Not to get too far off topic, but it's the same with audiophile equipment and TV's. You'll have people spending thousands on quality audio gear and the latest OLED TV, only to use 80 CRI bulbs in their house. I don't fault them though - that's all most stores carry. But if you're a member of THIS forum....
For as long as us consumers are willing to buy more and better flashlights, CRI will increasingly be a part of the mix. The average Dept. store manager looks at sales and finds that customers seem to like the newer high CRI lights, even if it’s a subconscious choice. Profit drives innovation. If the consumer can get a better flashlight than the one sitting in the kitchen drawer when it wears out, why not, especially if it doesn’t cost much more. Personally I’m looking to get one of those new x-ray flashlights. Turn it on and see your bones (smile).
So, to sum it up and in my opinion, higher CRI beams are on the way. Maybe one day there will be a small high output zoomie that has no artifacts/aberrations, with perfect intensity across the beam, with sunlight CRI, and a small nuclear battery that lasts for a hundred years. Hahaha, outlandish dreamers get the cherry pie and whipped cream right?
CRI is an important factor for me when I choose my flashlights.
… but only up to a point.
- For example: I recently tried out my old Zebralight SC62D. It’s high-CRI… but at only 200 lumens, the beam is vastly inferior to my 80-CRI SC62w which produces well over 1,000 lumens.
- I’ll go for high CRI if I can get it in the correct tint, and if I don’t sacrifice too much output. I’m willing to sacrifice maybe 1/3 of the max output to get high-CRI. But if I have to sacrifice more than that I’ll probably just get the lower CRI option.
- It should be noted that even among “low CRI” there is considerable variation. 65 CRI may look horrible, but 80 CRI can look pretty good.
- For some specialist lights, low-CRI is the superior option. Oslon White 1 in a dedicated thrower for example.
When it comes to high-CRI, I prefer certain LEDs:
- SST-20 4000K is my favorite, but unless you get a really good bin most are unpleasantly greenish. To date, the best I’ve found were the FD2 bin sold by Kaidomain from their previous reel. What they’re currently selling as FD2 must be from a new reel. They claim it is also FD2, but the leds from it look greenish and nothing like the ones from their previous reel. I don’t think they’re really FD2. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any source that sells proper FD2 bin LEDs that don’t look greenish at present.
- LH351D is ok, but I’m not a huge fan since R9 is low and the beam pattern is a bit too floody. Slicing it solves the flood, but does nothing for the lousy R9.
- Nichia 219C is ok. A bit less output than LH351D, but has a pleasant beam pattern and adequate output. R9 isn’t great though.
- I do not like Nichia 219B… and that includes SW45K others on BLF like so much. The sacrifice in output is simply too great. Every time I try Nichia 219B in a light, I end up taking it right out again as I can’t stand the low output.
Its a juggling act, in flashlights i want lumens. But low CRI (like 65) sucks.
In recent years getting 80 CRI or higher is achievable and you can still get lots of lumens.
My beater light is an FC11 with the high CRI and 1200 lumens, a good EDC.
But in a specialty light like max throw or most lumens i will sacrifice CRI for more brightness.
The right tool for the right job.
I didn’t think CRI would matter much to me, but surprisingly it makes a big difference when working on something. The contrast, perspective, and ease on the eyes is markedly improved with high CRI emitters like the SST-20 4000K, LH351D 4000K and 5000K. Now, high CRI is a requirement for me on new lights.
90+ CRI is important to me but it’s more than just CRI that matter. The DUV must be below the BBL otherwise even if it was 100 CRI with positive DUV (Green tint), I still would not buy.
Sure, for 99% of situations I use a light for there isn’t a tradeoff. High CRI LEDs are available in color temperatures I like that are bright enough to meet my needs, so no need to waste time with something that isn’t. I EDC a D4V2, and it spends most of it’s time set from 50-100 lumens if I had to guess. On the rare occasions I need more output (I think I’ve only actually NEEDED a thrower twice in my life) I can grab a light that meets that need.
Yup. Vinyl is compressed, just physically not digitally.
Not sure if this is such a great example for flashlights. I have a bunch of old vinyl that I took care of back in the day and a reasonably good turntable and cartridge. Have nothing digital that comes close for sound quality. (I know it does exist, I just don’t own anything that high end.) I know that the mp3 and even AIFF files that I have on my computer and phone, which I can play through the same amp and speakers as the vinyl, just won’t have the full audio quality of decent vinyl. Would I give up listening to music on my phone with OK headphones? Absolutely NOT! Way too many additional benefits for one deficit.
While CRI is not my top factor in choosing a light, when it is combined with a pleasant tint and good optics, you just get a better light with no meaningful downside. Sure there are applications where this may not always be true but for most flashlights it is. I have about 100 vinyl albums worth of songs on my phone. I have about 100 vinyl albums in my office. Truly enjoy listening to music and using my flashlights while walking the dogs. Bringing along 100 albums for the quality of audio…
Definitely high cri for me. Ever since I build my 219b S2+ I don’t want low cri anymore. Lumens is bragging rights, cri is usability imo.
mp3 < vinyl < lossless (CDA) for audio range. Good equipment does make the difference, but each has their place.
low CRI < High CRI for visuals. Each has their place. I’m not worried about accurate colour rendition at 250M, I just want to be able to see what is there as clearly as I can.
Actually, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if a lot of people just considered a nice tint to be high-CRI.
Throw in angular tint-shift and a fried-egg beam, warmer/cooler CT, etc., and an ugly-ass beam might be high-CRI that people hate, but a clean but lower-CRI beam looks soooooooo nice.
So I’ll reserve judgment.
I chose ‘yes’
I remember a time when only one guy was using HCRI LEDs in his lights, McGizmo.
He was a visionary.
Now we have so many HCRI LEDs available, it is an awesome time to be into flashlights.
I would prefer more choices on this poll. I feel pigeonholed by the current options. I pick the option “It depends”.
Depends on the use case. For illuminating things during night photography, then yes. For creating light trails during night photography, then no.
While I don’t think CRI is the most important factor, it is a significant consideration when I decide what emitter to use in a light (both EDC and otherwise). For example, I don’t care for any of the SST-20 I’ve seen (with the exception of the FD2 I got from Kaidomain) because they’ve all had a pretty nasty green tint. I’d choose a nice rosy 70 CRI XP-L HI over a green SST-20.
Max lumens is not a consideration at all. Most LEDs, even lower powered emitters like 219b, are capable of getting far brighter than I will ever need for my uses. It wasn’t that long ago that an extremely expensive tactical flashlight with an incandescent emitter could do a max of like 80 lumens, and that was mind blowingly bright at the time.
I’d say about 95% of the time, I’m using my lights at 60 lumens or less.
My usual EDC is a Zebralight SC64c with 219b sw35 (thanks Bob McBob). The light I use at work is an Olight S1R II that I modded with XM-L2 3000K 90+ CRI (very rosy!).
My most used lights for my nighttime trail walks are a few D80v2s with 219b of various CCTs. I use L4P LD-A4 drivers set to a max of 2A. At that current, I can run the light at full brightness until the battery is completely flat and it never gets more than warm to the touch. They do about 400 lumens at max output. Nowadays most folks would scoff and say they “need” at least 1000 lumens or it’s useless.
This is what a 219b sw40 looks like in a D80v2 at 2A. Unless you are in need of a super thrower to see several hundred meters (or just want to impress your friends), I just can’t understand why we need to overdrive our lights to the levels that we do.
High CRI would be my preference, but not really important to me. For EDC use, what’s important to me boils down to size of the light, UI, driver efficiency, and temperature control. I haven’t really found anything better than my SC600 MK3 HI for that. 80+ CRI with a neutral duv comes pretty close to a 90 CRI light. If Zebralight arises from their graves and makes an SC600 with new XHP50.3 HIs with 90+ CRI options, I’d be the first to get one.
There are other elements asides from CRI that I prefer as well. I don’t like domed LEDs in reflectors, because they exaggerate tint shift within the beam itself. The ol warmer and greener corona and cooler and pinky-er spill is always gross to look at. Domeless emitter help mitigate that. Certain optics can help mitigate that as well. Speaking of beam profiles, I’d prefer a large and diffused hotspot, minimal corona, and a soft spill. I absolutely loved the way SST20s looked in the original ROT66. I wish I could find a light with that beam profile for EDC usage.
Have you checked out the EO2II with the 4000k SST20? I think it has a wonderful profile that is perfect for EDC usage. Same emitter in the TS21 and that is also a nice beam profile although I prefer the EO2II as the hot spot is more diffused. Both very nice lights and high CRI. One has outstanding run time and the other has outstanding utility.
CRI is down the list of qualifiers when I consider a light. I think color temp is most important followed by tint (and where that tint falls on the line can vary for me depending on temperature/temperature at desired currents). Beam comes next. If I can get that in a high-CRI emitter that’s just icing on the cake. Since we mostly have very decent CRI emitters for sale these days, it’s pretty rare to see a low-CRI, but yeah, avoid those (call it below 75 or 70 depending on the metric). There are few cases for me where high CRI is really so useful as to make it a requirement, and having cut my teeth on dim yellow crappy lights and then on dim crappy led lights, almost anything these days is great by comparison.
I appreciate high-CRI much more in indoor room lighting where you can feel as well as see that difference if you spend much time in it. Flashlight beams are mostly utility for me and most of the time anything will work well enough even if color rendition isn’t stellar.
I think the poll was poorly worded as most polls are. Yes, if given a choice of high cri on almost all lights out there I would almost always choose high Cri. As time goes by more manufacturers are offering more cct and Cri choices. It’s not happening fast enough as far as I’m concerned. Some lights are near impossible to change an LED on so that’s not always an option. And most people are not set up to do that.