Re: Dereelight DBS
New guy here
Can someone help me get an education on
"pills" and "Drivers"
I like the Dereelight DBS and do not know what pills or drivers to choose. I want to learn about these, and how they affect the beam.
Righty
I'll give it a go. The pill concept is one of Dereelight's strongest points in my opinion. When a new LED comes out or if the pill ever goes bad, order a new pill for $30 and your done. Considering a DBS is $120, it's a good safety net. Many lights that aren't glued together can be upgraded if you're good with a soldering gun. AFAIK, Dereelight is the only manufacturer with screw in pills.
As far as the types of pills all the pills with "M" in their name mean Multi-Power. Basically it means you can use disposable batteries as well as 17670's or 18650's. Pills with "D" in their name mean Digital and are exclusively for 17670's or 18650's. If you look at the pills link clintb pointed to, you'll see the voltage of their constant output rating is higher than an 18650 can maintain. That means the light will gradually dim while an 18650 drains. That's the real downside to Multi-Power pills. If you plan on using rechargeable batteries, you're better off with a Digital pill. You could put 2 RCR123A's (a.k.a. 16340) in a 3SM. But a single 18650 has more energy than 2 16340's, i.e. longer run time.
Then there's color. The Q5's are a cool white with a WC color tint. Its color temperature is about 6500°K. A close approximation of daylight. The Q2 with the 5A tint is a warm white with a color temp of about 4300°K. Here is a CPF
link to give you an idea of what the different color temps look like. If you look at the XLamp Neutral-Warm chart, an average 50 watt halogen desk lamp is about 3300°K or 7B on the chart. I mention it because it's something everyone has seen, and knows that's not what it really looks like. The chart is a good attempt at representing true colors, but only goes so far.
A Q2 is probably 10% dimmer than a Q5. Added to that warm white LED's do not put out as many lumens per given amount of power as a cool white LED would. Something to do with the excitation wavelength frequency of the actual LED being further away on the spectrum from the frequency emitted by the fluorescent phosphor coating. If you were pointing a Q5-WC DBS at a white wall right next to a Q2-5A DBS, you'd probably say the Q5 was much brighter. But if you were using it outdoors on say an object 200 meters away at night, I think it might be a different story. Many people say Xenon halogen lights that have the same lux output rating as an equivalent LED, appear brighter than the LED. It's because the frequency of light is closer to the wavelength your eye is most sensitive to. Lux and Lumen meters have a linear respose to changes in wavelength. Your eye does not. I don't own a Q2-5A DBS and I haven't seen any reviews by a fellow CPF members. Alan from Dereelight mentions the Q2-5A in the Market Place forum DBS thread
here. You'll have to dig for it. I remember him saying they are growing in popularity in China because they are better for outdoor use. Without having seen it, I can believe that's true.
I'm thinking the DBS 3SD...but as a minor wish, I wish it came in black (just my preference). Thus, I lean slightly toward the V2 because it looks so dang cool in that black. At the same time, I'm attracted to the DI with the "infinite" adjustable output. The DI version seems like the most fascinating light of the group...but for the output drop-off as documented by selfbuilt in his DBS V2 (with R2 Cree/ DI) Comparison Review.
It's funny you should mention selfbuilt's review with a DI module. The idea of infinitely adjustable sounds cool, but he mentions an initial level of brightness that rapidly fades. Another
reviewer when they first came out gives a lux reading comparison between the R2-DI and a V1 DBS with a Q5. The Q5 was slightly brighter. Perhaps there was a problem with the DI module they've since fixed. I haven't been following the DBS thread but maybe it's mentioned in there.
