abvidledUK
Flashlight Enthusiast
Very simple, and inexpensive.
I came up with this solution to measuring output levels from my various torches, and determining illumination vs time, ie useful runtime.
I use an old Russian Leningrad Selenium lightmeter, ebay £5 ($8)
I position the meter at one end of a 12" ruler.
The torch goes at the other end of the ruler.
Torch pointed at meter, torch adjusted pan & tilt, to give max reading, then this, and time noted.
Nimh batteries AAA 900 mah or AA 2,000 mah
Here a few of my observations:
Torch, Meter Reading, Runtime (visual determination)
1w Triton P1, awaiting torch arrival
1w Fenix L1p, don't have one of these (yet)
3w Luxeon Clone MXDL, 13.6, 0.9 hours
1w Dorcy AAA, 13.0, 2.5 hours
49 led torch, 13.0, 2.8 hours
49 led torch, 10.3, 7.0 hours (12 leds)
32 led torch, 12.2, 1.1 hours
16 led torch, 10.3, 4.0 hours
12 led ghost 2, 9.0, 4.5 hours
8 led "R", 7.6, 2.8 hours
5 led headlamp, 7.6, 5.5 hours
Extremely useful, and for my own use, excellent.
I find torches with meter readings of less than 8 are only really useful indoors, at night.
Really useful if I can't quite decide in my own mind as to whether one torch is brighter than another.
Result skewed slightly because some torches are more spot than flood, and some spill from multi leds doesn't register on meter.
But as a comparison tool, invaluable.
Obviously I also read and utilise the various professional reviews here on CPF.
I came up with this solution to measuring output levels from my various torches, and determining illumination vs time, ie useful runtime.
I use an old Russian Leningrad Selenium lightmeter, ebay £5 ($8)
I position the meter at one end of a 12" ruler.
The torch goes at the other end of the ruler.
Torch pointed at meter, torch adjusted pan & tilt, to give max reading, then this, and time noted.
Nimh batteries AAA 900 mah or AA 2,000 mah
Here a few of my observations:
Torch, Meter Reading, Runtime (visual determination)
1w Triton P1, awaiting torch arrival
1w Fenix L1p, don't have one of these (yet)
3w Luxeon Clone MXDL, 13.6, 0.9 hours
1w Dorcy AAA, 13.0, 2.5 hours
49 led torch, 13.0, 2.8 hours
49 led torch, 10.3, 7.0 hours (12 leds)
32 led torch, 12.2, 1.1 hours
16 led torch, 10.3, 4.0 hours
12 led ghost 2, 9.0, 4.5 hours
8 led "R", 7.6, 2.8 hours
5 led headlamp, 7.6, 5.5 hours
Extremely useful, and for my own use, excellent.
I find torches with meter readings of less than 8 are only really useful indoors, at night.
Really useful if I can't quite decide in my own mind as to whether one torch is brighter than another.
Result skewed slightly because some torches are more spot than flood, and some spill from multi leds doesn't register on meter.
But as a comparison tool, invaluable.
Obviously I also read and utilise the various professional reviews here on CPF.
