# LED Shootout - Relative Output Comparison (Ceiling Bounce Shots)



## RichS (Aug 26, 2010)

I asked a few of my local flashaholic buddies if I could borrow a few of their lights to do a comparison of good number of current LED lights on the market right now. Included are the vast majority of LED types available now, from XR-E, XP-E, XP-G, to SSC P7, MCE, SST-50 and those with single or multiple LED configurations. Also, there is a good mixture of cool, neutral and warm tints in the mix to provide an idea of how each illuminates. This comparison was done using ceiling bounce shots, so we can see the relative difference between say an 80 lumen light and a 200 lumen light. 

It is also interesting to see how they stack up in real life compared to their "advertised" rating. I did my best to order them by lowest to highest output. There were some shots that were almost too close to call, so you can be the ultimate judge. 

All lights had new primaries or fresh rechargeables loaded. All shots were done using the same camera settings in manual mode. The settings were: *Fuji F30/Manual Mode/ISO 100/0.5 sec exposure/WB Daylight*

If interested, I can create an animated gif of specific lights per request to see a more direct comparison.


*The lights*
4Sevens Quark 123x2 (18650) Q3 5A XP-E
4Sevens Quark MiNi 123W - XP-G Q5
4Sevens Quark MiNi AA - Q3 5A3
4Sevens Quark MiNi CR2 Ti - XP-G R5
Coast LED Lenser V2
Coleman Exponent Headlamp
Dereelight C2H Q3 5A
Dereelight CL1H Q4 5B
Dereelight CL1H Q5 WC
Dereelight DBS - Q5 WC
EagleTac M2CX4 - 3 x Q3 5A
Fenix LD01 - Q5
Fenix LOD - Q4
Fenix PD20 - Q5
Jetbeam IIIM - Q5
Jetbeam Jet II IBS - Q5
Leef 1x18650 / C2 / SST-50 4500K
Malkoff MD2 M30W
McGizmo Haiku - XP-G R2 4000K
Milky Project-M eXtreme - 4 x Q4 5B
Nitecore Defender Infinity - Q5
Nitecore EX10
NovaTac 120P
Olight M30 Triton
Rayovac Sportsman 300 Lumen Lantern
Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3W
River Rock 3xAA LED Lantern
SureFire A2 Aviator
SureFire L1 Q4 5B
Wolf-Eyes Sniper P7
*Soon To Be Added*

HDS Systems EDC High CRI
HDS Systems Twisty High CRI

















So here we go..


----------



## Connor (Aug 26, 2010)

*Re: LED Relative Output (Lumen) Comparison - Ceiling Bounce Shots*

Awesome, thank you!


----------



## Starlight (Aug 26, 2010)

Now we need some pictures with all the lights identified.


----------



## 276 (Aug 26, 2010)

Seeing some of the warm and neutral emitters makes me want to get some.


----------



## Painful Chafe (Aug 27, 2010)

Great shots. Very good job. 

Man, look at the spot and output of the Olight M30. It is still one of my favorite lights.

Thanks.


----------



## tre (Aug 27, 2010)

very nice, thanks for taking the time.


----------



## entoptics (Aug 27, 2010)

Excellent.

Could you edit your OP to include a list of flashlight names.


----------



## skyfire (Aug 27, 2010)

great shots! thanks!


----------



## LED_Thrift (Aug 27, 2010)

Thank you, thank you. Very informative.


----------



## strinq (Aug 27, 2010)

Great indoors comparison. :thumbsup:


----------



## jhc37013 (Aug 27, 2010)

Very nice pics thank you, two things come to mind as I look at them. First I am reminded again how well the neutral/warm tints look in a room in tailstanding position, it looks very nice and pleasing to the eyes.

Second I think this is a good example of how a good tail standing light is a better indoors than a lantern. Just look at the glare of the lantern if your eyes was say at or right above pillow level.


----------



## lois (Aug 27, 2010)

so beautiful, beautiful torches, beautiful pictures~


----------



## vasp1 (Aug 27, 2010)

These are really great reference pics and I'm sure will sway purchasing decisions.

In the opening line-up photos when I saw the lantern my initial thought was "Why has he included a juicer?"


----------



## offroad (Aug 27, 2010)

Thanks for taking the time to do this, quite a range of output there.


----------



## XRAYBoY (Aug 27, 2010)

vasp1 said:


> These are really great reference pics and I'm sure will sway purchasing decisions.


+1 :goodjob:


----------



## RichS (Aug 31, 2010)

Thanks for all the nice comments. 



Starlight said:


> Now we need some pictures with all the lights identified.


 


entoptics said:


> Excellent.
> 
> Could you edit your OP to include a list of flashlight names.


 

Yep - I guess that would be helpful.... I've added labels to the pics of the lights in the OP to aid with the identification.


----------



## entoptics (Aug 31, 2010)

RichS said:


> I've added labels to the pics of the lights in the OP to aid with the identification.


I was thinking "search function" with my suggestion of naming the lights. The search can't find the text "rayovac" if it's part of a picture.


----------



## Midnight Oil (Aug 31, 2010)

That's one sexy Leef host. Where did you get it? Are those Leef bezel and tailcap or Surefire parts?

Thanks.


----------



## DM51 (Sep 1, 2010)

This is a novel way to do a beamshot - combine it with a ceiling bounce. It is a very useful indicator indeed - all too often, the centre spot in a beamshot is "washed out" as white, but here, even where that happens, there is the illumination of the room to give a true indication of how bright the light is.

It's an excellent and comprehensive piece of work, which I'm sure members are going to find extremely useful when they want to see comparisons.

I'm moving it to the Reviews section.


----------



## RichS (Sep 1, 2010)

entoptics said:


> I was thinking "search function" with my suggestion of naming the lights. The search can't find the text "rayovac" if it's part of a picture.


 
Oh, gotcha. What's wrong with me?? I should have known what you were thinking... 

Text list added. 



Midnight Oil said:


> That's one sexy Leef host. Where did you get it? Are those Leef bezel and tailcap or Surefire parts?
> 
> Thanks.


 
I picked up several of the Leefbodies in different sizes back when Lighthound had them available about a year ago. You can find them from time to time for sale here on CPF, but they are getting pretty hard to come by now. If you get one, my advice would be to hold onto it.. The bezel and tail caps are both SureFire parts. The SW01 on the Milky build is courtesy of our own DM51..thanks again DM!!



DM51 said:


> This is a novel way to do a beamshot - combine it with a ceiling bounce. It is a very useful indicator indeed - all too often, the centre spot in a beamshot is "washed out" as white, but here, even where that happens, there is the illumination of the room to give a true indication of how bright the light is.
> 
> It's an excellent and comprehensive piece of work, which I'm sure members are going to find extremely useful when they want to see comparisons.
> 
> I'm moving it to the Reviews section.


 
Thanks for the nice feedback DM - much appreciated. 
I thought it would be helpful to post some beamshots that help to actually "see" what the real-life difference of some of these lights were vs. the difference in lumens numbers on paper. I do think it will add some perspective. 

I also want to use animated gifs for more direct comparisons, but am having a hard time pinning down what would be most useful here. I'll also have a few more lights to add to the comparison soon.


----------



## selfbuilt (Sep 1, 2010)

DM51 said:


> This is a novel way to do a beamshot - combine it with a ceiling bounce. It is a very useful indicator indeed - all too often, the centre spot in a beamshot is "washed out" as white, but here, even where that happens, there is the illumination of the room to give a true indication of how bright the light is.


+1. I couldn't have put it better myself. 

Nice job, very informative. :thumbsup:


----------



## SCBEDM (Sep 1, 2010)

Bravo


----------



## ti-force (Sep 2, 2010)

Nice work :thumbsup:


----------



## BigBluefish (Sep 2, 2010)

Excellent. A very useful reference.


----------



## billcushman (Oct 18, 2010)

Very nice comparison that shows the results of total output, and color coordinates. Color temperatures (6500K, 5000K, etc.) are a line in color space and can be greenish or magenta tinted. D65, D50 etc, are points in color space and do not have significant greenish or magenta tint.

I hope you can post more comparisons of lights using SST-90, SST-50, and other high output emitters. :twothumbs


----------



## HIDblue (Oct 18, 2010)

Great pics! Thanks for taking the time to shoot and post them. :thumbsup:


----------



## brightnorm (Oct 18, 2010)

An innovative and useful approach to beam shots. Excellent work.

Brightnorm


----------



## MorePower (Oct 19, 2010)

Very nice! Was the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3W the older version with a Luxeon, or the newer version with the Rebel LED?

Also, would it be possible to add a shot of the Rayovac lantern with the diffuser top removed?


----------



## Patriot (Oct 19, 2010)

Very nice work with the pictures Rich! You really had some great lights in your line up and I think this will be useful to many. It even illustrates the color temperature of the various lights. The only thing that could have made this any better was a light meter but perhaps you'll incorporate that into future review.


----------



## coyote (Oct 20, 2010)

great job! thank you.


----------



## jerryshu88 (Apr 9, 2011)

please add lumintop td15x at next review, thanks a lot, bravo.


----------



## DM51 (Apr 9, 2011)

Good to see this thread bumped back up. 

I really like this unusual way of illustrating beams - it gives a much more comprehensive idea of a light's characteristics than the standard "white wall" type of beamshot.


----------



## Bobby B (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks for that comparison I didn't know that was a bed the lights were sitting on until the M-30 pic.


----------



## indy (Apr 17, 2011)

suprised you threw the rayovac lantern in. I have one and recommend it highly. You might want to pull the head off the lantern (its removable) and post a pic. This is the way I use mine in the house when power goes out. It will easily light-up an entire room and since it runs on D-cells it will out last any other light shown by at least 2-6 hours.


----------



## chipdouglas (Apr 17, 2011)

Big thanks ! This has been pretty interesting.


----------



## bazzau (Jun 7, 2011)

nice review thanks


----------



## dunna (Jun 13, 2011)

great insight into these fine flashlights,
only needs a conclusion that which one in the brightest compared to its size.
thanks


----------



## mhelskie (Jun 23, 2011)

Very refreshing to see these comparisons...hope you add more lights to your portfolio:wave:


----------

