Brightness Isn't Everything

It isn't.

Discuss.

Agreed, quality is far more important than quantity. People get too hung up on numbers.

It isn't?
Then how come newer light brighter than older light?

Proof:

Jessica Simpson

When I first got interested in flashlights again, all I wanted were reallly bright lights.

I went to use one of those really bright lights one night for some close up work and blinded myself. Went inside and grabbed a light with less output and finished what I was doing.

Of all my lights, my Fenix E01 and Gerber Infinity Ultras seem to get the most use.

But seriously, I'm choosing Q3 natural white over R2 cool white most of the time.

I consider neutral white higher quality YMMV.

"Brightness Isn't Everything" that should be Maglite Solitaires motto...

Tint, throw, color rendering, smoothness or sharpness of beam, and runtime are also improtant.

EngrPaul said:

Proof:

Jessica Simpson

Click to expand...

carrot said:

It isn't.

Discuss.

Click to expand...

Lol. If this thread turns out good It'll probably be worth sticking.

For Newbies to read.

thats why multilevel lights are great :twothumbs

Anyways, my LF3XT has a 0.2% (I think) Brightest level which IS all i use

and find it bright enough for everyday tasks. I have a Dorcy 2 AA light

(Dont know the output but would guess it's 10-20 lumens) and find it too

bright. :tinfoil:

A recurring problem is that sometimes we mistake price for our expectations of brightness. If a light is expensive, and it is not maximum brightness, is it worth it? Why or why not? I always hear detractors talking about various lights being "way too dim for the price," and I will not name anything specific because I don't want the thread to go in that direction, but in terms of some of the very high end lights there are always going to be a few detractors who say that the light isn't worth it because it isn't cranking out 500 lumens OTF.

This really bothers me -- haven't we, as a group, learned more than that from experience? That lumens is not the only measure of worth of a flashlight?

Here are some things I find more important than brightness:

Beam shape: A nice mix between spill and spot (My new 6p LED for eg).
Multi-mode lights very useful when working up close to the flashlight (My D10).
Reliability is super important!
I prefer neutral color lights but that's not a deal breaker.

Puttering around my often intentionally darkened house after my wife goes to sleep is when I use my lights the most. As we all eventually discover, a nice low level for these times works best. Little lights have always been favorites of mine, from an old Photon 3, bought after lurking here a bit, to a very recent Photon Freedom with an orange LED, just for their long lasting dimness. It's great to see the manufacturers are now trying to give us more all-in-one lights with variable brightness. I'd like to think CPF has been instrumental in bringing on this trend. I will be very slow to buy new lights without this ability.

Geoff

carrot said:

A recurring problem is that sometimes we mistake price for our expectations of brightness. If a light is expensive, and it is not maximum brightness, is it worth it? Why or why not? I always hear detractors talking about various lights being "way too dim for the price," and I will not name anything specific because I don't want the thread to go in that direction, but in terms of some of the very high end lights there are always going to be a few detractors who say that the light isn't worth it because it isn't cranking out 500 lumens OTF.

This really bothers me -- haven't we, as a group, learned more than that from experience? That lumens is not the only measure of worth of a flashlight?

Click to expand...

I dont think it'll ever end. Lol.

I dont know the Lumens my LF3XT produces on 100%, but when i saw it i

said, "Well, I'll never be using Max". I was wowed by it but i knew there

was no need where i live for it.

EDIT: IMHO, if a individual wants 200+ lumens they should just buy a spotlight. Lol.

Very true.

My primary metric in choosing a EDC is the runtime to output ratio. The new SF L1 for example, 10 lumens for 16 regulated hours on one battery is fantastic!

I also like my EDC to bias flood over throw, say a 60:40 split. The Arc6 does this very well.

When I get a light I ask myself, "Would this be good on the trail?"

While I love my upgraded L4 w/KX2C and 6PDL w/BOG Q5 drop in they are not practical in most situations. You have to direct the beams downrange or the glare from the beam pointed at targets within 5m is often just as blinding as darkness.

kelmo

I do not need bright light, I rather need a light that I like. But for Jessica simpson.... hmmm... I can take even if I don't need... LOL.

it isn't indeed. Ever tried to read numbers on integrated circuits, transistors etc with a C3 Centurion? WHOOW!! Totally "blinded by the light"

Much better here is an L1 Lumamax in the first stage.

BUT: when in the woods, this first stage is useless for looking a little further ahead, even the bright stage is not enough then. In this case, you gladly switch on the aforementioned C3 and... you can see lots of things you didn't see with the L1 :thumbsup:

This is just as I see it... not just read it should be so, no, I actually tried this.
I use the L1 LumaMax on a daily basis to read those numbers when I can't read them with the ambient light, and not long ago I tried numerous flashlights in the woods.

That's why we all have more than one flashy: for every purpose the right one. I compare this with jackets: when it's an ice cold sunny day in winter, you can best choose a down-jacket, in case it's cloudy and rainy, you'd better not wear a down-jacket, take a Goretex one instead


Timmo.

I'm starting to value runtime more. When you have a defined capacity of your energy source, you can choose greater brightness or greater runtime. Ofcourse this is when comparing similiar light sources (incans to incans and LEDs to LEDs). However, when you compare different types of lighting, they each have their own efficiencies and a runtime compromise can be reached with a more efficient, brighter light source.

Multimode can be nice if the UI is really simple.
U2 by 2 on 1 18650:
Level 1 about 10 lumens for 48 hours
Level 2 about 50 lumens for 24 hours
Level 3 about 125 lumens for 12 hours
Level 4 about 250 lumens for 6 hours
Level 5 about 375 lumens for 3 hours
Level 6 about 500 lumens for 1 hour

Usual priority order:
Reliability, absolute must have
Runtime, efficiency is king
Tint, cool is not kind to my eyes
Beam shape, task dependant really
Size, overall bulk in relationship to battery type and number
Brightness, I like a low low more than a high high 90% of the time