Ra
Flashlight Enthusiast
Hi guyzz,
I hope this will be worth the waiting.. I needed some time to make this review as complete as possible.
A lot has been written about it, the introduction thread already has 22,000+ views.. So.. its about time to test this new mini-HID, and see if it's just the way it looks, or that we can expect performance as well. (would be nice, wouldn't it??)
Reading the introduction thread, I asked myself.. Could this be the first production-torch with the same philosophy as I build my mini-HID monster with?
I don't know what was discussed during the 'design-meetings' at JIL Lite: Did they include the sideways lamp-collimation only to allow us to get a nice round beampattern? Or did they think like I did a few years ago: Concentrate the focus on one of the hotspots within the arc and you will have a significant increase of candlepower-output!
No matter what they thought, lets see if they did a good job:
For those among you that don't want to read this entire review: Reading the "conclusion" section at the end of the review will give you a pretty good impression of this light..
So, lets get started…
About a week ago, I received the unit with serial no. 0008.
Carefully packed in a nice box, together with some warnings and an artistic, quick manual (very quick..)
The light itself definitely doesn't look or feel cheap. One remark I want to make is: WHERE IS THE LANYARD???
A light this small and fragile needs a lanyard included, because it will definitely be damaged if dropped (accidentally or not..) Especially the edge of the head-section is very fragile!
In Holland, we have a saying: If you drop a piece of bread with peanut-butter, it always lands with the peanut-butter downwards! So, use a lanyard, or connect the light to a chain around your neck. But don't give this beauty any opportunity to fall!
So this is a baby you must keep your eyes on, but the way it looks, that shouldn't be a problem. (tho that is a matter of taste..)
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-06-24
My mini-HID at the left..
So, what's inside the little monster? A Welch Allyn 10 watt ballast and bulb, four CR123a cells (non regargable) in a simply removable battery-holder. A very high quality electro-formed parabolic mirror, and a 'clicky' switch that feels firm and reliable.
The manufacturer claims a runtime of up to one hour.
A (regulated?) regargable battery option will be aviable in the nearby future.
So, how to proceed with this review? Well, let me think…
- Lots of beamshots, extensive runtime tests during which headtemperature, relative light-output and battery-voltage is measured.
- Graphs to easily understand measurement-data
- Calibrated candlepower measurement
- Did I mention lots of beamshots!?
- Oh.. And ofcource submerge in water-tests, 'drop on concrete floor' tests and 'smash against concrete wall' tests. After that, I think Warren will start his 'kill Ra' tests!! So lets forget the destructive tests and do something constructive..
Look and feel:
With the smooth and high quality anodized aluminum body, this definitely is a torch you can enjoy for years and years, if taken care of that is.
Like I said earlier, its fragile, especially the head-section: A minor hit with the edge of the head against a wooden table can already cause deformations!
The 'clicky' at the back seems to be of high quality: It should be because of the nasty current-peak it will feel at startup!
If you ask me: It's a torch with a high 'flashaholic' factor. Tho I've read remarks like "looks like a zoom-lens" (but some like zoom-lenses, so what's the problem..?)
I don't think the Eznite is waterproof, it's waterresistant at the most. So it probably will survive a shower, but not a dive!
Overall performance:
Switch it on and you will definitely be confronted with one aspect of the nature of HID: It needs about 15 seconds to get to full output.. Strobing is out of the question: If you want to enjoy the performance for years to come, you should not use this torch for shorter periods than 5 minutes!
Important remark: If you 'tab' the 'clicky' without clicking it off, the lamp shuts off with the switch still in the 'on' position! Unlike with halogens, the lamp will not come to life unless you switch it off an turn it back on after 3 seconds!
As far as I know, this does not damage the torch or drain your batteries.
Beamfocus:
Here comes the fun part: Three screws at the side of the torch to collimate the bulb along the x- and y-axis! (Together with turning of the head for z-axis beamfocus).
If you do this right, you can obtain a very smooth beampattern without much artifacts!
But even more: You can focus the bulb to concentrate on the hotspot within the arc, near the anode of the bulb:
Shot at 2007-07-03
This hotspot has much higher surface-brightness (needed for throw!). The result will be a beampattern with a nice flood and a very intense center. The cp-value at the center can go up to 180,000cp or even higher!
Remember: This can only be done with a high quality electroformed parabolic mirror and a bulb with the protective envelope removed!
Some asked me to a side-by-side comparison with my 10 watt Mini-HID monster. As I don't have anything else to compare it with, on some fields, I'm going to do that. But during this comparison, you must remember one thing: The Eznite is a production-torch! My mini-HID is not.
With my mini, I have done everything possible to squeeze every torchlumen and candlepower out of it! That is a very expensive process, not doable with a production-torch ( ohh, it's doable, but it will have a prizetag at lleast three times that of the Eznite!)
So don't be to harsh on the Eznite when it doesn't reach the specs of my Mini-HID
My mini is somewhat bigger: It runs on 18650 type cells and has a slightly larger reflector-diameter. I'm shure the Eznite will grow in length one inch or even more with the regargable 18650-cell option.
Lets have a graph:
I did a (nearly ..) full runtime test, monitoring the head-temperature, voltage, and relative torchlumens output. This test is done in two sessions, 10 minutes apart, to keep the head-temp below 60 degrees centigrade (140 F) I'm shure it will survive higher temperatures, but I don't want to push the envelope with this pass-around unit..) First session is 30 minutes long, you will see a no-data area between minute 30 and 31: That is the 10 minute cool down-period.
Shot at 2007-07-03
As you can see, the Eznite meets the claimed one hour runtime, but during that, output decreases to about 40%.
For a torch that needs to be practical, this runtime is quite short. Especially with torches this small and portable, I want to see runtimes of at least 1.5, preferably 2 hours!
This is the prize you must pay if you want a small torch: The electronics and bulb need their space, decreasing the size of the torch drastically deceases room for batteries!
The ballast clearly is not regulated, and with the increasing internal resistance of the cells over time, the voltage and output drops.
At max 9.93 volts from the four CR123a cells, the Eznite is a little bit underdriven. So it probably won't reach the 500 bulblumens-mark with this battery-setup, more like 450 bulblumens. But who will notice??
After just a few minutes over one hour, it will start to flicker. That is the moment to turn it off: I'm not shure, but somewhere I heard that these ballasts and bulbs don't like empty batteries, and damage or shorter bulb-lifespan can be the result of that!
Then there is the head-temperature: Though the electronics can survive temperatures up to 100 degrees Centigrade (212 F). The Eznite does not have the 'massive-heatsink-design' like my mini has.
Small torches don't have the outside surface needed for good heat-dissipation.
So the head of the Eznite gets hot. If you ask me, a little bit too hot: 60 degrees Centigrade at 19.5 centigrade ambient temperature is one thing.. I'm not shure what happens when you continuously use this torch at 40 degrees ambient temperature, but I would probably not be happy with the way it heats up in such a situation!
The positive part of this: Warm hands when walking in the cold with the Eznite.
When I saw the first pictures of the Eznite, I saw a Rhodiun-coated reflector (slight brownish, lower reflection-look), however, the reflector of unit 0008 seems to be aluminum-coated. The difference: Aluminum reflects up to 90% of the light, Rhodium more like 76% ! But Rhodium is more durable and can withstand high levels of UV-radiation.
With my Mini-HID, I used a (much more expensive!) dichroic-multilayer coated reflector: 98% reflection. The picture below shows the difference in reflection between the two reflectors.
Shot at 2007-07-03
So, how does the beampattern look like? Time for some beamshots:
For practical use, I would recommend a limited focus-range: Between focusing at the hotspot near the cathode, and focusing on the hotspot near the anode.
Go beyond those two limits and you will end up with a dark hole in the center of the beampattern: (donutlike beamshape).
Within the range I mentioned above, two focus-settings are worth to be mentioned:
-Focusing at the middle-section of the arc:
Shot at 2007-08-18
This produces the most narrow beampattern possible, with decent average cp-values and no distinct hotspot (-s).
-Focusing at the hotspot within the arc near the anode:
Shot at 2007-07-03
This produces a much wider beam pattern with a very intense hotspot. With this high-candlepower hotspot, you can illuminate objects more then 500 yards away! (depending on the reflectivity of the objects ofcource..) And still enjoy decent side spill, though this side spill is less powerful then at middle-focus.
So, how does this look like in the field (or forest..):
Middle focus:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-03
Anode hotspot-focus:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-03
In this picture you can clearly see the trees at 190 yards being lit by the hotspot.
In a head-to-head beamshot comparison between the Eznite (with fresh cells) and my Mini-HID, my HID produces about 50% more torchlumens, and about 25% more CP's:
Shot at 2007-06-24
But like I said earlier: It's not fair to compare a "one-year-painstaking-effort supertorch" with a "production-supertorch"!!
So, what about the emitted spectrum.. Well, lets have a look:
This is the spectrum emitted by the Eznite:
Shot at 2007-07-03
And this is the spectrum, emitted by the bulb only:
Shot at 2007-07-03
So, there is no UV-radiation to worry about.
I also checked the transmission of the front-window; nicely blocking UV-C , UV-B and most part of UV-A, but as you can see, bulb only doesn't emit much light in those regions anyway. I measured down to 195 nm and got almost flat zero! So I omitted that part.
And for those who want to know: The emitted spectrum of my mini-HID:
Shot at 2007-07-03
As you can see: It belongs to the same family!
Conclusion:
With the ongoing revolution in the LED-world, the question is if a HID like this will survive for long. Put a few Cree's or Seoul's together and you can easily get the same lumens-output or more, with the same efficiency or better, with instant-on capability
The key-word is surface brightness: No doubt LED's will surpass the best halogens on surface brightness very soon, but it will be years before led-lights with the same dimensions as the Eznite will reach the same throw as this little monster!
A few :thinking::thinking: tho:
The bulb seems hard to change, pulling by grabbing the bulb seems the only option, but definitely will break the envelope!
Then there is the heat production: The three screws at the side for bulb-collimation move the ballast in the x- and y-direction, this means that there is a airspace between the ballast and the body. Air is not much of a heat conductor! So when the temperature of the reflector-head hits 60 degrees centigrade, the ballast-temperature will be much higher!
I also have minor doubt's regarding the clicky: Like I said earlier, unlike with halogens, any power-interruption, no matter how short, causes an immediate shut-off.
It needs a reset of 3 seconds to recover!
However, during the tests I did, the Eznite's performance was great!
I have never seen a production-torch this small with cp-rating this high, and I'm shure you will agree!
If you know how, you can obtain very nice beam patterns without nasty artifacts, by collimating the bulb sideways.
The runtime chart clearly shows a drop in performance during the (quite short?) one hour runtime. The upcoming regulated (?) 18650-option will change that, but will cause an increase in length of the Eznite as well.
My mini-HID performs better on both cp- and lumens-output, but comparing the two is not fair: the Eznite is a production-torch, my mini-HID is not! A production-torch needs to have a reasonable prizetag. With that in mind, I can only say: GOOD JOB GUYZZZ! :bow::bow::bow:
If I have left out, or forgot something, please lit me know..
UPDATE:
Quad-cell CR123a battery holder:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
One of the three bulb-collimation screws:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
World smallest, fully functional HID-bulb.. (Yep its even smaller then a common household match !)
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
Best regards,
Ra.
I hope this will be worth the waiting.. I needed some time to make this review as complete as possible.
A lot has been written about it, the introduction thread already has 22,000+ views.. So.. its about time to test this new mini-HID, and see if it's just the way it looks, or that we can expect performance as well. (would be nice, wouldn't it??)
Reading the introduction thread, I asked myself.. Could this be the first production-torch with the same philosophy as I build my mini-HID monster with?
I don't know what was discussed during the 'design-meetings' at JIL Lite: Did they include the sideways lamp-collimation only to allow us to get a nice round beampattern? Or did they think like I did a few years ago: Concentrate the focus on one of the hotspots within the arc and you will have a significant increase of candlepower-output!
No matter what they thought, lets see if they did a good job:
For those among you that don't want to read this entire review: Reading the "conclusion" section at the end of the review will give you a pretty good impression of this light..
So, lets get started…
About a week ago, I received the unit with serial no. 0008.
Carefully packed in a nice box, together with some warnings and an artistic, quick manual (very quick..)
The light itself definitely doesn't look or feel cheap. One remark I want to make is: WHERE IS THE LANYARD???
A light this small and fragile needs a lanyard included, because it will definitely be damaged if dropped (accidentally or not..) Especially the edge of the head-section is very fragile!
In Holland, we have a saying: If you drop a piece of bread with peanut-butter, it always lands with the peanut-butter downwards! So, use a lanyard, or connect the light to a chain around your neck. But don't give this beauty any opportunity to fall!
So this is a baby you must keep your eyes on, but the way it looks, that shouldn't be a problem. (tho that is a matter of taste..)
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-06-24
My mini-HID at the left..
So, what's inside the little monster? A Welch Allyn 10 watt ballast and bulb, four CR123a cells (non regargable) in a simply removable battery-holder. A very high quality electro-formed parabolic mirror, and a 'clicky' switch that feels firm and reliable.
The manufacturer claims a runtime of up to one hour.
A (regulated?) regargable battery option will be aviable in the nearby future.
So, how to proceed with this review? Well, let me think…
- Lots of beamshots, extensive runtime tests during which headtemperature, relative light-output and battery-voltage is measured.
- Graphs to easily understand measurement-data
- Calibrated candlepower measurement
- Did I mention lots of beamshots!?
- Oh.. And ofcource submerge in water-tests, 'drop on concrete floor' tests and 'smash against concrete wall' tests. After that, I think Warren will start his 'kill Ra' tests!! So lets forget the destructive tests and do something constructive..
Look and feel:
With the smooth and high quality anodized aluminum body, this definitely is a torch you can enjoy for years and years, if taken care of that is.
Like I said earlier, its fragile, especially the head-section: A minor hit with the edge of the head against a wooden table can already cause deformations!
The 'clicky' at the back seems to be of high quality: It should be because of the nasty current-peak it will feel at startup!
If you ask me: It's a torch with a high 'flashaholic' factor. Tho I've read remarks like "looks like a zoom-lens" (but some like zoom-lenses, so what's the problem..?)
I don't think the Eznite is waterproof, it's waterresistant at the most. So it probably will survive a shower, but not a dive!
Overall performance:
Switch it on and you will definitely be confronted with one aspect of the nature of HID: It needs about 15 seconds to get to full output.. Strobing is out of the question: If you want to enjoy the performance for years to come, you should not use this torch for shorter periods than 5 minutes!
Important remark: If you 'tab' the 'clicky' without clicking it off, the lamp shuts off with the switch still in the 'on' position! Unlike with halogens, the lamp will not come to life unless you switch it off an turn it back on after 3 seconds!
As far as I know, this does not damage the torch or drain your batteries.
Beamfocus:
Here comes the fun part: Three screws at the side of the torch to collimate the bulb along the x- and y-axis! (Together with turning of the head for z-axis beamfocus).
If you do this right, you can obtain a very smooth beampattern without much artifacts!
But even more: You can focus the bulb to concentrate on the hotspot within the arc, near the anode of the bulb:
Shot at 2007-07-03
This hotspot has much higher surface-brightness (needed for throw!). The result will be a beampattern with a nice flood and a very intense center. The cp-value at the center can go up to 180,000cp or even higher!
Remember: This can only be done with a high quality electroformed parabolic mirror and a bulb with the protective envelope removed!
Some asked me to a side-by-side comparison with my 10 watt Mini-HID monster. As I don't have anything else to compare it with, on some fields, I'm going to do that. But during this comparison, you must remember one thing: The Eznite is a production-torch! My mini-HID is not.
With my mini, I have done everything possible to squeeze every torchlumen and candlepower out of it! That is a very expensive process, not doable with a production-torch ( ohh, it's doable, but it will have a prizetag at lleast three times that of the Eznite!)
So don't be to harsh on the Eznite when it doesn't reach the specs of my Mini-HID
My mini is somewhat bigger: It runs on 18650 type cells and has a slightly larger reflector-diameter. I'm shure the Eznite will grow in length one inch or even more with the regargable 18650-cell option.
Lets have a graph:
I did a (nearly ..) full runtime test, monitoring the head-temperature, voltage, and relative torchlumens output. This test is done in two sessions, 10 minutes apart, to keep the head-temp below 60 degrees centigrade (140 F) I'm shure it will survive higher temperatures, but I don't want to push the envelope with this pass-around unit..) First session is 30 minutes long, you will see a no-data area between minute 30 and 31: That is the 10 minute cool down-period.
Shot at 2007-07-03
As you can see, the Eznite meets the claimed one hour runtime, but during that, output decreases to about 40%.
For a torch that needs to be practical, this runtime is quite short. Especially with torches this small and portable, I want to see runtimes of at least 1.5, preferably 2 hours!
This is the prize you must pay if you want a small torch: The electronics and bulb need their space, decreasing the size of the torch drastically deceases room for batteries!
The ballast clearly is not regulated, and with the increasing internal resistance of the cells over time, the voltage and output drops.
At max 9.93 volts from the four CR123a cells, the Eznite is a little bit underdriven. So it probably won't reach the 500 bulblumens-mark with this battery-setup, more like 450 bulblumens. But who will notice??
After just a few minutes over one hour, it will start to flicker. That is the moment to turn it off: I'm not shure, but somewhere I heard that these ballasts and bulbs don't like empty batteries, and damage or shorter bulb-lifespan can be the result of that!
Then there is the head-temperature: Though the electronics can survive temperatures up to 100 degrees Centigrade (212 F). The Eznite does not have the 'massive-heatsink-design' like my mini has.
Small torches don't have the outside surface needed for good heat-dissipation.
So the head of the Eznite gets hot. If you ask me, a little bit too hot: 60 degrees Centigrade at 19.5 centigrade ambient temperature is one thing.. I'm not shure what happens when you continuously use this torch at 40 degrees ambient temperature, but I would probably not be happy with the way it heats up in such a situation!
The positive part of this: Warm hands when walking in the cold with the Eznite.
When I saw the first pictures of the Eznite, I saw a Rhodiun-coated reflector (slight brownish, lower reflection-look), however, the reflector of unit 0008 seems to be aluminum-coated. The difference: Aluminum reflects up to 90% of the light, Rhodium more like 76% ! But Rhodium is more durable and can withstand high levels of UV-radiation.
With my Mini-HID, I used a (much more expensive!) dichroic-multilayer coated reflector: 98% reflection. The picture below shows the difference in reflection between the two reflectors.
Shot at 2007-07-03
So, how does the beampattern look like? Time for some beamshots:
For practical use, I would recommend a limited focus-range: Between focusing at the hotspot near the cathode, and focusing on the hotspot near the anode.
Go beyond those two limits and you will end up with a dark hole in the center of the beampattern: (donutlike beamshape).
Within the range I mentioned above, two focus-settings are worth to be mentioned:
-Focusing at the middle-section of the arc:
Shot at 2007-08-18
This produces the most narrow beampattern possible, with decent average cp-values and no distinct hotspot (-s).
-Focusing at the hotspot within the arc near the anode:
Shot at 2007-07-03
This produces a much wider beam pattern with a very intense hotspot. With this high-candlepower hotspot, you can illuminate objects more then 500 yards away! (depending on the reflectivity of the objects ofcource..) And still enjoy decent side spill, though this side spill is less powerful then at middle-focus.
So, how does this look like in the field (or forest..):
Middle focus:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-03
Anode hotspot-focus:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-03
In this picture you can clearly see the trees at 190 yards being lit by the hotspot.
In a head-to-head beamshot comparison between the Eznite (with fresh cells) and my Mini-HID, my HID produces about 50% more torchlumens, and about 25% more CP's:
Shot at 2007-06-24
But like I said earlier: It's not fair to compare a "one-year-painstaking-effort supertorch" with a "production-supertorch"!!
So, what about the emitted spectrum.. Well, lets have a look:
This is the spectrum emitted by the Eznite:
Shot at 2007-07-03
And this is the spectrum, emitted by the bulb only:
Shot at 2007-07-03
So, there is no UV-radiation to worry about.
I also checked the transmission of the front-window; nicely blocking UV-C , UV-B and most part of UV-A, but as you can see, bulb only doesn't emit much light in those regions anyway. I measured down to 195 nm and got almost flat zero! So I omitted that part.
And for those who want to know: The emitted spectrum of my mini-HID:
Shot at 2007-07-03
As you can see: It belongs to the same family!
Conclusion:
With the ongoing revolution in the LED-world, the question is if a HID like this will survive for long. Put a few Cree's or Seoul's together and you can easily get the same lumens-output or more, with the same efficiency or better, with instant-on capability
The key-word is surface brightness: No doubt LED's will surpass the best halogens on surface brightness very soon, but it will be years before led-lights with the same dimensions as the Eznite will reach the same throw as this little monster!
A few :thinking::thinking: tho:
The bulb seems hard to change, pulling by grabbing the bulb seems the only option, but definitely will break the envelope!
Then there is the heat production: The three screws at the side for bulb-collimation move the ballast in the x- and y-direction, this means that there is a airspace between the ballast and the body. Air is not much of a heat conductor! So when the temperature of the reflector-head hits 60 degrees centigrade, the ballast-temperature will be much higher!
I also have minor doubt's regarding the clicky: Like I said earlier, unlike with halogens, any power-interruption, no matter how short, causes an immediate shut-off.
It needs a reset of 3 seconds to recover!
However, during the tests I did, the Eznite's performance was great!
I have never seen a production-torch this small with cp-rating this high, and I'm shure you will agree!
If you know how, you can obtain very nice beam patterns without nasty artifacts, by collimating the bulb sideways.
The runtime chart clearly shows a drop in performance during the (quite short?) one hour runtime. The upcoming regulated (?) 18650-option will change that, but will cause an increase in length of the Eznite as well.
My mini-HID performs better on both cp- and lumens-output, but comparing the two is not fair: the Eznite is a production-torch, my mini-HID is not! A production-torch needs to have a reasonable prizetag. With that in mind, I can only say: GOOD JOB GUYZZZ! :bow::bow::bow:
If I have left out, or forgot something, please lit me know..
UPDATE:
Quad-cell CR123a battery holder:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
One of the three bulb-collimation screws:
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
World smallest, fully functional HID-bulb.. (Yep its even smaller then a common household match !)
Shot with DSC-R1 at 2007-07-22
Best regards,
Ra.
Last edited:
