Single LED vs. Multi LED's

I have only recently in the last few months gotten into flashlights, so I am still learning the ropes. It seems to me that a single higher quality led would be better than one of these flashlights that has 8-32 leds, but I've never bought one of them. Does anyone know how single leds compare to these multi led lights?
Also, what are some of the most powerful led flashlights out there right now? I would like another really nice handheld one and a nice pocket or keychain one. I have a new fenix e01 which i really like but i am interested in suggestions.
Lastly, I am looking for a really good led lantern, but there dont seem to be many out there. The best one I have been able to find is the dorcy 3watt with 1 watt spotlight, are there any other good ones anyone could recommend? Thanks

Lantern: Coleman do a decent lantern using cree's for $25 IIRC.

Those 100 LED lights suck big time. Chances are there's no driver baord so the output constantly dims, and even at peak 100 won't be better than 1 decent LED.
As for high ouput, do you mean high output or high throw? For high output, a P7 light would be your best bet, though the beam on these lights would be more of a flood than a spot.

Yeah I just saw the p7's and was very interested. I think a wider spread might actually be good for that kind of light since it seems more for outdoor use. I find the claims of 600-900 lumens though a little hard to believe. Yeah i had a feeling those little lights with tons of leds were a scam, thanks. I'm gonna check out those colemans.

portezbie said:

Yeah I just saw the p7's and was very interested. I think a wider spread might actually be good for that kind of light since it seems more for outdoor use. I find the claims of 600-900 lumens though a little hard to believe. Yeah i had a feeling those little lights with tons of leds were a scam, thanks. I'm gonna check out those colemans.

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The P7 is no false claims. It is IMMENSE CRAZY IN YOUR FACE MAKE YOU WILD light . I have a modded Mag running a P7 CSWOI and wow it blows away any other LED I have.

What are you looking to use the light for?

The best of the breed of multiled lights, in my opinion, is the Inova X5. It is considered old technology, as are all the multiled lights, but it is still hard to beat. It is a tank, provides plenty of light for most uses, and has a great runtime. I use mine almost more than any other light. At about $20 it is hard to beat with any light for close room range lighting, and it will lightup a decent sized room by bouncing off the ceiling. It is all flood with little throw.

Other than the X5, the better lights these days are single LED models. The X5 is the only multiledlight I wold seriously consider buying these days. My wife favors an old 10 LED 3 AAA light she picked up one time for her side of the bed light.

I am partial to Inovas, the new Inova T1 is a great light, but there are many good ones out there.

thanks for all the feedback. As to what I plan to use these for, I'm not really sure, I just like led's, the brighter the better. I have a fenix e1 which i honestly find bright enough for every day stuff even though it is so tiny, and then i have a no name 1 watt light I got off meritline for 5 bucks that is actually quite bright. I only have one really bright light which I'm fond of which is a dorcy k2 terminator that uses 6aa's and even though i was a little skeptical of the dorcy brand it is a very sweet light with a long run time because of all the batteries. I don't have anything too fancy, because my flashlight fondness usually surpasses my budget, but its still fun too browse.

I'm a bit disappointed with the current lanterns. After seeing the "Kitchen Bounce Test" thread in the reviews section, I don't want one anymore. Flashlights work well as area light indoors by bouncing the light off the ceiling.

They have the inova x5 on botach tactical for 15 bucks on clearance, wow. Very tempting.

Well, my girlfriends mom has a really nice roof that we have parties on during the summer so I wanted something in a lantern form. There is a coleman lamp that seems quite nice and a dorcy one that seems so-so.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=4345-701&categoryid=1110
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Dorcy_3_Watt_LED_Lantern.php

If you're looking for LED Lanterns, check this out.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=196354

Does anyone know how single leds compare to these multi led lights?

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time to show the old pics again
camera setting: full auto (adjusts brightness to the strongest light, the weaker one appears weaker - like in reality)

lights:


Showerhead alone:


showerhead to the right
+ Fenix L1D (1st version) high


showerhead even more to the right
+ Fenix L1D to the left
+ Maglite 2D (beam focused, fresh batts)


all the three
+ eaten by a Cree P4 w. Sandwich Shoppe McR 19mm at ~900 mA:


powerleds kick azz




PS: imho all that cheers to the P7 is useless.
its a dead way in technology. Multis are not good, they are just for a smaller light. Also they have to be wired in series (smaller circuits (induction core) and these circuits are already available)

I really dislike multi-LED lights. Even those using power-LEDs with individual reflectors for each just look unfinished to me. My ideal is to have a single, large reflector and a single source emitter. I guess I just like the old-school way.

The only multi-LED light that truly commands my respect is McGizmo's LunaSol 27. That is how multi-LED should be implemented. It is just so elegant and well-finished.

Thanks for linking me to that lantern post, with that and the earlier vote for the coleman, I went with the coleman 4d packaway, can't wait til it arrives. As far as multi-led's I guess my instinct about them was right.

Elektro Lumens makes some very powerful multi-LED lights: Elektro Lumens home page.

Depends on what LEDs you are speaking of. 50 Cree XR-E Q5s will be quite bright

As for the 5mm LEDs vs the high power ones(espicially the current gen ones, Cree XR-E, Seoul P4 and P7, Luxeon Rebel and TFFc K2), no comparison, the high power ones win.

A diffuser could also work well instead of a latern.

Dealextreme also have some good lights. Look in the current gen LED section and for lights with goot reviews.

:welcome:

There are arrays...and then there are arrays. Confusing a cheap Chinese 'showerhead' array with a hi-tech Lumaray array would definately take you in the wrong direction... Lumaray has taken 5mm LEDs and focused each one by hand behind it's own lens and then driven them at their 'sweet spot' to provide the max lumens for the min current -- even doing better than the most advanced higher power LEDs.

If you want lots of light with the most runtime possible you will have to look at Lumaray.