Nitecore PD's - color rendering?

Hey everybody,

After a 2 plus month hiatus from my first few posts, I'm back, and still looking forward to my first good flashlight.

Now, I recently read about the Nitecore Piston drive flashlights, and am tempted toward them...based on their PD system, of course, their compact size, and their high light output while, for some of the models, being able to use the ever-available AA batteries.

The only thing is - how's the color rendering from the LED's on them? Granted, I'm not planning to do any serious search and rescue operations with them, however, I found a thread pertaining to just that interesting, where it was expressed that some the light from LED's makes it harder to discern foliage and other objects outdoors clearly, in contrast to the light from an incandescent - in short, a "2-dimensional", flattening effect.

Does anyone have any thoughts on if this would be bothersome for "everyday use", as in, I'd probably be using a flashlight more outdoors than in, but would still like to have good color rendering and depth perception...?

And/or, what do you all think about how these Nitecore PD lights perform in regards to the above?
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I know that Surefire makes some great compact models with an incandescent bulb, and one of the members here did a great job of recommending it, but also suggested adding a Malkoff LED drop-in...

...the thing that's stopped me from going with that Surefire, still, has been the battery issue. I've heard a lot of points from folks here about not worrying about having to use 123 batteries, but I'm one of those "I'd like the most available options" guys...

Having said that, are there any other comparable flashlights to the Nitecores (small, tough, bright, variable power, AA battery) - which use incandescent? Or am I making much ado about nothing?

I know some of you guys walked me through these questions months back, but I'd like a bit more understanding, 'specially about these Nitecores.

Cheers,

thanks again.

R.

The Cree's used in the PD's are XR-E Q5-WC bin. It's known to be a clean, crisp white most of the time. The full chromatic charts are in the LED section.

R.ticle One said:

Having said that, are there any other comparable flashlights to the Nitecores (small, tough, bright, variable power, AA battery) - which use incandescent? Or am I making much ado about nothing?

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There are not any incandescent AA lights worth anything.

There are certainly other opinions, but my personal feeling is that I'd rather have several hours of bright light than a very short runtime with less brightness, regardless of how well either one compares to a rather contrived standard (CRI).

IMO the Nitecore LED's are some of the best at colour rendering. They, of course, do not match daylight at all or a big incandescent, but they are very good.
Also 'of course' you can't put a big powerful incandescent in your pocket for EDC.
Greg

GregWormald said:

They, of course, do not match daylight at all or a big incandescent, but they are very good.

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But they're way closer to daylight than any incandescent...

LukeA said:

There are not any incandescent AA lights worth anything.

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D'oh! I was half-afraid of getting that answer.

There are some good points made in this thread, and I'm happy to hear that "IMO the Nitecore LED's are some of the best at colour rendering."

Thanks again everyone. More thoughts are always welcome, n' I'm gonna go and find those chromatic charts.

Cheers,

R.

my nitecore d10 has the bluest color of any LED i have. this does not keep me from edc'ing this light. the PDS interface is neat but it has been activated while in my front pocket in the past. if this were the only light you had you could consider yourself well outfitted.
like the OP i think it's strong suite is the AA format and overall size. the bonus this light offers is its low setting. this light alone made me realize that i did'nt need enough light and power to burn down a barn to make a light useful. if i wanted another AA light i would give the nitecore PD's a hard look.

sappyg said:

my nitecore d10 has the bluest color of any LED i have. this does not keep me from edc'ing this light. the PDS interface is neat but it has been activated while in my front pocket in the past. if this were the only light you had you could consider yourself well outfitted.
like the OP i think it's strong suite is the AA format and overall size. the bonus this light offers is its low setting. this light alone made me realize that i did'nt need enough light and power to burn down a barn to make a light useful. if i wanted another AA light i would give the nitecore PD's a hard look.

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Do you think you just got a "bad" LED which resulted in the blue color? A blue tint is the last thing I'm looking for...

R.ticle One said:

Do you think you just got a "bad" LED which resulted in the blue color? A blue tint is the last thing I'm looking for...

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5000-7000K CCT is most common, but there are LEDs higher and lower than that. It's basically a roll of the dice.

i can't say i got a "bad" LED in my d10. i'm just saying it has the bluest color of the LED lights i have. your milage may vary. i wish it were'nt so blue personally but, it does do everything that it was intended to do very well. it is a good general purpose light and i have heard of others that have a whiter tint.
i will say thay color is important to me. as such i carry a SF e2e more often than the d10. it is only slightly larger. it has better sidespill and renders color to my eyes better than LED.
IMHO if color rendering is the most important of your criteria you may not be totally satisfied with any LED. if the AA format is more important to you then you will like the d10. it's a great light.

Nearly all flashlights being sold with a Cree are a bit of a lottery concerning tint. Only HDS with it's GT - Guaranteed Tint and maybe some custom built lights will get you something other than a roll of the dice. I know of one seller that was hand picking either warm, cool or neutral tints for buyers in another flashlight brand. But from my experience most Cree LED's are very white until you pull out another light and put them side by side. The human eye and mind's ability to discern fine differences in tint is quite amazing. The PD's I've got are all decent tints and seem white -- again until I put them side by side with something else. I don't seem to have any problem with the 'flatness' effect and very little problem with color rendering with LED's. As a long time LED user I think my brain does auto-tint adjustment on outdoors foilage and such
If a PD looks like a light you would like go for it - it's not going to be any better or worse tint wise than most other good quality lights out there.

Cree XLamp (Cool White)


NiteCore Uses WC tints specifically.

Source

My D10 is definitely colder in tint that my L2D-Q5 that I just purchased and my L0D. I've regulated my D10 to sitting in my bag now as backup or when I might need something brighter than my L0D during the weekday.