already have wurkkos ts22 xhp70.3 90cri, really like the decent runtime even on high setting, but the color rendition is a bit lacking vs even my old jaxman e2 219b…
but now looking for a better high CRI something like fc-gt40 (one of the better one for powerful high cri output still?) or 219b (one of the best high cri still?) for landscape and foliage color renditions; I understand these are less efficient leds
prefer spill for walk in the woods, and a throw of ~100-150m,single cell for simplicity
so any recommendations for a well regulated high cri flooder flashlight?
IMO now the 519A has beat it in every way other than the extremely rosy tint, as far as 3535 emitters. It is neutral when domed, and rosy and throwy when dedomed.
If your budget was a bit bigger I would instantly recommend an Emisar D4K with dedomed 519a 5700k and the boost driver, it should get you around 2000lm and decent throw for a floody TIR quad. Optioned out it comes out around $65 to $70, as you’ll probably want the stainless bezel and pocket clip.
Another cheaper option might be a Convoy S21E with a B35AM, it is an incredibly well regulated boost driver but it is not particularly bright or throwy (only around 1200lm). As of now it has the highest commonly available CRI, my B35AM have tested to be 98cri according to my Opple LM3. The UI is not as good, but I think the price might make it worth it.
Given you’ve a 90 CRI LED already, I’d suspect what you’re observing isn’t CRI.
You’re either seeing the difference between colour temperature (CCT) or tint.
Are both lights the same CCT?
Within last couple of years, the opple devices have become available, which can measure CCT, CRI and DUV (tint). This has advanced our technical discussion around LEDs - prior to the ability to measure these ourselves, the discussion generally focused on whether a light was warm CCT or cool. Now the discussion is the colour temperature but also the tint.
LEDs can range from variously green (generally disliked) to neutral (popular), to slightly rosy (also popular) to very rosy (some people love it, some don’t).
It may well be, assuming both lights are same colour temperature, that your 219b is rosy and the XHP70 is slightly greenish.
I agree.
What was the tint/CCT of your xhp70.3 90cri?
You might be better off with a different xhp70.3 90cri emitter that is warmer and less green.
I prefer 2700K, which is quite warm and has zero greenness, but I’m happy with 70 CRI.
Sorry, I don’t have one. I have an S21E in 519a which I barely use because of the UI, and an Emisar D1v2 with a B35AM which is identical in power to the S21E but has a bigger reflector and is therefore more throwy.
The D1v2 barely heats up as it’s only 6v 3A on turbo, the S21E should be similar, as both are very efficient boost drivers, instead of the linear/FET driver of most SFT40 lights.
That explains it, the high CRI cooler white versions (cct >4500k) of the XHP don’t have that good of a color representation, only Ra90 and R9050 and Wurkkos probably went for a flux bin. I tend to go with 4000k for most of my lights instead, makes it so there’s less backscatter.
The 90CRI rating is not indicative of true CRI. The Cree 90CRI emitters tend to be just around 90, at most in the low 90’s, while the Nichia 9080 emitters are always 95+, typically 97+ for higher CCTs. So the difference may come down to CRI. But yes, Cree’s high CRI emitters tend to be quite green.
And yes, a triple/quad 519A is probably the OP’s best shot.
I’m happy to be corrected, but I’m of the current opinion that CCT, DUV are more important than the difference between 90 and 98 CRI.
Given two identical lights, with same CCT, and DUV, I’d be interested to know if the 10% increase in CRI is even visually identifiable.
Is “True CRI” a thing? Outside of the extended measurement “colours” I’m not aware of other ways of reporting CRI. Keen to read up if there are other competing methods that give better indication of visual performance.
My money is still on difference in DUV values and OP prefers neutral to slightly below BBL.
Is there a compilation table of LEDs anywhere? Availability of different CCT/CRI, performance, generally whether the light is above/below the BBL?
I’ve a FC GT40 to put in a modified convoy L6, to compare against 4 519a emitters, I’d like to know at a glance if the GT40 is generally more or less pink than the domed 519a’s…
I definitely agree that CCT and duv are more noticeable than CRI for someone who’s new to lights. When I first started, I first liked pink-tinted emitters, and then warm emitters; I only started caring about CRI 5 years into the hobby. But now I value CRI more than the other two parameters, and my EDC preference has become 4500-5000K, neutral to slightly positive duv, and as high CRI as possible. These are achieved by a 519A 5000K triple I built.
I would probably not notice the difference between 90 and 98 CRI when I first started, but now I find the difference painfully obvious, comparing the LH351D and 519A in 5000K. The most notable difference is in deep red–the LH351D cannot accurately reproduce skin and wood tones, while the 519A’s reproduction is almost indistinguishable from sunlight. The next thing to look at is blues/greens, the 519A is more vivid due to a smaller cyan dip. My SST20 4000K is much greener than a sliced LH351D, but makes colors look much more natural.
I doubt there will ever exist a “true” notion of CRI, it’s so subjective. I think the metric I care most about is Rf, color fidelity. Even the best blue-pumped emitters (like 519A, E21A, etc.) never score above 94, while violet-pumped emitters can achieve 98+. I think it explains why I find blue-pumped emitters strangely pale even at the highest CRI: my eyes are picking up on the excess blue and deficient cyan. The cyan deficiency is most obvious when looking at skin compared to sunlight, the cyan and violet colored veins look dark in comparison.
Sadly I don’t know of a good writeup comparing different LEDs, it’s mostly folklore and experience.
I’ve heard mixed things about GT-FC40s, there is definitely more of a tint lottery compared to 519As.
[EDIT: as zak pointed out below, R9 is probably the most significant difference in performance between Cree and Nichia R9080 emitters. It’s hard to isolate its effect though, as within commonly available emitters there is extremely strong correlation between R9 and CRI.]
Given you’ve a 90 CRI LED already, I’d suspect what you’re observing isn’t CRI.
It’s probably not CRI Ra (R1-R8 average), which is the number usually reported as “CRI” (though the 519A is usually high 90s and Cree stuff claiming 90 is often lucky to actually hit 90). It’s probably R9: deep red rendering.
Nichia CRI bins like “R9080” report minimums for both Ra and R9 (90 and 80 in the example case, and in most real world 519As). Many older Nichia LEDs, and the new 719A are R9050, which won’t show as much color differentiation on objects that are shades of red, orange, or brown. Some flashlight manufacturers use Nichia bin nomenclature for other brands as well; I’ve seen Convoy describe an XHP70.3 as “R9050”.
