What is the highest amount of lumens you usually need?

[PeaceOfMind]

Poster did not say 200 99.5% of the time. He said 200 OR LESS 99.5% of the time. The < symbol means less than.

If you use 200lumens 99.5% of the time, that only leaves 0.5% of the time for use with other modes. Eg if you use 50 lumens all the time, you would say you use it 100% of the time not that you use 50 lumens 352.5% of the time.

Back to topic .

As others have pointed out, you failed your maths

Haha as late as I was up last night I just came back to check and see that I wasn't reading it wrong. He still worded it validly.

Roger999, since I think you're arguing about my post... the "math" is correct. As fnj points out, each statement has a less than (<) sign... as in x% of the time, less than y lumens is enough.

... If you were to continue on my "chart", you might hypothetically end it with 100% of the time, less than infinity lumens is enough.

 

[Sgt. LED]

My use for a flashlight is mainly less than 3 feet away.
On the surface a Fenix E01 is not bright enough but then again 180 lumens from a Preon 2 is too much and can hurt my eyes at a 3 feet distance.

However I did like the full output of 180 lumens but depending on what the light was reflecting off of it was uncomfortable on my eyes. Now I also tried Surefire C2 Centurion that I have with 80 lumen incandescent bulb and I much prefer the Preon 2's flood beam to the C2's hot spot beam.

You need a diffuser! Look into them. Lots of diffusion methods and attachments out there that would help you greatly.
Sounds like you would want heavy diffusion at that.

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

Hey, I have been thinking about getting my first good light. Right now I just have P7's from dealextreme, but I'm past the "wow" light stage, and I'd like to know the most lumens you guys have ever needed. Thanks!

These are two totally different questions.

The most I usually need: maybe 100.

The most I've ever needed: 10 trillion (Haven't we all had a situation where no flashlight nor spotlight was enough and you really truly needed the power of the sun?)

 

[RGB_LED]

Well it involves crossing your eyes, a kick in the nuts, and holding your breath for 5 minutes in that order without breaks.

I don't recommend it. :green:

Well, the answer depends on what you mean by "usually"... If you're saying when you need to pick up a light or when you're doing something in particular.

So, if I'm making a midnight pitstop at the bathroom, then I usually just need 5-15 lumens, if I'm reading, then I usually need about 80 lumens, if I'm out biking at night on the road / trails, then I usually need to have 300-400+ lumens.

 

[Incan]

Hey, I have been thinking about getting my first good light. Right now I just have P7's from dealextreme, but I'm past the "wow" light stage, and I'd like to know the most lumens you guys have ever needed. Thanks!

how can you base your needs strictly on lumens? this is too one-dimensional to provoke any real thought. lumen output is only one piece of the puzzle.

 

[kaichu dento]

how can you base your needs strictly on lumens? this is too one-dimensional to provoke any real thought. lumen output is only one piece of the puzzle.

He's not and neither are any of the rest of us. This thread does happen to be about one aspect of our lights and you'll understand that better after you're here a while.

It's kind of funny, but your reading of this thread as one-dimensional better describes said reading than the OP's original intent. :kiss:

So, how many lumens for you?

 

[Noctis]

You need a diffuser! Look into them. Lots of diffusion methods and attachments out there that would help you greatly.
Sounds like you would want heavy diffusion at that.

Do diffusers eat up a lot of lumens? I've been thinking about getting one and using it with my SST-90 DD to soften up the beam.

 

[randomlugia]

What I mean when I say "usually", is the most you've ever needed, excluding any crazy or unreasonable situations, like lighting up a tree 400 yards away.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Some do and some don't, depends on the diffusion material.
If it's made for diffusing lights then it usually does not rob you of a lot of lumens, just stops the throw. Think about the stage and film industry. The real stuff can be had in a huge array of strengths from a cleaner, softer beam to 0 throw super flood. Look for Roscolux and Apollo diffusion material online. They are the 2 best IMO. Oh and the Surefire beamshapers are very good too, I love the F04.

Sure Glad press and seal will work too but it will also eat up some lumens. Be warned!!!!! If it is some rigged or homemade type that sticks to the lens, instead of sitting in front or behind it, then removing it later could also remove any anti reflective lens coatings. If your lens has no coatings then go for the sticky stuff like PDF screen protectors. I think Write Right has a screen protector that sticks on and is slightly textured. It doesn't give you total flood but it does clean up the beam. I once cut a milk jug and stuck that disk behind a Mag lens, it took a good amount of lumens away but boy did it flood. :tinfoil:

To not de-rail the thread anymore than I have already done any further diffuser talk can be done via PM.

 

[hoongern]

I think that's a question that you'll eventually need to answer for yourself, as everyone's needs are different.

For me:
Indoors, most tasks: < 20lm
Indoors, searching for small items dropped on the floor (i.e. beads, screws): < 150lm

Outdoors, pitch black: < 80lm
Outdoors, city lighting in park: > 800lm

I currently use > 1500lm from my Mag w/ 1909 bulb during my night walks so I don't step on the small frogs and snails. When there's ambient light, unfortunately there's not enough to see properly, but you need a ton of light to cut through it and see properly. Especially after a heavy rain.

 

[Roger999]

Roger999, since I think you're arguing about my post... the "math" is correct. As fnj points out, each statement has a less than (<) sign... as in x% of the time, less than y lumens is enough.

... If you were to continue on my "chart", you might hypothetically end it with 100% of the time, less than infinity lumens is enough.

I get it now.....I'll just slowly back out of the thread and try to find my dignity .

 

[PeaceOfMind]

I get it now.....I'll just slowly back out of the thread and try to find my dignity .

No worries, just a minor misunderstanding.

 

[Egsise]

Hey, I have been thinking about getting my first good light. Right now I just have P7's from dealextreme, but I'm past the "wow" light stage, and I'd like to know the most lumens you guys have ever needed. Thanks!

Most lumens ever needed...

Sometimes even sunlight is not enough.

Most times my Fenix LD10 Q5 is enough(10-100 lumens).

 

[Dude Dudeson]

Hmmm - NEED?

I can't think of many situations where I absolutely positively required a flashlight in the first place - flashlights have made many, many situations easier or more convenient, but the number of times where lack of a flashlight would have physically prevented me from doing something at ALL, those would be rare.

So I could technically almost answer the OP's question with "zero lumens".

Now let's talk "Most I've ever needed to make a dark situation much easier to work with", that'd be around 200 lumens.

 

[rickypanecatyl]

I just got back from a 3 day backpacking trip where I actually took off just before sunset and was hiking around cliffs and water inlets (Rubicon/Loon lake). I had my EagleTac MkII.

12 the low level is fine for following the trail, but the trail actually hadn't officially opened for the season so it was pretty vague.
Jumping up to 60 lumens made seeing the trail easier and let me see farther down but wasn't enough to get my bearings if I totally missed the trail - 300 lumens usually was enough.

At one point I wasn't sure if I had hiked into the right bay/inlet area and I was standing on a high point shining my light down on two different ones. 300 lumens wasn't close to being enough so I had to hike down each one and confirm. If I had had 5,000 I could have figured it out from where I was.

So my thought is there will never really be enough... there are some tasks are lights are perfectly capable of doing, some just out of reach and some way out of reach. But as more lumens become available in smaller sizes we'll start using our flashlights for things we don't now.

 

[chenko]

...
So my thought is there will never really be enough... there are some tasks are lights are perfectly capable of doing, some just out of reach and some way out of reach. But as more lumens become available in smaller sizes we'll start using our flashlights for things we don't now.

So right. I think you are spot on. :thumbsup:

 

[KarstGhost]

Around the house: 50
Around the house after my eyes are dark adjusted: <1, after I've been asleep a while the moon mode on my Quark is too bright.
For caving: ~100 for general walking passages, for lighting up domes and huge rooms then 4 or 5 HIDs is still not enough to see every detail.
For spotting coyotes and such out in the fields around the house: 500 or more is nice. 3,000 lumen HID is not really enough when you live out in the country. I hope lights keep getting brighter!

So essentially fractions of a lumen are nice at times, but I would also never say a light is capable of putting out too many lumens.

 

[Juggernaut]

I'd say around 800 Lumens, seems just about right. Nowhere near too bright, and just right for most stuff like finding keys and looking for more powerful flashlights. I often use my EDC-P7 and think to my self …"If only it had 100 more lumens…" My Shadeslayer is bright enough I'd say a bit over the requirement, just what you need to locate the more advanced lights in a blackout or while camping.

 

[Flying Turtle]

The most I normally need for day to day is probably no more than around 50 lumens. Usually 5-10 is plenty.

Geoff

 

[randomlugia]

I'd say around 800 Lumens, seems just about right. Nowhere near too bright, and just right for most stuff like finding keys and looking for more powerful flashlights. I often use my EDC-P7 and think to my self …"If only it had 100 more lumens…" My Shadeslayer is bright enough I'd say a bit over the requirement, just what you need to locate the more advanced lights in a blackout or while camping.

You seriously use a P7 to find things around the house?