Warm White LED flash light?

I've been using a basic Cree Q5 LED torch for paint with light photography, trouble is the colour temperature of an LED torch is just too high, is it possible to get "warm white" torches, my friend says I could try painting the lens with paint designed to go on headlights to bring the colour temperature down, this would probably be a bit like putting an 82B filter on the front of the torch and my only concern about that is that it would reduce the brightness by almost half and that seems quite an inefficient way to do it.

Have a look at the Malkoff website in the P60 led upgrades. Products/categories. They do various outputs in warm, neutral and cool. Then stick it in an MD2 body. They also fit Solarforce, Surefire 6P and anything else that takes a P60.
Being an anorak, mine are in MD2's. Also Illumination Supply do Malkoff drop ins and sometimes have exclusives on Nichia 219 Malkoffs, just waiting for them to restock.
Hope that helps a bit.
P

Nothing says warm-white to me like a Nichia 219B. It's close to white, but with a slight tint of pink/tan, so it has a bit of warmth to it. Anything lower in color temperature, and you start going away from white, approaching towards reddish.

Supposedly the Nichia 219B emitter puts out the same K range as sunlight. Ive seen the 219B before and although different I dont see natural sunlight temp.

Here are the most impressive neutral white lights I have-

Olight Javelot both M2X and M3XS-UT both have a yellowish halogen like tint.
Eagletac TX25C2 NW-Eagletac NW emitters are some of the most neutral I have seen.
Eagletac T25C2 XP-L HI-the first truly neutral XP-L HI I have seen the beam is incredible
Thrunite TN12 2014 NW-Thrunite picks their NW emitters as well as Eagletac very neutral light.
Thrunite TN4A NW-Once again Thrunite chooses a near yellow NW emitter

Just to make sure you know what you're looking for, check out this old thread:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/sh...al-and-Cool)&p=2597943&viewfull=1#post2597943

It shows the 3 main options, in this case, on a Xeno E03.

1. Cool white
2. Neutral white
3. Warm white

Sometimes I think people confuse warm white with neutral, so I just wanted to make sure.

I like the xml2 5c3 warm white dedomed for light painting.
Very very close to incan/halogen in cct & cri imho.

CelticCross74 said:

Supposedly the Nichia 219B emitter puts out the same K range as sunlight. Ive seen the 219B before and although different I dont see natural sunlight temp.

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Because it isn't. 219B is like 4400-4600 kelvin, while mid-day sunlight is around 5700 kelvin.

Same order for puzzle pics (yes, my child found the front end of the school bus delicious)

6500k (does not show as well since others have their drivers boosted, much more blue than in pic)
5000k
4000k
2900k high CRI

twistedraven said:

Because it isn't. 219B is like 4400-4600 kelvin, while mid-day sunlight is around 5700 kelvin.

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Also, unlike an LED, sunlight is very broad spectrum, and does not have the typical blue peak of an LED. That's one reason why a 5700K LED tends to look harsh and blue while sunlight doesn't.

Correct sunlight is a K range not a fixed single temperature. To my eyes the 219B looked more unnatural than natural. If I were a painter or photog and I wanted excellent color rendition I would use my TX25C2 NW Idk the specifics of the emitter bin but out of all my lights this ET in particular just makes true colors pop.

markr6 said:

Just to make sure you know what you're looking for, check out this old thread:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/sh...al-and-Cool)&p=2597943&viewfull=1#post2597943

It shows the 3 main options, in this case, on a Xeno E03.

1. Cool white
2. Neutral white
3. Warm white

Sometimes I think people confuse warm white with neutral, so I just wanted to make sure.

Click to expand...

Basically I want a high output torch that gives out a colour temperature about the same as tungsten, the camera adjusts the colour temperature of everything else down so it looks natural but as the torch has a much higher temperature you might end up with a blue bridge.

Tixx said:

Same order for puzzle pics (yes, my child found the front end of the school bus delicious)6500k (does not show as well since others have their drivers boosted, much more blue than in pic)5000k 4000k 2900k high CRI

Click to expand...

Very Helpful post!!! Thanks!!!

I know why I prefer the Malkoff N series now.


Anyway ajuk....try an incan Sure Fire 6p (about $60) with a Malkoff WL or NL (about $40) will give you lots of light and 5 hour battery life.

The only LL I see at Malkoff Devices lately is the WLL, which mimics a genuine P60 incan...slightly warmer imo, very similar brightness...bonus, 10 hr battery life.

Malkoff drop in legend:
W = warm
L = Low (100-175 depending on tint)
LL = LowLow (75 lumens +/-)
N = Neutral
His site describes each emitter brightness and characteristics well.

Plenty of good info above... you can also get a filter set and cut your own lens filters to further modify the tint... lots of good posts on CPF about that as well. I would imagine the filters won't reduce your output nearly as much as whatever paint you are referring to...

ajuk said:

I've been using a basic Cree Q5 LED torch for paint with light photography, trouble is the colour temperature of an LED torch is just too high, is it possible to get "warm white" torches, my friend says I could try painting the lens with paint designed to go on headlights to bring the colour temperature down, this would probably be a bit like putting an 82B filter on the front of the torch and my only concern about that is that it would reduce the brightness by almost half and that seems quite an inefficient way to do it.

Click to expand...

I'm also a light painter and have the same issue - requiring a warm 3000k(ish) high-CRI light source for illuminating the scene. Aside from going down the P60 drop in route (which I'm not keen on as I'd prefer to avoid LiIon batteries), there is a flashlight in this thread http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...5-Designing-an-LED-flashlight-for-Kickstarter that might be what you are looking for. I think there will still be a few weeks until it is on kickstarter.

If you are OK with 4000k (which I'm not as it is still neutral white in my opinion), then there are more options - have a look at Zebralight or Armytek.

If you are trying to get the clearest most accurate vision possible with a flashlight, for painting, etc, consider also adding diffusion film to the lens. A hotspot up close can distort perception of color drastically; natural light doesn't have a hotspot. The hotspot also tends to be of a different tint than the spill to varying degrees.

I love that ^^

Based on all my experience with different led kelvins, I've come to the conclusion that around 5200k is just about pure white for me, while anywhere from 4000k to 6000k could be considered a neutral white, and anything less than 4000k warm and above 6000k cold.

^^ same here.

CelticCross74 said:

Correct sunlight is a K range not a fixed single temperature. To my eyes the 219B looked more unnatural than natural. If I were a painter or photog and I wanted excellent color rendition I would use my TX25C2 NW Idk the specifics of the emitter bin but out of all my lights this ET in particular just makes true colors pop.

Click to expand...

I would not do that. Better to either use an incan, or common fluorescent (to match likely indoor viewing conditions, rather than sunlight), for the time being. LEDs are just not there, today.

wjv said:

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Just one problem: they show white as blue, without a reference. The truest white on almost all PC monitors is going to be around 6500K (6500K sunlight, as seen on the ground by us, is used for the ideal white point).