Malkoff Drop-in Comparison: Then and Now

[Daekar]

I recently got my grubby little hands on one of Gene Malkoff's latest M60 Surefire dropins and since I had one of the prototype M60s he made from a ways back I thought I'd do a short little comparison!​

Here are a couple key differences:
Prototype
Emitter: SSC P4
Optics: Plastic Reflector
Weight: 19.05 grams
Heatsinking: Some thermal epoxy
Thermistor: No​

M60
Emitter: Cree Q5 WG
Optics: Khatod 6 Degree Optic
Weight: 32.07 grams
Heatsinking: Big chunk of brass
Thermistor: Yes​

Even to the eye, the M60 is a much more refined piece of work, with the heavy brass heatsink machined to mate surfaces with the inside of the Surefire P60 lights. Still, as you'll see in the beamshots, the prototype does a darn good job of earning its keep even though it was part of the learning curve.

I decided to do a quick set of indoor beamshots because these dropins are for my bump-in-the-night light (Surefire 6PD) and that's where I'm most likely to use it. I had two sets of batteries that I used, two new ones (resting voltages 3.014 and 3.096) and two used ones (resting voltages 2.845 and 2.843) Each dropin was tested with both sets of batteries. The order of the photos is easy to tell, but for the record they go: control shot, M60 new batteries, Prototype new batteries, M60 old batteries, Prototype old batteries.

All exposures taken on Canon Powershot A650 IS, 0.250s shutter, f/8.0 aperture, 200 ISO, Daylight setting - they came out darker than they are to the eye, but are definitely sufficient to see the progress Gene has made.

The cells I used are Tenergy that I got free from BatteryJunction with a purchase at some point. I have to admit I'm surprised at the relative intensity between the new and used batteries, I can only conclude that under load the voltage sags pretty darn low, but higher quality cells may not have that problem, I'm not sure.

In terms of beam quality both units are excellent - ring artifacts are minimal at worst, non-existent at best, and the transition from hotspot to spill is very pleasant on both as well, not as abrupt as what you'd find on a D-mini or MRV. The M60 has a more center-weighted beam than the prototype so it will have more throw for a given output. However, the prototype's SSC P4 has a slightly warmer tint than the Q5 WG in the M60 and to my eyes is nicer - YMMV though, tint is a personal thing.

Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase, and will continue to recommend Gene's work to anybody who has the patience to listen to me babble about lights.

 

[kavvika]

Pictures of the prototype module please? I've never seen one before. Wonder how easy it would be to replace the emitter with one of the upcoming V-bins.

 

[Daekar]

Pictures of the prototype module please? I've never seen one before. Wonder how easy it would be to replace the emitter with one of the upcoming V-bins.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!
First a few side-by-sides:

Now a few closer-ups of the prototype by itself:

You can see that there is some copper-colored material on the dropin, but because of the texture on it I have always wondered how thick it was, and instead suspected that Gene put some kind of leafing or conductive paint there to help in dispursing what heat he could. The weight of the piece would seem to indicate at least some solid metal on there, but I'm not sure how much. Please correct me if I'm wrong Gene, I'm more than willing to be wrong. Overall I have always been very pleased with its performance. When I put it in my 6PD I covered it with thermal compound so that the heat transfer to the body of the light would be as good as it could be and I've never experienced any blue-shift of the emitter during use. Unfortunately I don't remember what drive level it is! Because of the extra tail spring I believe the prototype would work in Wolf-Eyes lights but I don't know that for a fact. Anyway, there it is. :thumbsup: As far as replacing the emitter with a V-bin... I'm not sure I'd want to risk it. Gene might chime in with some information about the construction, but it looks pretty sturdy to me, and the emitter leads aren't exposed anywhere. I think you'd have a real job getting it apart and then back together.