Yes, that’s one of a few things I think normal people could consider important if they saw the difference in situations where it matters, although that won’t be everybody. But two applications off the top of my head: I frequently find high CRI helpful when dealing with multi-color wires. The orange and brown in CAT5 cable look really similar under low CRI light. I’ve also heard from others who find it helpful grilling outdoors after dark. I would assume a steak tends to look a little greyish-green under low CRI, high DUV light.
What brought me here back when I was normal was frustration with unregulated lights. I hated how much my cheap lights dimmed as the batteries drained, and was thrilled to find out it didn’t have to be this way. I bet a lot of other normal people would feel cheated if the implications of ANSI FL1’s standard of testing runtime to 10% in terms of advertising were explained to them.
Moonlight was a feature I didn’t know I needed, even though I had already discovered the need and overlooked it when I was normal. I just got in the habit of covering my flashlight with my hand when I didn’t want to disturb my wife if I got up in the middle of the night, or my tent mates while camping. Granted, this one does tend to be a bit specialized simply for the fact that including a moonlight and multiple higher output modes may make a light more complex than most people want.
I understand the preference for high CRI, but there are a large number of people who want a headlamp just so that they can see where they’re going in the dark. Sometimes the ability to avoid tripping over stuff and falling into ditches is good enough and, like it or not, cool white low CRI emitters are more efficient which means that your batteries are going to last longer.
Recently I bought an Olight Warrior Mini 3 because I wanted a compact 18650 EDC light with some throw, onboard charging, a battery indicator, and instant access to moonlight, medium and turbo / high. Plus it was a really good price on sale. The beam is not as nice as my neutral white E75, but it’s very easy to pocket and after using it for a few days I got used to the tint and CCT and it was fine. Then the other evening the power went out in a storm and the Olight happened to be in my pocket, at that point I didn’t care at all what the beam looked like, just that I could now see again.
In no way am I suggesting that high CRI and warm temps are bad but we seem to forget that, as Lightbringer said, most people just want a 1/4" hole - or the ability to see well enough to not fall into a larger one.
So here is a question: you go camping and need a headlamp (as opposed to going headlamping and needing a camp trip to do it :-). Like most Canadians, you go to MEC to get camping stuff. Which headlamp will you leave with:
For me one of the Fenixes, either the single AA or one of the 18650 ones. AA because they’re easy to pick up anywhere or 18650 for the energy density. I dislike multiple AAA as a power source. I have based this decision firmly on the type of battery because what I really want is reliability.
I also probably can’t plug the thing in to charge it in a tent, so swapping in a fresh battery is preferred.
To reliability, I would add price and weight as typical considerations. This single AA Fenix HM23 doesn’t look too bad.
Historically, I always wanted a red light in a headlamp, and a brand-name that I recognised. Later on I tried to spot the word ‘regulated’ in the specs. CRI haven’t crossed my mind and neither did CCT.
I still have a really crappy headlamp that must have cost some $100 because it was the newest Petzl at the time. But then I was really happy with it, until at one camp some flaslightologist pointed out all its faults to me, and my world collapsed…
I would agree on weight, I’d have to ideally try both to see if the 18650 made the light uncomfortable. I do actually quite like the look of the HM23 for <$50, and I have a bunch of AA NiMH batteries at home, so charging up a few of those ahead of time and bringing them in a suitable container would not be inconvenient. It also means having the extra capacity not strapped to my head meaning that the light can be lighter and cheaper, and the possibility to pick up extra AAs if needed from any shop. I also like that it only has three modes, and the lowest two will go through the night on a fresh battery.
A red light I can take or leave, I’d prefer a sub-lumen white mode for moonlight, but getting either means spending a fair bit more. If I’m going to compromise somewhere I think I’d live with the 4 lumen low mode for the HM23 and keep the single AA battery.
Every normal person I’ve ever showed SFT40 6500K vs dedomed 519A 4500K has said something along the lines of “oh wow” when they see 519A.
They may not know they want it or how to verbalize it, but they do want it. Are they willing to pay for it (in cost/runtime/lumens/etc), and if so, how much? That I’m not sure of.
I have the Wurkkos HD50. One thing about it that I don’t recall he brought up in the review was headlights with extra colors. The HD50 has the claimed 4000 lumen Led, but also a more floody 90CRI led and the red. All modes are available in turbo, including the mode with the high brightness and high CRI both on together. But to me there is great value in not just brightness but also color rendering, almost more so indoors where we are likely to encounter working on wiring or something where colors are very important. The red led is quite bright on turbo and dims down nicely and prob nice to have. Lastly, there are very few times now where I don’t appreciate the massive capacity of a good 21700. I’m blown away by the new Molicels and how much more power they can provide in my most powerful lights. The marginal size increase is a little more noticeable on a headlamp, but the extra capacity is well worth it.
Well said. I could have cared less about high CRI, rosy tints and warm CCT until I tested real flashlights (besides my phone camera’s LED flash) and headlamps with them. Now I see why people can be drawn to that. Still, I wouldn’t trade output and runtime for high cri or warm tints either. Those are far more important features for everyday use. However, for a headlamp i think a warm LED is a nice addition for the simple fact it works better in haze or fog.
Some well-informed people won’t; everyone’s priorities are their own.
My take on it for recommendations to the public is that most people would need a side by side comparison to notice a 20% difference in output. Human eyes aren’t very sensitive to moderate differences in brightness, so it shouldn’t be a priority.
Just make them the same output, with 20%+ less runtime. Some emitter tests on here show 70 → 90 CRI nearly halving runtime at same brightness.
And then sell that idea to someone who through hikes with one headlamp and one extra cell because the rest of the weight is food/water weight, or less weight to extend mileage.
I have high-CRI lights because I don’t care about an extra cell, and I believe they yield better lightpaint photos. But self-awareness is realizing that my priorities are by-the-numbers silly and not purely based on practicality.
Tangentially, one of the best things you can learn about internet forums with topics on outdoor goods is that they usually aren’t experts in USE of anything. That is something you’ll find outside the internet.
Heat is a limiting factor. Giving higher modes even more current probably wouldn’t result in a better headlamp. Halving output for the high-CRI option is limited to the Luminus SFT-40 3000K as compared to cool white, 60something CRI versions as far as I’m aware. That’s an extreme case, and the 4000K, R9080 version Kaidomain sold a handful of is much better. Other emitters, or different emitters in the same flashlight are usually around 20% at the same amount of electrical power.
Human eyes cannot see a 20% difference (at least mine can’t). Only my instruments can so we can’t split hairs over 1400 Lumens for a sft25 and 1100 Lumens for a 519A 5000k R9050. I’d take the 519 in that case.
