Epsilon ED-P71 first impression

[Tom_123]

I stumbled over this light at the marketplace and found it quite interesting,
so I bought one.
I ordered the complete set with an extension tube and another pill for 2x18650 operation
as well as an extra AR lens.

The light came with these parts plus some spare o-rings and a rubber-like cigar grip ring.
Everything came wrapped up in a nice box with a magnetic lock

Specifications:
( "*" = information from Epsilon)

* SSC P7 W724C0 LED
* Driver voltage 2,7V – 4,2V
Three Modes, Low/Mid/High with memory
Forward Clicky with momentary on
Weigth 340g (approx.12 ounce) with battery
Current draw at tail: High/Mid/Low: 1.7A / 0.46A / 0.1A

With the set the following lego could be done:
1x 18650 version – this will be the ED-P71
2x18650 version – same as the ED-P72
2x16340 or 2xCR123 – ED-P71 with the ED-P72 pill.

How does it compare:

From left: Solarforce L900m, Epsilon ED-P71, Wolf-Eyes Sniper MC-E, Olight M20, 18650 battery

In my hand

Measurement:

1. Light bounced from the ceiling:

ED-P71 – 35 lux
ED-P71 (P72) with 2x18650 - 36 lux
Wolf-Eyes-Sniper MC-E – 26 lux
Solarforce L900m – 48 lux

2. Brightest part of the spot @ 1 m

ED-P71 – 14 200 lux
ED-P71(P72) with 2x18650 - 14 080 lux
WE-Sniper MC-E – 4 760 lux
Solarforce L900m – 10 300 lux

These results confirm my observation while operating the lights.

The Epsilon ED-P71 can't beat the Solarforce L900m in regard to total output,
but it has the edge if it comes to throw.
In regard to brightness the Wolf-Eyes Sniper MC-E can't compete with either of these lights
but on the other hand it is the most compact light of this crowd, hence more suitable for EDC.

Beamshots

White wall at 0.5 m, white balance set to daylight

Outside, distance to the fence approx. 12 m (39 ft), sorry it's hard to find dark places here where I live.

The construction of the Epsilon ED-P71 is effective and nifty.
I like the pill sitting in the battery tube, which assures a good heat dissipation IMHO.
The Epsilon ED-P71 body warms up to 27 degree Celsius (80.6 F) after 5 minutes
and temperature increase to 38 degree Celsius (100.4 F) within 30 minutes.

Another advantage of the said construction is, that you can run the light without the head and reflector,
which is nice for photography purpose and the like.
(Be carefull though, as the emitter is hot and fragile)

ED-P71 with a film container instead of the head

Temporary conclusion

As my inspection tour is over now, I didn't had a chance to test the Epsilon ED-P71
on a long-term operation under the rough conditions on a building site.
So I can't make a final statement about reliability.

At $ 69 (w/o the spare parts) the Epsilon ED-P71 is just about $20 away from the price range of comparable DX/KD lights.
For this extra charge you'll get:
A forward clicky with momentary on.
A light that works out of the box as expected.
A decent build quality and a well thought construction.
No annoying strobe and SOS modes. (though the P72 driver has a strobe mode)
And last but not least a much better service.

I would consider this a good deal and so far I'm very happy with my Epsilon ED-P71.

But as no light is perfect, there are also some shortcomings:

The tail cap thread is not anodized, so lockout isn't possible,
There's no anti-roll design.


Closing words:

There's already a very good review about the Epsilon P71 and P72,
so I hope you don't mind me posting my impressions as well.

English is not my first language, so sorry for the weird grammar and all the typos.

Regards
Thomas

 

[liam_995]

Nicely done!

It seems that the P71 is at least as bright as the P72...


:twothumbs

 

[easilyled]

Thanks for your constructive review and the very impressive pictures Tom_123 :thumbsup:
Although you have stated that English is not your first language, I can verify that your linguistic prowess far exceeds that of many native English speakers.

 

[Tom_123]

Thank you both for the nice comments.

It seems that the P71 is at least as bright as the P72...

Indeed, visually I couldn't see much difference between the P71 and P72
in regard to brightness.
The small deviation of the measurement is probably rather caused
by my cheap lux meter than by the output of the lights.
The P72 has a longer runtime though.

 

[phantom23]

Interesting. L900M should throw significantly better than Epsilon, previous reviews showed that Epsilon (both P71 and P72) has rather wide hotspot and medium throw. And now this:thinking:

PS. Can you make runtime graph?

 

[Tom_123]

….previous reviews showed that Epsilon (both P71 and P72) has rather wide hotspot and medium throw

If we are talking about the same review by ernsanada,
he compared the Epsilons to the Tiabolo ACE, which is indeed a light build for throw IIRC.
So the Epsilon should have a wider spot and less throw compared to this light.

The Solarforce L900m, though one of the brightest P7 lights, isn't build as a thrower,
it has an even wider spot and a huge spill, hence the Epsilon has the edge if it comes to throw.
But this should not indicate that the Epsilon is a dedicated thrower or searchlight.

PS. Can you make runtime graph?

Sorry no, but I'm working on it.

 

[phantom23]

I think they updated P71 driver - yours is as bright as P72 while the one from Ernsanada was significantly dimmer (10klux vs. 14klux/1m).

And there's something wrong with L900M, it should have about 15klux/1m (according to tests from forum.fotonmag.cz).

Sorry no, but I'm working on it.

All you need is Luxmeter, stop watch and ~1 hour

 

[Tom_123]

yours is as bright as P72 while the one from Ernsanada was significantly dimmer

He also mentioned that his P71 had a yellow tint, mine is rather colder than the Solarforce.
Then again, maybe my P72 pill is not top quality?

And there's something wrong with L900M, it should have about 15klux/1m (according to tests from forum.fotonmag.cz).

Measuring light isn't an easy task and with the cheap luxmeter I use, there are some deviations for sure,
further there are also deviations between the same lights,
the batteries, the exact distance and even the sensitivity of the sensor for
different tints.
I'm not really surprised if this leads to deviations of 30% and more.
All these readings are not comparable with the measurement that other people made.
They are just relative readings.

However I repeated the measurement several times, there where some deviations
but the Epsilon P71 always had the slightly brighter spot.

All you need is Luxmeter, stop watch and ~1 hour

Seriously, I thought about this.
I thought about a reading every 5 minutes or so.
Should be sufficient to see a rough trends or at least, if the light is regulated at all.

 

[phantom23]

http://www.messerforum.net/showpost.php?p=600426&postcount=4

Runtime and temperature graph by 'Tom 123' from German forum. ED-P71 is definitely direct driven, just starts from 2,8A (as Rita Lo says) and goes down quickly.

 

[Tom_123]

Well, to be honest I hesitated to update this thread, because the tone toward
Epsilon in the CPFM thread got a tad too "heated " for my liking and
I didn't wanted to start/ fuel up anything.
But as you mentioned my post in the other forum anyway, there's no reason
to hold back my humbly additional findings, so here's the update for your convenience.

Please consider:

1. The measurements were made manually without a data logger, hence prone to reading errors.
2. My lightbox is still a prototype and still in a "try and error" stage.
3. I'm an amateur and my meters are rather cheap, so you can't expect
the high precision of readings made with calibrated $$$ equipment in an controlled environment of a lab.

Here we go:

The test set-up:

Epsilon ED-P71, battery used: Solarforce protected 18650.
Readings where taken manually every minute for the first 10 minutes,
after that every 5 minutes.

Runtime:

So yes, the P71 is probably direct driven and this was also clearly stated
by Epsilon in the CPFM thread, so no new findings.
However, IMHO this isn't a bad thing.
I doubt that one can see a difference of brightness in a real world operation
within the first 30-40 min anyway.
When the light gets dimmer (and also cools down) it will left you enough time
to find the best opportunity for a battery change.
For a high power working-light, I prefer this behaviour anytime to being abruptly
left in the dark middle of nowhere.

I don't think that the temperature readings will add much new findings,
I did them mainly to make sure that the light don't heat up too far.
However, as I have made them, no reason not to show them.

Regards
Thomas

 

[jirik_cz]

I think they updated P71 driver - yours is as bright as P72 while the one from Ernsanada was significantly dimmer (10klux vs. 14klux/1m).

Be careful with comparing results from different people with different luxmeteres.

And there's something wrong with L900M, it should have about 15klux/1m (according to tests from forum.fotonmag.cz).

You need to take measurement from a longer distance and recalculate the value to 1 meter. From 1 meter, the L900M/L950M still can have a cross in the beam, which will disappear on a longer distance.

Generally for flashlights with bigger reflector you need to take lux measurements from a longer distance and recalculate it to 1 meter value. Or you will get inaccurate reading.

Also some variations between samples is also possible. Actually I've measured 12-16K lux with four pieces of L900M/L900.

 

[phantom23]

Be careful with comparing results from different people with different luxmeteres.

I'm not comparingresults from different luxmeters but differences between P71 and P72 from different people. 'Ernsanadas' P71 was dimmer (10 vs. 14klux) while 'Tom_123s' P71 and P72 were equally bright.

 

[Tom_123]

Here are some updated readings with my new test set up.
I used my new integrated sphere and an Extech HD400 luxmeter.
The luxmeter is still on the budget side in regard to accuracy and price.
Please also consider that the IS is still at a very early stage and I'll try
to improve the accuracy step by step.
Nevertheless, I think it already does a not too bad job as a light box.

Comparison between the light mentioned in the first post.
Instead of the ceiling bouncing, I run a 3-minute runtime reading for each light.

No surprise here and yes, my ED-P71 pills are just as bright as my P72 pill.


Runtime, both lights at high-mode, one reading every minute, Solarforce 18650 batteries.

Generally for flashlights with bigger reflector you need to take lux measurements from a longer distance and recalculate it to 1 meter value.

Thanks for the hint, I'll consider this next time.

Regards
Thomas

 

[taschenlampe]

... No surprise here and yes, my ED-P71 pills are just as bright as my P72 pill.

Runtime, both lights at high-mode, one reading every minute, Solarforce 18650 batteries.

...

P71 is 1x 18650, P72 is 2x 18650 and you get about the same brightness AND runtime?

There must be something wrong! :thinking:

On high my P71 is significantly dimmer than P72.


tl