MacTech
Enlightened
Tonight, I stopped off at Sears to return my defective 1 watt PR base bulb, and ended up putting that store credit towards a Dorcy K2 Luxeon 2 CR123a light, i'd never used a K2 based light before, and the 120 lumen brightness number (which I'm sure is *wildly* optimistic) looked tempting
So I got the one with the least off-center emitter (really crappy QC there, Dorcy, every one of these lights had an off-center emitter), I figured I could open the head and at the very least re-center the star, maybe eventually use the body of the light as host for an LED swap, maybe to Cree or Seoul.....
I got in the car, opened the packaging (clam-packs are no match for my Spyderco Tasman Salt hawkbill knife, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!), unscrewed the tail-cap and dropped the batteries in, the flashlight body has nice thick aluminum walls, very solid feeling construction, aside from the off-center emitter (really, Dorcy, what *were* you thinking here....), it feels well built, the belt clip is annoying, and if I keep it, it'll be the first thing I cut off with my Dremel
I hit the switch (damned reverse-clicky, GRRRR, *hate* reverse-clickies), and the light sprung to life, the hotspot, as expected, was a little smeary, but not bad at a distance, and since this light has a smooth reflector, it's clear it was designed for throw
The spot of light was reasonably bright, about as bright as my Lighthound Cree drop-in, but the LH drop-in has a far smoother beam pattern, the Dorcy had a very "Mag-like" hotspot with a smeary hotspot with a small hole in the middle, however it *does* throw nicely
I tried to open the head, but it seems sealed, probably with some red Locktite, not sure if this light is a keeper though, it has decent throw and a decent brightness, but I just can't get past the smeary hotspot and off-center emitter (Bad Dorcy, BAD, no treat for you...), the fact that I can't easily get inside the light to fix it is another point against it, however it should be easy to mod once I get it open (IF I get it open)
Another nail in this light's coffin was when I compared it against my A2 Aviator, I know it's not fair to compare a high-power "120 lumen" smooth reflectored LED light optimized for throw to a "50 lumen" (actually around 75 lumens or so) LOP reflectored light designed for a smooth, balanced hotspot.....
Imagine my amazement when the A2 Aviator performed almost as well in raw lumen output (the Dorcy's hotspot *was* slightly brighter, but more blotchy) as the Dorcy, the biggest difference was that the A2's beam was more *USABLE*, no rings or holes, no blotchy hotspot.....
The Dorcy's beam looked cold and sterile (and quite honestly, a little greenish when compared against the A2's incan) and gave objects a truly eerie "ghostly" appearance, yes it was *illuminating* the subject, but it made the subject look vaguely unreal
The A2's beam was warm and inviting, very natural looking, and I could see a lot more of the area *surrounding* the target, the slightly more floody bias of the A2 was clearly apparent here, the Dorcy threw a "laser-like" beam, illuminating the subject, and subject only, the A2 illuminated the target *and* surroundings
The more I think about it, the more I realize I'm slowly migrating back to incandescent, it's just a more natural, satisfying light, my general EDC is a combo of the A2 and an E1e, when illuminating the dark interior of a Mac Pro case, I now grab the E1e instead of the Fenix L0P-SE or L2T w/ CR123A body, the light isn't as "glary" off the tops of the capacitors and other shiny surfaces on the logic board, when I need to truly "Reach Out and Touch Someone", I reach for either my P61'ed G2, or my MagCharger
I still EDC LED's for their efficiency, long runtime, and durability, but I actually *use* my incans.....
strange that it took that mediocre Dorcy K2 to make me realize I'm more of an Incan guy..... I like both kinds of light, don't get me wrong, LED's *ARE* cool, I'm a techie, and LED's hold an appeal for me for their technical merit, but when I need to get the job done, nothing beats a brightly glowing tungsten wire.....
So I got the one with the least off-center emitter (really crappy QC there, Dorcy, every one of these lights had an off-center emitter), I figured I could open the head and at the very least re-center the star, maybe eventually use the body of the light as host for an LED swap, maybe to Cree or Seoul.....
I got in the car, opened the packaging (clam-packs are no match for my Spyderco Tasman Salt hawkbill knife, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!), unscrewed the tail-cap and dropped the batteries in, the flashlight body has nice thick aluminum walls, very solid feeling construction, aside from the off-center emitter (really, Dorcy, what *were* you thinking here....), it feels well built, the belt clip is annoying, and if I keep it, it'll be the first thing I cut off with my Dremel
I hit the switch (damned reverse-clicky, GRRRR, *hate* reverse-clickies), and the light sprung to life, the hotspot, as expected, was a little smeary, but not bad at a distance, and since this light has a smooth reflector, it's clear it was designed for throw
The spot of light was reasonably bright, about as bright as my Lighthound Cree drop-in, but the LH drop-in has a far smoother beam pattern, the Dorcy had a very "Mag-like" hotspot with a smeary hotspot with a small hole in the middle, however it *does* throw nicely
I tried to open the head, but it seems sealed, probably with some red Locktite, not sure if this light is a keeper though, it has decent throw and a decent brightness, but I just can't get past the smeary hotspot and off-center emitter (Bad Dorcy, BAD, no treat for you...), the fact that I can't easily get inside the light to fix it is another point against it, however it should be easy to mod once I get it open (IF I get it open)
Another nail in this light's coffin was when I compared it against my A2 Aviator, I know it's not fair to compare a high-power "120 lumen" smooth reflectored LED light optimized for throw to a "50 lumen" (actually around 75 lumens or so) LOP reflectored light designed for a smooth, balanced hotspot.....
Imagine my amazement when the A2 Aviator performed almost as well in raw lumen output (the Dorcy's hotspot *was* slightly brighter, but more blotchy) as the Dorcy, the biggest difference was that the A2's beam was more *USABLE*, no rings or holes, no blotchy hotspot.....
The Dorcy's beam looked cold and sterile (and quite honestly, a little greenish when compared against the A2's incan) and gave objects a truly eerie "ghostly" appearance, yes it was *illuminating* the subject, but it made the subject look vaguely unreal
The A2's beam was warm and inviting, very natural looking, and I could see a lot more of the area *surrounding* the target, the slightly more floody bias of the A2 was clearly apparent here, the Dorcy threw a "laser-like" beam, illuminating the subject, and subject only, the A2 illuminated the target *and* surroundings
The more I think about it, the more I realize I'm slowly migrating back to incandescent, it's just a more natural, satisfying light, my general EDC is a combo of the A2 and an E1e, when illuminating the dark interior of a Mac Pro case, I now grab the E1e instead of the Fenix L0P-SE or L2T w/ CR123A body, the light isn't as "glary" off the tops of the capacitors and other shiny surfaces on the logic board, when I need to truly "Reach Out and Touch Someone", I reach for either my P61'ed G2, or my MagCharger
I still EDC LED's for their efficiency, long runtime, and durability, but I actually *use* my incans.....
strange that it took that mediocre Dorcy K2 to make me realize I'm more of an Incan guy..... I like both kinds of light, don't get me wrong, LED's *ARE* cool, I'm a techie, and LED's hold an appeal for me for their technical merit, but when I need to get the job done, nothing beats a brightly glowing tungsten wire.....
