OdorlessCurves
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2013
- Messages
- 1
Hello :wave:
I have had possibility to use and test all 3 main Lemax searchlights: LX50II, LX70 and LX70 Superpower. Thanks to Petr by the way
I am a big fan of powerful LED lights and I have many different lights in my collection. Also I have some cheaper HID lights including FF IV. I have to say that Lemax products are completely different story...
Amount of light coming out of them is enormous and that is combined with very useful beam pattern. Just perfect for professional searchlight. Even more - neutral color temperature enables to see details much better than conventional LED searchlights with XM-L2 / XP-L / XHP LEDs.
The biggest surprise for me was that those lights won't get hot on continuous operation on max mode :devil: (there is no step down as you can expect from HID light). They stay reasonably warm and do not get hot unlike most LED lights and my FF IV do. In that point of view those lights are extremely well designed.
Do not know how their battery pack is built and what kind of elements are used but runtimes seems to be very close of what has been stated in manuals.
LX50II performance and beam pattern is quite close to FF IV 2nd/3rd setting. LX70 outperforms LX50II. LX70 Superpower easily outperforms LX70 in real conditions. It is hard to get difference of those 3 lights into photos but in reality difference is huge. Until we have HID-s like Lemax I can say that LED lights have a long way to go to achieve similar real life performance. I am not talking in terms of lumens or throw... I am talking about the whole package you get.
It is interesting that in despite of reflector sizes beam patterns of those 3 lights are not very different. You can see difference in closer ranges (hot spot vs spill) but on bigger distances there isn't much difference any more.
In cooperation of professional SAR crew we tested Lemax products side-by-side on dark sea with such magnificent LED lights as Nitecore TM36, Fenix RC40, Acebeam K60, X60L and K70. In those conditions none of them was close to any of Lemax lights in terms of usefulness. It is hard to explain why. You have to experience it by yourself.
I can say following about LX70 Superpower thow... Before we went to sea with SAR crew one of the crew members turned LX70SP on and directed light over the bay. It lighted up beach and trees on the other side without any problems. Could easily see details on other side. Distance to opposite side of the bay was 2,5km (1,5...1,6 miles) and I can confirm that there was a lot of reserve in despite of this 2,5km range and some moisture in air. I see no reason why LX70SP shouldn't cover up 4km according to ANSI standard. Of course you need good binoculars in that situation
Downsides of these lights?
They are heavy, especially LX70SP. Included handle is very useful and provides firm grip tough. Acebeam X60 and Fenix RC40 (that are great LED lights) feel like toys comparing with LX50II/70/70SP weight.
Price. But you get what you pay for. You will forget the price tag each time you turn on one of the Lemax monsters in dark
I have had possibility to use and test all 3 main Lemax searchlights: LX50II, LX70 and LX70 Superpower. Thanks to Petr by the way
I am a big fan of powerful LED lights and I have many different lights in my collection. Also I have some cheaper HID lights including FF IV. I have to say that Lemax products are completely different story...
Amount of light coming out of them is enormous and that is combined with very useful beam pattern. Just perfect for professional searchlight. Even more - neutral color temperature enables to see details much better than conventional LED searchlights with XM-L2 / XP-L / XHP LEDs.
The biggest surprise for me was that those lights won't get hot on continuous operation on max mode :devil: (there is no step down as you can expect from HID light). They stay reasonably warm and do not get hot unlike most LED lights and my FF IV do. In that point of view those lights are extremely well designed.
Do not know how their battery pack is built and what kind of elements are used but runtimes seems to be very close of what has been stated in manuals.
LX50II performance and beam pattern is quite close to FF IV 2nd/3rd setting. LX70 outperforms LX50II. LX70 Superpower easily outperforms LX70 in real conditions. It is hard to get difference of those 3 lights into photos but in reality difference is huge. Until we have HID-s like Lemax I can say that LED lights have a long way to go to achieve similar real life performance. I am not talking in terms of lumens or throw... I am talking about the whole package you get.
It is interesting that in despite of reflector sizes beam patterns of those 3 lights are not very different. You can see difference in closer ranges (hot spot vs spill) but on bigger distances there isn't much difference any more.
In cooperation of professional SAR crew we tested Lemax products side-by-side on dark sea with such magnificent LED lights as Nitecore TM36, Fenix RC40, Acebeam K60, X60L and K70. In those conditions none of them was close to any of Lemax lights in terms of usefulness. It is hard to explain why. You have to experience it by yourself.
I can say following about LX70 Superpower thow... Before we went to sea with SAR crew one of the crew members turned LX70SP on and directed light over the bay. It lighted up beach and trees on the other side without any problems. Could easily see details on other side. Distance to opposite side of the bay was 2,5km (1,5...1,6 miles) and I can confirm that there was a lot of reserve in despite of this 2,5km range and some moisture in air. I see no reason why LX70SP shouldn't cover up 4km according to ANSI standard. Of course you need good binoculars in that situation
Downsides of these lights?
They are heavy, especially LX70SP. Included handle is very useful and provides firm grip tough. Acebeam X60 and Fenix RC40 (that are great LED lights) feel like toys comparing with LX50II/70/70SP weight.
Price. But you get what you pay for. You will forget the price tag each time you turn on one of the Lemax monsters in dark
