Wich is the brightest LED Cycle Frontlight??

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lucius667

Newly Enlightened
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Nov 8, 2007
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Hi!

I was just wondering what is the brightest LED front light you can buy for a bike?

I am searching for a LED Light that can be powered using normal MIGNON (AA) Batteries!!

I found the new Cateye HL-EL530 with stated 1500cd brightness, I think it uses a 1W LED?

Is there anything better, and if so what will it cost?

I have seen a modding guide here putting a much(?) more powerful LED into this Lamp, but I do not want to go that far - I wonder if a comparable lamp (to such a powerful mod) cannot be bought somewhere...?

Edit:
Okay, as far as I have seen it seems the "Sigma Powerled" seems to be even much brighter?
It also seems that this lamp is mainly available in germany/europe and much more expensive then the cateye. Any source/link (ebay?) where to get it cheap? Any brighter lamps?
 
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For today...
Code: 
Company         Product               Price    Best   Led       Light levels        Burn time* Mount       Lumens**
DiNotte         200L-AA               169$            SSC         1  2  3  strobe+  2h         bar/helmet  200 (4xAA NiMH external pack)
Hope            1 LED                 240$            SSC         ?  ?  3  ?        2h         bar         240 ;)(4xAA)
Busch & Müller  IXON IQ               140$     112$   Cree/Rebel  1  -  3  -        5h         bar         100 (40 lux) 4xAA
Sigma           Powerled + SSC mod    120$            SSC         1  -  3  -        5h         bar         180 (3,5h on NiMh)

In a few days...
Code: 
Company         Product               Price    Best   Led       Light levels        Burn time* Mount       Lumens**
Sigma           Powerled Black        120$            SSC ?      1  2  3  -         2h         bar/helmet  240 ;). (4xAA)

There is no certain information about led inside new powerled and currents - they are going to start selling it since tomorrow.
There is no certain information about modes in Hope light - there is only info that there is more than one ;)
 
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Thanks Szemhazai for the great info.

Do you really think the Black Edition of the Sigma Powerled will be THAT bright, even as bright or brighter than the modded one??

How bright is the normal powerled without modding?

Do you know if the Black Edition still can be powered by mignon (AA) batteries inside the lamp?

Do you know a detailed modding guide for the sigma powerled? Is there a brighter LED than the Seoul P4 I could use in it? The seoul is stated with max 240 lumen, so why do you state it with 180 in your list?
 
lucius667 said:
Is there a brighter LED than the Seoul P4 I could use in it? The seoul is stated with max 240 lumen, so why do you state it with 180 in your list?
Click to expand...

No there isn't, you can wait some time for V-bin P4.

Because i know these light quite good - and silver powerled gives from 4 new AA's 800mA current to the led - so I'm rating modded powerled as 180 lumen.

Today i take some measures (center max. at 1 meter distance) for brand new Silver Powerled based on SX0JW Luxeon III and USYNI P4 :
Low - 1380 => 2480 lux
High - 3590 => 5830 lux
 
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Oh, do you already have the black edition?

Can you make measurements of the modded powerled, to compare it with the black edition? I really want to know if they are equal or if one is brighter. If the black edition is equal or brighter, i do not have to do modding ... :)

Can the black edition be powered by mignons (AA) inside???

What exactly is "V-bin P4"?

If 2480 and 5830 are lux, what is 1380/3590? I dont understand this...
 
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No I don't have it already - it is still not available for sale anywhere. I'm expecting that they will have three step driver 300 - 700 - 1000 mA and will claim that it is 240 lumens lamp ;)

V-bin P4 - it is bin that should be available at Christmas probably :).

T bin i.e. TSYNH -> T 76-91 lumens at 350mA, color tint SYN - 7500K,Vf H - 3,0 to 3,25V.
U bin i.e. USWNI -> U 91-116 lumens at 350mA, color tint SYN - 6050K,Vf I - 3,25 to 3,5V.
V bin -> V should have more than 119 lumens at 350mA :)
 
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Hello!

This LED stuff is completly new to me, but I begin to understand I think....

The lux test you did is the original LED compared to the new replaced U-Bin and therefore you come from 1380 to then 2480 lux in your test (@low), which is nearly twice as bright?! So the original is a S-Bin with only about 70 lumens and the U-bin with 120 lumens as stated by the developer (i took the lumens from an seoul bin-list)...

Regarding the different bin-types: a U-Bin is just brighter than S-Bin for example but by EXACTLY consuming the same power and resulting in the same battery runtime?! So its just more light for free?

But then you took the "55lux" named sigma model for testing, and there should also be the "75lux" named model of the sigma powerled with an T-bin, right?

On your homepage with alle these comparison shots, did you compare the less bright 55lux/s-bin model of the sigma to the u.bin modded or did you use the 75lux/t-bin model?

Whats about that v-bin and even brighter ones stated in the seoul bin-list...? Do such bright ones atm not exist, so these higher values (v,w,x...) are for future LEDs?


The HOPE Lamp (you stated 240lumens) is brighter because it fires the LED with 1000mA instead of "only" 800 like the sigma powerled?

btw: Do you know what type of LED has the cateye hl-el530, so i have a comparison to the oter lamps/LEDs?
 
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There is no such thing as 55 lux model and 75 lux model in sigma - I get 10 Sigmas in brand new box labeled "Sigma Sport Germany" and 4 of them have T-bin Luxeon III and 6 of them only S-bin L III. So it's a matter of luck what lam will you get.

For U bin SSc at 1A 240 lumens is maximal output claimed by producer and nobody will get that in real conditions - that's why I'm using ";)" after this number when bike light producer is giving such numbers.

Maybe another way...
CatEye EL530 - 280 mA (Luxeon III emitter bin S or T)
Sigma Powerled LOW - 280 mA (Luxeon III star bin S or T)
Sigma Powerled HIGH - 800mA (Luxeon III star bin S or T)
Hope 1-Led - 1000mA (SSC P4 unknown bin - should be U if they are claiming 240 lumens)
Sigma Powerled Black Eco/High/Power - hell knows probably power will be 1000mA.

Then everything depends on the efficiency of the LED.
 
I was writing about modding the PowerLed - construction enforces star mounting and there might be a big problem to center Cree with optics - so by general I'm not advising this solution.
 
Calina said:
Actually the new Crees Q5 and R2 are marginally brigther than the current SSC P4.
Click to expand...
On paper yes, but it somehow seems a bit odd that SSC would have emitters producing luminous flux values higher then the producer of the chips they integrate in their emitters.
Many months before Cree was at the current level.

No, Q5 and R2 are certainly a lot better, with SSC you just don't know what you get. Within the same bin you might get a far worse emitter.
 
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