I see the 5, don't see the 2 or 8.

Although I'm a huge fan of LED's, I can totally understand why you guys would stick with the incandescent bulbs. I own quite a few flashlights and all of them are LED except for one--my high power "bump in the night" nightstand light.

One application where I have been disappointed with LED is--well, I guess color rendition is as good a label as any. If I'm looking at a familiar scene or familiar objects, I have no qualms with LED. However, I have noted occasions when I have tried identifying something in the distance and just couldn't really identify what it was even though the amount of light falling on the object was sufficient. Certain colors of the object just weren't reflecting back much light and my brain just didn't recognize what it was. A few times, as an experiment, I'd go get the incandescent and every time, I would be able to make out what that mystery object in the distance was. Not a very scientific experiment, but good enough to make me change my mind. Since a bump in the night could be something unfamiliar or new, I don't want to be at a disadvantage in that situation.

I would also say that in my own experience, incandescent is generally superior to LED in fog/mist (and probably smoke, I suppose). Even with a tight beam, LED seems to produce more glare and backscatter than a similar incandescent beam.

Now that the LAPD has started issuing LED duty lights, I'm curious to hear what the verdict will be after a year of use in varied situations.

Marginally related to the subject -- how about the color of LED lights.

As I recall, when LED microlightss first appeared they were mainly available in colors. It was only later that reasonable-quality white LEDs were offered.

The colored LEDs were marketed as being good for preserving night vision, and I bought into that after experiencing it myself.

HowEver...

Now that I have a widely adjustable intensity on my Photon Freedoms, I find myself less likely to pick an LED for its night-vision properites.

In fact, I think I'll just stick to white Photon Freedoms from here on out.

Bear

Photon Freedom is an LED. Are you saying that with the variable intensity white LED you're less likely to with a red or yellow LED?

Yes. I'm saying that a variable intensity white LED seems like a better choice than a colored LED (whether variable or not).

I use a Photon when I'm the last one up at night in the house and have to get from the living room to the bedroom. Or when I'm camped out in a forest and need to get from my hammock to a tree and back.

When backpacking, preserving my night vision doesn't seem nearly as important as being able to see colors more accurately. For example, I learned that it's difficult to see where the blood is with a red LED.

Bear

Martin: I bet part of the problem is the firefighter LEDs were chosen for intensity over color rendition, by the manufacturer. This is what "most" people want, and what Luxeon largely markets their higher power LEDs based on (i.e. power). Of course, lots of intensity in the blue/indigo/purple range. I have read on candlepower that the LEDs from them are available with a much more incandescent/yellow cast, the yellowishness in varying amounts. Contrary to what you probably want, many people seem to downgrade these incandescent-looking LEDs, they want "white"!

Agree that white LEDs are even uglier than compact fluorescents in most living spaces, I'm very picky where I use them, halogen is so much more liveable IMO. Perhaps the next generation won't mind, the weird light will be "normal" to them.

I think the biggest appeal for using LEDs is the amount of usable light vs. the amount of power. LEDs are way more efficient than any incandescent, flourescent, or Halogen for the amount of usable light they generate. That and their absolute durability make them ideal for hard use environments. From a caving perspective, it has always been that the lava tubes we explored tended to suck up the light from our flashlights and carbide lamps. The spectral quality of the LED lights is such that they overcome the light damping effect of the cave surface much better than other light sources, and we were getting better results and longer durations from D cell driven LED lights than what we were getting off big gel cel driven halogen diving lights from a decade ago.

They are not spectrally pure, but I've no problem using white LED light sources while punch telco blocks where no other light source was available and haven't made a mistake yet. Some colors are a little harder than others, but nothing too difficult to second guess my work.

I remember when the best LEDs we could use were still rated in mcd and were useless for cave work.

6 and 5 for me.