but when are you going to upload the outdoor beamshots? because I am want to buy for me the Klarus XT30 or the Sunwayman T40CS,and I can not decide which flashlight is better thrower.
Still on my desk to do, just been too busy lately to head out for the outdoor shots. Hope to get to them soon ... but see my comments below.
In real life, the variation from light to light typically overlaps the small differences in specs...so on paper two lights might be different, but an INDIVIDUAL light from a given batch for that model might be a bit brighter or dimer, etc...
This is a key point that people often overlook when dealing with n=1 sample sent for review. There is a natural range of variation, and it is impossible to know what that is without a good number of samples to compare under idendical conditions. It is impossible to know the averages for a given model - and even if we did, it is possible that any one sample of one model could out-perform another (even if the averages were the other way).
That said, the T40CS has a rather different reflector and beam profile from the XT30. The T40CS has a wider and relatively shallow reflector (with flat base), while the XT30 has a deep reflector (what comes to sharp angle at the base). The effect on beam profile is that the T40CS will always have a much wider (and dimmer) spillbeam than the XT30. As for the hotspot, at least on my two samples, the XT30 has a smaller and more sharply defined hotspot, with the T40CS having a broader one with a more gradual transition into corona.
Finally, as an aside, I know everyone is always keen to see outdoor beam shots. But the reality is that it is hard to compare lights from a single camera exposure (or even a range of exposures, for that matter). A camera will never catch what your complex brain interprets and perceives. Personally, I find they are (at best) really only useful for comparing gross beam pattern differences - not subtle intensity differences in peak throw.
