900 Lumen torch - any good?

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CamBendy
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900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by CamBendy » 27 April 12 12:26 am

Saw this torch on Shopping Squares website this evening.

Cree T6 LED Flashlight Torch 7W 900 Lumens + 1x 18650 Li-ion Battery + Car Charge
Going for 14.95 plus delivery for the next 24 hours if any mad night cachers are interested.

Not sure if it is any good or not, but it is both rechargeable and can be focused.

TTFN

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quiet1_au
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by quiet1_au » 27 April 12 8:44 am

No experience with that particular one but my cheap 1xAA focusing torch is my preferred weapon of choice for night-caching. A nice broad flood for walking/searching and a tight focus for projecting to seek out those far away reflectors makes is very flexible. I wouldn't trust the 900 lumens rating, the actual light output from the front is more likely half that:
An XM-L led running an 18650 usualy puts out about 500 OTF(out the front lumens).It is still a very good light.
For this price though, I can't see how you could go wrong with it (depending on the delivery costs) :-)

I bought my torches from DealExtreme - but you have to have a lot of patience as the postage, whilst free, is sloowwwwwww (eg a month)...

Sometimes though, less light is handy - it's hard to be stealthy with an ultra-bright LED, and dazzling when log writing too. :-P Plus your battery tends to last a lot longer...


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TwoDrews
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by TwoDrews » 28 April 12 1:19 am

Like quiet1_au said, I really doubt it puts out anything like 900 lumens. 500 seems credible, if a little high. I have a Fenix LD10 that cost $50, takes 1x AA @ 1.2v and it pumps out 100 lumens. So the 3.7v is equivalent to 3x AA batteries. I don't know much about electronics (correct me if I'm wrong), but I suspect it's putting out more like 300 lumens.

Which is still an awesome deal for $15 + $6 shipping to my SE Melbourne address.

But I'll give it a miss 'cos I'm saving up for a Fenix TK45 (a genuine 760 lumens from 8x AA)... :D

covert
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by covert » 21 June 12 1:04 pm

A great price for a XML-T6 flashlight with lithium battery and a charger. Shame the price has gone up again. I really like the idea of a car charger for it.

The XML-T6 emitter is cable of outputting a true 1000 lumens when driven at 10Watts. It is 100 Lumen per Watt for a XML-T6. But only having one 18650 battery I think the 7 watt rating would be closer, still giving it 700 Lumens. A very respectable figure.

The 18650 battery has a capacity of around 8 Watt hours, meaning it should last for 1 hour at the highest setting. But expect a noticeable light output drop off as it goes flat.

I have a few XML-T6 flashlights and it is my favorite emitter. Will put any SSC P7/Q5/Q4/R3 to shame.

This is my newest XM L-T6 flashlight ebay link. It has 26650 lithium batteries, 2x the capacity of a 18650. Not as bright as my 2x18650 flashlight but a nice form factor.

Re Dealextreme. I mostly window shop there and buy from eBay. DX shipping times are getting beyond a joke and eBay sellers cannot keep getting negative feedback from slow shipping times so they do there best to make sure you have it in the shortest time possible.

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CamBendy
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by CamBendy » 21 June 12 1:16 pm

Well, being a complete geek, I'm giddy with anticipation to receive my HexBright Flex.

Was a kickstarter project that I backed which closed last year in July.

Reportedly only at 500 lumens, but open source, rechargeable and just plain silly. The thing has an accelerometer on it so that you could (for example) automatically dim the light if you are pointing it straight down.

I have zero need for it. Zero. Zilch. But the geek wants...

covert
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by covert » 21 June 12 1:20 pm

I know the kick starter you are talking about. Your not the only one who jumped on board for it. However I was not one of them :(

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CamBendy
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by CamBendy » 21 June 12 1:30 pm

Well, I went in for 4 flex with 2 buddies of mine - care to do any maths?

You can hit me up for one perhaps if I ever get them!

covert
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by covert » 21 June 12 2:22 pm

CamBendy wrote:You can hit me up for one perhaps if I ever get them!
Hell yeah !. You have a PM.

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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by gmj3191 » 21 June 12 10:56 pm

Check this one out, 3x CREE XML XM-L T6 LED Flashlight Torch 3800 Lumen
Probably again, over rated but you'd probably wake up a few birds with this one.

http://tinyurl.com/89d54nx

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quiet1_au
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Re: 900 Lumen torch - any good?

Post by quiet1_au » 22 June 12 8:56 am

gmj3191 wrote:Check this one out, 3x CREE XML XM-L T6 LED Flashlight Torch 3800 Lumen
Probably again, over rated but you'd probably wake up a few birds with this one.

http://tinyurl.com/89d54nx
Cree's own specs mention in the text it can do 1000lm (probably briefly before frying...), but at the recommended 2A current its more like 690lm for this particular chip, so 2070lm total (presuming one can simply add them like that). They do have a eye safety warning about not looking directly at LED torch lights so I'd say they're "bright enough" :-P

"It must be carefully appreciated that lumens do not measure brightness, which is like loudness in acoustics. ... All we know is that equal amounts of luminous flux produce equal brightness, and more flux means more brightness, but no more than that. In fact, brightness is about proportional to the logarithm of the luminous flux (Fechner's Law). ... Doubling the luminous flux does not double the apparent brightness"

So beware! - although it has three globes, it doesn't actually mean it will be three times as bright as a single globe! It will however draw three times the current so your batteries will drain three times faster... (YMML)


:-$

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