So, whats new in the LED world?

[Cevulirn]

Well, I've been distracted from the joys of illumination for a while, but I don't like the feeling of being behind on information. Last I had heard, Luxon III's and V's were about the top of the LED game, but after a few min browsing the forum, I'm reading about Cree's?

I'd appreciate it if someone could enlighten me.

Thanks in advance,
--Cevulirn

 

[fire-stick]

Cree's are still lux III but they are twice as efficient.

Also Seoul P4's are a new LED.

Fenix has a new cree light called the P3D

http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_51&products_id=227

It's rated 160 lumens....

I'll probably be gettin a P3D as soon as I can get my funds together.

 

[2xTrinity]

Cree has made a breakthrough in blue-LEDs, which are the basis of white LEDs. They have their own high efficiency emitter called the XR-E. This one projects more light forward, rather than to the sides, so is a great choice for flood lights, or use with secondary optics. Cree also licenses their blue die to Seoul Semiconductors, which sells another high efficiency white LED that works better in reflectors designed for the old luxeons.

 

[jc28841]

Welcome back to the Light...

Crees have been the buzz for a while now.
I've got a Fenix L1D CE myself. 90 lumens from 1 AA. With the L2D body, I can also get 135 lumens from 2AA's.

 

[Alin10123]

The previous leaders used to be Lux 3 and Lux 5. Although, as far as flood goes. The Lux 5 is still hard to be beat when it comes to pure flood. But as far as the Lux 3 goes, the new Cree led is supposed to output twice the light as the same drive level as the previous lux 3. The seouls uses the cree emitter, but other than that; it's a different LED. The seoul is slightly more efficient then the cree, but at the higher drive level past 1-1.25A the led's have a problem with turning blue and dying out.

I hope that sums it up for you.

Oh, welcome back!

 

[2xTrinity]

The previous leaders used to be Lux 3 and Lux 5. Although, as far as flood goes. The Lux 5 is still hard to be beat when it comes to pure flood.

Cree with the Cree Optic installed is awesome for pure flood. Bright, uniform hotspot with a gradual transition to spill, no artifacts. For pure throw, the best I've seen is Cree with an aspheric lens -- which will project a square image of the die ridiculously far (the brightest beam in my avatar is a Lumapower M1 with aspheric lens, maglite-sized aspheric lenses can result in extremely concentrated beams)

But as far as the Lux 3 goes, the new Cree led is supposed to output twice the light as the same drive level as the previous lux 3. The seouls uses the cree emitter, but other than that; it's a different LED. The seoul is slightly more efficient then the cree, but at the higher drive level past 1-1.25A the led's have a problem with turning blue and dying out.

I hope that sums it up for you.

Oh, welcome back!

While the Seoul looks a lot more efficient on paper, as they have a higher quoted lumen output at 1 amp, The difference is that the Seouls generally have a higher forward voltage than the Crees, so power efficiency is in effect the same.

Seouls are better as direct retrofits for Luxeon lights, but for custom lights, I like Cree emitters + optics.

 

[Alin10123]

Cree with the Cree Optic installed is awesome for pure flood. Bright, uniform hotspot with a gradual transition to spill, no artifacts. For pure throw, the best I've seen is Cree with an aspheric lens -- which will project a square image of the die ridiculously far (the brightest beam in my avatar is a Lumapower M1 with aspheric lens, maglite-sized aspheric lenses can result in extremely concentrated beams)


While the Seoul looks a lot more efficient on paper, as they have a higher quoted lumen output at 1 amp, The difference is that the Seouls generally have a higher forward voltage than the Crees, so power efficiency is in effect the same.

Seouls are better though as direct retrofits for Luxeon lights, but for custom lights, I like Cree emitters + optics.

bah, shows how much i know about the new LED's.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Welcome back, Cree and Seoul lights are the go, these things are bright compared to
the Luxeon lights.

 

[LEDninja]

Here is Newbie's thread on the Cree XR-E which started the craze.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=138503

If you look at the 2nd graph you can see the XRE
produces 80 lumens at 350mA compared to 30-42 for a luxI
produces135 lumens at 700mA compared to 70-75 for a luxIII
produces167 lumens at 1000mA and does not need 7.2V required by the luxV

That is for the P3 bin. The P4 bins are now shipping about 10% brighter.

The Soeul SSC-P4 uses a Cree die in a Lux style case which makes it easier for the modders to upgrade their old Lux lights.

Here is FLR's review of the 2AA L2D-CE
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l1dce-l2dce.htm

Yes, you are reading that correctly - 88.00 overall output on Max with two AA cells. The L2D-CE is brighter than a 5W Surefire L2 on high. Brighter than a Streamlight Stinger, too. These new Cree LEDs are amazing.

Now here comes the interesting part
Start with a Fenix L0D-CE AAA light.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l0dce.htm

The shear volume of light produced is amazing for a single AAA cell light. My readings show that on the "high" setting the L0D-CE is producing more light overall than a 3-D Maglite. On "medium" it produces more light overall than a common 2-D cell light. All this from one AAA cell.

WE ARE NOT DONE YET!!!
Some CPFers tossed the 1.2V NiMH and tried 3.6V 10440 Lion. There is a tripling of lumens. Which means it is brighter than a stock L2D-CE on turbo. Or a 5W Surefire L2 on high. Or a Streamlight Stinger, While doing so is running both the battery and LED beyoud spec, nobody has burned out their keychain sized light yet.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=161778

 

[Cevulirn]

Thanks for the info! I actually just ordered a Fenix L0D-CE, and a couple of Lion 10440 batterys and a charger from Lighthound. Got a replacement bulb for my RoP while I was at it too.

 

[Aepoc]

Nobody has mentioned Luxon's newest LED... The Rebel! Not exactly sure how it performs compared to the others... I know its kind of small for anyone other then an experienced modder. Theres a thread going around with some info on these.

 

[flashburn72]

Don't forget about the multi emmitter dies from hmmm I cant remeber now,is it orsam?

 

[MikeSalt]

The Rebel turned out to be a K2 mark II, another overhyped failure. Cree or Seoul is the way to go for now.

 

[yellow]

* in short: Lux is all about marketing and have NOTHING by now

* any light with a cree/Seoul in size class 2AA (or 1-2 CR123) smoke similar incans.

* for anyone liking small lights, these LEDs rock :Buttrock:

 

[Learjet]

So what's the deal with the K2? See them on ebay but not sure how they compare to cree.

 

[Alteran]

I believe they are 7 watt LEDs. While they can be very bright, they are still not as efficient as crees or seouls.

 

[yellow]

best K2 (by now) give up to 140 lumen (best bin as stated in datasheet),
but at 1.5 A !!

Cree/SSC give that at 700-800 mA (best bin as stated in datasheet)
means: half the current for same brightness, less heat produced, less heatsink afforded, ...

 

[woodrow]

My $35 Ultrafire C2 cree light killed my Surefire gpz with the p61 120 luman lamp so badly - to my cold white light loving eyes - that I sold all but one of my incans. (kept just in case of Canadian EMP attack )

My new Inova T3 uses a 5.8 watt K2 led and runs on 3 cr123a's for about 1&1/2 hours before dimming.

My Huntlight Cree light puts out about 30% more light than the inova (with the OP reflector they have a very similar beam) it runs on 2 cr123a batts for about 1hr and 45 minutes before dimming.

So a cree led is usually brighter than a K2...even though the K2 shows more watts...and it uses less juice. I wish luxeon all the success in the world, but even with a degree in counseling, I can do that kind of math. Cree wins hands down over what luxeon is currently producing.

 

[adirondackdestroyer]

Well, I've been distracted from the joys of illumination for a while, but I don't like the feeling of being behind on information. Last I had heard, Luxon III's and V's were about the top of the LED game, but after a few min browsing the forum, I'm reading about Cree's?

I'd appreciate it if someone could enlighten me.

Thanks in advance,
--Cevulirn

As many have said Cree's are around 2x as efficient as Luxeons. You might want to look into one of the following lights which use Cree's:

Fenix L1DCE/L2DCE/P2D/P3D/L0DCE
Lumapower D Mini
Huntlight FT01 XRE
Rexlight 2.0
Jetbeam C-LE

 

[Cevulirn]

Is there anything out there like the Gladius that takes advantage of this new LED tech?