What are the ACTUAL lumens of the QIII, Fenix, etc?

tron3

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I buy a QIII because it is said to have 75 lumens. But it doesn't.

I am waiting for my Fenix L1P which is said to be 46 lumens, is it?

I have several Nuwai's that are 5w LED's and advertised as 120 lumens.

What are the actual ratings of each?

Finally, what is the lumens rating of the QIII with a R-CR123 that tops off at 4.2v?

True rating or not, they give off a LOT of light. Tried using my regular 3 D-cell with Xenon light today, and I felt blind. Ugh.
 

cratz2

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Well, the Fenix L1P is about 25. The Q3 is probably 30-35, depending on bin.

But what difference does it really make? Unless you are specifically buying something to 'upgrade' to a brighter model, lumen ratings are pretty much useless. They don't tell you if something is a flood light or a tight spotlight or a wide spot. Even with similar brightnesses, they don't tell you if a light has a wide usable beam as on the Infinty Ultra or a super tight spot with no sidespill like the X1.

To me, Lumens mean something if you are looking at two lights from the same reputable maker. Say McGizmo for example. If he says one of his lights is brighter than another one, then it is. Other than that specific example, Lumens mean pretty much nothing without a lot of other information.
 

Dan T

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Hello something I have found really usefull is flashlightreviews.com's charts which list throw and total output for most lights availlable, there is also a way to convert the figures into a rough lumens figure as well. Good luck

dan
 

LEDninja

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Q1
Total output 14. x1.43=~20 lumens.
Q3
Total output 19. x1.43=~27 lumens. Runtime 55 minutes.
L1P
Total output 18. x1.43=~25 lumens.

Marketing types like to leave the impression that a Q3 with a 3 watt luxeon is 3 times as bright as a Q1 with a measly 1 watter.
Engineering types worry about excess heat damaging components at the full 3 watts and unacceptable runtimes of under 30 minutes.
Manufacturing types worry about the cost and size of high amperage components.
So they compromised. A Q3 is actually a Q1-1/2. The Q3 is driven in the 350-400mA range, not the 700mA required to run a Lux 3 at it's full potential.

A luxeon 3 is capable of producing 75+ lumens at 700mA. (Q3)
A 1.5 watt Lux1 is capable of producing 42+ lumens at 400mA. (L1P)
At 350 mA it produces about 35 lumens. (actual drive currents of both the Q3 andL1P)
After losses of 35% at the reflector and lens about 25 lumens actually leave the flashlight.

An Orb Raw with RCR2 will drive the Lux3 to it's full potential of 75 lumens. But are you sure you can fix the car or the leak under the sink in under 20 minutes?

OTOH
I ordered 2 Nuwai TM-310H on boxing day. When they arrived I compared them to my Dorcy AAAs. To my eyes the Nuwai is over twice as bright.
Nuwai TM-310H
Total output 2.85. x1.43=~4 lumens.
Dorcy AAA
Total output 3. x1.43=~4 lumens.

YMMV due to manufacturing tolerances.
Manufacturers reserve the right to make changes to their products without notification.
 
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drbobguy

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I would like to point out that it's a well-known fact in amateur astronomy that human vision is logarathmic with respect to brightness. That is, something that looks twice is bright to the human eye is actually outputting much more than twice the light.
 

voodoogreg

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drbobguy said:
I would like to point out that it's a well-known fact in amateur astronomy that human vision is logarathmic with respect to brightness. That is, something that looks twice is bright to the human eye is actually outputting much more than twice the light.

The human ear works in a similar way too. Interesting. VDG
 

tron3

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drbobguy said:
I would like to point out that it's a well-known fact in amateur astronomy that human vision is logarathmic with respect to brightness. That is, something that looks twice is bright to the human eye is actually outputting much more than twice the light.

Excellent point. If you are sitting in a dimmed room with your eyes adjusted, then suddenly "flick", someone turns the lights on, your eyes hurt until the iris adjusts to the light. After a minute, you are comfortable in a room that seemed far too bright just a minute ago.

Same thing as being out in the BRIGHT sun with no sunglasses. You walk into a regular lit room and it seems so dark. :ironic:
 

jayflash

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OT but since audio was mentioned... My understanding was that for both light & sound the smallest noticeable increase required a doubling of power and an apparent doubling of intensity needs a ten fold increase. Without confirming that, I seem to remember a regular doubling is a geometric progression and the log scale is a 10X progression.

Any math experts available to help us out here? Thanks.
 

Illum

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Ledninja, how rough do you mean by "rough"? +/- 10%?


I learned something new but shocking...So, your saying mfrs intentionally underdrive their 1 watts and three watts and we [the consumer] are getting authentic LEDs only their dimmed?
 
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carrot

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Illum_the_nation said:
I learned something new but shocking...So, your saying mfrs intentionally underdrive their 1 watts and three watts and we [the consumer] are getting authentic LEDs only their dimmed?
Underdriven LEDs are more efficient, as opposed to incandescent lamps, which get less efficient when underdriven. Brightness isn't everything; runtime is also an important consideration in purchasing a light.
 

Marcus Aurelius

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LEDninja: if the Q-III is underdriven, does that mean that one can use a rc123 that has a higher output when fully charged and not damage the LED:candle: I've read conflicting things about whether using an rc123 in the Q-III will damage the LED. I would really appreciate any help that anyone has on this:help:
 

Stormdrane

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I use an RC123 in my Q3 and have run it for up to an hour at a time with no problems trying to get a runtime on the rechargeable(noticeable dimming after 45 minutes, stopped after an hour so I wouldn't kill the battery). Most of the time I only use it for a minute or two at a time. The bugger gets hot, but not so that you can't hold it.
 

IonFire

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Good point about the heat.


Edited to add, this is just ramblings of my own.:grin2:

I would assume this would fall into the equation aswell, that if you were to be given a Lux 3 at its rated Vf, then they would have to deal with the extra heat generated in doing so and driving the cost up a couple fold. Also when in dealing this given extra lost energy, the heat that is, not to burn its owner or others around it through normal usage.(This blindly includes and assumes that no one operates thier lithium lights unattended.)

And thus shortening lifespan etc would also equate, and this would into a warranty perspective if someone buys something with a "If it breaks, we fix it" type of coverage.could get troublesome 10 plus years from now.

So hence we get the lower driven lights that are balanced in between runtime,lumens,product life, and abunch of other things.

Now comes CPF, and the community with in, to give us what lays beneath.

And to warn us and others what not to do hehe.

Oh, one other thing, some lights will benefit from a higher input voltage like for a rechargeable in increased light output and others will fry.Some will adjust accordingly to the higher voltage,depends on the given light.

If in doubt, ASK.

IF
 

Planterz

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We'll know in a week or 2 what the ACTUAL lumens of the Q3 and Fenix (L2P running on a CR123A) are, once Peter has the integrating sphere results.
 
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