEDs have nearly taken over the small handheld torch market, but progress won't stop there.

R-bin Crees will come out next year, DX is already selling 10W, 20W and even 50W LED dies, so clearly, LEDs will move, one day soon, into the territory of big lights, like D-Maglites and 4F lanterns.

Naturally, this means buy top-quality incans while you still can, and enjoy them. There will be plenty of first-generation "big power" LED lights that will be inadequate for one reason or another - too much heat, inadequate heat sinking, melting, poor run time, poor reflector focus, etc.

But eventually, really good ones will be made. Inevitably so.

There are exciting times ahead for the hobby. It's a great time to be into flashlights. Especially LED flashlights.

 

[kelmo]

I'm not arguing the fact that LED tech is advancing fast. I'm just stating a personal preference.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Never say it's over. LEDs have nearly taken over the small handheld torch market, but progress won't stop there.

R-bin Crees will come out next year, DX is already selling 10W, 20W and even 50W LED dies, so clearly, LEDs will move, one day soon, into the territory of big lights, like D-Maglites and 4F lanterns.

Naturally, this means buy top-quality incans while you still can, and enjoy them. There will be plenty of first-generation "big power" LED lights that will be inadequate for one reason or another - too much heat, inadequate heat sinking, melting, poor run time, poor reflector focus, etc.

But eventually, really good ones will be made. Inevitably so.

There are exciting times ahead for the hobby. It's a great time to be into flashlights. Especially LED flashlights.

Power alone ain't worth poop without good color rendition. I do not carry an ican for brute power, most of my hiking incans are in the 50 lumen ballpark. And they all blow away my 160+ lumens LED lights when it comes to outdoor performance. I simply can see way better with an incan and it doesn't matter how much lumens the thing is putting out.

 

[MarNav1]

I got rid of all my incans except for 1. Had to hang on to my A2. Wish I could find the FiveMega socket mod for one but I like the fact that it is regulated and the bulbs are pretty tough. Not too big either.

 

[lctorana]

Of course. Silly me.

I forgot that it isn't possible to appreciate both types.

Mea culpa.

 

[MikeSalt]

I appreciate both types, but the quality of light from my high-power incandescents is more pleasing to me, and useful.

I suppose the analogy would be;

LED: Good power to size ratio, this is like having a black and white 50 inch plasma television (I consider it small because it is thin). You can SEE it easily, but due to the lack of colour, you cannot READ the information as easily

INCAN:Not so good power to size ratio, this is like having a really top quality 21 inch colour CRT television, the blacks are truly black, the colour depth is as deep as you like. It is harder to SEE, but what you do see is easier to READ due to the richness of the information. (Also, CRT is well tried and tested, just like INCANs but that is another analogy altogether).

Of course, a B&W plasma TV is theoretical. The bottom line is that for more POWER, choose an LED, for more INFORMATION RETRIEVAL, choose an INCAN.

 

[daveman]

I appreciate both types, but the quality of light from my high-power incandescents is more pleasing to me, and useful.

I suppose the analogy would be;

LED: Good power to size ratio, this is like having a black and white 50 inch plasma television (I consider it small because it is thin). You can SEE it easily, but due to the lack of colour, you cannot READ the information as easily

INCAN:Not so good power to size ratio, this is like having a really top quality 21 inch colour CRT television, the blacks are truly black, the colour depth is as deep as you like. It is harder to SEE, but what you do see is easier to READ due to the richness of the information. (Also, CRT is well tried and tested, just like INCANs but that is another analogy altogether).

That is by far THE BEST explanation of the differences between LEDs' and Incans' color renditions.
I understand why some folks would be disappointed with the inferior color rendition of LEDs compared with Incans. Incans are much easier on the eyes, particularly outdoors. But if you want to go small, and I assume you (Kelmo) edc something, LED lights can put out over 150 lumens out the front (with Q5 bin) compared with ~50 lumens for an edc-sized incan; that difference of 100 lumens more than makes up for any color renditioning defeciencies.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

I use nothing but incans; however, I keep a few 10mm LED keyring lights on my keyring as give-waways. And I have to say, when used as a defensive weapon to blind an assailant, an LED has it all over an incan. A humble 10mm LED hurts my eyes more than any incan under 200 lumens.

 

[scott.cr]

A humble 10mm LED hurts my eyes more than any incan under 200 lumens.

I wonder if this is because of the instant-on effect of the LED giving less time for the eyes to adjust? Personally I've been "beamed" with a stock Surefire U2 and found it more shocking than other lights.

Having said that, with the sale of my U2 last week, a VB-16 is the sole "nice" LED in my collection. I like the VB-16, but incans are my go-to lights for most tasks. I much, much prefer their color temp, power, simplicity and reliability. The LEDs are just too complex to be easily field-repaired should something go wrong.

 

[Dinan]

I have to agree with LED's being more harsh on the eyes when confronted with the business end of the associated flashlight. I *think* (don't quote me heh) it's because of the color spectrum being more towards the blue, where human eyes are used to a full spectrum from the sun and have natural defenses against an overload of red light but are not accustomed to a lot of blue light with almost no infrared light from LEDs. Again... I'm no expert, not even close, but one of my astronomy friends explained it to me that way and it works for me!

Anyway, I love my A2 because of the regulation and the whiteness, I'm thinking about getting a 2nd =)
Also thinking about moving up and getting a "bright" incan... 3cell or larger hopefully, but I'm not sure which one yet.

 

[kelmo]

The intent of the thread wasn't supposed to be another heated incan vs LED discussion. We've already covered that ground ad naseum.

I was just celebrating the changing of the seasons. I love the crisp autumn air. Incan light is perfect for a misty evening.

Regulated runtime is nice, but I've never had to be "Survivor Man."

Paul_in_Maryland is right, incans satisfy. O-YEAH...

 

[brunt_sp]

I appreciate both types, but the quality of light from my high-power incandescents is more pleasing to me, and useful.

I suppose the analogy would be;
LED: Good power to size ratio ...........
INCAN:Not so good power to size ratio ..........

+ 1. Much respect for the analogy.

 

[bestcounsel]

Here is my take on led and incans...

Tactical-Duty situations= Incans
General Purpose = led

Keep in mind that in life, one may have more use for general purpose situations.

Again, i have both type and need both types for my line of work.

 

[LuxLuthor]

 

[2xTrinity]

Power alone ain't worth poop without good color rendition. I do not carry an ican for brute power, most of my hiking incans are in the 50 lumen ballpark. And they all blow away my 160+ lumens LED lights when it comes to outdoor performance. I simply can see way better with an incan and it doesn't matter how much lumens the thing is putting out.

Definitely agreed. While I actually prefer cool white light to incandescent light for reading/task lights (note: by cool white I mean 4000K like fluorescent, not 6500K like most LEDs) as I find my eyes work best there lumen for lumen in terms of black-and-white contrast. Outdoors however, there is very little that reflects blue light -- trees and dirt etc almost entirely reflect green and red, so a light source that is stronger in red will produce much better contrast.

Of course, what I am waiting for is someone to make an LED with an enhanced red phosphor and a color temperature of around 4000K. If that ca be done at high power, so that LED flashlights are essentially as good or better as the highest-qualty stadium lights (enhanced metal halide) for color rendition, then I will probably finally let go of incan flashlights.

 

[Nubo]

Power alone ain't worth poop without good color rendition. I do not carry an ican for brute power, most of my hiking incans are in the 50 lumen ballpark. And they all blow away my 160+ lumens LED lights when it comes to outdoor performance. I simply can see way better with an incan and it doesn't matter how much lumens the thing is putting out.

Hopefully once the LED "race for power" is over, the engineers will turn to the issue of color rendition.

 

[MikeSalt]

As soon as the race for power is over, they should definately look towards colour rendition. Is it even possible to have true full-spectrum LEDs?

 

[IMSabbel]

As soon as the race for power is over, they should definately look towards colour rendition. Is it even possible to have true full-spectrum LEDs?

Why shouldnt it?
And take a look at the horribly crappy specta of HID lamps, and people are still happy with them. compared to them, LED ARE already full spectrum. There is the green/yellpw-dip, but no gaps in the emission spectrum.