Reading A Book On Low Lumens ?

If the electricity went out in your neighborhood, what are the minimum lumens you 'think' you would need to 'comfortably' (no strain) read a book, newspaper or magazine for two hours?

1-3 lumens.

Well, the low on my Zebra H30W is 5 lumens and that's plently. Less would probably work, but the Zebra is my go to light for this kind of activity.

1-3 lumens? wouldnt that cause unnecessary eye strain? why not bump up to 10 or more lumens and still get great runtime and not get a headache in the process?

purelite said:

1-3 lumens? wouldnt that cause unnecessary eye strain? why not bump up to 10 or more lumens and still get great runtime and not get a headache in the process?

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Not in my experience, I tried moonlight (.33 lumens) that was doable but to low, 1-3 lumens of floody non PWM lighting was more than fine for prolonged reading.

Getting a diffuser would help a lot, too. Staring at a hotspot for two hours, even at very low lumens, is unpleasant. Of course, the more broadly spread the light is, the brighter you need it to be.

Also, I find that warmer is definitely better for reducing strain.

Excellent points, warm floody lights are the best for reading.

I've found that if your in total darkness 10 lumens is VERY bright at close range. The 0.2 lumens rating of the H51F seems fine to me. The PWM on this light is quite annoying though. Also warmer white and wider beam would work better.

IF you wanted to use 10 lumens I guess you could do a ceiling bounce

I agree, if you are reading for any length of time a pure flood beam is definitely the way to go. I find chasing a small hot spot over the page is irritating.

The ONLY light I use for reading is a ZebraLight H501. I use the Medium level (18 lumens) which is slightly brighter than I prefer, but the alternative leves (L or H) are either much too low or much too bright. I can't say whether the H501W (neutral) version would be better for reading or not as I haven't tried one. Maybe the upcoming H502 or H302 headlamps will have more choice of medium level outputs.

I always use the H501 on one of it's two lowest setting's, I read in complete darkness so the low works great for me, sometimes even the Low2 (low-low) feels good.

The HL21 headlamp was about 4 lumens (too bright) with the R5 LED and after modding it to a neutral XPG, output dropped maybe to 3 lumens. With a wider beam and warmer colour, it's wonderful to read with but, I can easily read with less light. I have another headlight with an output noticably LESS than the moded HL21 with under 2 lumens and that ok but not great (colour). The low modes of my ITP A3, A2 and 4sevens neutral Quark Mini all provide sufficient light and are sometimes too bright to read with.

For reference, my room is DARK!

That range of 1-3 lumens mossyoak suggested is from my experience, spot on!

When I don't want to bother the sleeping wife my current favorite low lumen reading light is the Photon Rex. Some others have a nicer tint, but the four-in-a-row LED arrangement lights up evenly more of the book. If I stick the light on top of my pillow the pages are illuminated just right. Then I just ramp it to the needed brightness (probably around 1-2 lumens). Other lights require me to move the book around to see the top and bottom of the page.

Geoff

When I am in low light and I play my old Gameboy Color (which I have had since the age of 13), I use my Energizer head lamp. I don't know the lumen value, but it is the model that takes two coin batteries, and is not that bright.

Another suggestion for reading a book a night with no electricity in the house, I would suggest an MX 991/U Made by Fulton. If you don't know what that is, that is the anglehead flashlight used by the US Military.It uses a PR6 vacuum bulb which already has a low lumen value, and can be made even dimmer by using the included red lens filter. This was designed so soldier would read maps at night without distrubing their night vision.

If you are willing to spend a great deal of money, get a Sure Fire A2 Aviator, with the red LEDs. The lumen value of them is quite low, but it also comes with a high powered Xenon bulb. Of cousre it can be switched between the LED's and incandescent. This light I think was developed so pilot's could read their instrument panels at night, and this flashlight is my most coveted.

I have a Fenix E01 I use to read at night, but some of the better multi-power lights nowadays have good light output and great runtimes. It makes me sad that my old Inovas run at low runtimes for about an hour, yet they're built like brick outhouses and have single power output.

Sixty-five dollars would be my top price to pay for a single cell light. According to the reviews, the Nitecores don't have great runtimes--but they're a popular light. Well built, too. Does anyone have a Nitecore and a Quark 123 standard? If so, which do you prefer?

Thanks for the comments and advice.

I was reading last night with my NW Quark Mini 123. The large hotspot and tint worked well, but I actually thought the claimed 3-lumen low was excessive for reading. I think 1-2 lumens would work nicely.