Maglite 3rd generation 524 lumen beamshots?

Who's got some? How about compared to a maglite pro and standard led?

Bumpp

Working on it for you. Have both the 2 D cell 524 lumen 3rd G and the 625 lumen 3 D cell. I use Powerex D cell nimh 11000mah cells in both and both have new AR coated glass lenses. Yes just those two things take both lights to full potential vs non Powerex cells and the stock cheap plastic lens. The difference is very clear and impressive. Both lights are more than worth the price in stock form let alone upgrading to high quality glass and the monster Powerex Ds.

Versus the M*g Pro D cell there is NO contest as to both 3rd gens being superior in every way. My Pro has a cheesy purplish color to the beam and doesnt really seem all that brighter than the basic 2nd gen LED D cell. The head on the 3rd gen goes from spot to flood in just a quarter turn now instead of fighting with the sloppy older style. The switch on the 3rd gen is much more modern and easier to use. Will prbly end up taking beam shots with my cell phone. I dont understand why more CPF folk are not flocking to this new 3rd gen M*g. Lumen outputs appear dead on listed ratings to me.

Both beams are quite similar with a nice concentrated hot spot and LOTS of defined and useful flood. The 625 lumen version just has a bit more spill and is brighter in hotspot and spill.

CelticCross74 said:

Working on it for you. Have both the 2 D cell 524 lumen 3rd G and the 625 lumen 3 D cell. I use Powerex D cell nimh 11000mah cells in both and both have new AR coated glass lenses. Yes just those two things take both lights to full potential vs non Powerex cells and the stock cheap plastic lens. The difference is very clear and impressive. Both lights are more than worth the price in stock form let alone upgrading to high quality glass and the monster Powerex Ds.

Versus the M*g Pro D cell there is NO contest as to both 3rd gens being superior in every way. My Pro has a cheesy purplish color to the beam and doesnt really seem all that brighter than the basic 2nd gen LED D cell. The head on the 3rd gen goes from spot to flood in just a quarter turn now instead of fighting with the sloppy older style. The switch on the 3rd gen is much more modern and easier to use. Will prbly end up taking beam shots with my cell phone. I dont understand why more CPF folk are not flocking to this new 3rd gen M*g. Lumen outputs appear dead on listed ratings to me.

Both beams are quite similar with a nice concentrated hot spot and LOTS of defined and useful flood. The 625 lumen version just has a bit more spill and is brighter in hotspot and spill.

Click to expand...

Looking forward to it perhaps all 3 generations you mentioned. My pro 2nd is sooo blue purple also. Standard 2d led greenish

Dont have a lot of time to set up everything and Im using my iPhone lol. Took some pics in the backyard last night of the 2D and 3D 3rd gens and emailed them to myself. Havnt posted pics here before but know I gotta upload them to a photo sharing site first then upload them to CPF from there. Gave the Pro to my sister found its beam pretty useless and ugly. I have a couple 2nd gen LED D cells laying around as well as a few modded Ds (Superbulb, Malkoff, Terralux 310 etc) and a LOT of spare parts. I always found the standard LEDs to be quite nice actually. Good cooler white color, very good throw despite only being 140 lumens. Will work on uploading those pics. Still cant stress enough how good the new 3rd gens are especially with glare coated glass lenses and premium nimh Ds. Both lights barely even get warm on full blast after being on for a couple of hours!

Nothing doing trying to get the pics outta my email. Gonna charge up my Canon digicam and try it that way tonight.

Cool! How is the led mounted for heat? Is the beam smooth or are there artifacts/rings.

Not sure how the XML2 (I believe that is what the LED is) is heat sinked but know that there is some kind of baffle surrounding the LED assembly and switch between those two things and the actual metal of the tube. The focusing is now a simple quarter turn. Although the prime position seems to bring a well defined hot spot into a LOT of well defined spill. The 625 lumen 3 D cell 3rd gen has a larger hot spot and larger spill area and is noticeably brighter. Trying to focus the heads beyond that prime setting brings a mish mash of undefined and odd hot spot and a flood only setting that is just awful. You can adjust the heads a little bit to play with the hot spot definition but that is about it. Oddly there are NO artifacts the only ring is around the outermost spill beam and is barely noticeable.

Cannot stress once again how much clearer and much more solid the beam coming out of both became after simply switching out the cheap plastic lenses with glare coated on both sides glass lenses. Any glass lens meant for the last gen LED or even incan D models will fit in the 3rd gens perfectly. Powerex 11000mah nimh D cells are expensive but truly seem to drive both emitters to their highest performance. I actually prefer the 2 D 3rd Gen because the 3 D is just to bright for most of what I use them for and the 2 D is just easier to carry.

Also both lights have some damn good range! 33000-37000 candela! I get solid beam definition at 200 yards!

I'm interested in a runtime graph. Will the new Mags hold their output with nimh cells? The previous iterations did not, and downshifted whether there was alks or nimh powering them.

looking at those photos makes the light seem dim by XM-L2 standards

Here is one next to a Mag Pro 274lm. Here is their size difference. The 3rd gen has a more tapered head, smaller button that's easier to click on, shorter barrel and about 1-2mm less diameter barrel. The button is either on or off, no partial pressing for signaling.

Bulb difference.
Spring difference. (Ignore my mod on the pro to contact a AA).

I'm pretty sure those shots on fonarik are very outdated. I don't think they even reflect the xp-e version. I may be wrong, but that's what I'm thinking.

Could you do some beam shots down a trail or include a bit of distance? I would love to get a better picture in my head of the beam profile.

does anyone know if the driver on the 3 cell and 2 cell are the same? that would make running the lights on 18650 or 26650 batteries easy.

Man trying to get pics on here is impossible. The pics above are dead on though.

I'm actually kind of stunned... Maglite did a thorough redesign, including the tube and switch.

I understand you put AR lenses in them. Has the diameter not changed?

I have read that the diameter shrank a couple of millimeters somewhere but doubt that is the case as the glare coated glass lenses I put into both my 2 and 3 D 3rd gens came right out of my modded incandescent D cell M*gs and fit perfectly.

They probably machined the walls a little bit thinner. If you look at the photo with the bezels side by side the new version doesn't look quite as robust.

"They probably machined the walls a little bit thinner."

I doubt the barrels are machined; extrusions with polishing & knurling. But if the thickness has been reduced to save some material costs, then they are making the light less robust for defensive use. Any measurements?

Could be very hard to resist buying one of these.

Made in USA, 625 lumens, standard batteries, low cost... what's not to love?