Originally posted by dingas:
Maybe you guys could enlighten me a bit. I have always found that my maglight with an incandescent (sp?) bulb to shine more light than leds... everyone touts how much brighter they are, and yes, they are much brighter to look directly at the bulb but not on a distant object (to me). A friend was showing me his new expensive led light camping a few years ago and when he shone it in the bushes I turned on my maglight (3D battery this time) and not only shone farther, but the light totally obliterated his light.
So my question is is my experience with crappy lights? Did my buddy get ripped off? Or is it, as I am thinking after reading this thread, simply a matter of bulb colour? And then what colour is best for tracking blood? I am thinking the incandescent may be worst choice in that scenario...
I know what your are saying and have seen some of that type stuff, but I have been learning more about the lights. We are using way more LED in our building project, and you will all be using more of them in the future as they phase out the incandescent.
I know very a little about these lights compared to what is out there for knowledge on some of the light or torch web sites, but I will try and tell you some of what I know on the comparisons.
There is a lot to how different lights compare. I think color impacts how you perceive the light due to detail. The beam profile, lumen output, and throw will all make a difference on how lights compare. LED quality and performance is all over the board. With the old tech lights you put more power in and a larger bulb and you get more light. They balanced output with run time. Add more batteries for more run time. With LED it is kind of the same to a point, but the emitter and the circuit driver on the LED make huge differences in what you get out of the same light body, reflector, and battery system. It is kind of like computer chips. Looks the same maybe, but the performance can be very different. Differences of 100% max light output are possible in the same light just by using different LED system. Run times will go down, but I have seen two different LED's in the same light have 50% max output difference with no difference in run time. Both lights cost about the same.
I have mostly cheap LEDs right now. A couple variant mini mags, one EverReady, and a couple others. Those are the non head lamp LED lights we have. All use 2-AA batteries. I can't say on run times which may or may not be directly correlated to output. Two of the better lights are the same output lumen, but one blows the other away with perceived performance based on beam profile and throw distance. The better looking one is the mini mag, but when I adjust the focus to more flood it matches the other light for perceived performance. The real difference is the focusing of the mini mag into more of a spot and increases the throw making the light look like it has better output. The other lights look like they would be as good or maybe better lights then my two better performers, but don't touch the better two for output at all. They are fine for around the house for power outages and for the kids to use outside and camping. They do give off more light with less battery use than standard incandescent lights.
I have some old mag lights. One 2D, and 4D, and a mini mag or two. My newest LED mini mag with 77 max lumen blows away my 2D. The new mini on low is brighter than the old mini mag. I don't have enough D cells to run the 4D light to see how that does, and I am not sure if it has a xenon or Krypton bulb. I think I will find the 4D will not keep up with the LED mini, but it could. Of course I can get a mini mag now that has over 200 lumen. Maglite doesn't list their incandescent light data with the new ANSI standards so it is real hard to compare, but I think the incandescent large maglites have like 40 lumen. Maybe more, but I bet not over 100. The light quality will be warmer and the 4D may have a longer run time than an LED mini, but big difference in cost to run and carry around. I know after years of using incandescent maglits, my jaw dropped the first time i switched on a LED 2xAA light with 70 plus lumen. The only reason I still have the big 4D is for a tracking light, and obviously I don't even have that ready to go.
There are a couple real nice features about LED's in addition to size, output, and run time. Those are the ability to have multiple light levels and the light is consistent output level for way longer. With incandescent, the light is its brightest when you first turn it on with new batteries, and it is almost all down hill from there.
I am done with big maglites or any other large battery incandescent. But if I still had the need for a weapon quality and size light, the 3C mag LED will put out 137 lumen for 37 hours of consistent light. The 3D will do 131 lumen for 79 hours. :eek: If you don't need the weapon feature in a light, there are other lights you can loose in your pocket that run a long time with way more output, longer run times and better light tint than a big old maglite. I would like to upgrade my old maglites to LED, but I don't know it is even worth the cost. I may do my 4D just to have a nice LED club. :D
Topic: Best Flashlight (Read 3754 times)
