Cheap high CRI/R9 neutral light to try - an advice

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

I have two lights with auxiliary high CRI LEDs (Nitecore NU25 and TIKI). Although I don’t know what the LEDs are, I like what they do. The CCT seems to be 4,500 K, which is good, but maybe a tad too warm.

As I’m educating myself on flashlights and LEDs, I would like to cheaply try something that would produce the taste of the magic beam that everybody at BLF seem to be after.

The Nichia 519a @ 5000K in as neutral tint as possible seems to be close to the Holly Grail from what I understand. Other than price, the light should be smallish (definitely not larger than compact 18650, preferably smaller). The beam pattern doesn’t matter - smootish is good. No external chargers. Output, throw, runtime, all moderate, but it would be good if the output profile were mostly flat-regulated somewhat. UI as simple as possible - maybe 2 or 3 light levels with some kind of travel lock in all.

Is there such a light, or am I dreaming?

p.s. A corollary to this question: similar specs for a headlamp, but this time the size is the king - the smaller the better.

2

Unless you want a side switch, how about a Convoy S2+?

For headlamp, you could try a Sofirn HS10, when they’re on sale on AliExpress they go for ?$12 with a cell included.

The Sofrin isn’t a 519a, but you could swap the LED.

An alternative small headlamp suggestion is the Manner E02/E03 (AA/AAA). The UI annoys me though, it’s not possible to switch from Low to medium without turning the light off.

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3

#1 Sounds like a job for a Convoy S2+ in either 18350 or 18650, if you like clicky tailswitch.
18350: 23.41€ |18350 Version Konvoi s2 grau 519a Taschenlampe, mit Batterie im Inneren| | - AliExpress
18650: 22.19€ |Convoy S2 + mit 519A,R9080,DTP kupfer platte, ar beschichtet glas objektiv, 5amps 12 gruppen, 18650 taschenlampe, Taschenlampe, mit 18650 batterie| | - AliExpress
I recommend setting the driver to Group 8, 2.5A is a decent current for an S2+ - at 5A it heats a lot and is barely brighter (at least the 18350 version, never tried 18650 myself).

If you want more focused throw, I see the M1 is not huge and offered in a 519A version - but I have no experience with it. Just came across it while browsing the shop:
18650: 24.93€ |Konvoi m1 lh351d 519a xhp 50,3 hi b35am 12groups Taschenlampe|LED-Taschenlampen| - AliExpress

If you want it to have a decent clip, I would add this one (for almost all convoy lights. Also stops them from rolling away on your desk).
Clip: 2.27€ |Taschenlampe taille clip, edelstahl clip, für neue C8,M2,S3|s3 batterie|s3 radioclip bang - AliExpress

One smaller:
14500: 18.88€ |Convoy T3 taschenlampe, hohe CRI, AA 14500 taschenlampe, XPG2 219B 219C LH351D 519A, mit 14500 batterie im inneren, 13 gruppen|Taschenlampen| - AliExpress

#2 Not sure about the headlamp. I have an HS10, comes with LH351D by default. 4000K is pretty good, 5000K is said to have bad tint. Could LED-swap, if you wish/feel capable.

Wurkkos is currently working on this 14500 headlamp which looks really fun, but no idea if it will come with 519As:

I’m waiting for that one, hope it will be good. Might replace my HS10 entirely.

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4

Thank you. Can Convoys be charged internally, or is an external charger required?

5

You would need an external charger for a Convoy unless you get an S21E and then the UI’s getting more complicated.

Unfortunately if you insist on integrated charging you’re not going to have as much choice when it comes to LED. You can get an Xtar single-bay charger on Amazon for $10-ish.

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6

Only the larger sideswitch convoys have USB charging, for all others you need an external charger.

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7

Oh, if you get a Convoy T3 it will run on AA. It still won’t charge them but you probably have some.

8

Looks good. I’ve seen something similar form-wise from Fenix incl. red aux. emitter but some lesser CRI main LED and more expensive.

The HS10 reportedly uses the LH351D in 4000 or 5000 K. Could someone with experience could comment on what light to expect from it?

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LH351D is often incredibly green in 4000K and 5000K, and the R9 sometimes goes as low as 40. Do not recommend, the 519A is better in every way.

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That’s not a good news, as I was reading on Sofirn’s SH10 and SC21 and they both looked good, but regulated differently. Is the difference that visible, or are we splitting hair? Is there an alternative that would allow me to try Nichia instead?

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The difference between LH351D and 519A is extremely obvious. The LH351D I had renders colors (including reds) worse (subjectively) than a 70CRI MT-G2, while the 519A is almost indistinguishable from sunlight. I’d recommend also trying out the 519A in 5700K, it’s comparable to noon sunlight, while the 5000K is like late morning/early afternoon sunlight.

I don’t know much about headlamps, but for a normal 18650 flashlight you can’t go wrong with the S2+. You could also get a pack of TIRs to play with the beam profile and find out what you really like.

If you want a AA/14500 light the Convoy T5 is excellent.

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12

Thanks for this! If, as with Convoy, there is a choice of LEDs and I want to try 519a and I’d like a neutral tint, on top of asking for CCT of either 4500, 5000, or 5700K do I need to (or is it even possible to) specify the bin that is as neutral as possible?

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5700K is my favourite, it’s like portable daylight, 5000K has a definite yellowish cast to it. CCT is very much a personal preference but to me 5700K is beautifully neutral.

14

The 519As are remarkably consistent in tint from sample to sample, the choice of reflector or choice of optic would influence the tint much more than sample variance. I would go for one of the beaded or frosted optics, in a relatively narrow angle. Some wide optics are prone to weird artifacts or tint shift. A reflector is fine too, just a bit too tint-shifty for my liking.

IMO I find that the Carclo optics are much better at producing clean, smooth, homogeneous beams with high CRI emitters, but that might just be me nitpicking. Somehow the acrylic optics always seem a bit off-tint to me in comparison. But in any case the 519A will be an eye-opening experience if one has only had low CRI emitters or LH351Ds.

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The Wurkkos TLF Golden WK03 might be a good choice.
519A 5000K, fairly compact 18650, USB-C charging, nearly perfect Simple UI, great price:

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16

Damn, totally forgot about this one. Definitely a great choice. It nails pretty much every feature OP is looking for.

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17

Sounds great. I just looked at ZeroAir review runtime graphs for the pedestrian version. If the golden one just changed the LED, it looks that the output is less than constant. I kind of prefer straight lines…

Does it mean that the output is unregulated? What kind of driver does that indicate?

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Pretty sure it’s the usual FET driver type sofirn and wurkkos use one their lower end lights.

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Would it mean that as the output decreases, and I turn it off and then on again at some point, the light output would not reset itself to its highest level but rather continue where it left off?

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Yes. Essentially, the output on those decreases due to lower battery voltage, not due to the driver throttling. But the differences are not that big unless you compare 100% battery with 5% battery or so

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