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Flashlight Enthusiast
OK! Don't jump down my throat just yet! I'm not trying to bait anyone here. It's an honest question. But first a few points to give some people an idea of where I'm coming from:
1. Obviously, I would choose a good luxeon based LED light over a mediocre or even moderately good incan. Nothing quite as anoying as that yellowing, poor quality incan light. No question.
2. I do like LED lights. I have a beloved Arc LSH w/twisty that I sometimes EDC, and a FF mk 1, with MM+ adjustable and a Lux III TW0J installed. This latter light has the best beam from any LED light in my (somewhat limited) experience.
3. LED's offer obvious advantages, such as having an incredibly long life and being shock proof.
Now, that said, I must insist that the quality of light from a xenon filled (halogen) incandescent is so obviously superior to LED's--even the best of them--that it still amazes me that I see posts such as "Are incan's dead technology yet?" in the incan forum.
I mean, what do you think surgeons and dentists use for light sources? And check out the testimony of LEO in the thread "Why I still cary incandescents" in the incan forum. In my own line of work here at the particle accelerator, I tried to use my LED lights to light up a survey target, which I view through the optic of a Leica total station. The light simply wasn't good enough to yield the kind of contrast and quality I was used to from a mini-mag with fresh batteries and lamp. But obviously, overall, my FF kicks butt on the mini-mag. Yet the light is not full spectrum light and is simply not adequate for some tasks.
But think of how far LED's have come in the last three years! Awesome improvement! How long, do you think, before the quality of light from LED's starts to rival the light from a good incandescent? I'm guessing three to five years, but does anyone have a more informed estimate? What's on the horizon for LED technology? Will there soon be another high quality/power LED besides the Luxeon? What advances are in sight?
1. Obviously, I would choose a good luxeon based LED light over a mediocre or even moderately good incan. Nothing quite as anoying as that yellowing, poor quality incan light. No question.
2. I do like LED lights. I have a beloved Arc LSH w/twisty that I sometimes EDC, and a FF mk 1, with MM+ adjustable and a Lux III TW0J installed. This latter light has the best beam from any LED light in my (somewhat limited) experience.
3. LED's offer obvious advantages, such as having an incredibly long life and being shock proof.
Now, that said, I must insist that the quality of light from a xenon filled (halogen) incandescent is so obviously superior to LED's--even the best of them--that it still amazes me that I see posts such as "Are incan's dead technology yet?" in the incan forum.
I mean, what do you think surgeons and dentists use for light sources? And check out the testimony of LEO in the thread "Why I still cary incandescents" in the incan forum. In my own line of work here at the particle accelerator, I tried to use my LED lights to light up a survey target, which I view through the optic of a Leica total station. The light simply wasn't good enough to yield the kind of contrast and quality I was used to from a mini-mag with fresh batteries and lamp. But obviously, overall, my FF kicks butt on the mini-mag. Yet the light is not full spectrum light and is simply not adequate for some tasks.
But think of how far LED's have come in the last three years! Awesome improvement! How long, do you think, before the quality of light from LED's starts to rival the light from a good incandescent? I'm guessing three to five years, but does anyone have a more informed estimate? What's on the horizon for LED technology? Will there soon be another high quality/power LED besides the Luxeon? What advances are in sight?