LED Battle: Rebel vs P4 vs LEDEngin 5W vs Cree vs Other

[PhoenixReborn]

I'd like to spark the minds of the geniuses in this hobby once again and get some intellectual discussion going. Amongst sabersmiths there seems to be differences in opinion on the brightest LED amongst Luxeon Rebels, Seoul P4s, LEDEngin 5Ws, Crees, and Other LEDs.

I'd love to see some side by side comparisons of these, as datasheets are always saying one is brighter than the other or making other claims.

The only rules I'd request is that the LEDs compared be the same color and the same class of LED. (The LEDEngin 5W being the exception, it may be a 5W LED, but its output is similar to the Rebels, Crees and P4s). I just don't want to see a Rebel up vs a 10W LEDEngin, or a P4 up against a SSR90.

In your posts, if you do the experiment yourself, and know the stats, please add the following information: LED Focusing Device, Current (in mA) to LED, Blade Type Used (if a blade type is used), Battery or Power Source Used, Power Driver or Soundboard Used, Shutter speed of Camera (If applicable and not a video).

I will also ask, that you try NOT to use a resistor as your driver, as it creates a variance on the current going to the LED based on remaining battery life.. (Unless you've got the entire assembly metered and know exactly how much power is going to the LED, that is).

I also encourage you to MAKE NEW sabers with these LEDs just to post the comparison, as well as use LEDs that haven't been used or really heard of in the hobby!

[KuroChou]

If you're going to be as specific as shutter speed, then you really need to also be as specific as aperture and iso, as both of these things have as much or more of an effect on the apparent brightness of the pictured setup. I could show you a pic of a blade using only a 3mm accent LED, at 1/250th of a second, but if it was at f2.3 and 1600-iso, it would be as bright as the sun.

[PhoenixReborn]

as long as both sabers are taken at exactly the SAME settings...

[KuroChou]

I understand that within a particular photoset, as long as the photographer uses the same settings every time, the pictures are useful for an accurate scale.
That said, it's more useful to the people using this thread, to be able to judge for themselves how accurate those pictures are, based on the exif data.
I've seen a lot of pictures on this site, that show blades to be substantially brighter than they appear in real life, just because of the camera's faulty auto-exposure.
On some cameras this same auto-exposure can change drastically from shot to shot, even using consistent ambient light and a tripod.

Here are a few examples of how much it can vary.
These pictures are all taken of a poorly built 1" thick-wall battle blade with 5' poly-p, lit by a single 3mm white LED, no optics or reflector, from a small flashlight.

DSC02271
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure Time: 1/100 (0.01 sec)
Focal Length: 18.0 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO: 100

DSC02281
Aperture: 5
Exposure Time: 1/4 (0.25 sec)
Focal Length: 18.0 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO: 200

DSC02272
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure Time: 1/100 (0.01 sec)
Focal Length: 18.0 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO: 3200

DSC02279
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure Time: 1/5 (0.2 sec)
Focal Length: 18.0 mm
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO: 3200

For people who don't have a camera with a manual mode, they can at least check and post the exif data.
Even though I shot the pictures above in manual, all the info above came from: http://exifdata.com/

If this thread is for hardcore -exact- information, then we should at least arm ourselves with as much information as possible.

[PhoenixReborn]

Agreed, and thats also why im asking for side by side comparisons (if you cant do the manual mode thing, both sabers in the same picture does the trick).