Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than L6?

I would love someone to take lux readings and beamshots from an L5 and L6 together - same meter, same shots. From everything I've seen so far on CPF, as well as my own "naked eye" experience, the L6 seems to be equal to or less than the throw of the L5. If this is true, it seems that the only reason SF came up with the L6 was for the extended runtime that 3 CR123s give it, and a little better heat sinking - but at the price of a much bulkier flashlight!

jaws

carmel,
I have both the L5 and L6 for my personal use. My L6 has far better throw than my L5 - It's not even close. I don't have any method of measuring the output of light, but the difference is very noticeable!

Dan

OK, Dan, tomorrow morning very, very early I'm going out and do a real world test in the forest (before astronomical twilight begins) on throw. It may just be that the Luxeon lottery is treating some people better than others! It certainly Looks Like the deep bezel of the L6 should give it more throw!

I am thrilled with my L5 - it complements the L4 perfectly, as an outdoor light is to an indoor. I'm just not sure where the L6 fits in at this point. . .

jaws

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

carmel,

If your L5 has a LED that puts out 15% more light than the LED in your L6, it will be difficult for the L6 to prevail. I maintain that the the L6 is directing more of its light in the reflected beam than the L5 is. I think you are right in attributing this to the lottery. I also think you may find that the L6 you have may still have a greater range than you are assuming it to have. I look forward to your findings!

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

I have both the L5 and L6. My L6 has a much brighter, whiter hotspot and beam with better throw. It's very noticable when comparing the two while walking at night.

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

hey carmel, since I bought your KL6 I hope your eyes are fooling you ...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
bernhard

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

Bernhard,

Actually, I'm talking about another L6 here; we'll see how it goes this morning!

jaws

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

OK, Bernhard, mporter, McGizmo, Dan. . .

Conditions weren't perfect this morning (there were clouds that reflected city lights), so I couldn't direct the beams of the L5 and L6 directly up into a dark sky; but I did have a lot of opportunities to illuminate distant objects in the dark (both treetops, the forest floor, and cabins), at varying distances. I honestly could not tell the difference in throw (or total light output) between my L5 and L6. My hunch is that I won the lottery BIG with my L5 (as it blows away my very good L4), and got an average L6.

Next, I've just got to get a light meter, and measure their lux directly. Anybody recommend a good, cheap brand, and the best distance to measure? I've not done this before. . .

I think I'll probably keep the L6, as it is very good; but I rejoice in my L5.

jaws /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

The LM631 is a popular lux meter.

Circuit Secialist even includes a free DMM with your purchase, but you have to specify in your order request that you want it:

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/3401

One meter is the standard distance for Lux measurement. Some lights will overflow the LM631 at one meter, I had to move back to five meters to get a reading on an X990 [350,000]. If you move back from one meter, then multiply your result by the square of the distance, you won't have that problem with the L4/5/6.

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

I really wish we'd all stop saying lux@1m and just say "candela" Then you can measure fc at 10 feet, multiply by 100, etc.

It is a good idea to once in a while mention the distance you're measuring at, as you'll find the numbers are similar, but not identical at different distances.

Cheers,

Richard

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

Hello Richard,

So how does this work?

FlashlightOCD measured 350000 lux on his meter at 5 meters. How many candela is that?

I thought that lux at 1 meter and foot candles at 1 foot were standard measurements?

Tom

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

350,000 cd is the actual measurement he's talking about as the LM631 stops at 19999 lux, so we don't have to convert the 350,000--he didn't measure THAT at 5 meters!!!

So he measured 14,000 lux at 5m and then converted it to 350,000 cd (or lux at 1 m or fc at 1 ft).

Cheers,

Richard

Re: Does L5 really have better hotspot/throw than

[ QUOTE ]
rlhess said:
So he measured 14,000 lux at 5m and then converted it to 350,000 cd (or lux at 1 m or fc at 1 ft).

Richard

[/ QUOTE ]

Richard is correct. I actually measured 1400 at 5 meters, but the LM631 was on the x10 scale. Since lux dilutes as a square of the distance [5 meters]:

1400 x 10 x 25 = 350,000 [The 25 comes from squaring the distance of 5 meters].

Lux can be a very misleading number ... but sometimes it can be used as an indication of how well the light will throw.