According to the CREE PCT, a XP-L V3 @700mAh would produce about 331 lumens. I prefer brighter, but as has been said, a lantern is different from a flashlight, and that may be plenty of light, if the lantern is well designed to put the light where it is needed.
Interestingly, a XP-G3 S6 would give us ~373lm @700mAh, and have a lower Vf than the XP-L V3, and is probably cheaper to buy.
I haven’t really thought about emitter choice for this project… I’m not very involved in the hardware. Maybe XP-G3 would be good, or maybe 219c, or maybe XP-L or XP-L2, or … etc. I hope it’ll be high-CRI though, and hopefully no warmer than 4000K. 219c 4000K could be good.
It’s worth mentioning that high CRI isn’t going to be as efficient.
Given that this is BLF, I’m willing to bet the emitter will be easy to swap if you aren’t happy with it out of the box. Hopefully we can an update on the design soon!
I’d prefer around 4500K, but anything in the range of 4000K to 5000K would be okay with me, as long as it doesn’t have a sickly tint. High CRI would be nice as well. If you’re going out in nature, you might as well see it as God intended!
Any chance you’d also consider making a mini version to hang in tents?
Something like single cell (AA or 18650), candle to incandescent temperature range (~2000k), lightweight, 360* diffuser, cheap. Should include some kind of clip or ability to hang it to a tent ceiling loop.
I don’t understand why people want lanterns in the 4000-5000k range. That introduces blue light which is artificial and will make it harder to sleep because it messes with circadian rhythms.