SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone - UPDATED

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

I noticed on my MRV the Cree sits higher in the reflector.
Yes, I've noticed the same thing. If you wanted to improve the V-68C focus, you would need to lower the reflector a little further down (i.e. make it so the Cree emitter sits slightly higher in the reflector). I haven't tried modding my reflector yet.

Basically, the current situation with my V-68C is similar to what you would see if you defocussed the MRV reflector slightly (i.e. "unscrewed" it slightly so that it sat higher up on the reflector). It's not a huge mis-alignment, but it is noticeable in the up-close shots.
 

Volny

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Is it possible to adjust the focus to get a wider beam with this flashlight?
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Is it possible to adjust the focus to get a wider beam with this flashlight?
No, all you can do is slightly defocus the hotspot by loosening the bezel head - but that will just make the reflector rattle. The overall spillbeam width won't change.
 

Volny

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

okay, another questiopn. Is it possible to use it without the whole reflecotrhead? So it will give light to 180 degrees?
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

okay, another questiopn. Is it possible to use it without the whole reflecotrhead? So it will give light to 180 degrees?
Yup, that you can do - you can run the light without the head/reflector attached (like in my pic showing the emitter).

I would recommend you place something non-conductive around the emitter contact, to make sure you don't accidentally short the light (in case it falls over, etc.).
 

phreeflow

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

I see Ernie has beat me to the punch: his V-68C review here.

Note that his light seems to have a similar build, but a different circuit.

Hi ,

This is my first post but I've been learning quite a bit and reading/learning a ton of info on this forum for a few months now. Just wanted to thank Selfbuilt, Ernsanada, and Bessiebennie for the great reviews :bow: and for taking the time to help out the rest of the community. You guys are really turning me into a flashaholic...my wife thinks I'm nuts :naughty:

I already purchased a few EDC's that I really like, MTE Rebel 100 5 mode, MTE SSC P4, Ultrafire C3 5-mode (my favorite), and a Romisen. They're all great lights but I'm really looking for a super powerful light using a single Q5. I've heard some mixed reviews but overall I think I may end up going for this Smartfire V68C light.

However, I'm confused as to why Ernsanada's Smartfire V68C from DX measured 8,888 lux at 1 meter and why yours from Kai measured a whopping 15,700 lux at the same distance. Am I reading these measurements correctly and am I right in thinking that the Kai light is going to be waaay brighter even though it's the same exact torch???

Please help...there's so many variables and so many new lights, that I just can't seem to make the right decision :thinking:. Basically, I'm looking for a Q5 thrower under $30 that's truly utilizing the Q5 (super bright) and has decent runtime (18650-only preferable, RCR123's ok)...any other suggestions beside V68C?

Sorry for long post.
 

ernsanada

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

My SmartFire V-68C Q5 MRV Clone has a hole in it's beam. At 1 meter my light my light starts showing the hole. Any closer the hole gets worse. Maybe that is why my reading is so much diffferent.
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

My SmartFire V-68C Q5 MRV Clone has a hole in it's beam. At 1 meter my light my light starts showing the hole. Any closer the hole gets worse. Maybe that is why my reading is so much diffferent.
Sounds like the likely issue - mine doesn't really show the hole in the center at 1m, but at shorter distances (as you can see in my beamshots). Also, Ernie's light meter tends to report a little lower than mine in most cases as well (there's lots of variabilty between light meters).

Phreeflow, the light should probably work fine for you as as long as you take care to insure the emitter contacts are isolated from the reflector, as discussed above. But you might also want to look at the reviews around here for the Q5 Aurora throwers at DX/Kai for a comparison.

Incidentally, my o-ring order from oringusa.com is still on back order. When it gets in, I'll let you know if any fit the head opening ...
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Well, what do you know - UPS just showed up with my o-ring order from oringsusa.com.

The best fit was with the 40mm x 1.5mm BN70

Fit in nicely between the glass and the front of the bezel. I had already covered the contacts with kapton tape, so it's looking pretty spiffy now with the o-ring in place. :)

Thanks again for the suggestion Titan!
 

phreeflow

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Wow, thank you both for the extremely quick feedback :thumbsup:. I've been watching the Aurora Q5 with the 18650-only circuit, but it's always out of stock and I need a light ASAP so I've started looking at other options.
Here is short list of lights I'm currently considering :party::
Trustfire T1 Q5: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10659
Aurora Q5 2-mode: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10637
Smartfire Q5 V68C: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10301
VB-16 Q5: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9741
Ultrafire C2 Q5 5-mode: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10853

Any help making a final decision would be greatly appreciated as the more I read, the more variables I discover that I didn't initially put in the equation :ohgeez:. Seems to be a never ending quest. Once again, my criteria is a light that is utilizing that Q5 to it's fullest potential...brightest and best of the bunch. It will be for mid to far-range work. I'm assuming build and runtime are all pretty similar, and I have plenty of rechargeables, so they are secondary for me.

What would be the best two torches at this price range?? Thanks again!!!
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

What would be the best two torches at this price range?? Thanks again!!!
The ultrafire C2 and VB-16 are both very popular all-purpose lights around here (i.e. decent throw, but not throw monsters). I tend to prefer the VB-16, as I like the low levels. The Trustfire is new, but initial reports have been quite favourable (i.e. similar to first edition dereelight/huntlights).

Throwers are tough, since stock availability and build variability are both issues. The V-68C is a fine light if you willing/able to do some upgrades (i.e. isolate contacts, add o-ring, etc). Personally, I prefer the overall build quality of the Aurora's (but they are bulkier, lack tailcap lockout, etc.).

Hmm, don't know if that helps you much ... all are fairly decent budget choices, as long as you have reasonable expectations of what you will receive.

Good luck!
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Just updated the main post with some additional comments now that I've fixed a number of issues with the stock light.

PWM freq is a respectable 467 Hz in low mode. The annoying "flicker" effect I noted on low and in the strobe modes is now gone - it was resolved by isolating the pill contacts from the reflector. Note that I recommend this be your first course of action on receiving this light - otherwise, you risk frying it in short order.

I've swapped the lens with a UCL AR-coated one from flashlightlens.com (41.8mm size), and throw has increased by 2000 lux at center peak. Looks a lot clearer now too.

:wave:
 

bspofford

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

I've swapped the lens with a UCL AR-coated one from flashlightlens.com (41.8mm size), and throw has increased by 2000 lux at center peak. Looks a lot clearer now too.:wave:

I'm amazed by this and checked into getting UCL AR-coated glass for a number of my lights with only uncoated plain glass lenses. I tried to independently verify your results, and one other member on CPF didn't seem to think it would make much difference. Can you see a subjective increase in output with the UCL?
 

StefanFS

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

I'm amazed by this and checked into getting UCL AR-coated glass for a number of my lights with only uncoated plain glass lenses. I tried to independently verify your results, and one other member on CPF didn't seem to think it would make much difference. Can you see a subjective increase in output with the UCL?

I'd like to answer that too. Sorry about the invasion selfbuilt.
It does make a difference on all lights with low quality and/or uncoated glass lenses. It has made a difference varying from ~1500 Lux to ~3000 Lux in throw for my following lights: MRV, Tiablo A8/A9, D-mini and lots of D size Maglites. It might be observable, but probably it's not. It's only about 8-10% more output. But keep in mind that the increase just about equals the output from a number of AA or CR123 pocket lights.
Stefan
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

I'd like to answer that too. Sorry about the invasion selfbuilt.
No problem - happy to help! :)

I've just tested my UCL lens vs stock MRV vs stock V-68C on different batteries. Note that for % differences, I'm comparing the squareroots of peak lux, since that is more appropriate than raw lux.

Throw:
UCL vs V-68C on 18650: 17,000 lux vs 15,000 lux = 2000 lux difference, or 6.5%
UCL vs stock MRV (Q5-mod) on 18650: 10,800 lux vs 10,300 lux = 500 lux difference, or 2.4%
UCL vs stock MRV (Q5-mod) on RCR: 18,700 lux vs 18,000 lux = 700 lux difference, or 1.9%

As you can see, the UCL lens had much less of impact on my MRV.

So I decided to swap my MRV lens into my V-68C to compare:
MRV lens vs stock V-68C on 18650: 16,300 lux vs 15,000 lux = 1,300 lux difference or 3.9%

As you can see, the MRV lens performs much better than the stock V-68C. This tells me than the UCL lens is a significant upgrade for a cheap lens (like the stock V-68C, 6.5%), but only a small 2.0-2.5% throw upgrade for a decent lens like the MRV.

Note that those results are is in terms of throw only. I also measured overall output using my lightbox and ceiling bounce measure, and the difference between the MRV lens and stock V-68C was only about ~1%. The UCL lens versus stock V-68C or MRV was typically in the 2.5-4.0% range, but there's a lot more variability here than in the throw numbers (which I tend to trust more).

In terms of subjective impressions, I certainly can't see a difference between the UCL and MRV lens. But the V-68C looks a lot better (i.e. the previous lens was slightly cloudy, and seemed to accentuate the slightly purplish ~WQ tint). Not sure if I can really notice the 6.5% throw difference, but the tint and lens opacity certainly look better to my eye.
 
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bspofford

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

No problem - happy to help! :)

I've just tested my UCL lens vs stock MRV vs stock V-68C on different batteries. Note that for % differences, I'm comparing the squareroots of peak lux, since that is more appropriate than raw lux.

Throw:
UCL vs V-68C on 18650: 17,000 lux vs 15,000 lux = 2000 lux difference, or 6.5%
UCL vs stock MRV (Q5-mod) on 18650: 10,800 lux vs 10,300 lux = 500 lux difference, or 2.4%
UCL vs stock MRV (Q5-mod) on RCR: 18,700 lux vs 18,000 lux = 700 lux difference, or 1.9%

As you can see, the UCL lens had much less of impact on my MRV.

So I decided to swap my MRV lens into my V-68C to compare:
MRV lens vs stock V-68C on 18650: 16,300 lux vs 15,000 lux = 1,300 lux difference or 3.9%

As you can see, the MRV lens performs much better than the stock V-68C. This tells me than the UCL lens is a significant upgrade for a cheap lens (like the stock V-68C, 6.5%), but only a small 2.0-2.5% throw upgrade for a decent lens like the MRV.

Note that those results are is in terms of throw only. I also measured overall output using my lightbox and ceiling bounce measure, and the difference between the MRV lens and stock V-68C was only about ~1%. The UCL lens versus stock V-68C or MRV was typically in the 2.5-4.0% range, but there's a lot more variability here than in the throw numbers (which I tend to trust more).

In terms of subjective impressions, I certainly can't see a difference between the UCL and MRV lens. But the V-68C looks a lot better (i.e. the previous lens was slightly cloudy, and seemed to accentuate the slightly purplish ~WQ tint). Not sure if I can really notice the 6.5% throw difference, but the tint and lens opacity certainly look better to my eye.

Thanks for all the info! Based on your report, I decided to upgrade 12 lights, including my V-68C, with UCL glass. I don't know if one lens at Flashlightlens is free shipping, but I got free shipping with my order. Prices for these upgrades were quite reasonable. Unfortunately, my o-rings for the V-68C are on backorder.
 

selfbuilt

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Re: SmartFire V-68C "Q5" MRV-clone

Thanks for all the info! Based on your report, I decided to upgrade 12 lights, including my V-68C, with UCL glass. I don't know if one lens at Flashlightlens is free shipping, but I got free shipping with my order. Prices for these upgrades were quite reasonable. Unfortunately, my o-rings for the V-68C are on backorder.
Wow, 12 lights? I thought I had a lot of throwers lying around. ;)

I must say, I'm liking this V-68C a lot more with the o-ring and new lens installed (and after cleaning and isolating contacts).
 

layzieyez

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I also jumped at replacing the lens in my V-68C with the UCL lens, and it certainly does look better all around. Not bad for a $6 upgrade. I'll see about getting measurements for the rest of these cheap lights I have.
 

LukeA

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Sorry for bringing this thread from the dead, but I received this light today. I really like it. It's quite a performer for the price. It slightly outthrows my 7060 on high.

Mine has an LOP reflector, greased tailcap threads (the head and bezel threads were dry but well-formed) and fairly clean soldering to the emitter. The soldering of the board to the body is marginal, and the lens has a medium-sized crack. As this will be somewhat of a beater light for me, I'll either be cutting down a spare mag lens or getting some 1/8" polycarbonate to replace the glass. An intact, slightly less efficient lens is worth more to me than shards of a clear lens.

For $50 including charger and a pair of 18650s, this is a great deal.
 
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