Well, the RRT-2 R5 version fell in my hands.:twothumbs
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Before to say nothing there's something i want to make clear: I love this light!
I've read this excellent review from selfbuilt some weeks ago, and you know how bad this addiction is ... i wanted one of this! :naughty:
Being using an Olight M20 R2 for more than a year now, every day in my work, i feel very confy with this size and type of lights. The M20 is a serious piece of gear, probably you all know this, but this Raptor take the aestetics to the top IMO. The construction is on the max also, at least in the R2 version, one thing that impressed me was the massive brass heatsink in the head of it. Well, i regret to tell that's this one is gone on the R5, the head is now made all aluminium, and the pretty white board JetBeam labelled with the brass (+) contact passed to be a simple golden spring in a black plastic insert. Pity.
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This time the head lacks the fine-tunable focus feature, the two pieces of the head body that screwed together with that white plactic ring [Teflon maybe] acting as a lock have, been integrated in a single piece, containing the whole reflector assy, a step forward IMO. Still is the the gap simulated between the two former pieces, but it's now a simple cosmetic solution. :thumbsup:
The two pieces of the head now fit together (retaining the mode selector ring in between), in a STRONG manner so i can't disasemble it (yet...
). BTW, i've read some comments about the material of the ring being made of Alu, at least in this case it is clearly made of stainless steel, no doubt about it. The spring/ball detent mechanism that used to be easily seen in the gap between the head and the ring is now gone under the ring itself, so it can't be seen from any angle of view.
The little triangle marking the mode actually selected in the selector ring is cleanly cut in the SS, in place of the old dot, but i'm affraid its visibility is too low for many situations. Is not a big problem because with some use you'll find yourself changing modes without even take a look for it.
The head/body union is now reversed on the screws. The head is now a female type, being the body the male one this time with nude (no anodized), threads. The head's O-ring migrated to the body tube too because of this mod.
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The tailcap threads remains anodized so the light retains it's original lockout function.
The tailcap for this new series is the two flanged one showed in this post (
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3533125#post3533125 ) about the R5 newcomer, wich let the light to tailstand, a nice touch. Thank you Black Kamagong for the early news! :thumbsup:
But in this unit the BOG's people kindly replace it for the old fashioned one showed here with the SS bezel, wich I preferred definitely. :twothumbs
Even being from an older series the tailcap's anodized match perfectly with all the other parts finished this way in the light.
This unit was ordered with the SMO reflector, wich i prefer in all my ligths, i like the throwers and i'm not Ring-Phobic
, so the cree donuts are allright with me in real applicaton, YMMV.
I get into the work to disassemble the frontside of the head, to swap the provided SMO reflector with an OP i've ordered too, to make some comparisons, but unfortunately this OP is way larger than the correct size for this series. I guess will have to wait for the OP vs SMO fight.
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This, at least, let us to apreciate a couple of things, as the nude emitter and the crystal protecting the optical assy, wich impressed me being really thick. I presume that a piece of crystal with a diameter this small and such a thickness will be not unbreackable, but lies very close to that. The anti-reflect coating is excellent too, only matched by those provided aftermarket from the Flashlight Lens people, some of wich i get some years ago, to replace the crappy lexan from my once-proud MagLites. Is like to see the crystal from a camera lens. Yep, that serious.
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Well, time to get the whole thing together again and face the dark.
I take this shots comparing the raptor R5 with the Olight M20 R2, because they belong to the same league IMO. I have an M30 too but they don't play the same game, i think. The camera were tripod mounted and the white balance set to daylight to see some kind of tint comparison too. The scenario is my backyard, and there is about 15 meters to the wall. The spots itself are about 1 meter of diameter in both cases, as you can see the M20 has a more "solid" constitution, and the Ratpor's one exhibits more a donut behavior, present in the olight also on a lesser degree.
This is the RRT-2 R5 ***************************************************and the M20 R2
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And now they both together:
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As you can see, the raptor's spill is a lot more usable too.
The old kitchen has nothing to do with the test.
Being the first time i participate in the forum this way, please let me know if I messed up with something or someone here, and please be indulgent about my english.
Hope this come handy for some.
I'm really happy with the Raptor, is not a quantum leap forward from the Olight IMO, but i think is a finest light indeed, and the numbers clearly are reflected in the reality, is more powerful too, but keep in mind that we have a generation jump in emitter here (R2-R5). A comparison with the new gen M20 would be fairest for sure.
Summing Up: this is my new choice for my every day (or night), light. :twothumbs
