Hello, I am new here. I’ve been trying to find which LED flashlights have a SPD that best matches a blackbody radiator. I can’t seem to find any information on this as most reviews are focused on how strong the flashlights are, battery life, etc.
As of right now, what is the best flashlight I can get that most closely resembles a 5000K curve?
If that is the number one requirement and price, power, efficiency, etc. are all secondary, what is the absolute best option available right now?
I’ve seen some pretty impressive results from the Sunlike lightbulbs, tested by @maukka is there any flashlight equivalents to those bulbs that possibly use the same COB?
Any flashlight equipped with the Nichia 519a LED will be right at or slightly below BBL, with very high CRI (R9080) at various CCT (5000K included). There’s currently no flashlights available that I know of, that uses violet pumped LEDs like these sunlike LEDs (I’m assuming these are yuji LEDs), but I recently brought some 2835 sunlike LEDs and I swapped them on a 40W LED bulb, and there’s virtually no difference between the sunlike and the 519a light output, visually speaking (my opple measures 99-100 CRI for the 519a and a solid 100 for the sunlike, so, virtually identical).
Edit: The Wurkkos FC11C and TS26S are great options, both have efficient drivers and are equipped with 5000K 519a LEDs, plus built in USB-C charging.
FC11C: single LED, 18650 battery
TS26S: quad LEDs, 21700 battery
So as far as color quality, the Nichia 519a LEDs are the best right now? Are there any other LEDs that come close in color quality?
After doing some research, the Acebeam E75 seems to be the best high quality flashlight with the Nichia 519a LEDs. Are there any other better options I am missing?
In terms of high-power LEDs, the Nichia B35A and high-CRI versions of the Luminus SFT40 are also excellent. The B35A is more efficient than the 519A with the same color quality, but takes a little more effort for flashlight manufacturers to use and isn’t common. Emisar/Noctigon and Convoy offer lights using all of these LEDs.
So far what everyone has said, but wanted to add that for the 519A emitter, a TIR-based light ought to be preferred over a reflector-based one like the E75.
LEDs produce different spectra at different angles: pinkish with a sharp blue spike direct in front, and a yellow-greenish light off to a side. A reflector gives a beam that is yellow in the center and pink/purple off to the side, while a TIR lens can blend the emission from different angles and give a beam that has consistent color throughout.
I would suggest the Emisar D4v2 or D4K, with Nichia 519A 5700K (closer to 5300K in reality) or 5000K (closer to 4700K), and choose the Carclo 10623 optic (for a smooth beam without tint shift) or 10621 (for a throwier beam that is still consistent in color but has slight artifacts outside the hotspot). These lights are also efficient and powerful, and should run only around 50$.
Another option is the Convoy S21D with 519A 5700K emitters, which is also TIR-based, and you can get a pack of different TIRs with different beam shapes to try out. This light is quite a bit cheaper.
Also note that the spectrum of a high CRI LED becomes more blue-heavy with increasing drive power, so a multi-LED light would be preferable to a single-LED light as the same amount of power can be distributed across multiple emitters.
By the time I selected the 519, Boost driver, SS Bezel, magnetic tail cap, and pocket clip it was more like $70.
But yeah without the extras it is right at $50. If only I could be satisfied with the basic light… I really want to talk myself into getting one of these one day. Everybody that has them seems to love them.
If it matters, one would still be paying around 30% more for the E75.
BTW I do have a couple of the S21D Convoy lights. Some of my favorites. So I can add to that recommendation.
For now, the Nichia 519A is the gold standard in terms of light quality. There’s other Nichia LEDs that are equally as nice, like the B35AM, E17A and E21A, but the 519A is by far the most popular.
