Nichia 5mm question

This LED is rated 7000mcd max. with a 30° viewing angle. It costs 0,89EUR. This LED is a Nichia rated 5800mcd max. with a 15° viewing angle. It costs 1,39EUR. So basically the Nichia comes 1200mcd and 15° short while costing 0,50EUR more. Below are some beamshots.

Regular 5mm


Nichia 5mm


My question is, why is the Nichia more expensive? The hotspot seems a bit brighter but it's not as round and has rings and a small dark spot. I know the consistency per LED can differ, but still.

There's no good reason why Nichia's should be so expensive other than demand is high because they're perceived as better. Their whites do have better color rendering than most of the cheaper white LEDs from HK but that's about the only difference I can see. $0.20 to $0.25 colored LEDs from HK seem just as good or better in terms of brightness, viewing angle, and beam quality as the $1+ Nichias. Reliability so far isn't a problem, either, at least on the LEDs I've used.

IMO, Luxeons are grossly overpriced as well mainly because of demand. A fair price for a T-bin LIII would be around $3, not the $12 and up they go for.

CHI-WING Led's from HK RoCk... they will be far less... as less as $0.14 per LED @ 8000 MCD 30 Degrees !!!... (yep FREE Shipping too !)

I wonder, why does one really go after Nichia's .... when there are much cheaper & DEFINATELY Better Options available on the market !

Thanks & Regards,
ViReN

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jtr1962 said:
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IMO, Luxeons are grossly overpriced as well mainly because of demand. A fair price for a T-bin LIII would be around $3, not the $12 and up they go for.

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They ARE Available @ that price !!... LESS than $3 .... but.. the only catch is, you should order in Larger Quantities. Search for them on global sources site (mainly chinese sources, B2B), dont be stumped /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif if you see prices like $1 for 1 Watter... (only quantities will make you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif ... Green.. yep... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

ViReN

ViReN, I'm another big fan of Chi-Wing LEDs. As for those cheap Luxeons, do you have any links? I'm amenable to buying in large quantities, especially if we have a group buy here. I'm sure many people wouldn't be too particular about the exact bin if they could get LIIIs for less than half what they're paying now.

are the chiwing 15,000mcd much better than the cheaper ones I think he has either 8,000 or 10,000 I don't recall

I haven't tried the 10,000 or 15,000 mcd ones yet, but the 8,000 mcd is actually underrated (Craig tested it at over 10,000 mcd). No problems with lifetime. I have 20 in my bike headlight which are doing just fine and another in my PC which has been running since January with no apparent loss in brightness. I was actually pleasantly surprised the quality.

I think ViReN tried both the 10,000 and 15,000 mcd whites but I don't remember what he said about them.

Hi,

I have tried various Chinese & Unbranded Cheap LED's and a couple of Known ones like Chi-Wing, Aglient, Nichia, Cree, etc....

Chi-Wing & Nichia are my fav.... but when it comes down to cost & Brightness.... Chi-Wing is a sure winner ...

I have tried 8000, 10000, 15000 Chi-Wings.... The Output as compared to Nichia is .... as follows (Eye Persception) both run at 20 mA
1.5 * 8000 = 1 Nichia (the cheapest of the lot)
.8 * 10000 = 1 Nichia (approx equivalent, but a bit brighter)
.5 * 15000 = 1 Nichia (these have less 'degrees' and throw much longer)

These comparisons are on NSPW500BS S Rank (9200 Typ, 11000 Max) LED's

The only thing that (if at all) might worry you is the CRI ... its slightly less than Nichia ...if Nichia is "Daylight" (less color temp) then Chi-Wing are "TrueLight" (high color temp), in terms of Philips lighting tubes / CFL's

To My Eyes, I prefer both, depends on Occasion & Mood. Mostly i like the "TrueLight" kind of light....

jtr1962: Can we do 100K pieces in a group buy...(please view the NuwaiIII Review thread from Quickbeam in Reviews, we had discussed this to some extent there) & we need some one who is located in china .... the site is globalsourcing tiawan, globalsources china & manufacturers.com.tw ... these are the some of the sites that mention "Luxeon" "TWOH" and Above for prices ranging from $1 to $5 in quantities of 500K to 100K (shipping address will be china) else shipping will cost more especially @ those quantities !!... I wonder if Luxeon has a Manufacturing base in Tiawan / Malasia or for that matter even China !...
There are also a LOT of Clones for 1 Watt & 3 Watt Lights (cheaper than dirt... really) seen clones as low as $0.1 in 100 K Quantities for 1 Watt and $0.2 for 3 Watts.... (mostly Chinese & from Tiawan)... ... sometimes i wonder... what will happen if Chi-Wing comes out with a 1 Watt LED... Oh... I think I should email Brian (chi-wing) .... lets see what he has to say...

Thanks & Regards,
ViReN

100K pieces?! I wonder if we could get that many in a group buy. I was hoping it was closer to 1000 pieces. Maybe Chi-Wing will come out with their own 1 Watt LED soon. I'm not surprised though. An LIII probably costs well under $1 to make. The only reason it sells for so much in the US is because the market will bear it, same as it did for a while when superbright 5mm LEDs cost $2 and up here. I'm sure glad I never bought more than a few pieces at those prices.

It sounds like the 10,000mcd chiwings are good for close up and floodlights and the 15,000 for longer throw flashlights.
Too bad there isn't a group buy on chiwings and have everyone buy a few hundred of them perhaps get the price down to 5 cents each... lol. If luxeons were a dollar each I would say forget 5mm LEDs.