Your favorite colored tint?

[FurrBear]

Neutral white, perhaps with just a touch of blue. Perhaps a top-end high output incan wouldn't bother me, but since discovering LEDs I just can't stand the sickly yellow of typical consumer incan flashlights.

 

[BabyDoc]

I'm happily awaiting the arrival of the high CRI LEDs. I think one of the reasons many folks are leaning towards the warmer tints (displayed quite nicely in the above photo of the TK-20 with the Q2 emitter) is that most LEDs up till know have had a very narrow spectrum of light output, leaning heavily towards the blue end of the spectrum...... so warmer tints help to offset that a bit.

Once we have LEDs that offer a more balanced spectral output I think regular folks will begin to accept LEDs as a viable alternative to incandescent lighting.

I've seen a few high CRI LEDs appearing, so I'm excited to watch this next chapter in LED technology unfold.

Personally, I currently like a bit of pinkish-red in my tint.

+1. I have a McGizmo Sundrop which has the best color rendition of any LED light that I know of. It has a slight pinkish tint to the incadescent like yellow tint it otherwise simulates. The tint of an LED alone doesn't determine how well it is going to reflect the true colors in the objects it illuminates. Rather it determines only the color of a white wall off which it reflects. Still, to say a light reflects the "true color" of an object depends on the standard of light with which you are viewing your world. Is your standard natural sunlight or is it artificial light of some other sort?
Either can vary. For example, while we consider sunlight a standard, even sunlight illuminates differently on a clear day vs a cloudy day.

 

[Swedpat]

I have compared my lights about tints. I think you usually experience a cooler tint to be brighter though the brightness is actually the same.
A very cool (bluish) tint I feel is uncomfortable for the eyes and I prefer a somewhat warmer tint than cool blue. Fenix TK20 has a very warm tint, actually not very neutral in my opinion, but rather beige. My favourite is the tint of Malkoff dropin for Maglite, which is the most neutral white LED I have seen. Actually it´s slight greenish, which is very pleasant.

Regards, Patric

 

[Beacon of Light]

Oddly enough I am probably in the minority. I thought the TK-20 VS. L2D was a no brainer. Dumb founded people actually LIKE the TK-20 color. In the picture all the foliage pops with the cooler tint and the red is more vivd and pronounced than the washed out color from the sickly yellow of the TK-20.

I just received my H50 today, but the best color and beam so far is from my Liteflux LF2 and Princeton Tec Eos 4 Mode headlamp.

 

[Wiggle]

lI'd say my ideal tint is somewhere between my Q2 and Q3 in my beamshot comparison thread. Maybe a 7A or something would be ideal. The warmer tints seem better at providing contrast outdoors and judging depth.

Cool R2:

Q3 5A:

DX Q2:

 

[Jedi Knife]

Warm=Yellow

I like LED lights because they originally provided a much whiter light than the yellow incandescent lights still prevalent in that market segment. Don't care for yellow light, no matter if you change the terminology to "happiness" or some other euphemism.

 

[Tekno_Cowboy]

Oddly enough I am probably in the minority. I thought the TK-20 VS. L2D was a no brainer. Dumb founded people actually LIKE the TK-20 color. In the picture all the foliage pops with the cooler tint and the red is more vivd and pronounced than the washed out color from the sickly yellow of the TK-20.

I just received my H50 today, but the best color and beam so far is from my Liteflux LF2 and Princeton Tec Eos 4 Mode headlamp.

The photo you are talking about doesn't really do neutral white emitters justice. That photo looks like a much warmer tint that 5A.

lI'd say my ideal tint is somewhere between my Q2 and Q3 in my beamshot comparison thread. Maybe a 7A or something would be ideal. The warmer tints seem better at providing contrast outdoors and judging depth.

Cool R2:

Q3 5A:

DX Q2:

The middle picture (Q3-5A) is what I typically see of the 5A tint. (about 20 mods so far).

Wiggle:

These are some great comparison pics :thumbsup:
Would you mind if I re-hosted them and used them in my mod thread?

 

[Wiggle]

Wiggle:

These are some great comparison pics :thumbsup:
Would you mind if I re-hosted them and used them in my mod thread?

Thanks, glad to contribute something Go right ahead and use those, no problem:thumbsup:

 

[BBnet3000]

neutral white is my preference. i just think things look the best in white light.

 

[Tekno_Cowboy]

Thanks, glad to contribute something Go right ahead and use those, no problem:thumbsup:

Thanks a bunch!

 

[mighty82]

Seems like some people thinks that if it's not cool white it's "sickly yellow". There's a looong way from neutral warm tint to sickly yellow. Everyone can see a neutral-warm tint gives better color rendition than a cool blue.

My L2D rebel 100 is the warmest led light I have ever seen, but it still looks blue compared to an incan maglite.

Anyway, you can't easily see the tint from a picture, you can just compare pictures taken with the same white balance setting, and it still won't be what your eyes would see.

 

[Jedi Knife]

Seems like some people thinks that if it's not cool white it's "sickly yellow". There's a looong way from neutral warm tint to sickly yellow. Everyone can see a neutral-warm tint gives better color rendition than a cool blue.

My L2D rebel 100 is the warmest led light I have ever seen, but it still looks blue compared to an incan maglite.

Anyway, you can't easily see the tint from a picture, you can just compare pictures taken with the same white balance setting, and it still won't be what your eyes would see.

I know what you mean- it's hard to find a synonym for yellow without actually calling it yellow.

 

[NonSenCe]

i tend to still be liking more warmer tints.. i only have one so far.. but i edc it over others. and just because of the warm tint.

c2h with 5a
- dont like the clicky, its just too stiff, i dont like the runtime, and the beam has big cree rings so its not pretty, it gets hot.
-i like the color of the led and the size and shape/knurlings.. but the warmer tint is reason its in my pocket and the d10 r2 isnt. (r2 is nice too.. but side by side.. warmer tint wins)

i like to see the colors more neutrally. white and bluish beams make things look eerie to me. green and purple make me gag.

when its dark in here its fall or winter.. lotsa red and brown leaves or white snow. bluish beam makes things look ghostly and cold.

 

[kaichu dento]

After reading all these posts I got to thinking about how much I still like a few of my lights which are not warm tinted.

When I'm walking in the snow at night I really like the smooth blue of my Titan, which I thought of trying to get changed to something warmer at first, but now I'm set on leaving it alone.

Then there's my L0D RB80 which is rose colored and a very comfortable light to use, which doesn't make things looks sickly and pale.

My Draco with it's neutral pure white is close to being my absolute favorite.

And now the D10 Q3 5A I just received, which is my overall favorite light, to the point that it even retired my warm center, purplish flood GDP that has been in my pocket until yesterday.

I really think of the different tints kind of like women sometimes in that you think of your favorite type (either subject) and then you see another, completely different and there you go, new favorite type/tint.

So white/neutral, yellowish incan tint, pinkish, and sometimes even coolish blue, I love 'em all! :twothumbs

 

[Lite_me]

I tend to prefer natural white tints also. It's just that it's hard to determine just exactly what a neutral white tint is. In fact, it's darn near impossible. It's always going to look a little this or a little that. Especially when compared.

Just recently, I was somewhere helping work on a lawn tractor in a poorly lit garage. I only had a AAA EDC on me at the time and it wasn't cutting it. In the car, I had my worst (in my opinion) tinted light.... (it's quite purple-ish) that I keep there for emergencies only. I hate it and expect to rarely use it from there. So I grab it to use and you know what? It did the JOB. I was concentrating on the task at hand and never even noticed the dreadful tint.

I'm not a lively outdoorsman, so what I have seems to do just fine when I'm there.

So it seems that, if you use a light for it's intended purpose, it will get the job done despite the tint. All that is usually needed is to just illuminate, something, so you can see. This is barring medical purposes where skin tones and the like, are needed.

But isn't all this discussion and quest for the perfect light fun though! :) :candle:

 

[Fird]

I really prefer the Q3 (5A) style neutral white tint, and here's why. I can't claim that it really helps me to see things all that much better when out in the woods, it's better than the "blue" Q4 (WC?) I used to have, but not hugely. It just feels like a much higher quality light. People have to think twice when they ask "is that an LED??" because it looks so nice and warm compared to what they normally see as LED light. Anybody can get a 'bluish' LED light at target, which allows me to feel like my light is a really high dollar light with a super special LED in it (because I suppose, that's what it is..) :grin2:

Fird

 

[Zeruel]

I love the white LF3XT produces. :kiss:
Not too spicy and not too bland, simply delicious.

 

[callmaster]

Warm white would be ideal for something in the field. Especially camping, hiking etc. But I still find a pure white beam better for most of the things I do.

 

[MWClint]

I used to favour more clean "pure" white tints.

Now I want to change everything to warm/nuetral tints. Around 4000K (Cree 5A) tint.

The throw and impact is less impressive, but it is just a lot more pleasant to use and renders better.

I also like the increased depth perception I get with these tints.

ditto, i also prefer the neutral 4000K. its so awesome walking through the
forest with a high cri led. the beam still looks "white", but everything you
shine it on has real color.

I have 1 3000K p4 in a low power aaa light. and it reminds me exactly of
a mag solitaire..except it has an 8 hour runtime vs 45 minutes and a much
cleaner beam. :laughing:

 

[dudu84]

I have 1 3000K p4 in a low power aaa light. and it reminds me exactly of
a mag solitaire..except it has an 8 hour runtime vs 45 minutes and a much
cleaner beam. :laughing:

I also put a 30000K Cree P4 (tint is probably close to 7C) on my L2D, its tint is almost the same as an OEM 2xAAA incan I have. The only difference is the beam on my L2D is millions of times cleaner and much brighter (even on Lo mode).

I've never been an incan guy and after seeing my P3D 5A Q3 in action, I think 30000K is rather too warm (still better than white tint). However, incan-like tints are growing on me though, feel kinda "cosy" :).5A tints stills seem to be the best for my taste, both indoor and outdoor.

IMO, white tints are especially great for blinding people (including yourself) :D