Black Diamond Spot Review

The latest version of the Black Diamond Spot headlamp is now available and generally at a price of around $40. Running on 3 AAA batteries (alkaline, lithium, or rechargeables) it has a max output of 75 lumen from the main led and is infinitely adjustable down to 4 lumen. At it's lowest setting runtime should be 200 hours or so. On high expect several hours before it starts to appreciably dim.

The main beam uses an optic rather than a reflector and provides a central hotspot gradually changing to spill. This focused hotspot is able to "throw" the main beam ahead while a secondary white led mode provides more even lighting for close up work. This mode too is able to be infinitely dimmed from 16 lumen down to 4 lumen. This eliminates the need to use a diffuser which in general is a rather inefficient way of handing that problem.

There is also a red led mode. This is useful to prevent ruining night vision or to prevent waking up tent mates when you go on your midnight stroll. Both the white and red led secondary modes have a strobe feature as well.

All features are controlled by one button on top of the unit. Pressing and immediately releasing will first turn on the primary white led. After turning the unit off the next time the button is pressed will result in the white led secondary mode being activated. Turning the unit off and quickly pressing the button several times will activate the white secondary led in strobe mode.

Holding the button down for 3 seconds will activate the red led (if previously in white led mode). The red led strobe is activated just as the white led was.

There is a battery indicator that is activated for a few seconds on power up. A green light indicates greater than 50% battery power. Orange means greater than 25% and red is for less than 25% battery power remaining.

The unit itself can ratchet down incrementally to adjust when the beam is pointing...from straight ahead to an angle that might be more appropriate while reading in your tent at night. The unit appears well made for a plastic headlamp, the light weight and straps seem quite comfortable. The central part of the hotspot in my unit has a yellowish cast to it with the rest of the beam being white. It's not a problem particularly and it's not noticeable outside but is somewhat noticeable inside. In secondary white mode (which would be used for reading) this doesn't apply at all.

One final feature of note is the lock out mode. This is to prevent the unit from accidentally being activated and the battery run down. To engage this mode from the off position requires pressing the button for 6 seconds. Blue leds blink momentarily to indicate lock out mode. To disengage lockout mode simply press the button again for 6 seconds.

The instructions aren't great particularly concerning replacing the batteries or rather taking the unit apart to replace the batteries. Turn the unit over and look for the arrow symbol. Rather than pressing down here or in the direction of the arrow you put your fingernail in at the tip of the arrow and pull back towards the front of the unit and the battery compartment will open up.

The user interface is well thought out, the output is bright, and the price is right!

Lol - my review of this headlamp is a bit different :devil:


The first presentations already hit the net in the last year - a new, revolutionary, proven in terms of light output in the integrated sphere. A lot of promises as from the company, which has warmed the rear seat for a long time and only try to keep a pace with the dominant Petzl.

Some marketing data.

The Black Diamond Spot powers through the darkness, whether you're trail finding during an alpine start or hunting for rap anchors at midnight. Incredibly adaptable and super bright with 75 lumens at max setting, this compact powerhouse has a mode customizable to any fast-paced activity, from distance to dimming to strobe. Red SinglePower LEDs provide proximity lighting without cycling through the white mode, so you won't accidentally compromise night vision. A lock mode prevents accidental battery drain in your pack or while stored, and a 3-level power meter means you'll never be caught with a dead headlamp hours from camp.


LED Type : DoublePower/2 SinglePower
Lumens : 75 (estimated)
Max Distances : 70 meters, estimated (DoublePower LED); 15 meters, estimated (2 SinglePower LEDs)
Max Burn Time : 200 hours, estimated (DoublePower LED); 250 hours, estimated (2 SinglePower LEDs)
Batteries : 3 AAA included
IPX Rating : 4

Price : 40 $

Impressions.

Spot looks beautiful, big button, compact design - just who came up with the idea to stick it with tape to the inside of the carton? I struggled quite a while with this:]. It opens very easily, thanks to the large latch. You can see that element positioning, which broke far too often, was redesigned. The mass of the headlamp with headband and battery is a little more than the declared 90g - 94g real (53g without batteries) - just a few grams more than the Tikka 2 XP.


One pull and it's open...


No seals, straps connecting the two housing parts are looking very fragile - but the stress tests carried out showed that they should not break off without clear reason;-). The interior of the battery is typical for the Black Diamond the batteries or hard to remove, or flying out without a special reason. Here is even better - in this model, the designers had reached a kind of mastery...


On the upper picture - Black Diamond Spot 2011 headlamp with batteries inside - you can also see the battery indicator mentioned earlier - on the picture below is the same headlamp with rechargeable cells inside. Who will find the difference ?


I do not know what I would do as director to a person who has designed that- but it would be painful :-].

The head belt is also worth mentioning – it is smooth across, but the material in the vertical plane has the texture of shark skin so it significantly improve grip of the headlamp to the head while moving up and down.


What is inside ?



Compared with the Petzl Tikka 2 XP or Tikka XP, which have the same level of protection against water penetration IPX4 their protections seems to be totally exaggerated. Tikka XP, have sealed battery compartment and the lens, Tikka 2 XP has sealed compartment for driver and led. And here? There are no seals - apparently it was found that if elements are accurate enough it will satisfy the requirements of IPX4, beside that just around the corner Black Diamond Storm is waiting, it should be waterproof up to 1m (IPX7) and it will cost only 10$ more than Spot. So my recommendations for the use of a new BD Spot 2011 in rainy conditions - after use, open it, remove the batteries and allow to dry for several hours.

On the pcb you can see Luxeon Rebel 100 - although PCB is not perfect for cooling, but for small currents it somehow manage to do its job, somebody even spend some time thinking on how to improve heat circulation inside by placing some thru holes.


Power supply.



Judging by the look, I think this is a PIC16F without factory markings - but if they like to play hide and seek let them be so .

The whole idea of lights powered with 3 AAA batteries can be put quite simply, "It has to shine like a supernova and then shine the end of the world" ;-). 3xAAA cells contain approximately 3Wh of energy which translates into 1W for three hours or 3W for one hour... To make it very simple - mentioned earlier Luxeon Rebel 100 emits 100 lumens of light from 1W power, so we have to give it about 0.75W in order to get 75 lumens - we also are losing some power on the driver, but it's whole different story. Under ideal conditions, the lamp can produce 75 lumens for 4 hours - to shine longer the current is gradually decreasing and so the light output decreases, but it is almost imperceptible to the human eye.


On the left you can see beam shot of Black Diamond Spot emitting about 75 lumens, on the right the same Spot but the output is only about 60 lumens (0.71 vs. 0.53 W).

On the occasion I checked how the light copes with rechargeable batteries - except that they will not fit inside - the light output is much lower (as you can see on above comparison made for the new batteries and freshly charged rechargeable batteries). But this is some kind of standard in this headlamp category, I'll post a test of fully regulated EOS 70 to show the difference.


How it light ?

It lights ugly - there is a big doughnut hole in the hotspot and modes based on 5mm white and red led's are so weak that they almost cannot be recorded using my standard camera settings :- /.

Spot vs Tikka 2 XP



Spot vs Tikka XP (Cree xp-g mod).



5mm white led mode and red mode on the right... Maybe somebody will see something .


And Low and red mode for Tikka 2 XP.


And finally, one more comparison Spot '09 with the Spot '11 ;-).

Black Diamond Spot 2009 (Cree XR-C) vs Black Diamond Spot 2011 (Luxeon Rebel 100)


Summary.

Pretty and pretty much light, although the modes makes a new user "grrr" ..


After a brief moment with manual, you can learn everything that you need to master this headlamp. The lock mode is indicated by a blinking of a blue led - sometimes, instead of entering the lock mode you will enter to the maximum light level and change it continuously from a maximum to the minimum, but this option is not used too often.

Black Diamond Spot 2011 certainly gives you more light than its competitive Tikka 2 XP, the weaker modes are to be used exclusively for close range or camp works (the 5mm led's white mode is in my opinion to weak for trudging through bushes). It is possible to set an intermediate mode on the main light source, but unfortunately, this setting is not saved and every time you will need it you will have to set it again.

Generally, I have this very mixed feelings for that headlamp- it works exactly as producers claims, but a complete flop in closing and sealing when you want to use rechargeable cells + doughnut hole in the hotspot makes mi certain that I would not recommend that headlamp to any of my friends -> I'm waiting for the Black Diamond Storm.

Nice review. I agree with most of your points. I would prefer a XP-G but the spot doesn't generally bother me outside for my uses. I also agree that the 5m leds are too weak for running or for hiking in many cases. It is fine for reading or working around a camp site. It's just an added feature but it's one I rather have than not have.

I don't use rechargeable batteries in the Spot so I wasn't aware of problems in that area. I'm just a casual headlamp user and for the price it works pretty well for me.

For more than casual use I agree that improving the output (removing the spot) would be good.

Here are some pics of the 90 lumens Spot 2012 2013, has a different emitter?




Notice the QA issue where the LED board doesn't sit flush with the casing but at an angle, maybe I should exchange it or repair it at some point.




Still deciding whether or not to pay $11+tx more for the Storm 2013, the only thing preventing me to get the Storm is the low runtime while in flood mode

The Spot 2012 2013:

"1 TriplePower LED"
MAX 90 lumens/50h/70m
MIN 4 lumens/200h/8M

"2 SinglePower LEDs"
MAX 16 lumens/90h/15M
MIN 4 lumens/250h/5M


vs the Storm 2012 2013:


"1 TriplePower LED"
MAX 100 lumens/50h/70M
MIN 4 lumens/200h/3M

"2 SinglePower LEDs"
MAX 25 lumens/36h/7M (<- ???)
MIN 4 lumens/125h/2M (again wtf, runtime is less than the high power LED??)


For comparison, here's the new 130 lumens Spot 2013 2014? which cost about the same clearance price of the Storm 2013

"1 TriplePower LED"
MAX 130 lumens/70h/75M (not sure how they do it or rate it, but is 40 lumens brighter and last 20h more..?)
MIN 4 lumens/200h/8M

"2 SinglePower LEDs"
MAX 16 lumens/17h/10M (again, abysmal runtime, what is BD doing?!)
MIN 4 lumens/80h/2M

Kwenchana said:

Here are some pics of the 90 lumens Spot 2012, has a different emitter?

Click to expand...

that's an XT-E! kinda funny, it's the one i'll maybe end up swapping in my Storm http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?377397-XP-G2-vs-XT-E

Kwenchana said:

Still deciding wheter or not to pay $11+tx more for the Storm 2012, the only thing preventing me to get the Storm is the low runtime while in flood mode

Click to expand...

if you still have to buy it, i'd definitely go for the Storm, the price gap is small but the quality gap is huge.

those data are messed up, no way you can get 50h at 400mA with 4xAAA, it's one order of magnitude more than their actual capacity. They may refer to the MAX runtime (son MIN power). according to BD website 50h is the max runtime http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/headlamps-and-lanterns/storm-headlamp-BD620590MANGALL1.html
the runtime at full power is more likely to be 2-3-4 hours

anyway, don't rely on the flood mode, cause (in the Storm at least, can't remember about the Spot) it's way to dim for hiking on the trail, it's ok for camping

vs the Storm 2012:

"1 TriplePower LED"
MAX 100 lumens/50h/70M
MIN 4 lumens/200h/3M

"2 SinglePower LEDs"
MAX 25 lumens/36h/7M (<- ???)
MIN 4 lumens/125h/2M (again wtf, runtime is less than the high power LED??)

Click to expand...

that's normal, the regulation range for the spot led is much higher than the one of the side leds (the spot led at lowest mode is lower than side leds at lowest, less current)

For comparison, here's the 130 lumens Spot 2013:

Click to expand...

WHAT?????? what do you mean???

never heard about them, i've just check the website, there are actually the "new" Spot 2013 and Storm 2013, but they look identical, and also the output is identical (90 and 100 lumen) http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/headlamps-and-lanterns

Actually, I think the one I have/posted is the 2013, the "new" ones are 2014 models?

This one is 130 lumens, now has "PowerTap"


http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en...2_cfg.html?dwvar_BD620612__cfg_color=Fire_Red

Spot 2013


http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en...9_cfg.html?dwvar_BD620609__cfg_color=Mars_Red

Mentioned in this thread: Black Diamond SPOT, Different or Two Versions?

The runtime figures were taken from their respective PDF manuals, see updated post above with pictures

Kwenchana said:

Mentioned in this thread: Black Diamond SPOT, Different or Two Versions?

Click to expand...

thanks i'll have a look

The runtime figures were taken from their respective PDF manuals, see updated post above with pictures

Click to expand...

ok, got it. the answer is in the third table in the pictures you added:


as you can see in the first table it says 50h @ 100 lumens (which throws 70m according to them) but in the third table they say that after 10h the throw is already 9m instead of 70m... got the trick?

the point is: even if the Storm is regulated, it drops the regulation (you can tell it by the led which turns orange instead of green) when the battery voltage is below a certain amount (which at MAX mode happens after a few hours) and then it starts dimming (and of course, the lower the current, the more runtime you can get from the energy left in the batteries). The spot (the old model at least) it's not regulated at all so its behaviour is always like the latter.