Beamshot comparisons (P60 drop ins and others, neutral/cool and M-CE)

[Wiggle]

I just snapped a bunch of beamshots. R2, Q2 5A dropins were run with 2 Li-ions, MC-E and Q3 5A are single Li-ion. Only the Q3 5A is not a P60, it was an emitter swap into a Trustfire TR801. I'm very happy with the colour rendition of the 5A tints, my Q3 looks more neutral while the Q2 has a bit more warmth. The MC-E has a great flood output. My cat strolled in for one of the beamshots

Angle 1:

Solarforce R2 SM

Q2 5A DX Drop in

Q3 5A in Trustfire TR801

MC-E DX Low

MC-E DX High

Angle 2:

Solarforce R2 SM

Q2 5A DX Drop in

Q3 5A in Trustfire TR801

MC-E DX Low

MC-E DX High

 

[fishx65]

Now thats how beam shots should be done!!!! The difference in tint really shows up well. Looks like your snowmobile season is almost over!

 

[BigBluefish]

Great beamshots!

Well, I must say, I vastly prefer those 5A Q2s and Q3s. They really seem to provide better contrast, and a bit better depth perception. Or, it may just be that, having more light toward the red end of the spetrum being emitted, they provide light to which we are naturally more accustomed.

It really is a dramatic difference, isn't it?

 

[Yoda4561]

Were the two 5a's really that different in person, or was that the camera's white balance being funky?

 

[Wiggle]

They actually are about that different. The Q3 looks perfectly neutral to me while the Q2 seems to veer more into the warm range. I don't know if this is typical, it could just be two samples on the extreme ends of the 5A category.

 

[Yoda4561]

If I saw those two and had to guess which they were, I'd think the Q3 was a 3A-5A tint and the Q2 was a 5C-7C. I'm guessing the DX drop-in is actually some random tint in the warm white cree lineup.

 

[Wiggle]

One thing really surprised me, I thought the snow in the scene would equalize things a bit between the tints with the cooler tints performing better on the snow and the warmer tints hitting the trees better. However it seems like the warm tints provide better contrast and depth even in the snow (see the snow bank/driveway border in angle 1 and the texture of the snow in the second picture). As well, the contrast between the snow and the dirt/pine needles in the foreground of the second angle is alot more defined in the warm/neutral tints.

Tint aside, I also enjoy the M-CE quite a bit. It's a bit ringy with a small donut on the wall, but in real beamshots it's no real problem. I love how it lights up the entire driveway while still throwing a decent amount of lux into the center.

Another interesting tidbit, my non-flashaholic brother commented that besides my P7/M-CE lights, he felt my Q2 5A was much brighter than my L2D and TR801(when it still had a cool Q5). Perhaps an example of the lower lumen but warmer tint providing more apparent output when used outdoors.

 

[zapper]

Wow, Thanks!
Those shots really show the difference in tint and pattern.
Which DX MC-E drop-in do you have?
It is exactly what I have been looking for.
I know it's not being driven to max specs but what matters to me is what it looks like.
And this is what I've been looking for, a P60 drop-in flood.
Thanks again!

 

[Wiggle]

DX sku 21037. There is one on KD as well but it looks identical to me.

 

[Wiggle]

After playing around with the Q3 5A, Q2 5A and my L2D I have a few more comments:

-Like Yoda, I wonder if the DX drop-in is actually something warmer than the 5A. Not that I'm complaining as I love it but it does seem to have noticably more warmth than my Q3 5A from dereelight.

-When illuminating household objects the Q2 drop in seems to add a bit of warmth and "bronziness" to things which is pleasant while the Q3 looks to me as being very true to what I see during the day.

-Outdoors the Q3 looks quite neutral, just a hair colder than daylight I'd say while the Q2 really makes plants and dirt look "alive" even more so than the Q3.

-My L2D which I'd always considered to be quite white, looks downright blue compared to either the Q2 or Q3. Stay away from the nice tints, they will ruin your appreciation of perfectly good lights:candle:

 

[KingGlamis]

Wow, awesome beam shots! Much better than looking at a white wall. That Q3 gives what I would call perfect color!

I wish more people did outdoor beamshots like this. Thanks!

 

[Wiggle]

Thanks,
I understand the advantages of white wall shots but to me they are just really bland and don't tell me enough about how the light really looks. I'm a big fan of the outdoor shots.

 

[rizky_p]

Wiggle how good is DX MCE dropin(SKU 21037)? this dropin sure looks interesting to me. How hard is it driven with single 18650? is it buck/boost driver?

Thanks

 

[Wiggle]

The MC-E seems to be driven between 1.4 and 1.8A according to measurements I've seen. It's putting out around 350 lumens according to gman's tests. Not entirely sure how the driver works though.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Nice shots man! The only Q2 5A I have lacks power but does have nice tint!

 

[dudu84]

Excellent beamshots! Thanks for sharing with us :twothumbs

Besides colors renditions, I think cool white tint appears to be brighter but it strains human eyes a lot while warmer tints make it more comfortable hence better for extended use.

This thread has completely convinced me to use the warmer tints LEDs for my 2x L2D and P3D which are begging me to mod them (already opened the heads) :]

EDIT: I modded my P3D with a 5A Q3 from Deree and I have to say the tint is absolutely beautiful. To my eyes, the tint looks more like the 5A Q2 from DX Wiggle has. One of the best things about 5A Q3 tint is no matter what mode the light is on, it's always warm, unlike some other Q5 and R2 I have which appear very greenish on low mode.

 

[Wiggle]

Hey dudu,
How hard was that mod to do? I"m thinking of modding my L2D with these as well. Problem is, it's not like my $17 Trustfire where if I ruin it I'm not out $60.

Does anyone have any beamshot requests for specific objects or scenes with the lights I posted above?

 

[FlashCrazy]

Wow, great shots! I always have customers asking me what the difference is between warm and cool tints... I'll have to refer them to this thread! :goodjob:

 

[dudu84]

Hey dudu,
How hard was that mod to do? I"m thinking of modding my L2D with these as well. Problem is, it's not like my $17 Trustfire where if I ruin it I'm not out $60.

I'd say for me (I have very basic soldering skill and only few tools available), the most difficult part is to open the head "without" damaging it (which depends on which and how much glue fenix used), most annoying part "may" be cleaning the old epoxy (again, depends if much of it was used), soldering the led can be a bit tricky when the wires are too short.

Check out this thread, it will give you a good instruction of how to open the head
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=168844

If you still can't open the head using info from that thread, I can suggest some other ways I tried. I have so far opened the heads of 1x L2T V2.0, 2x L2d ce, 4x P3D ce (inc. Q5); from my experience, the difficulties vary a lot. I opened the l2t v2.0 and 1x p3d with bare hands, the others some need mousepad, some needs mousepad with pliers, some need even better method. I learned new methods to open them the hard way, only after I scratched them lol (3 are unharmed, 1 has a tiny scratch, 3 with moderate scratch).

But remember, you'll void fenix's lifetime warranty once you opened it. I decided to do it because the probability of fenix's driver dies is very low and in the worst case, I can replace it with some cheaper drivers from DX or KD.

Let me know if you need some more info on modding fenix :]
Will check back again tomorrow, it's almost 3am here XD

EDIT: Another reason why I mod my fenix is because I want to get rid of the gap between the reflector and the LED; some people like it that way because the hotspot is softened out but I think it defocuses the beam and some lumens were also lost there.






BTW, most of my modded fenix were bought when they were on sale (currently they also are) so l2d costs ~40usd per piece. For this price, you can actually get the new eagletac P100A2 but I find the high efficiencies on multiple modes of fenix lights suit me better after mod.

 

[bioman]

Would it be correct to say that the perceived brightness between a Q3 and Q5 LED is minimal?