Those 15mcp spots vs flashlights question

[blub]

I'm having a hard time imagining beams and brightness levels from the higher powered led flashlights from say, TK30/40, M1X, M30, Catapult.............How are these compared to one of those big yellow 15mcp lights? Are there any close in terms of throw and brightness without having to spend $150 to try them out? Are they even close?

 

[Cataract]

I just recently got a 1Mcp and a 25Mcp projector a few weeks ago:

the 1Mcp halogen I got is pretty much equal to my TK40 with a tighter beam and artefacts, so a little more throw (but very negligible), very tight hotspot, but much better color rendition. I got a very good deal for it (10$ for a 30$ projector), so I can say despite the 15 minute runtime, it was worth the money.

The 25Mcp HID Eliminator spotlight I just got... well, it beats my TK40 both in throw and brightness, but it's got a frosted bulb, so from what I gather it should do much more than just that. It only beats the throw of my TK40 by about 20%, but for the size of the reflector should beat it by over 100% with a transparent bulb, which I will order in a few weeks. Brightness wise, I wasn't that much impressed on a white wall, but taking it to the field, the spill was much more impressive, making the spill from my TK40 look ordinary, which it isn't.

I got the 25Mcp Eliminator HID at a local store, paid 100$ for it and think it was worth the money as is. The up side is that it has the 12V cigarette lighter outlet I can use to recharge my batteries for other lights (sweet!), but until I can put my hands on transparent bulbs, I'm not very impressed with it. The TK 40 is much more portable and they both have comparable runtime on high.

I'm waiting for my M1X to get in the mail, so I know I won't turn that thing on until I get a new bulb... well, I might do some comparisons in the field being a flashaholic and all....

Hope this helps answer your question

 

[blub]

Thanks, I want a bright light but not all spot but with decent throw and was thinking TK30/40 might work, starting to narrow it down. I need it to throw about 150 yards and have it give a decent amount of light at that range.

 

[blub]

Found this on YouTube which shows some examples that helped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp2KU7tdd2U

 

[kramer5150]

I don't think this question can be answered in general terms... there are too many models and variation(s) of each that cloud the waters.

A 100W automotive halogen lamp (regardless of mount type) is around 1300 bulb lumens direct driven off a 12V SLA cell. Factor in the reflective/refractive inefficiency of most spotlights, and I think they are lucky to be ~1000L OTF. I am just ball-parking this though. Its impossible to measure accurately without a big IS.

A 55-100W halogen (with the right optics and SLA cell) will easily out-throw a TK40/30. My brother has one and we have compared directly to his 100W spotter and my 55W. I am not sure about the other lights on your list though.

 

[kramer5150]

Thanks, I want a bright light but not all spot but with decent throw and was thinking TK30/40 might work, starting to narrow it down. I need it to throw about 150 yards and have it give a decent amount of light at that range.

The TK40 beam really opens up at ~60-70 yards. 100+ is mostly flood... IMHO.

EDIT
Hey you are in the bay area... Shoot me PM some day, we can hook up and I can show you what I am talking about.

 

[Locoboy5150]

Kramer5150 is right on. At our Light Proving Ground we test out just about everything from incandescent flashlights to HID spotlights to LED flashlights. Simply put, LED lights just don't throw very far especially compared to the halogen and HID spotlights. The TK40 is a good general mix of flood and throw but I would not buy one if I had to throw a beam out beyond 100 yards repeatedly.

Flashlights have their small size advantages, but if that's not a high priority and you just want to throw a beam *way* out there, a spotlight is the most cost effective way to go in my book. Flashlights that cost two or more times as much as my $90 Sunforce HID spotlight just don't impress me as much when it comes time to throw light far.

Generally speaking, I've yet to be impressed by the throw of any LED flashlight since I gotten exposure to 12 V spotlights. LED lights have their advantages and I still *love* my TK40 like no other flashlight, but it and just about every other LED flashlight that I've come across just isn't what I'd prefer to use if I had to illuminate an extremely far away object.

Note that by "far away" I'm referring to things 250 yards or more away from the flashlight. At the Light Proving Ground the closest objects/targets are at that distance. The furthest targets are 1380 yards away.

Oh and I would ignore those manufacturer provided distance specifications generated by their marketing departments. Just like their light output specs, they're pretty much junk (fluff) ratings based on my experiences.

It's hard to make a direct comparison though because flashlights and spotlights are made for different purposes. Size differences alone make a real world comparison difficult. I try to keep it as simple as possible and just compare beam throw distances.

 

[headophile]

Kramer5150 is right on. At our Light Proving Ground we test out just about everything from incandescent flashlights to HID spotlights to LED flashlights. Simply put, LED lights just don't throw very far especially compared to the halogen and HID spotlights. The TK40 is a good general mix of flood and throw but I would not buy one if I had to throw a beam out beyond 100 yards repeatedly.

Flashlights have their small size advantages, but if that's not a high priority and you just want to throw a beam *way* out there, a spotlight is the most cost effective way to go in my book. Flashlights that cost two or more times as much as my $90 Sunforce HID spotlight just don't impress me as much when it comes time to throw light far.

Generally speaking, I've yet to be impressed by the throw of any LED flashlight since I gotten exposure to 12 V spotlights. LED lights have their advantages and I still *love* my TK40 like no other flashlight, but it and just about every other LED flashlight that I've come across just isn't what I'd prefer to use if I had to illuminate an extremely far away object.

Note that by "far away" I'm referring to things 250 yards or more away from the flashlight. At the Light Proving Ground the closest objects/targets are at that distance. The furthest targets are 1380 yards away.

Oh and I would ignore those manufacturer provided distance specifications generated by their marketing departments. Just like their light output specs, they're pretty much junk (fluff) ratings based on my experiences.

It's hard to make a direct comparison though because flashlights and spotlights are made for different purposes. Size differences alone make a real world comparison difficult. I try to keep it as simple as possible and just compare beam throw distances.

that sunforce hid is huge. what's the runtime on that spotlight? i'll only take something that big with me if it offers maxablaster level of performance. otherwise, if i needed it, i'll probably stick with something like the regular-sized hid flashlights, olight sr90 or stanley hid form factor at the most and just live with the limitations. but that's just me.

 

[lightseeker2009]

I have a phillips HPR71 6V 10W globe in a cheap Huricane handheld lantern, Its powered by a 7.2V RC batterypack and easilly, very easilly beats my TK40 with throw. That while the TK40 has a much brighter "globe". In a room it looks as if the TK40 have 3 times the light of the Hurricane but its not as good a thrower as a good incandescent powered flashlight. But mind you, the 10W globe out throws even my 55W, 2 500 000 cp spotlight...

 

[easilyled]

Maybe you should use the Olight SR90 instead of the TK40 to compare to these spotlights.

 

[kramer5150]

Maybe you should use the Olight SR90 instead of the TK40 to compare to these spotlights.

x2 that would be a more reasonable comparison.

Someone should use the SST90 in a big deep dish spotlight. I think it could come close the brightest halogen and HID spotters. The point source for HID bulbs is a little bigger than the SST90 emitting die surface. So it has the potential to really throw with the right reflector.

 

[Locoboy5150]

that sunforce hid is huge. what's the runtime on that spotlight?

Yeah, it's not small by any means, but it is much smaller than most other 12 V HID spotlights. The Stanley HID is certainly one exception and a good one at that. The Stanley HID is a very impressive package considering form factor, throw distance, and price. It most certainly would have been my first HID spotlight purchase if the Sunforce didn't appear on the CPF horizon recently.

I honestly don't know what the actual run time for the Sunforce HID is. The longest that I've ever used mine was for about 30 minutes over the Monterey Bay. It showed no signs of dimming but then again it has only a 35 W HID system in it. In general though HIDs aren't known for having long burn times, especially compared to high power LED lights.

 

[Cataract]

I never made any actual measurements, but I estimate the TK40 beats 150 yards no problem... it just depends on what kind of details you want to bring out. You'll spot a guy with a white t-shirt hiding in a bush no problem or a light colored monkey swinging in the trees, but gopher hunting might be a problem at that distance. I've spotted tree tops around 150-200 yards (again no official measure), but I don't believe I could have spotted a SEALS sniper in there.... on the other hand, I could spot a stop sign a kilometer away on an unlit street and it was bright enough to raise suspicions in nearby backyards.

 

[blub]

"I never made any actual measurements, but I estimate the TK40 beats 150 yards no problem... "




Go to Google Earth, find your location, click on tools, in the drop down menu click on "Ruler" and you can choose a starting point and and end point for distance measurements, you can choose from meters, feet, yards....., pretty handy for reference when choosing a light.