Who Lives In Darkness?

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

I’m sure this has been covered before and I’m in no way a expert on tints or whatever but I’m always amazed at how so many here demand on having NW or WW or whatever tint in lights.

Unless you’re a professional photographer or someone who takes pictures in complete darkness that needs to have leaves or trees or bushes show they’re true colors, why not just a light that lights up things in the dark?

I’m one of these weirdos who only wants a light that’s bright enough to see what goes bump in the night, change a tire or signal to someone that I’m here.

I’m not saying that you folks wanting different tints are not viable but you folks are so adamant on making manufacturers provide tints that do nothing except LIGHT UP THE DARK!

Thanks for your responses!

2

Well, NW and WW color temp lights are more pleasing to the eye compared to cool white, especially in complete darkness. And due to how our eyes work and the higher blue emission of CW lights, a CW beam can even my night sensitivity, and annoy me.

Warmer tints, down to a point of course, also tend to have better color reproduction, meaning red looks redder, purple looks more purple. A CW beam can wash out colors to the point of green becoming blue, and red becoming becoming yellow in some bad cases.

Finally, CW makes me want so stay awake. I want to sleep back as quickly as possible after I pull out a light :slight_smile:

3

Yep, for most people, some tints look better than others.

What's funny is that many BLF members hate low PWM, while I never notice it.

Just feel lucky that you're not picky about everything.

4

Have you ever used a light to identify different colored wires in a dark area? How about tracking a mortally wounded game animal through the dark woods while trying to distinguish red blood droplets from brown spots on leaves?

The correct tint makes all the difference in the world in the two scenarios above.

Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean there isn’t a valid need for it.

5

Initially, I was of the same mindset. Brighter is better, so cool it is. Who cares. It does the job intended. Then as my hobby progressed, I built more lights and really experienced the warmer more natural lights, and I started to see the value in higher CRI and warmer tints, I seem to have come around and joined the group here.

It’s sort of like taste in fine wines, good beer, or high quality dark roasted coffee (for those of you foregoing the cream and sugar). You warm up to it, and everything else feels wrong or not quite perfect.

I’m not going to call myself a tint snob, I still have some sst40 lights I am moderately happy with, for their specified purposes, but there’s just something about a warmer white light that I have grown to like and feel comfort in.

My eyes have learned to differentiate between the synthetic bluish tint and the realistic, daytime-type light, produced by the sun (that we’ve genetically adapted to over time). In the pepsi challenge, my eyes prefer slightly warmer, higher CRI.

6

Thanks for that and I do understand most things and why the anger? By the way, I have done both! I’m an old guy and as long as my light is bright enough, yes, I can see the different colors of wires in the dark. I also tracked a deer my brother shot with an arrow and we tracked the blood trail with an old light that didn’t have have color temperatures and we found the deer in the dark!

7

Listen, I’m not trying to start an argument here or condoning CW, NW, WW or any tint that you guys prefer, I’m just saying that I’m a guy that spends most of my time inside and when I go outside, I just want a light that lights up the OUTSIDE in the DARK!

To each they’re own and again, I just like a light that lights my way into the darkness where
I spend most of my time away from it.

After all is said and done, I love flashlights!

8

I generally prefer neutral to slightly warm tints. I find that bluish tints tend to cause eye strain for me in extended use.

I do have a tiny Enogear AAA/10440 that is bluer than blue, but is specifically a back up. Was useful at work the other day when the power went out. The mid mode of about 50-60 lumens was useful for finishing up what I needed to do. I also had a BLF 348 in my vest. Great tint, but gets to hot quickly. Useful for the quick inspections I usually use it for, but not really extended use.

9

Buy a ThorFire TK01 and tell us what you prefer. Dirt cheap keychain light with damn near perfect temp and tint.

10

I understand what you are saying Gebe & agree to a large degree.

Years ago when I just had a “flashlight”, I had no trouble identifying colored wires or objects. I had no trouble tracking & finding big game animals in the dark following blood trails either.

I still do the same things today with whatever light I have on me.

While I have taken the time to learn more about different tints, CCT, CRI, etc., & etc. …… it has really made but a little difference in my preferences. As a general rule I could care less about CRI. For the most part I could care less if it is 70, 80, 90, or whatever CRI. As long as it is at least 70CRI.

The absolute most important things to me are beam quality, beam profile & tint. CRI is of little concern to me. I am not be going to be making any life or death decisions base on what shade of color something is. And if I am at the department store buying new boxers under their fluorescent lights…. I don’t care it the color is exact or not. And I am certainly not going to pull out a High CRI light to check the color before I buy. :smiley: … :wink:

To me, tint is most important. I do not care for yellow, reddish, or harsh blues. If it is a tiny bit rosy…. OK. I do not like warm white. To me, anything below 4500K is Warm White (WW). It is not for me.
And anything between 5000K & 4500K is on the bubble.

Give me 5000K - 5750K, what ’to me’ is true Neutral White; & I am a happy old camper. :wink: I am even happy on up to 6500K (CW) most times, if it is close to the BBL.

Anyway, all of my “K” preferences have just been born in the last 3 or 4 years. And they are not set in stone either. I just don’t want a yellow tint. :smiley:

Mostly I just want to light my way when the need arises. :+1:

11

Between the tint snobs and the CRI babies I’m good with the 5000 to 5700 range , the 4000 lights look too yellow for me.
:innocent:

12

Buy what you like, Like what you Buy.
Simple

Variety, it’s why we have more than 1 type of Tomato, Beer, Wine, Car, Car tires, Fabric, Carpet, Wood floor, Wood Paneling, Women, Beer, you get the idea…
………I think?

13

I noticed you menfioned “Beer” twice…. :smiley: . :+1: . :beer:
…
I think your right though. Now days there are an enormous amount of choices for anything we wish to purchase. Looking back, I kinda liked it better with fewer & simplier choices.

But there is no going back now……. :wink:

14

Using different tints is like picking slightly different lines on a techy trail with a hardtail: your enjoyment is always a little different from the last time you went through it. Although some people prefer a full squish to roll over everything. And if they enjoy themselves with it, hey, more power to them! :wink:

I’m no real tint snob or CRI addict, I’m just a shameless retro buff that likes his torches to be on the “old incandescent” end of the spectrum :smiley:

15

I am a tint snob, every light I build or buy is either NW or WW and usually HCRI when available however I couldn’t pass up the recent Zebralight clearance sale on the SC63 and have been really surprised at how much I don’t mind the beam color and the light [CRI] quality.

My only complaint is tint shift between turbo (H1) and high (H2) and even then neither tint bothers me at all, just the switch between them is annoying (turbo is a fair bit cooler then lower modes. Not nearing heat related blue shift, probably just ~500K cooler but very noticeable)

Haven’t made any other non high CRI purchases since but it’s really changed my outlook in that I’d be willing to consider CW / non HCRI lights in the future (but for sure I’ll still continue to use NW / HCRI LED’s for my mods).

16

I have a friend (girl) that has retinitis pigmentosa !

Sometime ago she showed me a common 1€ flashlight (5mm Leds, Cool White) she has, and I showed her a light that I have, modded with Luxeon V (Warm White).
When comparing both, she immediately recognized that the warmer tint would favour her night vision, againts the CW tint.

I then modded a Sofirn SF10 for her, with an XML2 T6-4C, which she loved and that will probably suit her eyes better than the “blueish” CW emitters.

So, sometimes preferences, sometimes needs, get in the way and we opt for specific tints and colours!!
Fortunately, we have lots of them waiting for us and our needs and preferences :smiley:

17

I agree with the OP. I want a light to be able to see where the light is too little. I spend zero time examining the color or tint of the beam.
Jerry

18

Tint,warmer 4K is good. Cri, who fkn cares. I have a lr30 camp light that gathers dust. Supposedly high cri, can’t deal with tint.

19

It’s a bit like asking why people buy fancy expensive headphones when a cheap $5 pair allows people to tell which notes are playing.

I mean, yes, pretty much anything is sufficient for the most basic purposes, seeing where things are in the dark or hearing the notes in a song. But sometimes people want something a little nicer, to see vivid colors or to hear the full spectrum of harmonics in a song.

Sometimes just making it louder (or brighter) is enough, because almost everything sounds (or looks) better after cranking up the power. But improving the signal quality, like with flat-response studio headphones or high-CRI lighting, tends to be better for extended use without ear or eye strain.

20

You do have a graphic way with words when describing things TK, making your meaning easily understood!!! :+1:
A trait to be appreciated………