SO many different things for essentially the same thing. I see people talk about 300kcd on a dedomed light, etc etc.
How are they measuring this? Is there a poor man’s method of measuring this value? Or do I need equipment?
Lux meter for throw (Kcd).
Lux meter and integrating sphere/equipment for approximate lumen measurement.
A lot of variables, but you can at least more accurately compare your lights to each other if you have a lux meter.
You can crudely approximate lumen output by measuring current draw with a DMM and matching the subsequent current to Match’s emitter tests.
Use a lux meter for measuring lux, then you convert it to candela (cd) using the distance from lux meter. There are online converters, e.g.:
You could turn your smartphone, tablet or camera into poor man’s lux meters if they have appropriate sensors & app available. The results might not be fully comparable to other peoples results without some adjustments tho.