For what is shown in the video, 50k cd is really all you’d need in a dark hunting environment. If you think you’d prefer a more intense hotspot, go for 100k. You don’t really need to overkill it. 100k cd is going to be great at 200 metres with your dark adapted eyes, and very bright at 100 metres. The rest of the light can go into creating a larger hotspot.
However, you also do not need too large a hotspot, like what a Olight X7 or X7R does with a triple XHP-70 in a 60mm or so diameter head, as 9000-12000 lumens does you no good if the hotspot is going to be hitting the ground close to you and spoiling your night vision. That wastes power, creates more heat than is necessarily useful and could be used, cuts runtime etc. Actually, even 1500 lumens does you no good, your eyes’ pupils are very good at such adaptation.
The Convoy L6 and Sofirn Q8 are both 100k cd lights, with the Sofirn Q8 going to be having a slightly bigger hotspot diameter.
All these lights are actually more similar than different in terms of performance. All it boils down is price, UI, form factor (length etc) and whether or not it is going to take a beating in your exact usage? (which we wouldn’t know in detail, even though you mentioned kayaking and hunting).
And also user preference, some folks really will not accept budgetlight brands esp for stuff like hunting/kayaking.
I’d actually stick to a known cd and known hotspot size, and then get something with a ramping mode unless you are sure that the fixed levels can cut it in your usage. The lower end output needs serious fine tuning so that it’s also useful for very short, short and medium distances. That’s in addition to the lumens + cd ratings.
The zoomable Fenix listed above is worthy to look into, if it fits into your budget.