Whoa! Can someone straighten me out? Has LED tech advanced this much?

I'm a lurker so I doubt that I have been missed, but I've been away for a while. Got distracted by a new job, move, Wii ... etc. Anyhow, I came back after 1/2 year or so and I'm seeing things that I have not seen before. Am I getting this wrong or do I see new LEDs from Cree and Seoul Semiconductor that has new leds that generate 80+ lumens from one watt, and they are actually available for purchase, unlike the very delayed production of the luxeon III and K2 emitter? If I am wrong, please correct me as I'm really stoked over nearly trebling the efficiency of a luxeon III.

Yeah your right...

The Cree & Seoul for now are the new top dogs...

& as you've noticed weirdly actually available to buy

http://www.dealextreme.com/ & http://kaidomain.com/WEBUI/Default.aspx both carry them

Piers

The Cree and Seouls are indeed the next wave. It makes me excited about where LEDs are going and at the same time irritated that a light I buy today may be replaced in as little as 6 months. Oh well, that's technology for you.

Oddjob said:

...It makes me excited about where LEDs are going and at the same time irritated that a light I buy today may be replaced in as little as 6 months...

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That's an enviable irritation to contend with.

Yup, can't wait to see what Lumileds has got up their sleeves....if only they'd stop dragging their feet!

Even more insane is that you can buy one of these lights for a mere $9.99 shipped from China. :huh:

The Cree & Seoul lights are the hottest things on the block

Oddjob said:

The Cree and Seouls are indeed the next wave. It makes me excited about where LEDs are going and at the same time irritated that a light I buy today may be replaced in as little as 6 months. Oh well, that's technology for you.

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Not to forget the Edison Opto LED as well.
They have been around and i have a couple

I just received my Fenix-Based Cree L2d-CE from 4Sevens tonite...Seriously, if you don't have one, and by the simple fact that you're a member of a mammoth flashlight forums site, this thing will blow you away. My EDC's alternate between the original P1, and a SureFire E2D stock. It was sickening seeing the beams side by side.

The thing is crazy. Tonite I lit up a whole freakin' block of a suburban street with the spanky new L2d-CE on max with some HALF DEAD duracell alkies. Dark street, no streetlamps and a cloudy night. Something the size of a roll of Spree's lit it up like a car headlight.

The strobe on max gets the wife from Zero to Pissed in like 1.3 seconds. Tested twice tonite, just to be sure.

hmmmmmmmmm, methinks I need to add another thing to my wishlist…
congrats on the zero to pissed in 1.3 seconds thing! that light is very efficient :lolsign:
have a good one,
Flash

well, indeed! We had some spirited discussions (probably old hat to you) about how (and whether) LED's are catching up to incans or over-taking them.

personally I am a great believer that for small formfactors (for sure 2x battery formfactors) LEDs are kicking butt.

Check our the flashlightreviews.com site specifically for the L2D CE which was mentioned in this thread already (and generally gets mentioned every single time a similar question is asked!). The point made by Quickbeam (the reviewer) is that it now gives out overall output superior to one of those maglites with a lot of D batteries!

Not to say that the L2D CE flashlight should be the one to get (though it is an excellent choice) but, as you point out, that the CREE and Seoul LED's are putting out amazing numbers. And this doesn't even look at runtime, which is extraordinary even at high output levels.

Yeap, only problem is the money has been flowing out at a rapid pace, as almost anyting I have around here is obsolete and needs to be replaced!

The rate of change is amazing. 1 month ago I bought the new reflector Inova T3 with the new K2 led. I loved it! Compared to my new $40.00 cree light, it looks dim. I have sold in the last month 1 hid, 2 bright incans..p61 light and a tl3 and another lux 3 led light all to buy the new Cree/Soul leds. Get one..no matter who makes it. You will be amazed, and have a lot of lights to give away or sell.

Fenix L0D-CE
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=150892
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l0dce.htm

Quickbeam said:

The shear volume of light produced is amazing for a single AAA cell light. My readings show that on the "high" setting the L0D-CE is producing more light overall than a 3-D Maglite. On "medium" it produces more light overall than a common 2-D cell light. All this from one AAA cell.

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Fenix L1D-CE and L2D-CE
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=152286
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=155819
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l1dce-l2dce.htm

Quickbeam said:

Yes, you are reading that correctly - 88.00 overall output on Max with two AA cells. The L2D-CE is brighter than a 5W Surefire L2 on high. Brighter than a Streamlight Stinger, too. These new Cree LEDs are amazing

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There are plenty more Cree/Soeul P4 lights. See the sticky at the top of the LED index page. From $10 from DXtreme and Kaidomain to $255 for an Aleph A19-XRE 2 stage.

and to see what MillerMods (eric miller) has done with a Cree XRE in an Arc AAA is truly amazing!
it's twice as bright as his Luxeon models yet still has the same run time.

Yep, the Cree's and Seouls (which uses a Cree die) are the latest buzz on cutting edge LED's. While the Luxeons have been king of the hill for a number of years, Cree and Soul have blown them out of the water. All of my lights have been converted over to Cree and Soul LED's save for one which uses an outperforming S bin Lux I but that's just to demo how even the best that Lumileds has to offer is pretty weak in comparison to what's available from Cree and Seoul.

Yep everything was ho-humming along for a couple years in LED's than last October Cree shook the ground we stand on with it's new XR-E. Since then things have been shakin' and quakin' all over with new LED's and claims reaching for the sky. The XR-E and Seoul P4 (based on the Cree die) are making it into all sorts of lights at a rapid pace. Even Surefire will be using some. I've got one that blows away my SF E series incan's in both throw and spill.

matrixshaman said:

Even Surefire will be using some.

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:huh2: :lolsign:


But don't forget the Edison Opto KLC-8, also based on the XR-E die. And cheaper then the SSC P4, although $7 shipped isnt that expensive.

TORCH_BOY said:

The Cree & Seoul lights are the hottest things on the block

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I think you're confusing them with the K2 solid state heater.

matrixshaman said:

Yep everything was ho-humming along for a couple years in LED's than last October Cree shook the ground we stand on with it's new XR-E.

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Holly Crap! This has all happened since October? I remember reading the first threads and thinking it would be a year before most of us had any of this stuff. And think, most consumers still have no idea.

I love this place.

Holly Crap! This has all happened since October? I remember reading the first threads and thinking it would be a year before most of us had any of this stuff. And think, most consumers still have no idea.

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yeap, woodrow, it is a nice place to be here at CPF!

sell those old lights while the average consumer still thinks incans are top of the hill and old LED's are cutting edge! :laughing: