What's better for Spotlighting HID or LED?

[aaronraad]

How do you compare HID's to LED's in terms of spotlighting?

I see there are some small 24W and 35W HID's with 80mm reflectors that must be similar to LED's.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/scope-mo ... 69591.html

[fenring]

I don't know a whole lot about HID apart from they require a little warmup time and come in different colour temperatures.

There are some very powerful LED lights out there that can squirt a long way. The way they do that is to use a large reflector (up to about 80mm or so) to catch and collimate the light, typically anywhere from 1000 to 2500 lumens from a single emitter depending on type, to get a tight spot. That's how they get their range so they are spotlights in the true sense of the word.

I imagine a HID needs a similarly big reflector for the same reason.

Currently, about the most powerful single LED emitters are the Luminus SST90 and Cree MT-G2 that can put out about 2500 lumens at the top end.

Some lights use multiple emitters, most often smaller emitters like the Cree XM-l though this tends to add more flood.

LED's decrease in efficiency and output as they get hot, something called "sag". So a light might produced say 1000 lumens at startup but this drops off as heat builds up. Hence really good heatsinking is required. Apart from that they are generally very robust as there's no filament or glass anywhere in the LED itself.

In either case, perhaps moreso in the case of LED lights, you get what you pay for. The big LED's I mentioned above are not cheap nor are quality driver circuits and copper heatsinks. So if you are looking for a high performance LED light to rival a good, large HID light then consider the cheap ones as no good IMO.

I have seen some cheap HID driving lights on mate's cars and have been underwhelmed given they are meant to be 35W units.

[Jock]

Stupid answer, but I prefer the normal spotty over a mates HID, as the HID is a lot brighter and I am not use to the distances you can see with the HID, whereas the normal spotty is my normal shooting distance.

In saying all that, a HID is a great light, just one I am not use to.

[Jock]

Sorry, just read the heading, HID v's LED.

Crawling back into my hole.

[TexNAss]

Sorry, just read the heading, HID v's LED.

Crawling back into my hole.

Big deal lad- the more information the better.

I'd go halogen over LED &HID too.

Back to original question.. Depends. LED just doesn't quite have the distance I want- but HID is just too bright (unless you start running filters and then you just 'dumbing it down' IMNSHO).

The only benefits I can come up with LEDS- is the lower power usage/increased shock rating- but that's argumentative on both counts.

(Halogen then) HID then LED.

Tex

[Teepee]

I've never used a LED but can give some input on HID
I've used a HiD for the past two years and found firstly it was far too bright
But by using an orange filter I am getting very good results. Tried red, but it dulled the light down to much that I couldn't identify the target, especially over the longer range that I was wanting to use it for.
The orange allows me to spot targets out to a reasonable distance.
I have ranged harder objects using this combo out to 400-450y at night.
Hope this is of help.
Teepee

[kjd]

Why not just use Halogen then?

I prefer Halogen in a proper spotlight, it is far better for spotlighting critters I reckon. A lot cheaper too.

[aaronraad]

I terms of spectrum I think the recommendation is to stick to around 4300K as this is closest to daylight with a slight yellow appearance and less white and blue light found in the 5000K to 6000K spectrum globes.

I assume this runs true for all types of globes when spotlighting Halogen, HID and LED?

[Dr G]

I terms of spectrum I think the recommendation is to stick to around 4300K as this is closest to daylight with a slight yellow appearance and less white and blue light found in the 5000K to 6000K spectrum globes.

Plus one for this. I have been running HID Lightforce setup for about 5 years now. I have the 6000K light and Elmer and Kev run the 4300K light we also have halogen. the 4300 duplicates the colour of the halogen which gives the best contrast and is less fatiguing than the 6000K. I prefer the HID over the halogen as we shoot in a lot of open country and it makes all the difference in the long shots. you just have to know your capabilities and limitations. I have a replacement 4300K HID insert for the light but just haven't been motivated to change it yet

I have found that with light shy animals they are equally spooked by the halogen and HID so typically will see the shine then move off the target, get set up for the shot then move across the target with the intense part of the light just off the eye shine.

Another advantage for the HID over the Halogen is that it is easier to see cats walking away from the light and to follow them. Many cats will look once then never look back unless you can spike their curiosity with a call. Seeing them walk can be difficult with the halogen at longer ranges.

regarding the LED lights my only experience with them is with scope mounted torches, for this they are superb however they are limited for spotlighting duties where ranges are often around 200m.

the only time i think the HID is to bright is with close in rabbits, they just don't like it. To be fair though unless they have managed to get in the reserve I tend to view rabbits as practice so shooting them on the trot is worthwhile. Of course if you see two rabbits the rule is you need to shoot at least one

[fenring]

Using LED I prefer cool tint as it throws further, all else being equal.