First Nichia 219... I'm hooked

Just got my first light with a Nichia 219. Wow... very nice! Bang-on white with no odd tints over the beam profile, and really makes colors pop compared to the usual cool whites I use. Also just seems easier on the eyes for some reason. Less glaring or stark? Okay, the latter is subtle, but it does seem to provide a nicer light in a side-by-side comparison.

Now, if 4sevens would only use the Nichia 219 in some of their Quarks, I could waste another few hundred bucks! I see the Preon P2's with the Nichia 219 are currently available, but I don't like the long AAA format. My favorite format is the 2xAA or 1xAA, and I really like the look and feel of the Quarks.

I guess there must be people that would mod a Quark with a Nichia 219? Should be a pretty simple replacement to swap a XPG2 with a 219? Can this be done by someone like myself (an idiot with a soldering gun), or is it best handled by someone that does this regularly?

Yup, soldering skills are a must.

Vinh, a modder here can most likely do it for you with the 219 and he's an overall great guy to deal with:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Need-Modded-Work-2013-)-(Taking-Orders-Again)

I really like the 219 as well. I'm big into photography and love it's color fidelity.

Vinh offers a number of 219 products and is usually happy to do an LED swap on any readily modable light for a very reasonable cost. You'll loose some lumens going from an XPG2 but you can still squeeze about 300 OTF lumens out of a single 219 with the right driver.

Illumination Gear is offering some EagleTac D25LC2s in 219. Vinh has some D25C2s in 219 and I have one of those - it's my brightest 219 so far even including a Jetbeam RRT01 he also modded. Illumination supply is offering an HDS Clicky in 219. If you look carefully you can find occasional special runs of many popular lights in 219 (gotta find em an order fast as they don't last long).

What kind of light did you get in 219?

I had Vinh mod a Preon to a nichia 219 and it is a sweet little light

Etsu said:

Just got my first light with a Nichia 219. Wow... very nice! Bang-on white with no odd tints over the beam profile, and really makes colors pop compared to the usual cool whites I use. Also just seems easier on the eyes for some reason. Less glaring or stark? Okay, the latter is subtle, but it does seem to provide a nicer light in a side-by-side comparison.

Now, if 4sevens would only use the Nichia 219 in some of their Quarks, I could waste another few hundred bucks! I see the Preon P2's with the Nichia 219 are currently available, but I don't like the long AAA format. My favorite format is the 2xAA or 1xAA, and I really like the look and feel of the Quarks.

I guess there must be people that would mod a Quark with a Nichia 219? Should be a pretty simple replacement to swap a XPG2 with a 219? Can this be done by someone like myself (an idiot with a soldering gun), or is it best handled by someone that does this regularly?

Click to expand...

You should check out Prometheus beta from darksucks. It's a single aaa flashlight. You get all that 85+cri goodness in a small package.

jimboutilier said:

I really like the 219 as well. I'm big into photography and love it's color fidelity.

Vinh offers a number of 219 products and is usually happy to do an LED swap on any readily modable light for a very reasonable cost. You'll loose some lumens going from an XPG2 but you can still squeeze about 300 OTF lumens out of a single 219 with the right driver.

Illumination Gear is offering some EagleTac D25LC2s in 219. Vinh has some D25C2s in 219 and I have one of those - it's my brightest 219 so far even including a Jetbeam RRT01 he also modded. Illumination supply is offering an HDS Clicky in 219. If you look carefully you can find occasional special runs of many popular lights in 219 (gotta find em an order fast as they don't last long).

What kind of light did you get in 219?

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks, I'll check some of those out. Right now, I just have a L3 Illuminations L10 with the Nichia 219. Also got a L08 on the way. The L10 claims it puts out 120 lumens. It's probably pretty close to that. In any case, it's enough for the vast majority of my uses, so I don't really need lots of output. My most used modes on other lights are usually less than 30 lumens, and I seldom go much above 100 lumens. I'll use a cool-white light if I need more brightness.

My L10 N219 meters at 80 lms. Just Rec'd the 2014 ET D25A Ti N219 and it checks in at 100 lms on Eneloops and 200 on 14500s. Should have a Quark Pro w/N219 (XPG swap) arriving any day now. I like my CW CREEs too though.

nice, slight hijack here; I have a Nichia Premium Tint LED, not the 219 in a Fenix E01, modded by VINH. yellow pinky white. sleepy colours.
just wondering here what CRI it could be. nspw500gs-k1.
anyone?.
thank you....

Etsu said:

Just got my first light with a Nichia 219. Wow... very nice! Bang-on white with no odd tints over the beam profile, and really makes colors pop compared to the usual cool whites I use.

Click to expand...

and is visibly less bright than neutral whites (XP-G, XP-G2, XM-L, XM-L2) which are very very near in "colors popping out" ...



PS: You know how much difference there really is, when we can see (and not only measure) output differences?

+1.

yellow said:

and is visibly less bright than neutral whites (XP-G, XP-G2, XM-L, XM-L2) which are very very near in "colors popping out" ...



PS: You know how much difference there really is, when we can see (and not only measure) output differences?

Click to expand...

yellow said:

and is visibly less bright than neutral whites (XP-G, XP-G2, XM-L, XM-L2) which are very very near in "colors popping out" ...

Click to expand...

I have several lights with Nichia 219 and they are great. But I agree: I think all of my 4000K neutral lights are very close to Nichia 219 when it comes to color rendering. While the difference between neutral and cool white is significant. Apart from that with Nichias I get the feeling of better contrast, so that may be an advantage. Still I find the XP-G2 and XM-L2 4000K neutral LEDs to be my favorites: almost the brightness of the cool whites but with a much nicer tint.

Yes, I love the XM-L2's for their efficiency and brightness (when needed), and you're right that the neutrals are pretty good. Actually, the cool whites are pretty good for almost all uses, too.

But I'm impressed by the pleasant/natural look of the Nichia 219. I still sometimes use old incandescent flashlights because I find the light is just more pleasing to the eye. But now that I have a 219, I may not use incandescents anymore. And the beam pattern with LED lights is certainly way better than the old incandescent lights, so I won't miss the ugly rings!

I may just be over-sensitive to low-CRI, even though I can't put my finger on why. I can't stand the look of lighting from warm-white florescents; they make everything look "sick". But I find the same color temperature (3000K) in incandescent lighting very pleasant.

Unlike some others have posted in different threads, I don't find cool-white LED lighting leads to difficulty with depth perception or seeing things outdoors. I just find it "unnatural", kind of ghostly. Most of the time, it's perfectly fine. It's just not pleasant or relaxing.

exactly. the 219 achieves high CRI without overly warm color cast

in fact after just a few seconds with the 219 your brain recalibrates its auto white balance and it becomes "just white". that doesn't happen with a warm cree

true...

Overclocker said:

exactly. the 219 achieves high CRI without overly warm color cast

in fact after just a few seconds with the 219 your brain recalibrates its auto white balance and it becomes "just white". that doesn't happen with a warm cree

Click to expand...

Swedpat said:

Still I find the XP-G2 and XM-L2 4000K neutral LEDs to be my favorites: almost the brightness of the cool whites but with a much nicer tint.

Click to expand...

Very interesting.

The new Eagletac D25LC2 Nichia 219 is rated at 4500K, High CRI 92, according to the Illumination Gear site.

The neutral version of the same light with XM-L2 U2 is rated at 4300K, with CRI unlisted.

I am using that new neutral. Subjectively, it is an improvement over last year's original XM-L neutral of the same light, which, by comparison, now seems more like cool white.

I wondered if I would be able to tell the difference in output between last year's neutral and the new neutral. Or whether I would be wasting my money just to keep up with the latest specs.

Well, the output in the new neutral is visibly higher, although you need them side by side to tell how much.

Just as importantly, to my eyes, the tint seems like a big improvement. It is beautiful -- darn close to the high CRI Nichia lights I own. Easily the equal of the tints of my other favorite lights.

The D25LC2 in any tint is a great choice. Thin, relatively light and just 4.5 inches long. During winter months, I carry one at the ready in an outside coat pocket.

It is nearly small enough for comfortable EDCing in my pants pocket. (My usual EDC is the tiny D25A Clicky.) And, of course, that 18650 battery will blow away smaller rechargeables.

Does anyone have both the new neutral and the new high CRI D25LC2? A more scientific comparison would be very helpful.

Meanwhile, I highly recommend the neutral for both high output and gorgeous tint.

The L10 and Prometheus QR have relatively nice beams. Both a fairly floody with a smooth transition to spill. The Nichia 219 in my Xeno E03 isn't as pleasing because of the ringy beam.

yoyoman said:

The L10 and Prometheus QR have relatively nice beams. Both a fairly floody with a smooth transition to spill.

Click to expand...

Yes, I was surprised at how floody the L10 is. Very similar beam profile to the regular 4sevens XM-L2 Quarks. Personally, that's my preference in a beam profile. While I find the XP-G2 Quarks are nice, the spot is a bit smaller and it's not as general-purpose as the XML's for most tasks.

I'm guessing the floody beam on the L10 has more to do with the reflector than it does the emitter.