Most here know well about the Luxeon "lottery" - and how it can affect the tint of the flashlight.
There are lots of people (including me) who accept varying tints - especially on lesser LEDs (eg: 5mm) - but conversely some can become fussy over Luxeon tints (I can be one of those too....).
Luxeon bins can help - but often we do not know tint of the Luxeon in a flashlight - hence the lottery. I have also heard that even within the same tint-bin there can be noticable variations.
The recent talk of the green'ish tint of some Fenix L1T's made me go back and look at some of the tints of the "Lux" lights I've collected over the years.
Just eye-balling them and comparing side-by-side under all sorts of ambient conditions - eg: nightime with room lights on and off - and during the daytime indoors and outdoors.
I found the ambient lighting can make a difference - normal room lighting makes almost any LED look blue/cool - and surpringingly as does day/sunlight.
This comes down to the fact the eye/brain will often compensate for variations in tint - and we tend to see what "we want to see"....
Side-by-side comparisons although seems more objective - often is much, much more critical than real-life - minor differences which will often go unnoticed are sometimes over-exaggerated when compared side-by-side.
Tint does come down to personal taste - I understand there are lots who like a "pure-white" or what I call a white-white. However what appears to be pure-white to me often will look cool blue-ish when compared to day/sunlight.
LEDs that appear less blue compared to day/sunlight - often will seem warm/yellow/pink-ish (with even a hint of green sometimes) in comparison with white-white.
I find that warmer tinted LEDs which seem "neutral" and free of any other tint than being "sunny" will often exhibit some green when shone on wood or corrugated cardboard - they also seem to show this green when photographed.
After all this pre-amble - I looked at my LED/Lux lights and of all the lights my favorite tint(s) remain with the very first "Luxeon" lights I bought - the S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123 - I liked it enough I ended up with two - the second one I think is marginally better than the first - but I often vacillate between the two - and I don't even think the LED is a real Luxeon - it is probably an early "clone" - nevertheless I like their tints because they are by far the closest I get to day/sunlight.
For my side-by-side comparison beamshots I used a Canon PowerShot A610 set on 3Mp, ISO50, and fixed Daylight White balance - evaluation metering to "optimize" the full exposure, then one at -2 stops underexposed from that.
The lights -
Heads -
S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123 (1) vs. (2)
I also like the tint of the sample of one Fenix L1T I have it is most comapable on Low to the S1801 -
Just out of interest the Fenix L1T on High using NiMH
There are lots of people (including me) who accept varying tints - especially on lesser LEDs (eg: 5mm) - but conversely some can become fussy over Luxeon tints (I can be one of those too....).
Luxeon bins can help - but often we do not know tint of the Luxeon in a flashlight - hence the lottery. I have also heard that even within the same tint-bin there can be noticable variations.
The recent talk of the green'ish tint of some Fenix L1T's made me go back and look at some of the tints of the "Lux" lights I've collected over the years.
Just eye-balling them and comparing side-by-side under all sorts of ambient conditions - eg: nightime with room lights on and off - and during the daytime indoors and outdoors.
I found the ambient lighting can make a difference - normal room lighting makes almost any LED look blue/cool - and surpringingly as does day/sunlight.
This comes down to the fact the eye/brain will often compensate for variations in tint - and we tend to see what "we want to see"....
Side-by-side comparisons although seems more objective - often is much, much more critical than real-life - minor differences which will often go unnoticed are sometimes over-exaggerated when compared side-by-side.
Tint does come down to personal taste - I understand there are lots who like a "pure-white" or what I call a white-white. However what appears to be pure-white to me often will look cool blue-ish when compared to day/sunlight.
LEDs that appear less blue compared to day/sunlight - often will seem warm/yellow/pink-ish (with even a hint of green sometimes) in comparison with white-white.
I find that warmer tinted LEDs which seem "neutral" and free of any other tint than being "sunny" will often exhibit some green when shone on wood or corrugated cardboard - they also seem to show this green when photographed.
After all this pre-amble - I looked at my LED/Lux lights and of all the lights my favorite tint(s) remain with the very first "Luxeon" lights I bought - the S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123 - I liked it enough I ended up with two - the second one I think is marginally better than the first - but I often vacillate between the two - and I don't even think the LED is a real Luxeon - it is probably an early "clone" - nevertheless I like their tints because they are by far the closest I get to day/sunlight.
For my side-by-side comparison beamshots I used a Canon PowerShot A610 set on 3Mp, ISO50, and fixed Daylight White balance - evaluation metering to "optimize" the full exposure, then one at -2 stops underexposed from that.
The lights -
Heads -
S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123 (1) vs. (2)
I also like the tint of the sample of one Fenix L1T I have it is most comapable on Low to the S1801 -
Just out of interest the Fenix L1T on High using NiMH