Are MCE based lights still worth getting?

[litetube]

So these new LEDs are coming out SST-50 and SST-90. Can anyone comment if these new leds make the MCE and P7 obsolete?

I have noticed a slew of MCE lights coming out now. Not many P7s . Is the P7 not being produced in large enough quantities or is it just a poor performer? Is Cree just flooding the market with massive numbers of the MCE led? Thus that is why we are seeing them so much.

Is the SST-50 more efficient and briter and will we see then in a bunch of lights in the not too distant future?

I know this has probably been discussed somewhere on here but I want to see if anyone knows where the market is going?

Like many , I only have a very small flashlight fund and I want to get one super brite led light. Not taking into acct the battery platforms, that is a whole nother issue and I know things change quickly in the led flashlight world but is there a major shift coming on the horizon with SST and XPE emitter lights ? Is the MCE just yesterdays LED being mass produced and forced down our throats?

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

SST's are just impractical extreme high-heat generating battery hogs, stick with ther current P7s and MC-Es if you want good performance with reasonable runtime.

 

[jahxman]

I would expect viable MC-E (and P7) offerings from the manufacturers for some years yet; I'm not sure the SSTs would offer much advantage in many applications. Possibly underdriven, but again not sure how much would be gained from that.

One exception may be the SST-90 in a light big enough to heatsink it properly, like the Electrolumens Blaster (full disclosure: I have one on pre-order :sssh:) which has a similar form factor to a 3D mag, but is considerably heavier, and I plan to run it on 3 D 12,000 mAh NiMH cells.

Anyway, I wouldn't write off the quad dies yet. :)

 

[romteb]

Driven at the same current the best bins of P7, MCE and SST50 are in theory quite similar in output, differences are that SST50 can be driven at much higher current and doesn't in theory have the artefact prone beam of quad die emitters (P7 and MCE)

SST90 in another animal having an bigger emitting surface.

 

[bigchelis]

Nailbender makes P60 drop-ins with P7/MC-E vs. SST 50 emitters on Direct drive. The out the front readings are now both at 550ish out the front with the P7 on direct drive and the SST 50 on direct drive. In MrGmans IS Sphere now owned by Nailbender he told me he got the following.

P60 with IMR single cell and UCL lens DD P7 = 550ish at 3A at the tail
P60 with IMR single cell and UCL lens DD SST 50= 550ish at 5A at the tail.


While they both make about identical out the front lumens, the heat created by the SST 50 at 5A makes it less efficient in a P60 drop-in. Nailbender did say in a Mag D size heatsink and IMR C cell on direct drive the numbers are in the 800ish out the front. He is currently working on a 5A driver system to drive the SST 50 at this level, but hasn't found a driver yet.:candle:


Nailbender recently build me a 2C Mag MC-E and at 8~9watts under load it makes a steady and stable 610 out the front lumens. It is obtained with 2 IMR C cells at 1.1~1.2A at the tail. The throw is like a Mag R2 Aspheric and I still dont understand why it has sooo much throw, but I love it. I ran it for 2hours 20 minutes and decided it was time to charge the cells at that point, but I didn't take voltage readings. So, I still say MC-E are a go.

 

[romteb]

Nailbender makes P60 drop-ins with P7/MC-E vs. SST 50 emitters on Direct drive. The out the front readings are now both at 550ish out the front with the P7 on direct drive and the SST 50 on direct drive. In MrGmans IS Sphere now owned by Nailbender he told me he got the following.

P60 with IMR single cell and UCL lens DD P7 = 550ish at 3A at the tail
P60 with IMR single cell and UCL lens DD SST 50= 550ish at 5A at the tail.

Do we know the bin of that SST 50 ? (Highest bin= almost twice lumens of lowest)

That would certainly be disappointing if it was the highest bin.

 

[Hack On Wheels]

The MC-E is more efficient as far as I know, though I expect the P7 to be similar. The SST LEDs seem to just be capable of withstanding for more current, but that will be highly inefficient and will kill runtimes. I would certainly opt for more emitters at lower drive currents if I wanted more output. You wont see SST LEDs driven well in small form factor lights due to heat generation, so in a larger host I'm sure you could fit multiple MC-Es anyways...

Nailbender recently build me a 2C Mag MC-E and at 8~9watts under load it makes a steady and stable 610 out the front lumens. It is obtained with 2 IMR C cells at 1.1~1.2A at the tail. The throw is like a Mag R2 Aspheric and I still dont understand why it has sooo much throw, but I love it. I ran it for 2hours 20 minutes and decided it was time to charge the cells at that point, but I didn't take voltage readings. So, I still say MC-E are a go.

That sounds awesome! Any idea what reflector that is using?

 

[csshih]

SST's are just impractical extreme high-heat generating battery hogs, stick with ther current P7s and MC-Es if you want good performance with reasonable runtime.

+1 for smaller lights.
it's impractical for any light short of a 2x18650 to have a LED like that

 

[old4570]

MC-E and SSC P7 have there place ..

The SSC P7 is easy to use in mods ..

But with Cree XP-G ? , another option .

Too much to chose from :paypal:

 

[Sgt. LED]

The way I see it is the SST-50 is what you use when you want MC-E output levels but want a bit cleaner beam or for better, tighter throwing. Just remember to have a good heatsink!

But that's my opinion..............:rolleyes:

 

[Illum]

The way I see it is the SST-50 is what you use when you want MC-E output levels but want a bit cleaner beam or for better, tighter throwing. Just remember to have a good heatsink!

But that's my opinion..............:rolleyes:

cleaner and warmer have already been compensated for in modded MCE lights...but yeah...a bigger die size does help in certain applications :grin2:

 

[litetube]

I just figured after that Ti Olight came out with the SSt-50 we would start to see more single cell lights from all the makers with the SST50 in them but I think I saw that the output isnt spectacular on that light?

So a quad die is more efficient than an SST50 given all things are the same ie. battery ,drive current etc etc.?

 

[berry580]

i suppose one of the main advantage is a cleaner beam profile of SST over MC-E.
But at longer ranges, this shouldn't even be a big issue.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

i suppose one of the main advantage is a cleaner beam profile of SST over MC-E.
But at longer ranges, this shouldn't even be a big issue.

Really? Because my TK40 has a cleaner tighter beam than my M20 Ti. The Ti is more floody and the beam doesn't look near a clean and pretty. Ti beam better for indoors and close up stuff but the TK40 can out throw by 2-3X.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Really? Because my TK40 has a cleaner tighter beam than my M20 Ti. The Ti is more floody and the beam doesn't look near a clean and pretty. Ti beam better for indoors and close up stuff but the TK40 can out throw by 2-3X.

And before someone jumps down my throat - an apples to apples comparison. Olight Ti versus WE MC-Explorer both on 18650. MC-E still has better throw but sucks down 2.4A compared with 1.4 from the M20 Ti - and the brightness is comparable.

 

[MattK]

The TK40 has a much larger reflector than the M20 Ti. with reflector sizes being equal the SST-50 based light should throw a cleaner beam as far or further.

 

[Sgt. LED]

:D There you go.

 

[FlashlightsNgear.com]

Whats the cost difference? Would it be wise to upgrade from a MC-E to a SST in the same light? Is the difference really that much? I cant wait to see some comparisons on these in the same reflector. :popcorn:

 

[run4jc]

FWIW
Nailbender built an SST-50 drop in for me - running it with 2 LiFePO4 3 volts in a SF 6P host - and I assure you, it gets warm quickly - but it puts out a huge wall of very bright light. For general use, I prefer the beam coming from my SF LX2, but for lighting up half a football field, that SST is amazing.

Just my 2 cents....

 

[c0t0d0s0]

For me, there is no alternative to a neutral white MC-E such as K-bin 5A.

P7 does not even come in neutral white. With currently available SST-50 and SST-90, tint is a lottery.

That's all.