Berkshirehunter
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2014
- Messages
- 21
3 new lights in the mail. First thoughts... "I cant believe I have a brass I3s with 180 lumes in my hand for 25 bucks!". Will probably do a write up on them later.
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IMHO, the beam patterns a bit more defused and less throwy than the original. I think this is due to a larger emitter/bulb that protrudes a little farther out and has less reflector in front. I would rather a tighter hotspot with more throw.
My findings differ. For reasons I can't fully explain, I find the black aluminum I3S head fits on the I3S CU Brassy body, but strangely the reverse is not true; the Brassy head does not fit the black body all the way.The head does fit on the previous I3s EOS if you wanted to shave some weight.
I only tried mine out briefly before packing it up, but I had the same reaction. It was my first time looking at an XP-L beam pattern, and it didn't seem ideal in a small reflector like this. I presume the size of the emitter is the relevant difference between the CU and the regular i3s, and that the reflector is the same between the two models. I could be wrong about that.
Of course, the bigger emitter enables the 180 lumen output, so there's a compromise either way vs. an XP-G2.
I know I'm repeating myself, but a Nichia 219b seems like a perfect alternative to XP-G2 in a limited edition like this
But output will be significantly less with a Nichia. I think there is also no support for 10440.
Then it seems to just be a very slow ramp down to 90 lumens that I have trouble noticing. And maybe since this lights more defused, I have trouble noticing much difference between it and other 130 lumen lights I have. So I'd still be interested to see some independent testing on brightness to see if it's really 180.Sorry for my misunderstand about "the output will ramp down by 50% of the initial output within 30 seconds ( about 90lumens)" before, Just to let you know that in the initial output 30 seconds, the flashlight starts to ramp down very slow, which is hard to be recognized. And after about 3.5minutes output will ramp down to 50%. SO if you re-start the flashlight at this moment, will read the ramp down easily.