Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots *UPDATE SEPT 2010* - now 34 lights!

[MannyDLights]

Dammit now I have to get a new light, Thanks for the post ..... :naughty:

 

[Dioni]

Selfbuilt's outdoor beamshots?
Before I open this thread to see it I thought: 'It should be as nice as in his reviews'..... and.. hell yeah, it is!

Very nice!!!

 

[frosty]

Even more great info. Thanks for all your efforts.

 

[selfbuilt]

Thanks for the support everyone. :grouphug:

Tough to find good evenings to do updates (i.e. when I'm free and it's not raining, too windy, too overcast, full moon, etc. ).

And as Mrs Selfbuilt likes to remind me, "brind ID" (i.e. in case someone reports me parking at the end of a residential zone and walking off on deserted access roads in the dark carrying a backpack and tripod). :laughing:

 

[diver9005]

Very nice as usual. Thanks for all of your effort!

 

[Toughguy]

I've learn so much about flashlights from your reviews. Those beamshots are very informative, thank you for all the efforts.

 

[Midnight Oil]

Thanks for the inclusion of the DBS.

Once again, the Maelstrom shows what a well designed reflector can do. Too bad reflector manufacturers don't do the same for D26 reflectors.

Any chance you can procure the Lumapower D-Mini VX with a R2 in a Turbo Force Head (the biggest turbo head)?

 

[luis0321]

Which one has a farther throw between the rrt-2 and the jetbeam III M?

 

[Steve in SoCal]

Awesome beamshots!!

You need to get an FM Megalennium with a 1909 bulb and see how that looks in comparison.

 

[emu124]

Nice Pics, thanks!:wave:

 

[RandomFlyer]

Selfbuilt, great review. Thanks again for your efforts.

Good advice from the Mrs. on the id. Once an inquisitive officer figured out what you are up to, he might soon become more interested in how his flashlight stacked up in the comparison. You might have a "guest" light photo to add to the shots.

 

[selfbuilt]

Any chance you can procure the Lumapower D-Mini VX with a R2 in a Turbo Force Head (the biggest turbo head)?

I typically leave it up to manufacturer's to suggest what lights they would to send me for review. So I suppose that would be up to Lumapower.

Which one has a farther throw between the rrt-2 and the jetbeam III M?

You might want to check out the detailed individual reviews I've done of those lights (see my sig for the master review list). But to put it simply, the RRT-2 (R2) will out-throw a Jet-IIIM (R2), due to the deeper focused reflector on the RRT-2.

Good advice from the Mrs. on the id. Once an inquisitive officer figured out what you are up to, he might soon become more interested in how his flashlight stacked up in the comparison. You might have a "guest" light photo to add to the shots.

Yeah, I figure if anyone did show up, they'd probably be more interested in comparing the lights than anything else. :laughing:

 

[4D223]

Excellent job selfbuilt, your reviews really are the "gold standard" by which we can all view the pros and cons of each torch and now that you have added the outdoor "real world use" beamshots they are even better. Your reveiws are simply superb!:twothumbs:twothumbs
Peter.

 

[Oztorchfreak]

To selfbuilt,


Your outdoor beam comparisons are the most useful that I have ever found.

Keep up the good job.

The reviews on induividual torches done on CPF are very useful to get the runtimes, specifications and battery configurations.

We need both beamshot comparisons and the individual reviews to make a decision about which torch would suit our needs.

If it was not for your beam shootouts I don't know how I would be able to be able to make a good decision on any future torch purchases.

It is just that your photos are a great tool to show us what the torches would look like in the real world.

They are the icing on the cake for me. :thumbsup: :twothumbs

 

[selfbuilt]

Excellent job selfbuilt, your reviews really are the "gold standard" by which we can all view the pros and cons of each torch and now that you have added the outdoor "real world use" beamshots they are even better.

It is just that your photos are a great tool to show us what the torches would look like in the real world.

Thanks for the support guys.

But I would like to reiterate that these beamshots don't really capture what I see by eye in "the real world". They are really just intended to provide a standardized reference for side-by-side comparisons.

It's not really possible to capture everything with a digital camera, given that it has a lower dynamic range than the human eyeball/nervous system. So I specifically chose camera settings to try and best show off the hotspot differences for a "typical" monitor/graphics card setup. In real life, all the lights were quite serviceable for seeing 100 yards, and most lit up the surrounding side of the road quite well.

But hopefully these pics give you a "flavor" of how they differ from one another. :wave:

 

[selfbuilt]

Written by AGO on 11-03-2010 02:18 PM GMT

Great pic. for comparison

Thanks

Written by B0wz3r on 11-17-2010 10:00 AM GMT

Selfbuilt, thank you SO MUCH for this!!! Fantastic work!!!

I just found this thread and it is such a great help!!! You Rock!!! :twothumbs

This is a great help to me picking my first 'big gun'.

Thanks again, so so much!!!

Written by selfbuilt on 11-30-2010 08:28 PM GMT

I've just updated the review with 7 new lights.

Where appropriate, I've re-done some of the other lights to facilitate direct comparisons. Note that the time of year means that there is little foliage on the trees now, so more of those transmission tower red lights are showing up!

As always, just click on the images to open larger resolution pics.

High-Output or Multi-Emitter – 2x18650 - Lights:

Third Batch – November 2010

I've added to this class of the round-up the new Eagletac M3C4 SST-50 (revised reflector), Olight M31 (SST-50), SUNWAYMAN M60R (SST-50).













Single Emitter – 2xRCR – Lights:

Third Batch – November 2010

I've added to this class of the round-up the Jian Wei W1 (XR-E R2), Ray Tactical X60 (XP-G R5) and Lumintop TD-15 (XP-G R5).

Written by Gary123 on 12-20-2010 07:27 AM GMT

Very very useful. For those of us looking for lights like these, there is really no where else we can see comparisons like this.

I think Malkoff's Hound Dog should be included in this round up. I am always searching for good throwers and IMO that is one of the best so far. I can loan you mine for picture taking, if you would like.

Written by Neo9710 on 12-20-2010 08:37 PM GMT

Very very useful. For those of us looking for lights like these, there is really no where else we can see comparisons like this.

I think Malkoff's Hound Dog should be included in this round up. I am always searching for good throwers and IMO that is one of the best so far. I can loan you mine for picture taking, if you would like.

:thumbsup: :huh:

 

[selfbuilt]

Written by selfbuilt on 12-23-2010 09:04 AM GMT

I think Malkoff's Hound Dog should be included in this round up. I am always searching for good throwers and IMO that is one of the best so far. I can loan you mine for picture taking, if you would like.

Appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I don't have time to test any loaner lights. I'm just too swamped with all the lights manufacturer's keep sending me (i.e. I have to turn down review requests!). Appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I don't have time to test any loaner lights. I'm just too swamped with all the lights manufacturer's keep sending me (i.e. I have to turn down review requests!).

Selfbuilt, I'm new here and have so far limited reading, however, it's probably been discussed before but I have to say, some great photos! If you don't mind me asking, what camera and glass are you shooting with? Amazing work!

All the photos in my reviews are taken with a Canon PowerShot S5 IS (12x zoom, 8 MPixel). It's a couple of years old now, and has been replaced in the market by a few newer versions with better zoom, HD, higher defn, etc (S10, SD20). But it's still a great camera base for its range of manual settings (and image stabilization). All the photos in my reviews are taken with a Canon PowerShot S5 IS (12x zoom, 8 MPixel). It's a couple of years old now, and has been replaced in the market by a few newer versions with better zoom, HD, higher defn, etc (S10, SD20). But it's still a great camera base for its range of manual settings (and image stabilization).

Although to be honest, my older PowerShot A620 (which I used for my early reviews, up to 2008) was better for simple point-and-shoot. The S5 (and S10 that followed it) both have greater issues with noise, chromatic aberrations, color fringing, etc.

FYI, I've got a couple of new "thrower" lights to test, so will be updating this comparison over the holidays.

Written by brandocommando on 01-02-2011 10:24 PM GMT

Those aspherical lens shots areawesome. I think I have to have one, time to start shopping....again..... THANKS!

 

[selfbuilt]

Written by selfbuilt on 01-03-2011 12:28 PM GMT

I've just updated the review with an additional 4 lights. Here are the details:

High-Output or Multi-Emitter – 2x18650 - Lights:

I've added to this class of the round-up the Catapult V2 XM-L (Cree XM-L) and Eagletac M3C4 XM-L (Cree XM-L). Where appropriate, I've re-done some of the other lights to facilitate direct comparisons. Those "streaks" you may notice in the foreground of the beam paths are from a light snowfall that was blowing through the exposures.










Single Emitter – 2xRCR – Lights:

I'm going to re-do these, as the focus was not optimal in a couple of cases. Should have them back up in a few days ...

 

[selfbuilt]

Written by selfbuilt on 01-16-2011 11:50 AM GMT

Thanks Selfbuilt! The quality of your reviews are always great. I hope you know how much we appreciate all the time you put into these reviews.

Always nice to hear. Always nice to hear. The beamshots do require some extra work, both for actually getting them as well as all the croping/GIFing/etc. - but I know how useful people find the actual photographs.

I plan to head out in the next few days for some additional shots of new lights, but not sure how it will look (there's a foot or two of snow on the ground now ).

 

[selfbuilt]

Written by EV_007 on 01-22-2011 11:30 AM GMT

Nicely done. I love these types of reviews.

Written by rcantor on 01-26-2011 02:59 PM GMT

Thanks, Selfbuilt! These are awesome! It really helps those of us who are new.

Written by Mike Painter on 01-27-2011 11:49 AM GMT

I'm interested in seeing how the cheaper mas produced lights stand up against the ones you show.

Is there a "hundred dollar difference" in light output between a $40.00 XM-L light with two 18650 cells and a $140.00 plus light with the same configuration.

It seems to me that the mass produced lights are overpriced to way overpriced when compared to custom one off designs.

Written by selfbuilt on 01-27-2011 01:10 PM GMT

I can only test what I have, but my experience of budget XR-E throwers tells me that there's not likely to be a big different in output or throw of "budget" XM-L lights versus the brand names here. It all comes down to size and shape of the reflector, and how heavily driven the light is. I can only test what I have, but my experience of budget XR-E throwers tells me that there's not likely to be a big different in output or throw of "budget" XM-L lights versus the brand names here. It all comes down to size and shape of the reflector, and how heavily driven the light is. :shrug: The difference in price reflects build quality, circuit features, warranty/service costs, dealer networks, etc. of brand names. Beyond that, I suggest any further discussion of relative cost/value be taken to the Cafe or another appropriate forum.