# Favorite beam shape, Spot or Flood



## kudu (May 11, 2009)

What kind of beam shape do you prefer, Spot or flood and why? I realize that there are different tools for different purposes, but If you had to pick what would you prefer, and find most useful.


----------



## Flying Turtle (May 11, 2009)

An intense spot is fun to play with, but I seldom need it. Flood is generally much more useful.

Geoff


----------



## AardvarkSagus (May 11, 2009)

Personally with so little detail to the choices, I had to go with Flood. I am of the belief that a set of flashlights should be used like a set of Golf clubs. You should always choose the right light for the use you are putting it to. That being said however, I believe that 75% or more of my flashlight usage falls into the 1-20 ft. range which makes flood lights become just about the most useful. Oftentimes when I am navigating at night, if I have grabbed one of my more throw based lights, I find myself cranking it up a notch in brightness and using a ceiling bounce technique to try and eliminate the tunnel vision that ensues. This negates the effective low beam uber efficiencies however and I often times wish I had a more flood like beam so I could retain those.

Don't get me wrong, I think my throw lights have their place, I just am still looking for the optimum flood...


----------



## fishx65 (May 11, 2009)

I like my flashlights to have good spot and flood with a smooth transition between the two. Seems to be a lot of Crees available these days that accomplish this using a mild OP reflector. The best examples I have of this are my DX R2 modules and a Brinkman 3aaa Cree.


----------



## nudel (May 11, 2009)

I never understood peoples who want lights that come with a flood beam?!

I mean you can always put a nice diffuser on to get floody but not the other way around (at least not that easy).

So besides preferring flood or throw beams one should almost always take a trowy flashlight with a diffuser if needed. Best of both worlds.

2 cents


----------



## kramer5150 (May 11, 2009)

Both have their advantages. The key is to understand your preferences.

I usually prefer a more floody beam though, with a broad hot spot that gradually transitions.

The multi-die P60 modules (orange peel) offer a very good combination of both spot/flood.


----------



## kramer5150 (May 11, 2009)

nudel said:


> I never understood peoples who want lights that come with a flood beam?!
> 
> I mean you can always put a nice diffuser on to get floody but not the other way around (at least not that easy).
> 
> ...



-Diffusers absorb light and reduce lumen output (doesn't matter to me but most here are of the "brighter is better" school).
-Depending on the diffuser used, they can be $$$

FWIW one of the nicest lights I have used is a 6P+M60+SF beam flip-diffuser. You can go instantly form M60 to M60F with a lens-flip.


----------



## GreyShark (May 11, 2009)

I prefer a spot because my lights are generally used for two purposes, to survey my property at night and for self defense. If the light has sufficiently high output it's easy enough to just bounce it off the ceiling to illuminate an indoor space. If the spot is too bright I use the spill. For a flood light to be at all interesting to me it has to have really high output, like 1,000 or more lumens.


----------



## McGizmo (May 11, 2009)

This is a popular topic that has been visited many time over the years.
I personally prefer maximum field of view illuminated evenly with just enough contrast to provide information but not beyond the range of my eye's sensitivity. This defines a flood I suspect so that is the shape I prefer. However in many cases, one does not have the power at hand to flood the field of interest and at that point one must collimate and focus the available light in a tighter beam of distribution. At some distance, only a spot of light will be adequate.

My favorite beam shape is the one that accomplishes the job at hand.


----------



## TITAN1833 (May 11, 2009)

Sunlite 16WFP best of both worlds flood and throw :twothumbs


----------



## GreySave (May 11, 2009)

A couple of months ago I probably would have said I prefer a flood style beam. But after working with an E2L and E2DL for a while I find that I favor throw, provided that there are multiple output levels available to make the light useful at very close range. 

Why throw? Well, I recently found myself using lights to illuminate objects at a distance and what I noticed was that the large amount of spill some generated were lighting up nearby homes far more than I desired, and probably far more than the owners liked. Both of those lights and many others except the really tight optics still provide enough spill for close work but spread it out far enough at a distance to be less annoying.


----------



## TITAN1833 (May 11, 2009)

GreySave that's a good point 

I think both have their place as it has already been said here,

for instance a pure flood light down a long narrow alley wouldn't be best IMO here a throw light is king.

On the other hand a throw light in a large hall wouldn't be best,here a flood light would work better.


----------



## Tom_123 (May 11, 2009)

I'd go with flood.
Can't think of a situation where I would need a spot that
reach more then 10 - 20 meters.
On the other hand, how usefull is it to see things 100 meters away while
the hole you are just about to fall in is badly lit? :naughty:


----------



## brighterisbetter (May 11, 2009)

I'm one of those middle of the road guys, leaning more toward a predominant flood beam. On the one hand, a pure flood beam (mule) is absolutely worthless to me in most circumstances. On the other hand, a pure throw beam (laser) serves me no purpose in the real everyday world. Excellent points have been made thus far in the previous posts for either flood or throw.  For my money though, it's pretty tough to beat the beam from a Surefire L4 (luxeon).


----------



## CaliColin (May 11, 2009)

I picked Spot because I want maximum blindability, but prefer a wide spill area around the hot spot to lightly illuminate the surrounding area.


----------



## AardvarkSagus (May 11, 2009)

Along side this, since it seems that Flood is receiving nearly as many votes as Throw (F11-T15 at this post) my question is, why is it that Manufacturers seem to be predominantly creating throw focused lights lately? Most of the lights I have reviewed have had a drastically focused beam causing a brilliant spot with little to no spread. The TA30 I am working on at the moment is the same way. Things seem to have come a long way from hearing this forum hold the Surefire focused Lux V "Wall of Light" in the absolute highest regard. I'd like to see a resurgence of that, at least in a smattering of lights.

I see obviously the need for both, and I wouldn't trade my uber focused lights for anything when that is what I am looking for. I just personally think that those lights are more special usage, where an EDC style is most likely going to be used in limited range thereby benefiting most from a wider spread of light. AmIright?


----------



## polkiuj (May 11, 2009)

I prefer floodier beams. With gradual transition, decent size hotspot and no rings/artifacts if possible. I think my favorite so far is the Inova T1. Except for the 16 holes in the hotspot (which is nearly invisible btw, took me 2 weeks to spot it), it is the perfect beam.


----------



## [email protected] (May 12, 2009)

Being greedy I'd prefer to have a balance of throw and flood... with throw being the optimal feature (for my own needs), that said however I believe the multi-emitter format (like SSC P7s) excels in both requirements :thumbsup:


----------



## malamalama (May 12, 2009)

More and more I find myself leaning towards a flood light, especially indoors.



kramer5150 said:


> -Diffusers absorb light and reduce lumen output.


 
I've been looking into a SF F04 for my E1B Backup, especially since I've heard they will also fit McGizmos. Does anyone know how much light you lose with the diffuser? Thanks.


----------



## null (May 12, 2009)

I think flood light is more useful in daily applications, since an intense spot beam usually tends to hurt my eyes in the dark.


----------



## defloyd77 (May 12, 2009)

I voted flood as my uses are relatively close range. However it depends on how bright the light is, high lumen flood, low lumen throw. I however do not have a high lumen floody light, but the Inova T1 seems like my kind of beam. Anyone know of a diffuser that'll fit on the Eagletac P100A2? H2O bottle caps are the right size, but seem to give me a really warm hotspot with a super cold spill.


----------



## UpChUcK (May 12, 2009)

Really all depends on the task at hand. But for general use, flood is what I like. But a very bright flood  .


----------



## kelmo (May 12, 2009)

I really like the hybridized beam in my Arc6. Not really throw, not really flood. My KX2C beam is really nice.

"Spood" or would it be "Flot?"

If I had to pick one it would be flood.


----------



## Cosmo7809 (May 12, 2009)

I love pocket rockets so I voted spot. 


Title is favorite not most useful .


----------



## Blindasabat (May 12, 2009)

As many have said, both have their uses. BUT... Spot can easily be diffused into flood with removeable films or filters, but flood can not be refocused into a spot when you need throw. 

SureFire E-series KX optics are my favorite right now. I have two KX1's with loose bezels that can be adjusted (somewhat) for a little more spill on the fly, plus, I have the F04 strong diffuser, AND a mild/medium diffuser in an F04 holder (thanks Bigboy) that I prefer over the F04 for maintaining some throw, but still rarely need them because all throwy lights still have some spill to some degree and most have a low level for up close work. Even the oft-maligned SureFire KX optic has almost as much spill as the oft-praised Malkoff optic. Hmmm ...weird. But I have the medium diffuser there when/if I need it. 

The guy with the flood light on a boat is stuck looking at the deck he is standing on while the swimmer he needs to find & help... drowns. He can't find where the trail picks up across the featureless field when I can find it by pulling off my diffuser for a few seconds. 

I have both flood and spot, but that requires a spot beam to start with, so I voted spot. Until small, truly wide focus range, quality lights come out - throw wins for adaptability.


----------



## brighterisbetter (May 12, 2009)

Cosmo7809 said:


> I love pocket rockets so I voted spot.


Hmm, that's why I voted flood. To me a pocket rocket is an exceptional amount of output from a very small package. In my opinion, an 'exceptional' amount of light is obtained from either quad-die led's or hotwires, and neither one of those easily focus in a pocketable light. Of course that's just my opinion.


----------



## rmteo (May 12, 2009)

Both - depending on the task at hand. A light that is continuously adjustable from spot (about 6-8 degrees) to flood (90-120 degrees) in one easy movement is my ideal.


----------



## seaside (May 12, 2009)

I voted for flood. I found widely distrubuted smooth beam is more useful for my purpose than throwy tight beam.


----------



## KiwiMark (May 12, 2009)

CaliColin said:


> I picked Spot because I want maximum blindability, but prefer a wide spill area around the hot spot to lightly illuminate the surrounding area.



That is your most common use for a flashlight? Blinding people?



Tom_123 said:


> I'd go with flood.
> Can't think of a situation where I would need a spot that
> reach more then 10 - 20 meters.
> On the other hand, how usefull is it to see things 100 meters away while
> the hole you are just about to fall in is badly lit? :naughty:



I can understand that there are some situations where you want a good spot light - but generally I have to agree with Tom - what is close to you is more important than what is far away.



null said:


> I think flood light is more useful in daily applications, since an intense spot beam usually tends to hurt my eyes in the dark.



I have a torch which is definitely more flood than throw, but it has such an intense flood hotspot that it tends to hurt my eyes - but that is not a daily use torch.

I am happy to own both spot and flood torches, but generally the flood is more useful. I disagree with the concept of just having good throwers and adding diffusers if necessary - I have an EDC in my pocket and don't want to bother carrying a diffuser with me to make its beam more useful. My flooders have enough output to throw a beam far enough on maximum output to see things at a reasonable distance - and really what do I care about stuff that is miles away?

I would think that the main purpose of a torch for most people is as a means to illuminate their surroundings, I kinda wonder about how the guys here that want the longest throwing lights they can get are using their torches. In normal use is stuff more than 100 yards away in more need of illumination than the branch that you are about to trip over? Of course a really long throw is pretty cool for showing off as is my 6000 bulb lumen modified Mag - but for normal day to day use?

I voted flood. My main need (using the torch as opposed to showing off) for a torch is to light my way as I walk somewhere dark. If I go camping and don't want to walk into trees or bushes or trip over branches or step into a hole then I want to light up a few metres near me. If I take the garbage out when it is wet I want to avoid stepping on snails - I don't need to see more than a few metres then either. My favourite is my Mag 2D with ROP low bulb & OP reflector - broad hot spot, lots of spill, plenty bright enough and a great colour & high CRI, throws far enough for normal use - works well for illuminating foliage (better than my LEDs, even my warm Jet-IIIM).


----------



## gsxrac (May 12, 2009)

As mentioned multiple times earlier my vote is for throw. You can easily throw a beam diffuser over a throw light and turn it into a flood and on a 200+ lumen light whos gonna notice 5-10 lumens (estimaed, I have no real idea) lost from the diffuser?

A Surefire C2 with Malkoff M30 and FM34 has been my new favorite "all around" light and it does EVERYTHING I need it to do accept have multiple modes.


----------



## Benson (May 12, 2009)

If I had to pick one, count me in the spot crowd -- I can _make_ a spot work up close, but I can't make a flood throw.


But if I just had to pick one light (not one beam), I'd go for a defocusable aspheric, and have both!


----------



## scarlet (May 12, 2009)

Spot, because if I had to, I could make it work in a close proximity situation... the same cannot be said about flood in a long distance situation.


----------



## jumpstat (May 13, 2009)

More often, a flood is more useful in my day to day tasks. It is difficult to have both flood and spot so best get both. That is why I have on me my PD-S and Ti-Mule as my edc.....


----------



## hyperloop (May 16, 2009)

that's one reason why i like my light, it gives me choice

pic below: full flood, the cabinet is about 18 feet (or more) away.








pic below: full spot






care to guess the light?


----------



## defloyd77 (May 16, 2009)

LED Lenser P5?


----------



## hyperloop (May 17, 2009)

defloyd77 said:


> LED Lenser P5?



you got it! not that it was hard to track down was it?


----------



## rayman (May 17, 2009)

My favourite beamshape depends on what I use the light for. I really like the beamshape of my EX10.

rayman


----------



## AardvarkSagus (May 17, 2009)

Wow, those LED Lenser pics really are fairly impressive! Nice.


----------



## LumenMan (May 17, 2009)

I tend to favor the M60/M30 type of beam that has a nice intense hotspot with plenty of flood.


----------



## Muskett (May 17, 2009)

hyperloop said:


> that's one reason why i like my light, it gives me choice
> 
> care to guess the light?


 
Wow, that is cool! Ideally, spot with good side spill, but strictly between the two, spot wins! As said before, you can't make flood throw, but you can use spot up close.


----------



## defloyd77 (May 18, 2009)

hyperloop said:


> you got it! not that it was hard to track down was it?



Did I win anything? I actually recognized that beam and knew it was an LED Lenser, I just guessed P5. Man I need to get one

I'm seriously suprised flood is winning, especially with all of these throw based lights and not too many well known wall of light type lights like the SF L4 and the T1-MP.


----------



## Juggernaut (May 18, 2009)

Ultimate beam profile is that which is produced by a Par bulb: center is the absolute tightest spot an Incan can possibly make, while the rest of the beam is 175 degrees of pure unchanging flood, from the closest place next to the main beam to the abrupt cut off directly over head and to either side at 175 degrees all the flood it the exact same intensity. So when you’re working on something you set up the light in any place and your whole work area is lighted up equally, or if you need to hit something a mile away then simply put the spot on it:twothumbs.


----------



## hyperloop (May 18, 2009)

defloyd77 said:


> Did I win anything? I actually recognized that beam and knew it was an LED Lenser, I just guessed P5. Man I need to get one
> 
> I'm seriously suprised flood is winning, especially with all of these throw based lights and not too many well known wall of light type lights like the SF L4 and the T1-MP.



Want to know the best part??? It was running on a 1.2v NiMh rechargeable, NOT a 1.5v and NOT a 3.6 volt 14500.

I am astounded at that output


----------



## Zeruel (May 18, 2009)

hyperloop said:


> Want to know the best part??? It was running on a 1.2v NiMh rechargeable, NOT a 1.5v and NOT a 3.6 volt 14500.
> 
> I am astounded at that output



Specs wise, it is 59 lumens, is it true?


----------



## rmteo (May 18, 2009)

Hyperloop, how do you like that P5? I have always felt that the ability to change the size of the spot/beam is ideal in a flashlight.

What do you think of a design for a light that has focus ability, multi-output (high-mid-low to 180+ lumens with a Cree R2), takes a single 18650 cell (or 2x CR123A/16340) and is about the same size as the P5? See this thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/231824







BTW, nice shots of the bedroom of your HDB flat - love the view of the adjacent building, something we don't see too much here.


----------



## hyperloop (May 18, 2009)

Zeruel said:


> Specs wise, it is 59 lumens, is it true?



No, its NOT 59 lumens man, definitely way more than that, let me get some comparison shots up with my Jet I Pro IBS v2.0 when i have some time.


----------



## 1dash1 (May 18, 2009)

I voted flood, because I gravitate toward "floodier" lights. What I really like are smooth beams that transition from a medium hot spot into a silky smooth spill.


----------



## hyperloop (May 19, 2009)

defloyd77 said:


> Did I win anything? I actually recognized that beam and knew it was an LED Lenser, I just guessed P5. Man I need to get one
> 
> I'm seriously suprised flood is winning, especially with all of these throw based lights and not too many well known wall of light type lights like the SF L4 and the T1-MP.


 
actually, if you had just right clicked the image and clicked 'properties' it would show the link to the pic and i usually name my pictures when putting them on photobucket so you would have seen some web address and 'LLP5-Spot' in the link


----------



## Lexus (May 19, 2009)

If you mean by flood a light without any reflector or optic, that would be pretty useless for me.
Same goes for throw: A light with zero spill and all light collimated into a tiny spot (laser) is quite useless for me too, but fun.

If I know what I want to illuminate, I'd chose lights with tendency to spot. 
If I don't know what I will illuminate, I'd chose lights with tendency to flood.

I love high lumen lights with no harsh transition between hotspot and spill, which cover a large area in front of me.

The beamshape which suits my needs best would be generated by a quad die emitter in a relatively small, textured reflector.
That is why I ordered a Gossamer, which is like a Surefire L4 on steroids.

So, to answer your question:
If I only can chose one option, it would be flood.


----------



## rmteo (May 21, 2009)

Zeruel said:


> Specs wise, it is 59 lumens, is it true?



According to the LL website, it is 95.5 lumens.
http://www.ledlenserusa.com/product_info.php?modelNum=8405


----------



## es2qy (May 21, 2009)

flood


----------



## Cataract (May 21, 2009)

I have a preference for throw, mainly because the brightness of the spot is more impressive, and they're great for hiking: the spill is just perfect to see the path and the spot will highlight any obstacles long before you get there. 

However, experience has taught me that other than hiking, a flooder is more practical since you can see more of the details when working inside a machine and don't need to move it around so much. Ideally, focusable lights are great for both: wide beam for close-up work, and a nice tight very bright spot to inspect the road ahead without loosing too much night vision due to a somewhat bright spill.... hmmm... have to look into that led lenser....


----------



## bwm (May 24, 2009)

I chose flood. Most of my uses for a flashlight are at short to medium range and for that a floodier light is of more use. What I find ideal is a wide spot with a bright spill.


----------



## 276 (May 24, 2009)

I have grown to using mainly flood, which i like more.


----------



## MarNav1 (May 25, 2009)

I didn't vote but my favorite beams are the ML1 beams and the McR19XR that comes in the A19 head. They are the best of both worlds IMO. The ML1 spot is a bit less intense but still very effective. I like the beam from reflectors much more than optics with few exceptions.


----------



## o0o (May 26, 2009)

I find flood a lot more useful.

To me, a true throw is for long range and a true floood is for very short range.


But why does it have to be one or the other? There are very nice compromises that have both flood and throw properties, out to medium range.

I would vote for a balanced beam, if the option existed.


----------



## Linger (Jun 8, 2009)

o0o said:


> I would vote for a balanced beam, if the option existed.




Indeed it does! I'm with you. I find myself wanting to select beam pattern as much as I want to select output intensity (which is to say, every time I use a light).
I'm totally with rmteo, beam shape should be as easily varied as output.

Best,
L


----------



## Bonky (Jun 10, 2009)

spot makes me a little jittery. Flood makes me relax.


----------



## defloyd77 (Jun 10, 2009)

I think the Cree XP-E could be just the key to having a tight spot and good spill. Let's look at the Pentagon MOLLE. It has a really tiny hotspot and a LOT of sidespill. Why? It uses a really tiny emitter in a good OP reflector. I don't know exactly what the LED it uses, but the XP-E looks about the same size and will be brighter. It'd be like a Mag at it's tight focus, but that large, but dim spill would be bright.


----------



## Sgt. LED (Jun 10, 2009)

That's why I had an XP-E put in my Ra. Bright spill and a nice throw too.


----------

