Beam Shot Comparison: 8 LED Lanterns (pic heavy)

I thought I'd do some comparison beam shots of the Lanterns that I have.

These lanterns include the following from left to right:
Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3D, River Rock 3xAA, Cyclops Apollo 3xAAA (front), Brunton Polaris 3C, Coleman Packaway 4xAA, Energizer Weather Ready 4D.



Added a borrowed Colman Micropacker Cree XR-C LED 3xAA (left) and my Micropacker 2 x 5mm LED 3xAA (Right). Brunton in middle for size comparison.



Below are the beam shots. Pictures are JPEG's taken with my Canon 30D DSLR, Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC Macro HSM @ 28mm, 1/13sec., f6.3, ISO 200.


Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3D on high:


Rayovac Sportsman Extreme 3D on low:


River Rock 3xAA on high:


River Rock 3xAA on low:


Cyclops Apollo in lantern mode:


Cyclops Apollo in flashlight mode:


Brunton Polaris 3C on high:


Brunton Polaris 3C on low:


Coleman Packaway 4xAA on high:


Coleman Packaway 4xAA on low:


Energizer Weather Ready 4D on high flipped up:


Energizer Weather Ready 4D on low flipped up:


Energizer Weather Ready 4D on high flipped down:


Energizer Weather Ready 4D on low flipped down:


Energizer Weather Ready 4D on nightlight mode:


Colman Micropacker Cree XR-C LED 3xAA on high


Colman Micropacker Cree XR-C LED 3xAA on low


Coleman Micropacker 2 x 5mm LED 3xAA on high


Coleman Micropacker 2 x 5mm LED 3xAA on low


Maratac AAA "micro-lantern" on hi w/ opaque white Chapstick cap. (Check post #6 for an details)


Maratac AAA "micro-lantern" on high w/ translucent Chapstick cap. (Check post #6 for an details)



More lanterns and beam shots to come.

Re: Beam Shot Comparison: My 6 LED Lanterns (pic heavy)

Excellent beam shots UpChUcK.Looking forward to more in the future.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Re: Beam Shot Comparison: My 6 LED Lanterns (pic heavy)

Love the lantern-shots!

nice beam shots there bro! wasn't aware you were obsessed with the Donald! :thinking:

s4biturbo said:

nice beam shots there bro! wasn't aware you were obsessed with the Donald! :thinking:

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:naughty:

LOL, it was my daughter's school art project and the closest thing I could grab for a background. :shrug:

I lost my EDC light in September at Cedar Point. I replaced my Fenix L0D CE with a Maratac AAA. During my research to replace my L0D, I happened upon a post by a CPF member with a clever idea to make the Maratac a micro-lantern. It appears that Chapstick caps fit nicely over the head of the light providing diffused light.

I got 2 different types of Chapstick. The regular "Classic Cherry" with a white opaque cap and a "100% Natural Lip Butter" with a transluscent cap. The transluscent cap provides a warmer light and it is noticably brighter overall although the beamshots above doesn't really show much difference.









Check out the beamshots above.

Nice shots there mate.:twothumbs
We dont have the Maratac over here (other than importing one) but we do have its twin the ITP A3 Eos. I have both versions, black and SS.







Just have to look in the wifes bag to see if she has a chapstick that I can try the cap on the ITP.

j3bnl said:

Nice shots there mate.:twothumbs
We dont have the Maratac over here (other than importing one) but we do have its twin the ITP A3 Eos. I have both versions, black and SS.

Just have to look in the wifes bag to see if she has a chapstick that I can try the cap on the ITP.

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Hi Brian,

Thanks for you nice comments. We seem to have a lot in common.

Too bad CountyComm doesn't ship international. I bought the Maratac AAA over its ITP twin because of the tailstanding ability. Both are great lights though. PM me if you would like me to ship a Maratac to you.

So far Chapstick is the only lip balm cap that fits. The other 2 or 3 I've tried were too big.

UpChUcK said:

Hi Brian,

Thanks for you nice comments. We seem to have a lot in common.

Too bad CountyComm doesn't ship international. I bought the Maratac AAA over its ITP twin because of the tailstanding ability. Both are great lights though. PM me if you would like me to ship a Maratac to you.

So far Chapstick is the only lip balm cap that fits. The other 2 or 3 I've tried were too big.

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Looks like we do have a fair bit in common.
Thanks for the offer to ship a Maratac, very kind of you.
Will stick to the ITP for now but know where to come if I need to get one.

Any comments on build quality between these lanterns? Which are most likely to survive being dropped, crushed, or rained on.

I'm in the market for one and the Sportsman Xtreme and Brunton Polaris have caught my eye. Any recommendations on why to choose one over the other? Another thread has some good pics of the insides of the Sportsman Xtreme and some current measurements, but I have no idea what the inside of the Brunton looks like. Is it just an XR-E on a 20mm star? Any idea on regulated runtime or battery current draw for the Brunton?

Navin_R_Johnson said:

Any comments on build quality between these lanterns? Which are most likely to survive being dropped, crushed, or rained on.

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I "only" have the Rayovac 3D, Energizer 4D LED, Energizer 4D Fluorescent, River Rock 4AA (old), River Rock 3AA new. I do want to note that the battery compartments on ALL of these lanterns SUCK!

Out of the bunch:

ROV 3D & RiverRock 4AA, would be what I'd recommend for hard use. I think the RR 4AA could handle crushing a bit better due to being cylindrical, but wouldn't handle being dropped on a hard surface as well due to its hard plastic with no protection. The ROV 3D has rubber ends and a substantial amount of rubber around it. The ROV3d's plastic also feels a bit more flexible. It has a larger globe so it might be more susceptible to crushing. The RR 4AA has a recessed switch on the top of it might trap/allow water to get inside it. I doubt water would get into the ROV 3D. As an added bonus, both of these lights are regulated.

The Energizer 4D fluro/LEDs aren't water-tight at all nor do they appear to be able to handle any sort of fall/impact. Don't get me wrong, they're not fragile, but they're not meant to be drop-kicked and left for dead in the rain like the aforementioned lanterns. They'd be perfectly good lanterns for around the house. Not regulated though.

Not worth buying: River-Rock 3 AA. Not regulated, short run-time, cheap construction compared to the others. I'm probably going to ebay mine at some point. Not doing any good here.

Navin_R_Johnson said:

Any comments on build quality between these lanterns? Which are most likely to survive being dropped, crushed, or rained on.

I'm in the market for one and the Sportsman Xtreme and Brunton Polaris have caught my eye. Any recommendations on why to choose one over the other? Another thread has some good pics of the insides of the Sportsman Xtreme and some current measurements, but I have no idea what the inside of the Brunton looks like. Is it just an XR-E on a 20mm star? Any idea on regulated runtime or battery current draw for the Brunton?

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I don't expect the Energizer Weather Ready to survive too many drops. It just feels like the plastic is brittle.

The ROV 4D is pretty solid. I would hesitate to use it in a rough environment.

The River Rock feels very well built and solid. The glass is thick and the rubber top and bottom will make this tough to break if dropped repeatedly.

The Coleman Packaway has a rubbery coating all the way around but the battery door feels cheap and may break if dropped before the rest of the light sustains damage.

I fully expect the Coleman Micropacker and Cyclops to break the next time I look at them cross-eyed. :shakehead

The Brunton just may be bullet and bomb proof.


As far as which to choose between the ROV and Brunton... well, it depends on what you'll use it for. Camping/backpacking, go with the Brunton. Emergency light or you want brightness, go with the ROV. The Coleman Packaway would be a better choice for backpacking though. The Bruntons does have a warmer tint due to the colored globe if that is important to you.

I have the ROV, Brunton and Energizer lanterns and much prefer the ROV 3D!
If the Brunton had a frosted globe it might be more desirable but the light output of the ROV is brighter and less harsh than the Brunton. Both are equally durable subjectively but the Brunton may have the advantage if they were ever tested.

The energizer is in a lower league, though it's runtime makes up for some of it's quirkiness, it just feels cheep and breakable. I've had the switch or something in one of mine short to cause intermittent light output on one camp out but it's behaved itself since. Though it doesn't get reached for much since I got the ROV.

filibuster said:

The energizer is in a lower league, though it's runtime makes up for some of it's quirkiness, it just feels cheep and breakable. I've had the switch or something in one of mine short to cause intermittent light output on one camp out but it's behaved itself since. Though it doesn't get reached for much since I got the ROV.

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So far the Energizer's a bit more durable than we give it credit for. I was relamping and replacing ballasts in 1kW metal halide street lights tonight. Went to my car's trunk to grab the ROV 3D & ROV 3AA and the Energizer fell out onto the pavement. Surprisingly and I do mean VERY surprisingly, it survived. Only a minor scuff on the switch and the handle. That said, the switch doesn't feel particularly solid to begin with. I'm still surprised it didn't totally crack. UNFORTUNATELY, I left the ROV 3D at the house, so I was stuck using the Energizer on the 60' boom lift.

Overall, the Energizer wasn't bad, worked great while I was working inside each fixture. It certainly beat trying to use/hold a flashlight whilst juggling wires, reflectors, ballasts, and bulbs inside the light fixture. Too bad so many CPFers are focused on flashlights -- lanterns are far more useful than most would think.

The Energizer lacked throw, which would have been nice when attempting to get close to the lights without running the boom lift's tires up onto the raised curbs. I really wanted the ROV 3D for this purpose and wanted the 3AA to be used as a blinking warning beacon on the boomer in case a car happened to be driving in the parking lot. BUT the Energizer held its own. That said, I'll be buying a 2nd set of ROV 3D & 3AA lanterns to keep permanently stationed in my car.

TPA said:

Not worth buying: River-Rock 3 AA. Not regulated, short run-time, cheap construction compared to the others. I'm probably going to ebay mine at some point. Not doing any good here.

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I was quite surprised when I read this. I have to disagree.

Based on a quite a few good reviews and comments, I purchased one of these RR 3-AA lanterns from Target for $5.44, and so far I am very pleased with it. Did you happen to buy an updated Cree version with the light green body, or an older version?

Either way, the construction seems very solid, with an alumium body, and rubber end caps for protection.

According to an index from LEDAdd1ct, this lantern IS regulated, and has a very favorable runtime of 7 hours on high (over 20 total), and 50 hours on low. Do you consider that poor runtime for 3 AA's?
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/232028

The only thing I do not like about this light is the flashing green indicator, which is basically invisible except form directly in front of it.

TPA said:

Not worth buying: River-Rock 3 AA. Not regulated, short run-time, cheap construction compared to the others. I'm probably going to ebay mine at some point. Not doing any good here.

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Backpacker Light said:

I was quite surprised when I read this. I have to disagree.

Based on a quite a few good reviews and comments, I purchased one of these RR 3-AA lanterns from Target for $5.44, and so far I am very pleased with it. Did you happen to buy an updated Cree version with the light green body, or an older version?

Either way, the construction seems very solid, with an alumium body, and rubber end caps for protection.

According to an index from LEDAdd1ct, this lantern IS regulated, and has a very favorable runtime of 7 hours on high (over 20 total), and 50 hours on low. Do you consider that poor runtime for 3 AA's?
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/232028

The only thing I do not like about this light is the flashing green indicator, which is basically invisible except form directly in front of it.

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I'm a bit surprised by that statement also. My RR has survived quite a beating and several drops since I got it. And runtimes are in line with the cells used. Sure the ROV 3D will last longer, they are D cells! :shrug:

I don't like the green blinkie either.