Too bright light?

[Anthony]

I see a lot of flashlights that can illuminate a ball room...but with short run times and use expensive batteries...is it worth it in the long run?  I'd rather have a LED Mag Lite on a few common AA's that can light the way with a long run time...And lights that are TOO bright are useless when looking at something up close IMO..

Any thoughts? 

[665ae]

I think it all depends on what it's worth to each person.  Some people (me for example) like turning on a light and thinking "wow, this things bright!" 

Other than that, unless you're in a position where you'd need to use a flashlight as a "tactical" weapon (blinding people), I don't see much use for a super bright light except for the "wow" factor. 

Of course, while typing this, I just came up with another reason.  I have a Surefire G2 with a P90 lamp assembly that I use while hiking/camping.  I don't normally use it unless there's something I "really" need to see at night, and my LED won't throw that far.  LED's seem to wash out at a relatively short distance. 

[Spoonrobot]

I see a lot of flashlights that can illuminate a ball room...but with short run times and use expensive batteries...is it worth it in the long run?

Depends on your needs. Sometimes I need a very very lot of light (exploring, late night repairs, etc) but sometimes I need a lot of runtime (power outage, exploring, etc).

Of course there are lights too bright for certain needs, it is merely the task of fitting the right tool to the right setting.

On a daily basis I use an Inova T2, a light with a fairly low output (@25 lumens) but a phenomenal runtime (5+ hours regulated) but I still own lights up into the 300 lumen range with shorter runtimes because the Inova will not fill every task.

Seems the saving grace would be the hot multi-level lights popping up everywhere now, Fenix and Amilite as well as Surefire make some excellent multi-level lights that can go from 1 lumen all the way up to 80-100 lumens. I have and use a Fenix P1D-CE; a multi-level light that features settings from 15-100 lumens. This means the light is useful for map reading in pitch darkness but can also be used to illuminate an entrie room.

LED's seem to wash out at a relatively short distance.

This is very true of older Luxeon I and III and even V LEDs but is becoming less so with each new generation. Currently CREE X-RE LEDs throw as well or better than most incandescent lamps in comparable classes. Instance above; the P1D-CE has much more output than a G2 and actually throws the same distance both on paper and in actual use. All whilst keeping runtime that is fairly similar but regulated. This is excellent performance and something flashaholics have been lusting for since the first Luxeon I came out.

LED is the future!  Buy a CREE!  :grin:

[665ae]

I'm curious.  I've yet to pick up a CREE.  How much useable light do you have in comparison to a Incan light?  The reason I'm asking is because my Streamlight technically out "throws" the G2, but at a distance, I can "see" things better with the incan light.  I have no scientific data to prove this, just a bunch of nights out in the woods playing with flashlights

I do want to pick up a Cree even more now though

[prime77]

I've been using my P1D-CE for about 3 weeks now and I find that the regular and turbo settings are great for spotting something far away and lighting up a room but too bright to use while reading or looking at something in my car.  For those tasks the low setting works good.

[NutSAK]

Corrugated, as Spoonrobot stated, this is the whole idea behind the multiple, current regulated levels found on the newer lights.  Take a look at the runtime charts in the L2D topic here on multitool, for instance.  That light puts out around 110 lumens (a lot of light!) for nearly two hours, but can run for over 2 days on low at a very usable level of light for close-up work.  It will put out nearly as much light on medium as the Mag LED does, and you have two more brighter levels available. 

The Cree lights are almost 100% (or twice as) efficient as the Luxeon III, so with multiple levels you can have double the runtime at the same brightness, or twice the brightness for the same runtime.