I’m so cheap for that kinda $$ I’d probably get like 3 Trustfire TR-3T6 or SRK’s and duct tape them together 
- Joe
Dude, HOW IN THE WORLD (yes I'm yelling) do you not put the Nitecore TM-26 XM-L2 on your list??? 3800 Lumens FTW! Best light I ever bought, and I don't buy many :) Short, stubby, compact, good thrower, amazing flooder, digital display, built like a tank, and on, and on, and on.... I left it in back of the freezer turned "on" for 3 days in a container of water frozen, by accident (only meant to leave it in there overnight, lol), and thought I lost it because I couldn't find it anywhere, and forgot about it. It was still turned on and going strong, when I finally found it and I took it out! Now, I'm a believer!
Anyways, just busting your chops. If I were to choose I "guess" I would go for the TK75 among all those, easily! But, if I were to choose TK75 or TM26, then my vote goes for TM26!
With respect, the TM26 has two big issues. IMO :p
1. Going from a low of 3 lumens to 150. There really needs to be another intermediate there.
2. Anemic throw. IIRC around 50-60kcd. That's literally half the reach of the tk75.
I'm really hoping nitecore comes out with an updated version with a slightly bigger head for larder&deeper reflectors, and completely variable output.
Yes, its kinda not ideal to have 3 and then 150lm, also its quite a bit more for the TM 26 right? like 240$ vs ~ 170$ for the others, i’m on limited budget 
One more thing, the TM 26, its getting really hot on turbo quite fast, compared to TK 75 lets say…2-3 mins its not good enough for me.
I edited the original poll, in order to have a bit more flexibility for all users.
The TM26 is not all about throw, though it is more than respectable. The beam pattern and output from a light that fits in a pocket is excellent and frankly I see absolutely no reason to change the form factor or indeed the mode spacing.
Here are two vids that show the differences in various lights v the TM26 including the TK75 and RC40.
The TM26 is a flood monster with those shallow reflectors. In no way is it a thrower. Like the SRK, it’s just a wall of light.
If I had the choice right now to choose any flooder, it’d be a TM26. But as I don’t have a spare $350 lying around, I’ll be happy with my SRK…
I beg to differ. I own both, and I will tell you right now that you CAN NOT compare the TM26 to the SRK in terms of throw..
The TM26 easily throws 3x-4x further than my SRK, easily showing me anything and everything within 1/4th of a mile with no problem. And I bought mine for $195 shipped from illumination supply! Should have bought 5 more at that price!
And lastly, the TK75 XM-L2 doesn't even hit the 3000 Lumen mark. Only 2900! :) Disqualified, by technicality!!!
Why are we comparing the throw of 2 different types of flooders? 
In the flesh the mode gap is fine. The TM26 is worth the money.
The xm-l2s version handles the heat fine and its an easy mod to stop it stepping down from turbo. A heavily modded SRK on the other hand gives real meaning to getting really hot fast.
I prefer to think of TM26 as a Thrower/Flooder, vs SRK which is pure flood, that's all. The specs and my eyes don't lie!
Well as it (TM26) comes out the box it is similar or beats, say a stock HD2010 for throw. 
0:)
Hmm, lets say that TM 26 is “better” then the TK 75 L2 version, is it 50 euros better + 4x 3100 mah protected cells on top of that?
The first video especially, toward the end, perfectly illuminates my point. While the other two lights are great at closer ranges, with the tm15 being very similar, but somewhat less bright and floody, the tk75 had plenty of usable spill close up, and lit up all of the towers.
In terms of respect for pushing lumens, from a small size, for flood, the zebralight s6330 is the winner, until the MM15 from niwalker comes out.
I forgot about it, but there is also the rather steep price difference to consider. At that point, might as well go for the monster RC40. (Though I think it's a rip-off until fenix at least updates it to xml2 emitters, and hopefully a better battery pack.)
Also in a smaller package, smaller in width, .9 inches longer, slimmer battery tube, the eagletac MX25L3 mtg2 is a very good all purpose light. Excellent mode spacing, good throw at ~80kcd, and completely artifact free, with the kit version, you can turn it on from either the side button, or the tailcap. Best part is, they occasionally drop on sale for well under $150.
After watching that video the tm26 definitely looks pretty weak for its form factor imo.
A 15x Trustfire will out throw all your TM and SRK style flooders, produce almost 2x as much light as the TM and cost only 1/2 to 1/3rd the price! Oh yeah, you can also mod a J18 for 2.5x output and less cost.
But back to your original question, cheapest around 3000 lumen light? J18 surpasses 3,000 easily at $45 too.
Some of that is due to the camera auto adjusting due to brightness. In real life, the TM26 is an impressive flooder, with some throw to it.
Now that I think about it though, you can grab a black shadow terminator xmlu3 for under $100 (and clones for less), get a bit more throw ( with deeper and wider reflectors), as well as about 90% of the performance, you'd get from a tm26. Get two, and you'll push 6500-7000 lumens...
I’ll echo that.
J18 has a crazy amount of quality and performance for the price.
A ton of potential for modding too.
Everyone forgetting the BS terminator?
Should easily be 3000+ lms with XM-L2 version.