newbie question!

[viking1973]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum so please understant my ignorance on the subject. I work in Law Enforcement and have allways been fan of flashlights since I use them as tool. I just didn't knew how much I was fascinated about them untill I found THIS forum :twothumbs
Now here is my question, I have a streamlight scorpion LED with the C4 led on it. This is the great flashlight, a bit big for EDC but it light better than any other flashlight I've ever owned. The manufacturer say it give 120 lumens.
Last week I got a Fenix P2D and a fenix L2D with Q5 head wich the manufacturer say give 180 lumens.
Yesterday I took them out for a night trip, I live in the mountains and there is no city lights. I was very surprise to see that the streamlight with C4 head light much better and farther than the fenix who should light 60 lumens more!!! is it normal?
I tough than the more lumens the more power, but in this case the 120 lumens is more powerfull than those 2 lights with 180 lumens!
Thanks for the help!

 

[toolpig1]

Don't confuse total output with throw. It's possible to have a torch with greater total output (lumens) but less throw (lux or candlepower) compared to another. For example, a torch designed for "flood" may cast a huge amount of light, but the light is spread out over a large area. A highly focused torch may actually output less total light, but when the light is packed into a tight spot that projects much farther, then people perceive it as brighter. Read this, Doug did a much better job of explaining this:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/features/lux.htm

Imagine if you had 2 cubic feet of sand and proceeded to spread it over an area the size of a city block, you'd barely see it. Now take only 1 cubic foot of sand and dump it in a pile. I'm certain the pile of sand would appear "bigger" even though it's half the amount that got spread out.

 

[viking1973]

oooooooooooook... I tough the more lumens on the package, the more powerfull was the flashlight; thanks for the help!

 

[HKJ]

oooooooooooook... I tough the more lumens on the package, the more powerfull was the flashlight; thanks for the help!

More lumens make the light more powerfull, but not necessary longer throwing.

Lumens measures the total amount of light, your get from the flashlight (or bulb), another measure is lux, that measures the brightness in a single spot. Lux is usual measured at 1 meter and at the brightest spot.

I.e. if your want to light up a room, look for the lumens, if your want to throw the light a long distance, look for lux measurement.

 

[ZMZ67]

There are a number of factors that influence how well a light works besides total output.Throw is how far the light can cast a beam and is determined by the reflector(larger/deeper=more throw)although optics may be used instead.For many individuals tint is also a factor which is why some here still prefer incandescent lights.Hang around awhile and you will learn a lot from the threads here. :welcome: