Codeman
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2004
- Messages
- 2,690
The Luxeon lottery isn't a big deal to me, nor are tint variations in general. When I bought my first MagLite years ago, it seemed bright & white. Same for my first Pelican, E2, G2Z, Z3, and A2. Now, my U2 seems "whitest" and all the others seems yellow. Or maybe the U2 is slightly blue and all the others are closer to white. But I only notice it when comparing them. If I walk outside at night with any of my SF's, it looks fine and I can see. I'm not trying to light a color-correct environment for photography, so a slight tint shift isn't an issue.
Besides, what I think most people want when they talk about a white beam is to see things exactly as they would appear in daylight, whatever that is. Trouble is, daylight changes constantly, so even that isn't a fixed target.
Human vision and our brains have a lot to do with our perception of color and tint. An object that looks yellow under flourescent lighting is remembered as being the same yellow when we see the same object in sunlight. Scientific measurements would prove that the properties of the light being reflected by the "yellow" object are different under the different lighting conditions. But, our brain remembers them as the same object, and thus we "see" the same color. After all, it's the same object. Light shining on it doesn't change the object's actual color, only its perceived color.
Given that variability, the search for a perfectly tinted LED is academic at best. A fun search, to be sure, but one without any functional payoff.
What do you think? Are their situations other than photography where having an almost perfect tint is functionally important to you, or is it just personal desire?
Besides, what I think most people want when they talk about a white beam is to see things exactly as they would appear in daylight, whatever that is. Trouble is, daylight changes constantly, so even that isn't a fixed target.
Human vision and our brains have a lot to do with our perception of color and tint. An object that looks yellow under flourescent lighting is remembered as being the same yellow when we see the same object in sunlight. Scientific measurements would prove that the properties of the light being reflected by the "yellow" object are different under the different lighting conditions. But, our brain remembers them as the same object, and thus we "see" the same color. After all, it's the same object. Light shining on it doesn't change the object's actual color, only its perceived color.
Given that variability, the search for a perfectly tinted LED is academic at best. A fun search, to be sure, but one without any functional payoff.
What do you think? Are their situations other than photography where having an almost perfect tint is functionally important to you, or is it just personal desire?