1000 lumens and above lights?

miknoypinoy

miknoypinoy

Joined
Dec 8, 2012
Messages
170
so one of the guys at work brought his "2000 lumen" light to work and was showing it off. . . I don't believe it's 2000 lumens. my fenix pd32ue looks a lot brighter than the one he brought . . .

so I checked on line and saw a plethora of lights claiming 1000, 1800, 2000 lumens. . . all for dirt cheap prices compared to fenix, surefire, 4sevens, etc. . . are these falsely advertised, or is there a different standard of measurements varied by manufacturers?

I'm fairly new to these types of lights so please excuse my ignorance . . .
 
I have seen those as well...my rule of thumb is that if it is super cheap don't believe it. Maybe they are measuring by candela power?
 
I love high power lights with my top being the "Big Bruiser" from Elektro Lumens.It puts out a whopping 3000 lumens! Let me tell you, when you turn this on,jaws

drop.It is not a thrower but rather a wall of light. When I use it at my property in the hills of upstate N.Y. it lights up an amazing amount of real estate.

Before I was fully addicted, I bought a few of the inexpensive hi- lumen lights and found all of them to be exactly what you paid for~crap.No way did they deliver

the power they claimed.Trust me, you'll know 3000 lumens when you see it.

Stick with established brands;buy once,cry once.You'll not be disappointed. There are some lesser priced ,excellent brands which are not as mainstream such as

Sunwayman,4 Sevens etc.. Check out Candlepower Forum and you'll discover a whole new black hole to throw your cash into.Lights from all manufacturers are

getting more compact while delivering amazing power and at reasonable prices imho. I'm no expert by far,but love powerful lights and quality engineering.
 
From what I understand, lumens can mean anything the you want them to mean. It depends on where and how the light is measured.

Several years ago Surefire made the Beast II. It was claimed that it put out 2000 lumens and I suspect that was accurate. It used 20 123A batteries and weighed 4 1/2 pounds.
I showed my son the specs and he commented that it was probably the only flashlight that produced recoil. ;)
 
yeah he said he paid like 30$ for it. . . seemed to good to be true for that power output. . . I'll stick with the name brand stuff I read everyone here carries. . . thanks all. .
 
Lumen is a measurment of the total light (luminous flux) produced by a light source.

First of all, beam width greatly affects perceived brightness.

Second, the human eye is more sensitive at some wavelengths than others, so spectrum can affect perceived brightness.

Third, many light sources get dimmer with age... either or both chronological age or operating age. And batteries also can affect output of a flashlight.
 
Luman ratings remind me of the watts per channel ratings of 70's vintage stereos. Some companies inflate their ratings, while others use conservative values.
 
UffDa said:
From what I understand, lumens can mean anything the you want them to mean. It depends on where and how the light is measured.

Several years ago Surefire made the Beast II. It was claimed that it put out 2000 lumens and I suspect that was accurate. It used 20 123A batteries and weighed 4 1/2 pounds.
I showed my son the specs and he commented that it was probably the only flashlight that produced recoil. ;)
Click to expand...

You're confusing lumens with candlepower ratings. Lumen ratings are far more accurate and consistent provided manufactures themselves don't inflate them. Also lumen ratings are sometimes taken from two places the first being the actual LED and the second being OTF or out the front meaning what actually comes out of the flashlight.
 
^^what he said.

Some quote "lumens" as the 'electronic potential' of the circuit. But it's an imaginary number. Actual output is 1/10th of their number.


A true 1000 lumen light is a bruiser. I should know, I have one. It is custom-made. I have actually used it for firestarting - it will literally set a dry pile of leaves or newsprint aflame. It has 9 AA rechargeable batteries but only lasts 40 minutes. Tremendous throw.


Like was said before - you'll know it when you see it. Very few manufacturers make a true 1000+ lumen light.
 
rycen said:
You're confusing lumens with candlepower ratings. Lumen ratings are far more accurate and consistent provided manufactures themselves don't inflate them. Also lumen ratings are sometimes taken from two places the first being the actual LED and the second being OTF or out the front meaning what actually comes out of the flashlight.
Click to expand...

I understand the difference between lumens and candlepower. The problem is the statement that I highlighted. For instance, there are more than one Chinese flashlight
manufacturer that makes wild claims about the lumens their lights put out. It is unlikely that a 1000 lumen LED flash light would operate on 6 volts yet they are marketed as such.

Before anyone corrects me, I know about the HID lights. They are not the same as lights advertised as 1000 lumens for $12.95.
 
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As with anything if it seems too good to be true it probably is and you get what you pay for. Those certainly apply to flashlights and knives.

The reason I bought lumens versus candlepower is that candlepower can be measured anywhere in the beam whereas lumen measurement is total output.
 
Beam width is really important. I have some older LED (Luxeon) lights that have a fairly tight beam, I have a newer Fenix that puts out a lot more lumens but in a wider beam, and I have some of the big Mag LED's that you can focus to a tight beam. A tight beam works for a long distance but probably doesn't put out all that much actual output.

Another problem with lumens is that your eyes don't measure light output the same way as some form of light meter. In other words if you double the lumens, your eyes don't register it as being twice as bright.

I have a plain old Fenix PD32 and it is significantly brighter than my old LED lights with the Luxeon LED, but switching through the modes of light I don't see that the 300+ lumen mode is that much brighter than the modes right below it.
 
Generally the human eye needs 50% increase to register any difference in brightness.
 
I remember when a 200 lumen light was bright!

I have a little surefire with what appears to be an aftermarket led. My family and friends are always shocked at the brightness. It can't be more than 80-90 lumens tops.

3000 lumens should melt your eyes out of your face!
 
Most manufacturers lie, or use the theoretical or LED output as published by the LED manufacturer, without taking into account all the various loses in the light's design (I.E. reflector/optic loss, driver/electronic issues, power issues).

It's a sales pitch.

I would even doubt some companies ANSI claims.
 
My little Streamlight Scorpion only puts out about 60 lumens, but it's damned bright for a small light, and you can feel the heat from the light when it's aimed at you.

Of course, it's pretty obsolete at this point and many modern lights are boasting 200-300 lumens without being much bigger.
 
If you want to get an idea what 1000 lumens looks like try to find an older 1085 bulb mod, this one is a custom build by Mac of Mac's Customs, pure awesomeness. You can find them at a decent price cuz they're old school but you will be impressed with what 1000 true lumens looks like.

P1190651_zps75a17e36.jpg


P1190657_zpsd5b2313f.jpg
 
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