I’m just describing the general situation. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are rare.
Interesting UI quirk I found:
If you’re on the stepped mode, with this trick you can get it to start on Low (no matter where you left it when turned off).
- Turn off (on any of the 4 stepped levels).
- Crack tail cap, then immediately tighten (no waiting required).
- Turn on.
Result: comes on in Low.
If you could advance up from Moon then this trick would be useless, but here we are.
Is there a compelling reason to consider the R70 version of the LED?
Why do you want low CRI?
Better tint and higher output maybe? For some people or in some use cases, color fidelity is not important. Look at the flashlight ownership in the whole world, how much is high CRI? I’m personally a fan but I know I’m in the niche of the niche.
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Between these two, R70 may be more efficient, and the word on streets had been that it even may be easier to look at tint-wise. But I’m not sure what’s true.
I have XHP70.3 HI R70 4000k. It’s a beauty to look at on a wall and has so much output. But the color rendering leaves a lot to be desired tbh. I’d still use it. For it’s purpose, which is an outdoor efficient flood light with decent throw, it does the job just fine.
I have a S21E 3000K R70, and even indoors I barely notice a difference in color rendering compared to a 3500K B35AM… For lights that are primarily for outdoor use, as the S21E imo is, I prefer the efficiency/runtime over color rendering.
In fact I will probably swap it over to a 4000K SFT70 or 50.3HI R70 these days to make it more efficient, and get a second with a B35AM for when I need CRI.
I personally don’t see the point of R9050 Crees. When I just need bright light, an R70 does the job better. When I need good light, they aren’t good enough anyway and I go for a R9080 Nichia or a R95 Luminus.
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There is a variety of TIRs for this light to replace the reflector. If anybody has done it, what were the outcomes?
Also I’m confused what driver would be used for e.g. LHP531 or SFT25R?
With the R9050 you have 70-80% chance to get one with green tint. With 5000K or 4000K 2-step even 90% (above dotted line=green):
Meanwhile R70 is way different:
For example Convoy has 4000K 5D tint, it’s always either below (rosy) or pretty much at BBL (neutral) and never green. Not to mention it’s more efficient, we’re talking at least 700 lumens more at 3A. Color rendition may not be as perfect as high CRI Nichias but it’s better than LHP531, especially reds are more juicy despite both being low CRI. It’s a really nice tint with saturated colors but without brightness penalty.
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Here are the outcomes for all of the S21E TIRs!
My personal recommendations are 15deg bead for throw, 30deg bead for throw/flood balance, and whatever wide angle bead for flood. I find that the 10deg flat has focus issues, and doesn’t throw visibly more than the 15deg bead. The 30deg bead has incredibly good angular tint uniformity, makes the beam rosier than most TIRs, and doesn’t make a hexagon beam due to the irregular bead pattern.
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