Any Reviews on Surefire KX2?

[UWAK]

Battery Junction offer the dual mode (3/60 lumen) Surefire KX2 on their site. Are there any review on this replacement head or any hands-on experience? Really appreciate any kind of answers. Thanks in advance.

Frids

 

[thegeek]

I picked one up from an ebay seller for ~65 shipped. I bought it to use with RCR123 cells in my E1L body. I'm not sure what the upper limit for voltage is but I know it doesn't turn on with 3V primaries at all. Also, as I don't have any 2 cell hosts for it I don't know if there is a difference in brightness between 2 cells or 1 cell. That being said, on to my impressions:

Mine gives a very nice white (much less blue than my Q5 drop in for the C2) on both low and high. I like that it comes on in low first. If I need something in the middle of the night I don't like being blinded going from high to low. The low setting is near perfect IMO for night activities like hiking, setting up a tent, etc. It puts out a usable light without completely ruining your night vision. The high setting is substantially brighter than the low (obviously). I have an older KL1 head (square beam style) and the KX2 seems to throw better and be marginally brighter, with better color. I say marginally brighter because I can tell that it is brighter by eye, but I have no way to measure the difference, and the white wall difference isn't huge. I don't have a worthwhile camera so no pictures, but I hope that helps a little at least.

 

[UWAK]

Thank you thegeek for your info. Did you ever measures the runtimes? Eleven hours on high looks promising.

 

[thegeek]

Thank you thegeek for your info. Did you ever measures the runtimes? Eleven hours on high looks promising.

I haven't measured the run times. I think my results would much different than advertised as I am only using one RCR123 rather than 2 primaries.

 

[Turbo DV8]

Battery Junction offer the dual mode (3/60 lumen) Surefire KX2 on their site. Are there any review on this replacement head or any hands-on experience?

:welcome:

 

[tsl]

Mine gives a very nice white (much less blue than my Q5 drop in for the C2) on both low and high. I like that it comes on in low first. If I need something in the middle of the night I don't like being blinded going from high to low. The low setting is near perfect IMO for night activities like hiking, setting up a tent, etc. It puts out a usable light without completely ruining your night vision. The high setting is substantially brighter than the low (obviously). I have an older KL1 head (square beam style) and the KX2 seems to throw better and be marginally brighter, with better color. I say marginally brighter because I can tell that it is brighter by eye, but I have no way to measure the difference, and the white wall difference isn't huge. I don't have a worthwhile camera so no pictures, but I hope that helps a little at least.

How would you characterize the beam pattern? Is it like the L1 and E1B where there's a useable spill portion?

 

[thegeek]

How would you characterize the beam pattern? Is it like the L1 and E1B where there's a useable spill portion?

I haven't used either of those but I am betting the optic used is the same. Sorry I don't have much to compare it too. It has a nice round hot spot, then a narrow darker ring, then a nice even spill. Definitely not all throw, although it does that much better than I expected it to.

 

[BigD64]

The beam is faintly ringy on mine, color is great, hot spot and fill are good. Haven't checked run times yet. Overall I'm pleased with it. Nice upgrade from the E2E. I'd say spill is better than E1B.