Flourescent ring light vs. led light

[pappy]

I was wondering if the led ring sold by grs is brighter than thier flourescent model. I notice that at the highest power my Meji scope needs a little more brightness, and I bet some of you out there have both the flouresent and led ring light from GRS. Which one is brghter, and which one do you like best?

 

[Dave London]

LED for me:thumbs up:

 

[Kevin P.]

Be careful sometimes too bright a light is not a good thing.
Not knowing what you're up to makes it difficult to suggest anything.
Kevin P.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

When I tried a LED I didn't care for it. I found it caused too many unwanted reflections which were a distraction. It's horses for courses though; some like Dave like it. If you can try before you buy I'd definitely do so as an LED could be an expensive mistake if you don't like it.

As well as echoing Kevin P's comment about bright light no necessarily being a good thing, ask yourself realistically, how often do you use maximum magnification on your scope? I agree the flourescent struggles at the high end but I rarely if ever need to work at that degree of magnification.

 

[Sam]

LED's seem to present problems for some engravers when working on really shiny objects. I used one for a few days at a trade show and it worked ok, especially since I could turn it way down when I wanted to. I like the fact that it's cool, low power, etc, but the smooth reflection of the fluorescent bulb is a bit easier on my eyes. If they could diffuse the LED's a bit more I think I'd get one.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

My setup is with LED's and they work just fine.

If the LED's create bright spots just dab the metal with a bit of transfer wax or plastacine. That stops the reflection ...........it also works over the top of transfers and has a habit of darkening them a bit and making them a bit clearer. It's something I do on most of my work and it works just great. But I do prefer Sam's transfer wax as it's nicer to work with.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[John B.]

You can also "scrim" the LED's with tracing paper, scrim cloth and a rubber band.
It will cut down undesirable glare.
Best.

 

[jerrywh]

I have had a led for 10 years and never use it. too much reflection for me.

 

[Kevin P.]

Steve I should have added this to my response where I said the light can be too bright.
For me it's the modeling of the thing that you're looking at that is the most important.

What I use is the ring light from GRS that I thought didn't supply enough light; now I like it very much. I also use a cheap florescent desk light just to the side. It's the second light that provides the modeling
It may be just my personal weirdness but it works for me.
Kevin P.

 

[Mario Sarto]

I use the LED - it works just fine. I don't know the other one. When working in our studio alone in the evening, i turn off all other lights. Without the LED it would be dark in the room - looks certainly funny. Until now i didn't have this problem about the reflections, nor when setting stones.
Better try out both versions - if you can.
Mario

 

[Winstonklein]

LED is Excellent as a complement.