Advice on my next light please

TA_ls1

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Oct 4, 2007
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251
Hi all, I currently have:
HDS clicky cool
Nitecore MH12 cool (gfs light)
Nitecore P120gt cool
Zebralight sc62

I want to stick with 18650 since all but one take that battery, and I think the size and power from an 18650 light is ideal for me.

I'm thinking the Nitecore MH20 since I really like the Nitecores I've used, and the 2 stage side switch, size, and usb charge feature along with the beam really interest me.

So the other real decision I'm having trouble with is cool or neutral. I've watched tons of videos comparing cool with neutral but haven't seen the MH20 cool and neutral side by side in a video. It seems based on what I've read that a lot of you prefer neutral. I like the power and brightness of the cool though. It would be my 1st neutral light, and I don't want to buy it and then end up liking my cool beams more, but maybe I'll like neutral more. I love my sc62, but is seems like everyone likes the sc62w more.

Any thoughts or advice? Thanks.
 

jak

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Mar 16, 2011
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TX
I like the power and brightness of the cool though.
The difference in brightness, as far as I can observe, is negligible. I wouldn't worry about that.

Seems like getting an SC62w would be nice since you have the CW version with which to fully compare... That is, if you can still get one.
 

TA_ls1

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CelticCross74

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to me the Nichia 219 in no way looks like natural sunlight but hey I am color blind on top of being a flashaholic makes things interesting. MH20 all day long. It is the most well designed and built NC Ive ever even used let alone owned I have the standard CW but to my eyes is a very well chosen CW with no harsh blues or purples at all. MH20 beam profile is outstanding much wider than youd think. I have yet to actually see any neutral NC at all in person but must say the MH20 CW vs NW comparison shots over in the MH20 review threads show a very warm looking well done ZL like neutral. Then again Im so color blind it just took me 6 months to find the right camera settings on my Canon to be able to closest capture tint color non color blind ppl see. Output between the CW and NW is a wash you wouldnt be losing out there either. MH20 built in USB charger actually charges the 3500mah cell I have in it to 4.20v every time! Only other micro USB rechargeable light Ive got that is that accurate is my UC35. Good luck..
 

Str8stroke

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Nichia this, Nichia that, XPL is where its at!!
A fun light is the BLF A6 in 4000K. Affordable flashlight warmth perfect for the man who isn't sure they want a creamy dreamy warm beam of love. Oh and as a bonus, you get some mega lumens! Order you the 18350 body & spare o-rings too.
 

Tachead

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to me the Nichia 219 in no way looks like natural sunlight but hey I am color blind on top of being a flashaholic makes things interesting. MH20 all day long. It is the most well designed and built NC Ive ever even used let alone owned I have the standard CW but to my eyes is a very well chosen CW with no harsh blues or purples at all. MH20 beam profile is outstanding much wider than youd think. I have yet to actually see any neutral NC at all in person but must say the MH20 CW vs NW comparison shots over in the MH20 review threads show a very warm looking well done ZL like neutral. Then again Im so color blind it just took me 6 months to find the right camera settings on my Canon to be able to closest capture tint color non color blind ppl see. Output between the CW and NW is a wash you wouldnt be losing out there either. MH20 built in USB charger actually charges the 3500mah cell I have in it to 4.20v every time! Only other micro USB rechargeable light Ive got that is that accurate is my UC35. Good luck..

Remember the Nichia 219 comes in 3 different versions(A,B,C) and is available in many different tints, temperatures, as well as different CRI levels just like any other emitter so there can be a lot variation between different lights/emitters. It is still one of the highest CRI emitters on the market and one of the best, if not the best, at producing natural light.

I agree, I love my MH20-NW. It really is a great light in a lot of ways.
 
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MX421

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I like the neutral tint. I you like your Zebralight, why don't you try one of their headlamps. You can always use it as a flashlight. Get the H600w as it has a reflector, its basically the same thing as your SC62, only a 90 degree light. That way you can compare apples and apples (well kinda) and have the option to use it as a headlamp (something different). Sounds geeky i know, but the handsfree comes in handy more than i thought. You can get a clip that fits it and make it even more versatile. Also, you can always stick scotch tape on that model to diffuse it ( basically make it a H600F - there is a cool thread on that). If you want a real floody light, get the H602w. I love mine! That one is all flood, all 120 degrees of it.

Zebralight is changing their models right now though, so getting one of the older models might prove difficult. However, the newer Zebralights are designed for a unprotected cell.
 
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staticx57

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Nichia this, Nichia that, XPL is where its at!!
A fun light is the BLF A6 in 4000K. Affordable flashlight warmth perfect for the man who isn't sure they want a creamy dreamy warm beam of love. Oh and as a bonus, you get some mega lumens! Order you the 18350 body & spare o-rings too.
Isn't the object to eventually have at least one of each? :)
 

MX421

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Nichia this, Nichia that, XPL is where its at!!
A fun light is the BLF A6 in 4000K.

This light is cheaper and starts off in low and has a pretty cool UI, but the neutral Zebralight is also 4000k, although not as bright. I like the Zebralight UI better. It depends on how much you like the Zebralight you already havr...it seems you prefer the Nitecore, which I'm not familiar with.

I agree its nice to have different tints depending on mood :)
 

Tachead

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Nichia this, Nichia that, XPL is where its at!!
A fun light is the BLF A6 in 4000K. Affordable flashlight warmth perfect for the man who isn't sure they want a creamy dreamy warm beam of love. Oh and as a bonus, you get some mega lumens! Order you the 18350 body & spare o-rings too.

What is the CRI though? Plain old NW just doesnt cut it for me anymore. I want Hi CRI NW(preferably 90+).
 

staticx57

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to me the Nichia 219 in no way looks like natural sunlight but hey I am color blind on top of being a flashaholic makes things interesting. MH20 all day long. It is the most well designed and built NC Ive ever even used let alone owned I have the standard CW but to my eyes is a very well chosen CW with no harsh blues or purples at all. MH20 beam profile is outstanding much wider than youd think. I have yet to actually see any neutral NC at all in person but must say the MH20 CW vs NW comparison shots over in the MH20 review threads show a very warm looking well done ZL like neutral. Then again Im so color blind it just took me 6 months to find the right camera settings on my Canon to be able to closest capture tint color non color blind ppl see. Output between the CW and NW is a wash you wouldnt be losing out there either. MH20 built in USB charger actually charges the 3500mah cell I have in it to 4.20v every time! Only other micro USB rechargeable light Ive got that is that accurate is my UC35. Good luck..

Your typical sunlight has the temperature around 5500-6500 kelvin and a CRI of 100 and an r9 of 100. In fact sunlight (and incandescent) is what CRI is based off of. That is to say su light has perfect CRI. Your typical cool white Cree led matches the color temp but has atrocious CRI and colors suffer tremendously. Neutral white Cree LEDs are a little bit better but still has poor CRI, but the nichias have really good CRI even if it is a bit warmer than natural sunlight.
 

KeepingItLight

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What is the CRI though? Plain old NW just doesnt cut it for me anymore. I want Hi CRI NW(preferably 90+).

I have been moving in the direction of high CRI myself.

I am looking forward to the release of the upcoming ZebraLight SC600Fd Mk. III Plus. On paper, it looks to be a very special flashlight. CRI is 93-95 (Ra). CCT, 5000K. The emitter will be the Cree XHP50. Max lumens has not yet been announced.

You can try high-CRI Nichia right now for only $6.99 USD. The 1xAAA BLF-348 uses a 5000K version of the 219B that is rated for a CRI of 90 (Ra). Running on NiMH, this single-mode clicky outputs 48 lumens. The group buy is ongoing at BLF.

The Astrolux A01 is another great way to try high-CRI Nichia at a low price. That one is a three-mode, 1xAAA twisty. Max output on NiMH is 87 lumens; 226, on 1x10440. The Nichia 219B emitter has a CCT of 4000K and a CRI of 90+. These were confirmed when CPF member maukka performed detailed measurements of the A01. Price is $9.95 USD. There is a coupon code listed in post #1 the group-buy thread at BLF that is good for an 8% discount.

Comparing the cool-white ZebraLight SC62 with the neutral-white ZebraLight SC62w it is sometimes hard to notice the 7% difference in lumen output. It is easy, however, to notice the difference in tint. See for yourself in this YouTube video by JustConquer.com.

Here is a simple experiment that will allow you to discover whether high CRI makes much of a difference to you. Gather up a couple of flashlights of varying tint (CW, NW, WW) and varying CRI, and do some A/B testing. Indoors, shine them at a light-colored wood finish, such as oak furniture. Next, try some colorful magazine pages. Outside, test them against natural subjects such as grass, dirt, trees, leaves, flowers, and so on. Pay special attention to reds, browns, tans, and cyans (i.e., blue-greens), as well as other colors. See if you notice any difference between your cool-white lights and the high-CRI Nichia models.

When CPF member JFong and I tried this experiment, we found that even the ZebraLight SC62w gave colors a moderately washed-out look compared to the high-CRI Nichias we tested. The cool-white lights we tested were a whole lot worse. They were, in fact, atrocious.
 

CelticCross74

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this is interesting as Im also a trained optician. I work with light and lenses all day every day and studied this stuff in school. Being profoundly color blind due to childhood traumatic head trauma has left me adrift in finding a light that I consider to be in the K range of natural sunlight. Ive seen one Nichia 219 light in person I think it was an ET. The tint it put out to me looked like what the Mars rovers send back in photographs of the light about the Martian surface. Guess Im just SOL here. I will say that to my screwed up eyes my ZL SC600 MkII L2 NW puts out what to me what most looks like natural light out of my 50+ light collection....still fascinating stuff...
 

KeepingItLight

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The best tint/CRI combination I have right now is the puny BLF-348. At $6.99 USD, anyone who has never tried the Nichia 219B should seriously consider getting one. I bought ten! I am giving eight of them away, so I'll end up with two for myself.
 

eraursls1984

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The best tint/CRI combination I have right now is the puny BLF-348. At $6.99 USD, anyone who has never tried the Nichia 219B should seriously consider getting one. I bought ten! I am giving eight of them away, so I'll end up with two for myself.
That really depends on the exact 219B, and personal preference. I only have 2 219B lights. One is pretty much perfect, and the other is okay at best. My Preon 219B is okay, but I would choose any 4000k-4500k XP-G2 or XP-L over it any day. It's just too cool. However, my Ottavino with 219B can't be beat by anything, it's perfectly neutral with amazing CRI.
 

Parrot Quack

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Question: Are you using or collecting?

I'm a user who likes to play with his lights. My next light will be a modified Fenix TK75 with about 400kcd downrange capability.

The middle lights are Nitecore EC4 and EC4S with the next step up being a TM16 and TM16GT. The smaller pocket lights are rotatable JETBeam RRT0SEs.

From beam shots I've seen, I think the MH20s have beautiful output. If you're a tint sensitive type of user, the neutral white would be expected to float your boat. I don't know what floats anybody's boat so on the tint issue, I'm guessing.

Hence my question; are you collecting or using and what tint floats your boat?
 
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LightObsession

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I have been moving in the direction of high CRI myself.

I am looking forward to the release of the upcoming ZebraLight SC600Fd Mk. III Plus. On paper, it looks to be a very special flashlight. CRI is 93-95 (Ra). CCT, 5000K. The emitter will be the Cree XHP50. Max lumens has not yet been announced.

You can try high-CRI Nichia right now for only $6.99 USD. The 1xAAA BLF-348 uses a 5000K version of the 219B that is rated for a CRI of 90 (Ra). Running on NiMH, this single-mode clicky outputs 48 lumens. The group buy is ongoing at BLF.

The Astrolux A01 is another great way to try high-CRI Nichia at a low price. That one is a three-mode, 1xAAA twisty. Max output on NiMH is 87 lumens; 226, on 1x10440. The Nichia 219B emitter has a CCT of 4000K and a CRI of 90+. These were confirmed when CPF member maukka performed detailed measurements of the A01. Price is $9.95 USD. There is a coupon code listed in post #1 the group-buy thread at BLF that is good for an 8% discount.

Comparing the cool-white ZebraLight SC62 with the neutral-white ZebraLight SC62w it is sometimes hard to notice the 7% difference in lumen output. It is easy, however, to notice the difference in tint. See for yourself in this YouTube video by JustConquer.com.

Thanks for these Hi CRI suggestiions. I need to check out that BLF-348 group buy.
 
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