Lights without hard edged spill

One of the few drawbacks from LED lights vs many incans is that hideous hard edge at the periphery of the LED spillbeam produced where the LED is occluded by the bezel. Other than SF's new offerings, are there any lights with Cree or Seoul LEDs that produce less ugly beams without a hard peripheral edge?

How about the one on the right? Rebel, but still...

You might want to look at lights that use optics instead of reflectors. Their spill is gradual, without the hard edge.

I have a tri-Cree Mag1C in which I use 3 optic lenses. The spill blends so gradually into the surroundings that it's hard to tell where the beam ends.

better a bit of visible transition, than no light at all at some distance - optics suck.

thats a Fenix L2P and a homemade Lux III, both more or less equal in brightness, beam degree also more or less equal, distance to wall increasing. Already at room distances there seems to be less and less light at all from the optic

(at pic #3, ~50 cm from wall, both lights show same brightness.
distances are 5 cm, 50, 1 m, 2m, 3 (or 4) m)

What I'd ideally like is something that looks like this to the naked eye:



Or, in words, the kind of beam one gets when using an F04 except narrow enough to retain some throw.

@EDP: Yep, I know about optics. I excluded the SF KX series and neo-L1 because I know their optics give themthe kind of beam I'm after. I'm looking for other options.

@lexina: What kind of optics are in your tri-Cree?

I totally agree, that sharp line can be distracting and not as pleasant to use. It always lights up the wrong things too brightly.

The optic Yellow is using clearly is a floodier optic evidenced by the much greater amount of light in th spill area in the last picture. You can't just judge brightness by throw or spot brightness. Especially in different light with such different tints.
Optics can have more throw than reflectors by not wasting the spill light, or they can be floody as that one is. That is the great thing about optics in addition to the fact they are generally more efficient.

Optics rock! I have an L1 with an optic like the one in post #6 and it makes it such a useable light. Better for all distances, except for only the very farthest distance.

You might try write-right B&W screen protector. It acts as a very light diffuser so it does affect throw. It smooths out the total beam, but still leaves a hotspot. The edge is still fairly well defined, but smoothed out a tad bit.

The correct material was for B&W PDAs and is now out pf production. The stuff on line is for color PDAs and it does not have the same properties. Best way to get it is post a WTB on BST.

The HDS "mild diffuser" is a heavier diffusion than the write right, but still pretty light. You still get a center spot. But its not nearly as diffuse as the F04. Also out of production.

Flashlightlens.com has LDF windows. I haven't tried them but I don't think they are as heavy a diffusion as F04.

The optic Yellow is using clearly is a floodier optic evidenced by the much

Click to expand...

sorry do disagree
whatever is in the spill, is nothing at all to compare, its just a by-product (and optics loose light, here in cpf there are enough pics showing this. Only those large asphericals make extreme beams).
BUT
look at the focused spot!
(btw: thats where the focus/degree of optic/reflector can be seen)

In every pic one clearly sees, that the main beam is totally the same --> both have exactly the same focusing.

Just the optic does not work, as usual. Spreads light everywhere but not where its needed.
If one wants a floodier beam, why not get a floody reflector? :thinking:

Wow, your eyes are very different than mine, since I saw a much brighter light in the corona from the optic, and the last picture the spots are NOT the same ...showing it is definitely a wide beam optic. I have some spot optics, and they have far less spill and more throw than any small reflector.
Many people's opinion on optics is the usual one not based on fact. The efficiency gain is fact. As well as that fact that an optic is exactly what the OP is looking for, so why would anyone argue their own bias against it?

yellow said:

sorry do disagree
whatever is in the spill, is nothing at all to compare, its just a by-product (and optics loose light, here in cpf there are enough pics showing this. Only those large asphericals make extreme beams).
BUT
look at the focused spot!
(btw: thats where the focus/degree of optic/reflector can be seen)

In every pic one clearly sees, that the main beam is totally the same --> both have exactly the same focusing.

Just the optic does not work, as usual. Spreads light everywhere but not where its needed.
If one wants a floodier beam, why not get a floody reflector? :thinking:

Click to expand...

Blindasabat said:

... The efficiency gain is fact. As well as that fact that an optic is exactly what the OP is looking for, so why would anyone argue their own bias against it?

Click to expand...

I don't think the efficiency gain is a fact. Claimed yes, proven no. I'd certainly like to see integrating sphere results for both in the same flashlight.

My only point of reference is a reflector mod in a PT EOS. Bounce tests revealed the same total output to the eye. I prefer the reflector for most tasks but prefer the optic when using it on my bike helmet combined with a floody handlebar unit. I have write-right on both units to smooth out the ringyness though.

enLIGHTenment said:

@lexina: What kind of optics are in your tri-Cree?

Click to expand...

I am using the original Cree optics. Got it from kaidomain here:-

http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1488

They also sell it in a pack of 10 for $9.99.



I have also tried the tri-led reflector from DX but it prob wasn't meant for Crees because I had to do a lot of filing and it still wouldn't focus as well:-

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4630

I know I'll be howled down for mentioning this, but...

...a shower-head produces a lovely spill with no hard edge...

I have a Lucidus XR3 that I think looks similar to your sample, the spill outside the center isn't quite as bright. To my eye it looks more similar to this shot then the one in your original post. Maybe worth checking out.

Here is a link to the XR2 and there is a beam shot. Unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to see the edges.

http://elektrolumens.com/Lucidus-XR2/Lucidus-XR2.html

-Tim

enLIGHTenment said:

What I'd ideally like is something that looks like this to the naked eye:

Or, in words, the kind of beam one gets when using an F04 except narrow enough to retain some throw.

@EDP: Yep, I know about optics. I excluded the SF KX series and neo-L1 because I know their optics give themthe kind of beam I'm after. I'm looking for other options.

@lexina: What kind of optics are in your tri-Cree?

Click to expand...

Or just use a FASTCAR diffuser :thumbsup:

I also wanted to mention that it uses Cree optics and it has good throw. Here's another thread talking about Lucidus.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/170756

menion said:

I have a Lucidus XR3 that I think looks similar to your sample, the spill outside the center isn't quite as bright. To my eye it looks more similar to this shot then the one in your original post. Maybe worth checking out.

Here is a link to the XR2 and there is a beam shot. Unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to see the edges.

http://elektrolumens.com/Lucidus-XR2/Lucidus-XR2.html

-Tim

Click to expand...

yellow said:

thats a Fenix L2P and a homemade Lux III, both more or less equal in brightness, beam degree also more or less equal, distance to wall increasing. Already at room distances there seems to be less and less light at all from the optic

Click to expand...

The only thing you've shown here is that your optic has a wider beam angle than does your reflector.

Beam angle has nothing to do with efficiency.

The Cree optic does not provide much spill. I find the fraen optic in My Little Friends to put out better spill light than my Lucidus in brightness relative to hotspot and width of the spill beam. Unfortunately the Little Friends are no longer in production. So the choices seem to be the Electrolumens Quadstar phaser or the Pierce M10. Note you can get the M10 with narrow (10 degree) or wide beam (45 degree) optics.
http://www.piercelight.com/compare-M.htm
http://elektrolumens.com/QuadStar-Phazer/QuadStar-Phazer.html
There may be other Fraen optic based lights that I am not aware of.