What's the best, of the best, of the best, ... CRI flashlight available ?

Hello !

The question is quite simple, I'm looking for the best color rendering, no matter the temperature, output, energy source or the size, but mostly a flooder up to 100€ (almost 115US$ ?).
If there is better option at higher price tell me here as well please.

Honestly I haven't any purpose for it, this is mostly for my curiosity. It will be used, as I use flashlights almost every day (or tonight/night).

I only have 3 on my list for now :
- convoy s12+ available with nichia 4000K or SST20 2700-4000K about 95CRI.
- the folomov that LightObsession told me about on my previous thread, the pen L1 3000K 98CRI.
- astrolux s43 with nichia 5000K, unknown CRI but looks really great.

Whitch of these 3 is the best ? Do there is any better options ?

There is some matter of personal preference involved, as you can see from the many threads on this and related topic(s)

So far, an Optisolis 4000K emitter (in the Jetusolis AAA) is the best I've found for myself.

Because you don't care about

Output, energy source, size, temp...etc


Then

The best of the best CRI flashlight on the planet is incandescent flashlight!

Take a look at old Surefire incandescent flashlight

Like 6p, g2z, E1e, E2e, G2......etc

But if you want led flashlight then

Look for flashlights with nichia 219b 4000k R9050 or R9080 or

Nichia Optisolis & Nichia E21A (am not sure about these 2 LEDs because I don't own them yet)

BUT

Optisolis & E21a doesn't have the shape of normal looking leds therefor

U will not find the normal beam shape & output?
of normal looking leds on these 2 LEDs


Because nichia E21a & optisolis are very small and weird looking LEDs

Just google these and u find out what am talking about

Many I mean MANY people love nichia E21a & optisolis and I have no doubt these LEDs are even better than what people say

But because of the LEDs shape & output I didn't buy any of these LEDs yet

Please stay away from nichia C no matter the color temp and cri rating

It's the only Nichia LED I don't recommend at all!

The sun.

Accept no substitutes

Yes, incandescent basically sets the reference standard, since the sun is a little inconvenient for a handheld torch.

One issue is if you prefer a CCT anywhere near (or above) the W melting point, though ....

archimedes said:

There is some matter of personal preference involved, as you can see from the many threads on this and related topic(s)

So far, an Optisolis 4000K emitter (in the Jetusolis AAA) is the best I've found for myself.

Click to expand...

I would also consider a mix of 5000k and 6500k optisolii. Perfect sunlight tint.

Tana would make a light engine with 2x and 2x of them, with h17 driver

The 98 CRI in my Folomov EDC C1 brass, C2 and Pen L1 are my current favorite.

Yuji High CRI 3200K is nice ( McGizmo Sapphire 25 GS ).

Thanks to everyone !

As I see CRI rating is like lumens and candela, it can vary due to brands and building conception.

For incandescent light, there's no more on the market exept the maglites ? I haven't find any Surefire even on their own website.
I have a 2D incan for repair, does it exist optic/reflector/bulb replacement to have a better rendering ? I will soon get mini mag r6 and solitaire, is it possible to upgrade them ?

For LEDs I think I'm gonna go for a Folomov, probably a C1 because of the more "standard" battery.
I haven't find any flashlight equiped with an optisolis, did I miss some ? If it has to be handmaked then maybe, later, I will be asking for some advices. ^^

Folomov c1 doesn't use standard battery! They only use li-ion 10440.

Surefire stopped making incandescent flashlights years ago..

Go to eBay and U will find many old Surefire lights like the 6p

You're right, I sayed "more standard" because I can buy it alone (only 1 type).

Ma_Tumba is selling a 5mm hi cri Yuji Surefire EDCL1-T. In WTS customs. Why it's a good option: bombproof host; 5mm LEDs are user changeable (and he's providing several different temps); uses a standard 123 battery.

paikeam said:

For incandescent light, there's no more on the market exept the maglites ? I haven't find any Surefire even on their own website.

Click to expand...

You can find a ton of surefire incans on the auction sites and also in the CPF classifieds. I've been buying 6Ps and using aftermarket bulbs from lumensfactory and other chinese knockoffs. The first round of chinese knockoff bulbs I purchased for my 6Ps have been used every day for three years and haven't had one burn out yet. They are far superior in CRI to anything LED that I have ever seen. Far more pleasant to use.

I would prefer buying a brand new flashlight, until now haven't found any surefire 6p, or anyone else with incan but maglites.

EDIT : On lumensfactory.com as it is possible to buy buld (with reflector) which can be used in their brand new Seraph serie bodys. What about this ? Is it great quality ? Good reflector, bulb and lens ?
The seraph 6 with the 18650 would be the best option for me as I already have a rechargeable battery this size.

EDIT 2 : Does the surefire 6p will give a better CRI than my incan 2D maglite with the xenon bulb ? And the seraph with 3300K incan ? Which is better xenon, krypton or something else (for incan) ?

I would suggest buying some of Fivemega incand items here ob cpf.

Two posts above have been removed.

Although the following rule is highlighted above, at the top of this forum in bright yellow, I will paraphrase it here as it was ignored ...

... links to other sellers outside of the CPF Forums will NOT be permitted in this forum and such links stand to be removed by a moderator. Persistent violations of this policy may result in the loss of posting privileges.

And, yes, that (especially) applies to auction sites and similar :ironic:

I haven't used any of their Incan bulbs but I have a couple of seraph hosts. A little... flamboyant on the styling but quality is top notch. About as tough as anything out there host wise.

I have a cheap 18650/p60 host from illumn that's pretty cool. The Incan drop in runs off a single li-ion or two cr123's. Plus tail clicky.

paikeam said:

I would prefer buying a brand new flashlight, until now haven't found any surefire 6p, or anyone else with incan but maglites.

EDIT : On lumensfactory.com as it is possible to buy buld (with reflector) which can be used in their brand new Seraph serie bodys. What about this ? Is it great quality ? Good reflector, bulb and lens ?
The seraph 6 with the 18650 would be the best option for me as I already have a rechargeable battery this size.

EDIT 2 : Does the surefire 6p will give a better CRI than my incan 2D maglite with the xenon bulb ? And the seraph with 3300K incan ? Which is better xenon, krypton or something else (for incan) ?

Click to expand...

You can find 6Ps new in box on auction sites and also in CPF classifieds from time to time. I've bought 5 within the last year new in box. I'm not sure if one is better CRI than the other or if all incans are the same CRI. But, they do come in different brightness and run times. I think the 6P or similar host gives you the most options for different lamps. I use everything from P60 surefires, to lumensfactory, to chinese knockoffs in my 6Ps depending on the use case. You can also simply buy a p60 host new that is already bored for 18650s from something like solarforce if you don't want to buy a 6P. I prefer the 6P with a 16650. But you could argue that a generic P60 host already sized for 18650s would be a better option.

Okay...

Solarforce seems to be out... nothing on sale on their website.
But the seraph sp6 is available and is not so pricey, at all.

As the lamp modules ho-4 and eo-4 are writed compatible with the seraph sp6 and also with surefire 6p (and many others), I suppose I will be able to buy other bulbs somewhere else and it should work with the seraph ?
Or a complete different lamp module is needed ?

EDIT : On the lumens factory d26 series specification page they say that the average life of their bulbs are around 20 hours. Is it real ? Only 20 hours ? Are the surefire bulbs identical ?
Here's the link : Specification page