Brightest regular LEDs

Looking for White and Red standard T1 and T 1 3/4 LEDs in low quantity. Which are the brightest (so far I've found 8000mcd red (12000 if you want a narrow 8 degree beam) and 10000 mcd white in the T-1 3/4 size [from superbrightleds.com] and where is the best/cheapest place to order them from? All the websites I see that cater to this crowd (CPF type folks) charge at least $1.20 or so each. I get lots of surplus electronics catalogs with dirt cheap LEDs and I can't help but think I can find the same LEDs elsewhere for a lot less...

It all depends on what you mean by "brightest."

You can find all sorts of crazy mcd ratings - some of which need to be taken with a grain of salt - on 3 and 5mm LEDs.

Watch beam angle almost as carefully as you watch intensity.

5000 mcd over 50 degrees is a heck of a lot more light than 20000 mcd over 10 degrees.

I've found that whitelightled.com sells some amazing 280 mcd X 120/140 degree 5mm "square" LEDs for $1 each. You can sandwich 3 of those toghether in roughly the same footprint as a 5mm round LED. 6-12 of those will put out as much light as 6-12 dozen round 5mm LEDs.

Another site you might look at for low-cost LEDs is lsdiodes.com .

Well I want to make a single LED flashlight so I want some directionality. Of course, the tradeoff is you can get a stong beam but it might be too narrow to use effectively. Are there any LEDs with a strong central beam and then a diffused wider cone of light? I suppose I could use two LEDs, one focused, one diffuse...

I greatly prefer round LEDs as I don't have a neat way to punch square holes in plastic or metal housings.

If you've had good luck with those sites I will check them out. Any opinion on "superbrightleds.com"?
Thanks

For an organized survey of bright LEDs - please take a look at this web page:

LEDs with Punch!

The Brightest and Most Efficient LEDs and where to get them!
Written by (and Copyright) Donald L. Klipstein (Jr).

Check out superbrightleds.com