question, when comparing lights...

Been reading a lot of posts on how light beams are rated in an attempt to learn how to compare performance of different lights. Would I be correct in saying Lux or Cd gives you an idea of how far a light will throw, but then given that, lumens will give you an idea of how broad an area the light will paint out at a distance? Say if two lights have Lux around 30,000, but one is 1000 lumens and the other is 2000 lumens, the 2000 lumen light will paint a larger area with the hotspot because there is more total light being thrown downrange?

Lux is concentration of light, lumens is total output. So high lux (or cd candlepower) means mega reach. High lumens is high output.

Low lux, high lumen. Extreme example is a bare light bulb. Even 1600L won't reach far. 1 lux is 1 lumen per meter square, so at ten meters you're down to only 4 lux, which is like twilight.

High lux, low lumen. Extreme is a laser. This lets you see way far, but isn't much use up close.

I like lights with around 3000-8000 lux for general use, with about 60-300 lumen. There should be dimmer modes too. Finally, both lux and lumen don't look very much different with small changes. Your first concern should be the user interface, then the beam pattern (lux:lumen ratio, or general usefulness for your needs).

Yes, the same lux with a higher lumen output means more flood; the same amount of light is arriving downrange, so more of it is radiating within that space.

Check out my post here, it contains an interesting cross-section of lights/performance that is relevant to your interests.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...eutral-White&p=4104617&viewfull=1#post4104617