Nichia High CRI LED - 119V

[RedLED]

Those are very well done. Nice work.

If you feel like a test, tape a piece of tissue to the flash, it will spread the light around.
Everything with flash can be tricky as it is an inexact science.

But the color looks good, they are in focus. Sometimes if I take a photo with my phone I also turn off the flash and use my daylight balanced floursent lights in the kitchen, or use my Haiku and hold my mule as a fill.

Something to try is your haiku as the main or key light, and a mule as a fill.

These are just some things to play around with but you did a great job, and these small cameras make it almost impossible when looking at prints, was a cell phone used, or was it my $8,000 DSLR.

All the best,

NR

 

[RedLED]

A few photo tips for using your flashlight

Something you can to to get perfect color balance is find out what the color temperature of your LED is, and if you have a camera that allows you to dial in any color Temp, set it to what the LED is and viola. Note: if you use a main/key, and a fill the LEDs must be the same color Temp. But in the digital age you can always try it and see it as it costs nothing.

You will have to turn off any other lights and block out the sun as they will be an influence on the subject, you don't want a mix of light.

You can use white foam core as a reflector it works and it works good I love using foam core as reflectors want a harsh look add aluminum foil to the foam, And it works so good on motion picture sets million dollar scenes have been shot with just foam core. You can get black foam core to block unwanted light.

Use your lens set at F2.8 at 80mm to blur out the background for products, make for a great shot. The longer your focal length the nicer things appear, and a portrait done with 300mm or 400mm, are stunning your subject will have a nicer look and better head shape.
you can use super telephotos for products, too but, most don't have a setup like that, but many will have 80mm, so I suggested that.

Back when I shot film, color negs, and you were in some awful lighting conditions, first you used a color meter, then you had to color correct by putting a colored filter on the lens, then put the opposite of the spectrum using color gel over the flash, making sure no daylight influence was escaping the flash.

When people asked about my flash being green, I would tease them and say, you will look wonderful in green.

In a way it was fun, and you could tell the real professional photographers, because when you spoke of things like this, the perplexed stare, and quick get away was a dead give away.

Hope this helps, I know about the auto settings, but try manual, it will make you a better photographer.

 

[tobrien]

I can't find the spec in Nichia's spec sheet but as I recall when I first heard about these, the die is larger than that of the earlier LED's which is fine but if you seek a collimated beam then the XP-G2 would likely serve you better than the 1(2)19C. And CRI is similar until they come out with the high CRI version. I haven't come across anything yet that surpasses the 119 and 119V I have on hand in terms of CRI and CCT that would compell me to scrap them and move on to a next generation alternative.

gotcha, thanks for the response man! Yeah I guess unless you really pushed your LEDs with a lot of current, then it might be worth considering a C-variant, but for now I definitely understand the last part of your statement most ("compel you to scrap")

 

[F89]

I thought I'd bring this thread back to life.

For a while now I've been playing with various high CRI LEDs and while I've been able to get great results from some Cree (primarily the XHP50) my main focus has been Nichia. The main focus of which being 219B/C varieties as they are what's currently available.
Since obtaining McGizmo lights his choice of a variety of Nichia 119A (which he calls a 119V for brevity) has been my benchmark for colour reproduction, tint and CCT as I just find these LEDs so eye pleasing.

The most interesting part I find is that, efficiency improvements aside, all the new LEDs (concentrating on current Nichia in particular) seem to pale in comparison.
While I know tint and CCT can be and generally is quite a thing of personal taste, in my unscientific testing eye balling these LEDs the McGizmo 119V looks better than anything shone next to it. The 119V looks to have the best colour rendition and middle of the road (neutral) tint and CCT than any of it's modern competitors. Why is this the case?

The only LED that I covert as much as the 119V is my recently acquired Nichia NVSL219BT-V1 sw45k R9080 (abbreviated description but you get the idea) LEDs and it appears to be the exception to the rule with the current offerings. I'd read about these for quite a while now and finally got a small amount.

I've tried a few flavours of 219B around 4 to 5000K and 219C from 2700 to 5700K and the sw45k R9080 is the only one that can stand beside the 119V. I'm not saying the others are bad, as without comparison they are very impressive, it's just that the 119V and sw45k R9080 are just that good.

If Don were to run out of 119V anytime soon, and I hope he doesn't, the only worthy successor currently would have to be the above mentioned LED.

 

[Thetasigma]

F89, your post prompted me to re-acquire a 119V Haiku and can agree with everything stated. Been carrying a light of my own design with a SW40 R9080 219B and the 119V is the only real companion in light quality, something which I have come to increasingly appreciate in this hobby. Paired with the genius of proportions that is the Haiku, it really is my grail EDC.

 

[F89]

F89, your post prompted me to re-acquire a 119V Haiku and can agree with everything stated. Been carrying a light of my own design with a SW40 R9080 219B and the 119V is the only real companion in light quality, something which I have come to increasingly appreciate in this hobby. Paired with the genius of proportions that is the Haiku, it really is my grail EDC.

Glad you're enjoying it. The 119V Haiku really is a Grail EDC for sure.
It's funny how the 119V and before it the 119 have been used by Don for years and apart from some improvements in efficiency are still as good or better at producing quality light than any current LED.
I recently put an sw45k R9080 219B in an HDS and was amazed at A, how good it is and B, how good the 119V remains to be. I'm a little surprised that there's not more talk on the forum although I am a true CRI hound.
Yesterday I fashioned a MCPCB to put on an unused Hive LE (don't have any Mcgizmo XPG PCBs) and mounted another sw45k to put in a Haiku head that has an XML reflector that I like to match a Nichia to and wow it's awesome.
The tint, CCT and CRI are so close between the 119V and current Nichia high CRI champ it's too close to call.

 

[DavidRZ]

I contacted Don to order a AA Haiku this morning. Think the 119 would be the best LED for this build? I asked Don for his opinion.

I plan to carry this light daily so will use it in a variety of situations. Need a bit of throw for outside use but will also need to use it up close in some situations.

 

[nbp]

Yes. Since you're running on AA, high output is clearly not the objective. Hence, high quality light should be the focus. Hence, Nichia 119.

 

[nsl18]

where i can buy nichia 119?

 

[kaichu dento]

where i can buy nichia 119?

Are you looking for a 119 Haiku or just an emitter?

 

[nsl18]

emitter only

 

[archimedes]

emitter only

This is not the place to ask that, then

 

[intake_monk]

Sorry all, Necroing this post one more time. Looking to gauge what makes more sense with this LED, flood or throw? I got a bunch of high performance 70-80 CRI malkoffs and was looking for one pretty light with this high CRI LED in it, but I still want it to be usable and EDCable. I like the 21700 and 18650 formats, and am basically switching between the McGizmo AquaRam or AquaMule with this LED, any first hand opinions or thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

 

[F89]

This old LED is a classic in my opinion. While it may no longer be quite as good on paper as some more recent options, it nonetheless has an excellent tint and CRI in use and is one of, if not, my most favourite LED.

To answer your question, I'd say either. The LED itself has a reasonably small die which throws well behind a reflector but also works nicely in a flood or Mule type light.

I've been EDCing an AA Haiku 119V for years and also have this LED in a 123 Mule (and 2AA Haiku with the 3S driver).
The 119V is an excellent LED in every McGizmo I've used it in (Haiku, Mule, Sundrop, and Mahi).

Some might say it's just an outdated cousin of the old favourite 219a, but Don's stock of 119V (119a) are particularly nice and hold their own or exceed in any reasonable application.

As a point of reference the Ram has the same reflector as the Mahi.
Throwy general purpose beam or pure flood, the 119V is excellent in both, so whatever offers you the best utility is the main consideration.

Another consideration EDC wise may be the heft of the lights. The Aqua would be a decent chunk of light to pocket.
I've never owned one but as much as I'd love either or both, I don't think I'd carry it as I do my Haiku AA.

You may also want to consider a Mahi, Haiku or Mule if you can accept other battery types.
If you're happy with a bit more heft then stick with the Aqua.

Let us know how you go.

 

[intake_monk]

This old LED is a classic in my opinion. While it may no longer be quite as good on paper as some more recent options, it nonetheless has an excellent tint and CRI in use and is one of, if not, my most favourite LED.

To answer your question, I'd say either. The LED itself has a reasonably small die which throws well behind a reflector but also works nicely in a flood or Mule type light.

I've been EDCing an AA Haiku 119V for years and also have this LED in a 123 Mule (and 2AA Haiku with the 3S driver).
The 119V is an excellent LED in every McGizmo I've used it in (Haiku, Mule, Sundrop, and Mahi).

Some might say it's just an outdated cousin of the old favourite 219a, but Don's stock of 119V (119a) are particularly nice and hold their own or exceed in any reasonable application.

As a point of reference the Ram has the same reflector as the Mahi.
Throwy general purpose beam or pure flood, the 119V is excellent in both, so whatever offers you the best utility is the main consideration.

Another consideration EDC wise may be the heft of the lights. The Aqua would be a decent chunk of light to pocket.
I've never owned one but as much as I'd love either or both, I don't think I'd carry it as I do my Haiku AA.

You may also want to consider a Mahi, Haiku or Mule if you can accept other battery types.
If you're happy with a bit more heft then stick with the Aqua.

Let us know how you go.

Hi F89, first of all thank you for the thoughtful and very detailed response as well as your valuable first-hand experience with the LED. I have the benefit of wearing pants with a magazine pocket that I can use as a dedicated light pocket for a MD21700/Malkoff Hound Dog 18650XT, so I'm no stranger to comfortably carrying larger lights and enjoying the increased capacity and runtime. On that end the Aqua Ram/Mule really appeals to me. Do you know offhand what he out the front lux/lumens of the mahi is? Also do you have any experience with the 519a? I just realized that Tana is still in operation and can make 519a pills for the Haiku with the 16650 tube which might be my go to if it's a huge step up over the 119V.

Thank you again for your insight and advise!

 

[F89]

Sounds like the Aqua will be a good fit.
I don't have any measurements at hand but I did a rough test (using an app on my phone) to measure the lux difference between the Haiku and the Mahi and came up with about +33% in favour of the Mahi.
Keep in mind that there's a fair bit more bulk/size in a Mahi. For general use, I actually favour the Haiku beam and that coupled with its smaller form wins for EDC.

As far as output goes the 119V is a B10 flux bin from memory so that puts it roughly in the area of the D180 bin of the newer 219B models (around 180-200 lumens at 700mA)
It's not massively impressive on paper.
If we were comparing these two LEDs I'd say the 119V is a bit more throwy than a 219B.
I've actually got four Haiku with different bodies and LEDs (two with 119V, XPG2 and 219B sw45k D220).

Regarding the 519a, I currently have one installed in my Mahi. I'm using the 4500K version. It's a nice LED, a bit less throwy than the 119V much like the 219B.
The tint is nice and on paper the CRI and efficiency are improved. After a short while I decided to dedome it which upped the throw a bit and also warmed up the colour temp.
Apparently the 5700K dedomes to a nice ~4500K with low duv but I haven't got quite keen enough to try it just yet.

Depending on the driver current you go for if building a pill (with a 519a) there may be decent gains in output (and lux if you go dedomed). I choose to keep my max at around 2A on 16650 for runtime.
At lower drive currents the gains may be modest.

The max drive current I'm using on all my McGizmo's is about 700mA for reference.

Not a great photo but here's my Mahi with dedomed 519a. Similar form to an XPL-HI.

 

[kerneldrop]

I just realized that Tana is still in operation and can make 519a pills for the Haiku with the 16650 tube which might be my go to if it's a huge step up over the 119V.

Thank you again for your insight and advise!

So just throwing facts out so there's no biasness.

119V per Nichia datasheet.
119V comes in either R8000 or R9050, so that means either the CRI value is 80 or 90, and the R9 value is 50 on the R9050.
R9 is an extended CRI measurement that generally highlights reds, and is the metric used to benchmark all HCRI LEDs.
119V recommended max current is 1.8 amps.
119V max lumens for R8000 is around 340, and R9050 around 260 at the recommended current level.

The 519a that everyone uses:
519a is an R9080... the R9 value is 80. R9 80 will be favored by R9 50. You may not favor it though...it's subjective.
519a recommended max current is 2.2 amps
519a max lumens is around 500 at the recommended current level.

When given the choice today, I imagine all would choose a 519a.

If I'm getting a custom host then I'm getting that fantastic McR reflector that McGizmo uses.
None of the McR reflectors are mega throwers....they have all useful spill.

A dual-fuel AA/14500 host is hard to beat for general EDC.

 

[intake_monk]

Sounds like the Aqua will be a good fit.
I don't have any measurements at hand but I did a rough test (using an app on my phone) to measure the lux difference between the Haiku and the Mahi and came up with about +33% in favour of the Mahi.
Keep in mind that there's a fair bit more bulk/size in a Mahi. For general use, I actually favour the Haiku beam and that coupled with its smaller form wins for EDC.

As far as output goes the 119V is a B10 flux bin from memory so that puts it roughly in the area of the D180 bin of the newer 219B models (around 180-200 lumens at 700mA)
It's not massively impressive on paper.
If we were comparing these two LEDs I'd say the 119V is a bit more throwy than a 219B.
I've actually got four Haiku with different bodies and LEDs (two with 119V, XPG2 and 219B sw45k D220).

Regarding the 519a, I currently have one installed in my Mahi. I'm using the 4500K version. It's a nice LED, a bit less throwy than the 119V much like the 219B.
The tint is nice and on paper the CRI and efficiency are improved. After a short while I decided to dedome it which upped the throw a bit and also warmed up the colour temp.
Apparently the 5700K dedomes to a nice ~4500K with low duv but I haven't got quite keen enough to try it just yet.

Depending on the driver current you go for if building a pill (with a 519a) there may be decent gains in output (and lux if you go dedomed). I choose to keep my max at around 2A on 16650 for runtime.
At lower drive currents the gains may be modest.

The max drive current I'm using on all my McGizmo's is about 700mA for reference.

Not a great photo but here's my Mahi with dedomed 519a. Similar form to an XPL-HI.
View attachment 51403

That's a beautiful light my gosh. And thank you for running that quick test, even if it's not controlled data, its good relative information that sets expectations. I probably wouldn't do any dedoming (at least yet hehe) because I don't understand the methodology nor tradeoff, but it's good to have a rough idea of what benefits it brings. I also appreciate you sharing your driver settings - I've been warned about not overdriving LEDs so having 700mA as a baseline is great info.

 

[intake_monk]

So just throwing facts out so there's no biasness.

119V per Nichia datasheet.
119V comes in either R8000 or R9050, so that means either the CRI value is 80 or 90, and the R9 value is 50 on the R9050.
R9 is an extended CRI measurement that generally highlights reds, and is the metric used to benchmark all HCRI LEDs.
119V recommended max current is 1.8 amps.
119V max lumens for R8000 is around 340, and R9050 around 260 at the recommended current level.

The 519a that everyone uses:
519a is an R9080... the R9 value is 80. R9 80 will be favored by R9 50. You may not favor it though...it's subjective.
519a recommended max current is 2.2 amps
519a max lumens is around 500 at the recommended current level.

When given the choice today, I imagine all would choose a 519a.

If I'm getting a custom host then I'm getting that fantastic McR reflector that McGizmo uses.
None of the McR reflectors are mega throwers....they have all useful spill.

A dual-fuel AA/14500 host is hard to beat for general EDC.

Thanks Kerneldrop! I didn't realize that Nichia publicized all their techinical specs, so I'll definitely look those up in the future. Also thank you for explaining the RXXXX nomenclature, if I get the haiku i believe I will send Tana an email. I have a few followup questions, I was under the impression that McGizmo was known for his mule setup, but is his reflector also a signature? I have a malkoff with a McGizmo reflector so I didn't realize it was special, and was also under the impression that everyone was moving to TIR for superior light redirection, is that not the case? Finally, wouldn't a 16650/ 2xRCR123 provide dual fuel potential also? Is the preference for AA/14500 mostly for form factor? Thanks again!

 

[F89]

When given the choice today, I imagine all would choose a 519a.

Having the choice today, I choose 119V. It's a really nice LED and it plays well in every McGizmo I've tried it in. That's my opinion/preference anyway.

I've actually had issues with matching LEDs and reflectors but perhaps I'm too picky? For example; I couldn't sit with the 219B in the current smooth OP Haiku reflector because the hotspot has that fried egg/monster eye thing going on. Some wouldn't notice but it bugged me enough.
Eventually I got my hands on a light with the original rougher OP reflector (the McR17XP initially had a more textured OP than current ones). I had suspected it would smooth out the beam enough and it did, it's excellent.
The 219b also worked great in the 17XR (also used with XML) reflector but is very floody.
Comparing the 219b and 119V in my Haikus, the 119V is quite a bit more throwy.

219b sw45k in the rougher OP. Awesome light quality (looks off centre but it's the photo, it's actually spot on because I'm anal 😀)

I had similar issues (fried egg/monster eye) with some 219b/c in HDS lights (two different OP varieties and a smooth) prior to them being a factory option. Originally the sw45k HDS was coined the F89 HG (holy grail) by Hogo.

I'm pretty sure there's a reason why Don still offers the 119V other than sitting on a heap of stock. It has a great tint and CRI along with other beam qualities.
Don't get me wrong, I'm well and truly a tint snob and CRI fiend so this old R9050 is hanging with tough competition.
At the drive currents I'm using and for my use and taste I'm happy (my EDC has a max current of 300mA).

So as you can see, I'm no stranger to playing with various LEDs (I've had quite a few varieties in my McGizmo's and lights in general). But yes, I'll be sticking with my 119V.

Below are some examples of my Sundrop AA which is currently sporting an E21a 5700K R9080.

Below are some examples of a Haiku 2AA 3S 119V.

Yeah I love my 119V.

If you're after an after market light engine and higher drive currents, the 519a is definitely worth a look but depending on what you're after I reckon you might be surprised by the old 119V (at least at modest drive currents anyway).

As far as dedoming goes, it's super easy on a 519a. It has a glass cap over the die and the dome flicks off cleanly and easily (may not look it in my photo but it's actually super clean, I've checked with a magnifying glass).

Easy enough to look up specs and so on for LEDs, but regarding dedomes the general rule is you lose a bit of flux, gain a bit of lux and drop a fair bit of colour temp (e.g. my 4500K 519a is now around ~3400K I reckon).

Size reference for Haiku and Mahi.
L to R: 219b sw45k, 519a 4500K dedome, my EDC AA 119V.