I (and some others) have spoken about the "right amount" of light.
What is this?
- and is there one light level that's the right amount of light?
see this thread for some previous discussion -
Dorcy 1AAA Outdoors
I do realize this is very dependent on the individual, and what we are used to, or adapted to.
So it would seem pretty obvious to me that the second question about a single light being suitable is not possible.
I EDC a couple of lights and they seem to suit me for most purposes I put lights to -
Now is that because I have adapted to those lights?
or is the EDC because those light levels suit me?
Possibly a bit of both?
In the earlier days of LEDs (and that's not so long ago) when the general (LED) light level for a pocklet LED was in the class of Photons, Inovas, ArcAAA, Ultras and Dorcy 1AAAs - although from my citing, it would seem that we had a great deal of choice - all those lights were about the same ballpark level - of course, some may have been brighter - but not enough to make a real practical difference - at least to me.....
More advancements in LEDs meant that we are now getting much brighter LEDs in the form of Luxeons - 1 watt and 3 watts are now pretty commonplace, and getting more affordable.
I have now acquired more of those, so has my requirements for light levels correspondingly increased with the more affordable and more easily available increase in Lumens?
Not really - I find that the Luxeons of this world are much better for longer ranges - but not as suitable for my closer task usage.
For example I still find the ArcAAA/Dorcy 1AAA class of white LEDs a little bit too bright for reading (black print on white paper) in a dark environment - they seem to affect whatever dark adaption I have acquired (not true scotopic night vision) - not badly, but I definitely notice it - with a choice, I would use something not quite as dazzling for the task.
So I've tried to quantify this with a little ad-hoc experiement -
I am not too sure if it has any scientific meaningfulness - but here goes -
I set a sheet of printed paper lit with a regular 60watt soft-white bulb in a table lamp approx 3 feet away. The printing was 12 pt. Times New Roman (Western) font from my laser printer.
Measured the distance where I could just comfortably read the printing - for me, this was approx 6 feet.
Darkened the room. Then stood at the same distance and used various flashlgihts to see if I could still read the same printing.
These were of pretty wide range of brightness
Note: I am at 6 feet away from the paper - any variance in distances discussed are the distance of the Lights from the paper.
Photon 2 Yellow - my EDC close task light - I could NOT read at 6 ft away - but if I extended my arm to move the light closer I could just read with the Photon 2 Yellow at about 3.5 ft away (I am still at 6feet)
Dorcy 1AAA - a close call, maybe I just could NOT read from 6 ft - but extending the light a little distance - perhaps about 5 ft away from the paper I was able to read well.
eternaLight Ergo 3 Red/White option - with only 2x White LEDs - the 66% level is what I normally find the most useful - and I could read comfortably from 6 feet away holding the light normally (therefore also about 6ft away)
MJLED (#2) in MiniMag 2AA - this definitely was brighter still and the printing was very legible - to the point where I would say it may hvae been clearer than with the regular 60watt soft-white bulb.
S1801 1watt Luxeon 1x CR123 - brighter still and almost to the point of being too bright at 6ft - of course my eyes can adapt to the level and it was not so dazzling that I found it uncomfortable - but I know that it definitely affects any dark adaption my eyes have acquired (as does the MJLED - just less so....)
So to me probably the ideal general purpose light level for my typical tasks is the Dorcy 1AAA or eternaLight Ergo 3 R/W option on 66% level.
But with the caveat for normal handheld reading I still prefer the Photon 2 Yellow, as it seems to affect my dark adaption less........
Again going the other way for the ability of our eyes to accomodate different light levels (ie: dynamic range) I have actually walked outdoors in the unlit countryside with just a Photon Yellow - probably not recommended as the only or ideal light - but I managed.
Comments? Suggestions?
What is this?
- and is there one light level that's the right amount of light?
see this thread for some previous discussion -
Dorcy 1AAA Outdoors
I do realize this is very dependent on the individual, and what we are used to, or adapted to.
So it would seem pretty obvious to me that the second question about a single light being suitable is not possible.
I EDC a couple of lights and they seem to suit me for most purposes I put lights to -
Now is that because I have adapted to those lights?
or is the EDC because those light levels suit me?
Possibly a bit of both?
In the earlier days of LEDs (and that's not so long ago) when the general (LED) light level for a pocklet LED was in the class of Photons, Inovas, ArcAAA, Ultras and Dorcy 1AAAs - although from my citing, it would seem that we had a great deal of choice - all those lights were about the same ballpark level - of course, some may have been brighter - but not enough to make a real practical difference - at least to me.....
More advancements in LEDs meant that we are now getting much brighter LEDs in the form of Luxeons - 1 watt and 3 watts are now pretty commonplace, and getting more affordable.
I have now acquired more of those, so has my requirements for light levels correspondingly increased with the more affordable and more easily available increase in Lumens?
Not really - I find that the Luxeons of this world are much better for longer ranges - but not as suitable for my closer task usage.
For example I still find the ArcAAA/Dorcy 1AAA class of white LEDs a little bit too bright for reading (black print on white paper) in a dark environment - they seem to affect whatever dark adaption I have acquired (not true scotopic night vision) - not badly, but I definitely notice it - with a choice, I would use something not quite as dazzling for the task.
So I've tried to quantify this with a little ad-hoc experiement -
I am not too sure if it has any scientific meaningfulness - but here goes -
I set a sheet of printed paper lit with a regular 60watt soft-white bulb in a table lamp approx 3 feet away. The printing was 12 pt. Times New Roman (Western) font from my laser printer.
Measured the distance where I could just comfortably read the printing - for me, this was approx 6 feet.
Darkened the room. Then stood at the same distance and used various flashlgihts to see if I could still read the same printing.
These were of pretty wide range of brightness
Note: I am at 6 feet away from the paper - any variance in distances discussed are the distance of the Lights from the paper.
Photon 2 Yellow - my EDC close task light - I could NOT read at 6 ft away - but if I extended my arm to move the light closer I could just read with the Photon 2 Yellow at about 3.5 ft away (I am still at 6feet)
Dorcy 1AAA - a close call, maybe I just could NOT read from 6 ft - but extending the light a little distance - perhaps about 5 ft away from the paper I was able to read well.
eternaLight Ergo 3 Red/White option - with only 2x White LEDs - the 66% level is what I normally find the most useful - and I could read comfortably from 6 feet away holding the light normally (therefore also about 6ft away)
MJLED (#2) in MiniMag 2AA - this definitely was brighter still and the printing was very legible - to the point where I would say it may hvae been clearer than with the regular 60watt soft-white bulb.
S1801 1watt Luxeon 1x CR123 - brighter still and almost to the point of being too bright at 6ft - of course my eyes can adapt to the level and it was not so dazzling that I found it uncomfortable - but I know that it definitely affects any dark adaption my eyes have acquired (as does the MJLED - just less so....)
So to me probably the ideal general purpose light level for my typical tasks is the Dorcy 1AAA or eternaLight Ergo 3 R/W option on 66% level.
But with the caveat for normal handheld reading I still prefer the Photon 2 Yellow, as it seems to affect my dark adaption less........
Again going the other way for the ability of our eyes to accomodate different light levels (ie: dynamic range) I have actually walked outdoors in the unlit countryside with just a Photon Yellow - probably not recommended as the only or ideal light - but I managed.
Comments? Suggestions?
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