Malkoff MC-E - why two lenses?

[gunfighter]

I have an MC-E inbound from Gene, but happened to notice the drop-in module already has a lense cover over the LED.

Does this mean I don't need another lense in my bezel assembly? Will I loose efficiency due to the "double pane window"? I'm going to use a Surefire assembly. Can the SF lense even be removed?

Thanks

 

[ninjaboigt]

i think the "lens" on the drop in is actually just the optics that gene uses in his drop in.

with the surefire lens, they can be removed with a special tool...

others will have more insight than my self, hope that helps a bit.

 

[bigchelis]

It is designed that way and if you have the cool version you have 480 lumens out the front.


If you have a Malkoff Hosts then you don't need another lens. If you use it in a Surefire 6P or Solarforce hosts then you can use any UCL lens on that bezel or not. I use a UCL lens in my Solarforce hosts, but no lens in my Malkoff Hosts.

 

[Mjolnir]

In all honesty, there is absolutely no way that you will notice a difference from having the lens present or absent in normal use. In my opinion you are better off keeping the lens as an added layer of protection so you do not scratch the optic (which is probably easier to do than it is to scratch the lens).
Many lights have UCL lenses for better light transmission, but in all honesty I doubt anyone could tell a difference if they were shown 2 of the same light with and without a UCL lens (or any other AR coating).

If you want you could try it without the lens, but I doubt that you will be able to tell a difference. I personally would rather have the extra protection than a few extra lumens.

 

[kyhunter1]

Keep the lens in place. The loss of light transmission would never be noticed to your naked eye anyway. You can replace a bezel lens if damaged, but not the optic in the drop in which is not removeable, and epoxied in place.

 

[MrGman]

The malkoff MC-E has a glass diffuser as the front, its not just a lens and its not plastic. It would be harder to scratch than the glass in the bezel of most lights and since its a diffuser would really be hard to see that it caused any effect. the Surefire and other flashlights normally have the glass in the front as a way to seal the flashlight host and make it splash proof if not very close to water proof (less than 1 meter). If you removed this cover glass you will lose any protection from liquids to the inside of your flashlight not just to the LED module whic is itself sealed. So you want to leave the glass alone. At most you would lose up to 8% of the light due to reflections, my testing has shown it is usually less than this.

the Malkoff MD2 flashlight takes advantage of the sealed module and just uses a rubber washer around the perimeter to seal the module against the host to make it water resistant as the LED module is already sealed itself.

You would probably do more damage to the Surefire trying to get the glass out than to just leave it alone.

 

[gunfighter]

Understood.

Thanks gentlemen.

 

[GarageBoy]

Wait so the MCE has an optic, diffuser over the optic and the lens over it?

 

[Dude Dudeson]

I'm using a 6P with an M60 and I've felt no urge whatsoever to remove the SF glass.

As mentioned above it's just another layer of protection, and in the case of a 6P it's also your water protection up front.

 

[Big_Ed]

I have my Malkoff MC-E in one of Gene's VME heads on my Surefire L4. I'd still like to get a lens to protect the MC-E lens from impacts and scratches. Does anyone know where I could get a lens that would fit?

 

[outersquare]

is the diffuser removeable?

 

[MrGman]

No the diffuser that is part of the Malkoff Module is not removable.

the clear pane of glass in the front of a flashlight that is called a lens really is just a window or a clear seal for the optic cavity where a good old incandescent lamp used to go or some type of LED module now resides. Some of these new LED modules have their own "optic" to focus light which should and could actually be called a lense because it is helping to shape or focus the beam of light in the desired way. Some of of these are plastic and some are made out of hard mineral glass. So the cover glass in front of those in the original flashlight would be superfluous (unnecessary) other than to keep liquids from getting inside in general and shorting out the batteries for those that don't have another seal. Malkoff MD flashlights provide their own seal and don't need the cover glass in general. The diffuser is stronger and better than the clear glass in most flashlights. For those who insist on having a clear cover glass there are companies such as flashlightlens that make them in all sizes and Gene made his flashlight host heads able to take them. If you get one with A/R coatings on both sides for about $5 each then you don't really loose any light worth mentioning.

None of this is really new information.

 

[Yoda4561]

That particular optic is cast with the diffusion pattern in place. It's a solid cone shaped chunk of optical grade resin . They're usually referred to as TIR (total internal reflection) optics. Reflectors use an aluminized or silver coated surface to work, and TIR's have no coating at all, they take advantage of the refractive and reflective interface between the optic and air the same way water becomes reflective at low angles. TIR optics are generally 10% more efficient than a reflector, and very good ones are almost 100% effective at light reflection.

 

[GarageBoy]

But the SF optics, the NX05, etc all needed a glass over it

 

[recDNA]

No the diffuser that is part of the Malkoff Module is not removable.

the clear pane of glass in the front of a flashlight that is called a lens really is just a window or a clear seal for the optic cavity where a good old incandescent lamp used to go or some type of LED module now resides. Some of these new LED modules have their own "optic" to focus light which should and could actually be called a lense because it is helping to shape or focus the beam of light in the desired way. Some of of these are plastic and some are made out of hard mineral glass. So the cover glass in front of those in the original flashlight would be superfluous (unnecessary) other than to keep liquids from getting inside in general and shorting out the batteries for those that don't have another seal. Malkoff MD flashlights provide their own seal and don't need the cover glass in general. The diffuser is stronger and better than the clear glass in most flashlights. For those who insist on having a clear cover glass there are companies such as flashlightlens that make them in all sizes and Gene made his flashlight host heads able to take them. If you get one with A/R coatings on both sides for about $5 each then you don't really loose any light worth mentioning.

None of this is really new information.

I bet it would be a VERY popular option if offered in the build your own flashlight section of the Malkoff site.