Yes, we all see and perceive color differently.
Remember that white/gold versus blue/black dress controversy last year?
And I’ve learned to withhold comments on certain colors with my wife. She and I see shades of blue/purple or blue/green differently. 
I’m mostly convinced I can see color variations a lot better than my wife can. But, that doesn’t help me win any arguments. Withholding comment seems like the best choice usually. :zipper_mouth_face:
Longtime tint snob here . I prefer warm tints and high CRI in that order .
Since most of my flashlight use is outside , I like to see the colors of Nature better .
My bicycle lights are warmish also .
may edit for limerick later
It’s true that there was a time when I liked cool white tints,but that was before I knew anything about modifying light’s or even where to buy parts. BLF is the reason why I know what I really do like.
Basically I prefer NW or anything without bluish color,simply because cool tint sucks for outside use.
XP G2 S2 2B is my favorite cool tint and that’s about highest I would go with K :bigsmile:
Thanks for your informative post. I learned more today. And I added references to CRI and °K to the original subject.
Not just outside.
Indoors, I maneuver around the house at night with my Convoy S2+ (4C) because I find the tint much more mellow than any of my other lights.
I used to think I enjoyed the 1A tints because that is what I was used to getting from the manufacturers. Slowly I started getting into the lower color temps because it was more comfortable for my eyes and what I really need light for is to see in the dark. One day by accident, when we making our own BLF A6 prototypes I accidentally dedomed my XPL V6 1A from LEDdna. I knew about color shifting so I was expecting that. It warmed up to the yellow/red side and not the green. What I did not expect was to see a bright but very comfortable light that allowed colors that were more true.
As a person that has been twisting wrenches for 35+ years that was a very pleasant and appreciated surprise. I understand what it is for red and orange and blue and green to look the same. This is my favorite light, even though I have many, and I will not loan it out because of that.
I also just received some emitters from RemanG. Whatever the tints are they work extremely well. My suggestion is to get a Convoy S2 and a few different emitters and see what you like.
If what you were seeing were truly grey, then all you’d need is a brighter light source to detect the difference. However, I expect that what you’re looking at has traces of colors. The subtle differences would be best seen with a high CRI beam.
There’s a group buy for one now: 3rd batch produced!! GBGB: 2nd batch of BLF-348 (Classy and Small 1xAAA Stainless Steel light, with Nichia NVSW219B-V1 R9050)!
Have you tried AMBER/YELLOW safety glasses. I have a pair of Boas that were less than $5. They work great in an all dark/grey environment. Wet concrete can suck the light out of a flashlight.
As for the topic at hand. I jump from warm to cool. Warm was my choice for my night walks. Now there is snow. I have switched back to a cooler light.
Warm in the summer, Cool in the winter.
If you have never tried a high-CRI emitter such as the Nichia, you will never know if it makes a difference for you.
Here is a simple experiment. It will cost you money, but only about $7 USD. The wait-time will be a bigger problem, because the $7 flashlight I want you to try is still gathering signups in its group buy.
By now, I think you know I am talking about the BLF-348. For only $7, it gives you a chance to try out a 5000K, 90-CRI emitter.
Here is the experiment. Gather your favorite lights, including all the "tints" you have available. One at a time, shine them at a wood surface, perhaps a door or some furniture, and compare with the BLF-348. Next, find a colorful subject, one containing reds, browns, cyans, and a good general mix of colors and tones. Surprisingly, the packages in your pantry might do! Repeat the same comparisons.
Report your findings here. Which lights produce the most accurate colors?
I have not - thanks! all my safety glasses are clear; I saw the yellow ones at a Harbor Freight once but didn’t know why they were yellow.
I use a lot of 1A for no other reason than I'm trying to build the biggest most powerful light, but I've always loved neutral tints for real use, regular walking around lights. I must say though, I always detested the standard 3C "neutral" that been the mainstay for years. I carry a Roche F8 in the pocket of my housecoat. It's the first light I ever modded. It has am old XML with a 4C tint. Every once in a while I start thinking I should upgrade, but as soon as I turn it on I think, why. This is perfect. I have another Roche F8 with an XML in a 7? Tint. It's pretty warm, but the same goes. Every time I think about changing, I turn it on and...nice.
XML 4C
XML 7?
XML 4C
XML 7?
I’ve tried the yellow lenses day and night and for shooting. They do ‘perk’ things up quite a lot, especially at night, but they make me dizzy and make my eyes hurt after 10-30 minutes and if I try for longer I get a migraine-sized headache. They did sharpen up iron rifle sights a bit- cut my group size about 1/3, but my eyes have never been really good for that and my rifle groups nothing to brag about. Any other tint is OK for me. I know some folks who like the yellow but I advise trying some cheap ones first as I know some other folks who are like me just can’t stand them for long.
Couldn’t help but think of Steve Martin’s movie for a post title, sorry!
Phil
Putting aside personal preferences
The correlated color temperature (CCT) is the temperature of the Planckian radiator whose perceived color most closely resembles that of a given stimulus at the same brightness and under specified viewing conditions
— CIE/IEC 17.4:1987, International Lighting Vocabulary (ISBN 3900734070)[15]
and for fun
The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress
A reference source, such as blackbody radiation, is defined as having a CRI of 100. This is why incandescent lamps have that rating, as they are, in effect, almost blackbody radiators. The best possible faithfulness to a reference is specified by a CRI of one hundred, while the very poorest is specified by a CRI below zero. A high CRI by itself does not imply a good rendition of color, because the reference itself may have an imbalanced SPD if it has an extreme color temperature.
Criticism and resolution
Ohno (2006) and others have criticized CRI for not always correlating well with subjective color rendering quality in practice, particularly for light sources with spiky emission spectra such as fluorescent lamps or white LEDs. Another problem is that the CRI is discontinuous at 5000 K,[22] because the chromaticity of the reference moves from the Planckian locus to the CIE daylight locus. Davis & Ohno (2006) identify several other issues, which they address in their Color Quality Scale (CQS):
The color space in which the color distance is calculated (CIEUVW) is obsolete and nonuniform. Use CIELAB or CIELUV instead.
The chromatic adaptation transform used (Von Kries transform) is inadequate. Use CMCCAT2000 or CIECAT02 instead.
Calculating the arithmetic mean of the errors diminishes the contribution of any single large deviation. Two light sources with similar CRI may perform significantly differently if one has a particularly low special CRI in a spectral band that is important for the application. Use the root mean square deviation instead.
The metric is not perceptual; all errors are equally weighted, whereas humans favor certain errors over others. A color can be more saturated or less saturated without a change in the numerical value of ∆Ei, while in general a saturated color is experienced as being more attractive.
A negative CRI is difficult to interpret. Normalize the scale from 0 to 100 using the formula R_{out}=10\ln \left[\exp(R_{in}/10)+1\right]
The CRI can not be calculated for light sources that do not have a CCT (non-white light).
Eight samples are not enough since manufacturers can optimize the emission spectra of their lamps to reproduce them faithfully, but otherwise perform poorly. Use more samples (they suggest fifteen for CQS).
The samples are not saturated enough to pose difficulty for reproduction.
CRI merely measures the faithfulness of any illuminant to an ideal source with the same CCT, but the ideal source itself may not render colors well if it has an extreme color temperature, due to a lack of energy at either short or long wavelengths (i.e., it may be excessively blue or red). Weight the result by the ratio of the gamut area of the polygon formed by the fifteen samples in CIELAB for 6500 K to the gamut area for the test source. 6500 K is chosen for reference since it has a relatively even distribution of energy over the visible spectrum and hence high gamut area. This normalizes the multiplication factor.
The Boas I mentioned are less than $5. I wear tinted safety glasses on a daily bases.
All my safety glasses have to be the wrapped type to block out side light. I also get distracted by the frames and the arms. Thick solid frames end up giving me head ache.
I mainly use glasses without frames, usually the cheapest ones made.
I wonder how a amber/yellow lens on the flashlight would work ???
Jerk, I remember. Just watched a show on Spartans , how the heck did they fight with that dingle from there helmets between there eyes ?
Now I’m going to have to speak to each of my lights and ask their forgiveness because I never understood them.
There’s a BBC documentary called Colour: The spectrum of science that’s really good.
ronin42
**the numerical value of ∆Ei, while in general a saturated color is experienced as being more attractive. A negative CRI is difficult to interpret. Normalize the scale from 0 to 100 using the formula R_{out}=10\ln \left[\exp(R_{in}/10)+1\right] The CRI can not be calculated for light sources that do not have a CCT (non-white light)
Sorry you lost me at hello ….
simply put BLF is built on braggarts who boast of bigger better more and more . larger numbers impress people who really have very little to go by so anything seen as less than the highest brightest is considered inferior .when in fact the opposite is true . if you want a light that will produce the highest numbers and has a 3 second runtime then buy yourself a flashbulb . I sometimes think of BLF like the commercial where the guy has only drivers in his golf bag .
Cool white tints have an advantage because everything else is described as having a TINT ….to the under-educated that just sounds like something they don’t want .I want a WHITE light … not a tinted one is what they are thinking .Not realizing that everything is a tint a cool white may be a 1 A 1S 1B 1R 2A 2B etc … even if no one knows or says what it is …it’s a tint and almost all cool white tints suck .
thank god our brains figure it all out and re-process colors so it makes sense to us . So we can handle bad tints until something better is put right next to in and we can see the differences .
i will personally guarentee to anyone and everyone out there that thinks they don’t like NW or warm white tints that I can change their minds with just two different emitter in two lights .i know i can convert over 50% of the hardest most passionate cool white lovers to come over to the dark side . 
I first started swapping emitters as a gateway drug into modding …Anyone who thinks a 2 wire emitter swap is too hard needs their heads examined …i swapped a dozen or so lights into 4B xpg emitters and it’s been all down hill since then …another bunch of nichia 219A high cri emitters from illumination supply . and then started enjoying and swapping maybe another 10 4c xpg-2 emitters into lights …I recently have been on a 4A xpg-2 tint kick and have put 15 of them in almost every older light I like that is rattling around in my light collection .
i think people have no idea what they like or dislike because they basically have no points of reference .
if you have over 50lights modded with upgraded tint / cri than you find yourself comparing the very best of the best. like a wine snob you just have a better palette than most people .while I agree tint is somewhat subjective i think too many people just use that as an excuse .
when discriminating between tints it’s also good to know what you dislike as much as it is to know what you like .
i have to say that every single group buy where NW tints are offered the tints are always horrible…So if you dislike a nw tint because of one you’ve gotten in a group buy … then i absolutely agree with you … the a6 3d and 5A’s sucked … the x6 3c tint sucked …. IF you liked them then it’s time to get very excited because better tints will thrill you …
Simon ( convoy) tints all suck . if you don’t like his neutral white tints …we agree and if you do … than better tints are right around the corner.
The only group buy tint that i like is…… the’s BLF/singfire 348 nichia 219B . i have no idea what the cri on it really is but as far as i’m concerned it’s absolutely an acceptable tint / cri emitter .At the price a great purchase …and a bit of mud in your eye to all the gearbest haters out there .
i’ll admit there is some tint vs. cri wrestling going on …and some tints that generally seem more foul than others . But i’m guessing it’s more of a matter of how far away from the BBL the emitter is even in a bin …
generally I agree most 3 C tints suck . but hang around long enough and 2 or three will show up and prove you wrong …i have a few that are very good …Same with 4c tints … most are decent while a few are on the edge of being green…( ick… ) I find most 5B and 5A tints too brown and ickky …Yucky … but it’s a huge bin and saying I dislike everything in it would probably just be stupid .
lastly… where you put it makes a big difference as well .certain reflectors,diffusers, optics ,aspherics or anti reflective coatings on glass all change the hue and tint of an emitter . asphirical lenses vs reflectors more than you’d think …
life long member of the tint snob high cri club
Ah ha !! I was wondering who stole my glasses