Your asked for it ...
sorry for the large pics
These are the 2 series I've made sometime ago ...
Setup is: camera on automatic, room lights on, prefocus, lights off, led on, picture taken.
So it is no real scientific light output
test - I just did it for getting a feeling on how the beam spreads - but it comes close to, as the cam settings should be the same all the time.
1st pic:
cree optic (8 deg.),
Fraen plastic reflector for XR-E,
Sandwich Shoppe 17 mm (McR 17),
Sandwich Shoppe 19 mm (McR 19),
Sandwich Shoppe 20 mm (McR 20).
think distances were: 0.5m, 1m, 2m, 4m
out of them:
#1 - visible!!! - the
SS McR 19 mm
(there is a model for the XR-E and a "normal" 19 mm, both are almost the same, I prefer the normal 19 mm).
Bright hotspot with nice spill and good transition between both.
If it were for
cost in a multiled application, the original 8 deg. optic were my vote.
Absolutely dissatisfied with the plastic reflector! Wanted it for multiled application but it is visibly worse than the optic and not this much cheaper that it would make sense.
2nd pic with XR-E (and some modded IMS reflectors)
for throw: Sandwich Shoppe McR 27mm
overall + smaller size: Sandwich Shoppe McR 19mm
(dark shadow comes from the rubber band temporarily holding the devices. In real use they are glued in)
The good results are - again imho - the deep shape of the McR. They simply catch a higher amount of the emitted light. My old 6P w. XR-E P4 modded in April 2007 is still the brightest light I have, outshining the newer "Q5" and "R2" ones at same current. But they dont feature the expensive modders reflectors.
PS: the McR make no Cree ring!
(imho comes from a reflection of the XR-Es metal ring in the reflector. With the McRs the reflector is sitting on that ring, not extending below to have that reflection on the surface)
PPS: in General, my impression is that a very good (= expensive) reflector gives a much better main AND a useable spill, while optics tend not to give useful spill. They can feature a good main, but then a harsh transition to very dim "around" light.
Difficult to catch with a photo and pssibly my imagination.
I have such "series" for Lux III and they are about the same, so, for me, the thing is clear.
pics of modded lights:
T1 is modded with driver and McR 17mm, the 6P with driver and McR 19 mm
6P is still my main light, the tint is perfect and the machining and
feel of the SF ...
this is how the "Pill" looks with me. Thick sink which is press fit into housing.
Only way to have a good thermal path.
last light I got and modded was a Jetbeam Jet III Pro St.
left: McR 17 and its centering thingy, right: original reflector
Jet III Pro ST finished with the McR 17mm that fits in nicely
(I choose the 17, because the original beam was too tight for my taste (for a small and pocketable "indoor" light), knowing that "brightness" will suffer from the change. It was not this obvious as I feared, and the old 6P (P4) had the better and brighter beam anyway.
these are the "main" parts:
McR 19 on left, McR 17 in middle, original Jet III reflector at right
... shows difference of the 19mm. It is deeper than any reflector or optic I have had by now.
If it would have fit in, I would have used it for the Pro ST as well.
(adhesive tape is removed when in use)
beamshots, again NO BRIGHTNESS COMPARISON because of my cheap camera.
McR 19 on left, Jet III Pro ST original middle, McR 17 (inside Pro ST) at right
the original shows the Cree ring, and it has a tighter beam with very harsh transition to spill.
For the application - small pocketable short range light - the 17mm improved the light output. Who wants throw wont be satisfied
(then an even larger light w. bigger reflector like the
Pro Ulta, TK11 were better)
