My various comparison beamshots test.

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This is the start of the testing a few months ago:

While going for a run with Chris, my personal trainer, we went through a tunnel which I decided would be ideal for doing some comparison beamshots in. It's 22 metres across and the only thing to disturb was a colony of pigeons.

Left to right, here are the test subjects.

800 lumen 5 x Cree LED conversion
Six D cell standard bulb Maglite
4 D cell maglite with 3x Led 600 Lumen Terralux insert.
LedLenser P14 4xAA
2xAA MagLED
1x AA generic cree LED
LedLenser K3 nichita LED

And the same from the front. Yes, that is the bulb hanging out the front of the 6D maglite.

The first thing to look at is the trusty 6 cell maglite with standard bulb on spot. This will be the reference that we'll try to compare everything to. This was the absolute pinnacle of torch power in 1989 which is when I bought it.
It was cheap then for a period at 55 dollars. They are slightly better with the special bulb, but they still break when you drop them. Mine has been dropped twice during juggling practice. Each time the special bulb broke.

All photos were taken with a 2.5 second exposure and locked ASA at 400 which was chosen to try and illustrate the lowest power as well as possible. Unfortunately, it makes the illumination in the picture look brighter than it actually is in real life, but the relative brightness of them all throughout the pictures is correctly illustrated and directly comparable.

So here is the standard against which all others will be judged.

The 6D cell standard Maglite on spot.

And here it is on wide. I've found that wide is actually the most useful beam shape for most applications. Specially if doing security work.

Next we see the LedLenser P14 on spot against the 6 D cell maglite. Note that the LED lights are significantly whiter against the Incandescent bulb of the maglite and also the light from the streetlights spilling from the road which goes over this tunnel.

And now compare the P14 on wide against the 6D maglite in the above photo.

The beautiful thing about the Ledlensers on wide is that there are no hotspots. I really love this about these torches. frommy will be blown away when his arrives. You can also go from flood to spot just by pushing the front bezel forward with your thumb.

Here's the P14 on spot. It's very good with the detail in the middle of the beam lost due to over exposure.

Now the first of the big multi LEDs. The terralux 3x LED versus the 6 D standard bulb. The center of the Terralux is starting to lose detail as it overexposes. This is significantly brighter then the standard bulb. Also note the spill of light on the top and bottom of the beam center as compared to the Maglite spot beam.

The Terralux is probably the most practical torch here and definitely the way to go if you've already got the a maglite that needs a new lease on life.

Here is the Terralux versus the P14 on spot. The P14 spot is noticeably brighter. But if you take the beam out as wide as the Terralux, it loses.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a shot of this.

Here we have the 2x AA MagLED against the 6 cell standard Maglite.

I must say that of all the torches I have bought, I am most disappointed in the little 2x AA Mag Led. Don't buy one unless it's for your Mother in Law to go down flights of perilous steps in the dark with.
For the money, you can do much much better.

Here is the 2xAA MagLED versus the 1 x AA generic Cree LED.

Considering that you can have more light, from a smaller torch that you can get delivered to your mailbox from China for around 4 dollars... and it has a clicky switch on the base for very convenient operation.... forget the MagLED.

A 2 AA MagLED can be found for sale for about 60 dollars in some shops.
For the same money, you can buy 15 single AA generic Chinese Cree torches which will be much better.

To show how good the single AA Cree LED torch is, here it is against the 6D maglite.

There are a few things to consider if you were choosing between these two only.
Light output, running cost, portability, time of operation and cost.

However, the 6D maglite is significantly more comforting to have in your hand if you're roaming around a high security facility at night.

Here is the 2AA MagLED versus the tiny Ledlenser K3

Finally the MagLED is actually brighter than something. However it is significantly bigger and won't go on your keychain. The K3 also has a pushbutton switch and has a beautiful even spot. It's also called the "Blue Moon" torch.

Here is the "800" Lumen 5 x Cree insert versus the 600 lumen Terralux.

There is no detail in the spot from the Cree insert. It also has craploads of spill which wasn't so evident when you're using it.

While we were playing with these two, some people came along pushing an older lady in a wheelchair. They remarked that they wondered what was going on but as soon as they saw the camera on the tripod they figured it out. They were VERY impressed with both of these torches.

At this point, I realised that the 5 LED insert was starting to get rather warm as I was holding it in my hands. It is going to be difficult to keep it cool enough for constant operation on high power. The 1200 Lumen one coming will be even worse.

This is where the Terralux insert is significantly better as it doesn't have this problem. It also drops straight in without any modifications.


Here it is by itself. The spill is very noticable, but it's overpowered by the spot, so you may as well consider it a spot for all intents and purposes.

And here it is on a tree.
It might not mean much to you, but that tree is 81.2 metres away.

I can't wait for the insert with half as much grunt again to turn up.
Until it melts, of course..

 

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I'll apologise for the formatting now. It's painful converting from html to VB code.
This time around I have acquired a few more examples of what is available in the smaller torches and LED technology. I have also introduced some old technology and kept our trusty example to compare everything against.The Maglite 6D cell.
The pinnacle of popular portable personal lighting systems over twenty years ago.
I have also been concentrating on single AA cell torches. I like these as I consider the AA cell to be the most commonly available battery around the world. They're cheap and easy to carry and the energy density of the latest rechargeable AA cells is now almost five times greater than it was twelve years ago with capacities being advertised as much as 3000 milliampere hours for a single cell. This sort of capacity can provide light for many hours, even with the most basic LED torch.
So without more ado, lets look at the current crop of testing subjects. As you can quickly ascertain, some are more amenable to placing in your pocket than others. And quite possibly you would make other choices again if you wanted something to inspire confidence in the face of a zombie invasion.
But first, a big thank you must go to Chris who took photos of what was being used and triggered the main beamshot camera on queue. Without that accounting practice I wouldn't be able to identify half the beamshots.
Also thanks must go to Chris's dog Elvis, who kept us safe from the flattened baby pigeons who lurk on the bikepath under the overpass.

The test subjects are:
A2xAA Maglite[/URL]
with
NiteIze LED conversion[/URL].
B2xAA MagLED[/URL],
C
LedLenser 4xAA P14,
D 4xD
Terralux Conversion,
E 6D maglite[/URL]
F
Ultrafire 1xAA,
G $3 Ebay 1xAA,
H $3 Ebay 1xAAA,
IJaycar CR123a[/URL],
J Frankentorch,
K1xAAA Trustfire[/URL],
L 1xAA
Romisen[/URL],
ODealExtreme 1xAA
LedLenser copy[/URL],
P Jaycar
1xAA X-Glow[/URL],
Q 2xAA Ebay MultiLED, RUltrafire SSC-P7[/URL]
with 1x 18650 Lithium
Ion Cell[/URL].
Yes. There are some letters missing. I couldn't be bothered putting them on the headtorches...
Frankentorch Mk1 consists of a
CR123a housing[/URL]
with a stripped 400
lumen drop in[/URL] fitted. Mk2 will be the same torch with a
900 lumen drop in[/URL]
fitted. It will however become unfriendly to use on high power for any real
length of time without thick gloves....

The Energiser 3xAAA headtorch. Available at a Coles or Woolworths near you
for about 32 dollars.

The

Led Lenser H7 3xAAA headtorch

The Deal Extreme
Cree Focusable 3xAAA head torch[/URL], which you may detect bears a STRONG
resemblance to the LedLenser H7

The Deal Extreme 5x
Cree P4 LED insert.[/URL]

And my old home made bike lights. They have a 20 watt 13 degree low beam and a 55 watt whatever degree high beam. They were made for 75 dollars total in late 1997. So that covers the contenders. At the bottom of the page, I have included shots of the torches and their LED's if relevant, so that you can have a look at the front of a torch and get an idea of how it's going to perform. Let's see how they shape up under the overpass, with fully charged batteries and nothing but the pigeons to annoy.. Please take note that the explanations are UNDER the beamshot photos. This convention is held for the entire beamshot sequence. The other side of the
overpass support is slightly over 23 metres away. The overpass is

right here

Lets revisit the 6D maglite on wide. It has a horrible dark hole in the middle but the pigeons are hardly disturbed at all. Their sleep patterns were about to be adjusted by the rest of the test.

The 2xAA MagLED versus the 1xAAA Trustfire. The single smaller battery
Trustfire convincingly bitchslaps the old MagLED that has twice it's voltage.

Here we see the battle of the two brightest single AA cell torches. The Led Lenser clone trumps the Romisen convincingly. The ability to focus the Led Lenser clone optimises the light output very well. The focus mechanism lets you project the image of the LED emitter onto things and on white surfaces you can see the sections of the LED quite clearly. The indents in the square you can see on the wall are where the wires solder onto the face of the LED emitter. Thus they make that shape. It looks like a bat signal for the Autobots.

The Deal Extreme 1x AA Led Lenser Clone on spot beam versus the X-Glow 1xAA.

The Deal Extreme 1x AA Led Lenser clone on wide beam versus the X-Glow 1xAA.
Er. Yeah. Pwned.

The Deal Extreme 1x AA Led Lenser clone on spotbeam gives the 6D maglite a sound thrashing. Bet you didn't see THAT coming. Or maybe you did....

The Deal Extreme 1x AA Led Lenser clone on spotbeam versus the Trustfire 1xAAA

The Romison 1xAA versus the Trustfire 1xAAA. I bought the Romison because it was reputed to be one of the brighter single AA cell torches currently available. If you're talking non focusing, it is correct for the moment. It's a very solid little AA torch. It's not as pretty as the Trustfire AAA though.
Hmmmm shiney......

The Ultrafire 1xAA versus the Trustfire 1xAAA. Yes. That was a surprise. The trusty little Trustfire punches above it's weight. Actually, being made of stainless steel, it's heavier than some of the single AA torches for a AAA torch. But it looks sweeter too.

 

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The $3 Ebay AAA verses the Trustfire AAA. Here we see the dangers of buying
on Ebay via just a description. I would recommend not doing it. It's easier to
get an excellent torch for ten or eleven dollars than to risk buying a crap
torch for three dollars. You can hardly see that the cheap AAA Ebay torch is
even on. I will test to see how far I can throw it at night with a long exposure
photo at some point.

Here is the Ebay MultiLED 2xAA torch giving the $3 Ebay AA a caning. The
multiLED was my general purpose work torch in 2004. It's seriously outclassed
now, but still a sturdy torch.

The Ebay MultLED gets a pasting from the shiny little Trustfire single AAA.
No surprises there.

Here is the Energiser 3xAAA headtorch taking on the LedLenser 3xAAA H7. No
contest. However, the Energiser sits in my glovebox and will stay there for the
forseeable future. It's quite robust and simple. Reminds me of some people I
know actually. Oh, hang on. They're dimmer.

Here's the Energiser headtorch being pantsed by the LedLenser H7 headtorch on
widebeam. Ah, H7. I love you so much. Dodgy camerawork on my part. I
wasn't checking between shots.

Frankentorch Mk1 comes up against the LedLenser 1xAA clone on narrow spot.

Frankentorch Mk1 shows the LedLenser 1xAA clone how to throw a real wide
beam.

Here Frankentorch Mk1 loses out to the superior light output of the Ultrafire
SSC-P7. But I knew that was going to happen. Frankentorch Mk2 will even
the score.

Here we have a very respectable showing of old technology. Not much competes
with a 12volt 55 watt Halogen in this torch collection. On the right hand side
is the 6D maglite.

The Halogen Homemade bike light does pretty well. I'd still ride around with
it if I had to. It knocks the 6D maglite into a cocked hat. I am using that
expression because it sounds good. Not because I actually understand what it
actually means. What the hell is a cocked hat and how do you knock something
into it?

The Jaycar CR123a has a nicer spot than Frankentorch Mk1. They both use the
same battery. The original Frankentorch LED was slightly better than the Jaycar
CR123a and 2/3 cheaper. So buy the original unmodified Frankentorch which is one
of these[/URL]

When it comes down to the Jaycar torches, the
CR123a[/URL] gives
the

X-Glow 1AA a flogging. I still quite like both of them though. If you're too
chicken to buy over the Internet, they're your choices and you won't be
embarrassed pulling either out of your pocket. Unless of course you bought them
to a gunfight.

Here we see the LedLenser H7 headlight whip the Maglite 6D. When the
zombies come, you'd still want the maglite though. Unless you've also got a
firearm. Then it's all H7 again for handling convenience, until the ammo runs
out.

The Ledlenser H7 doesn't quite go as narrow as the Deal Extreme Cree clone.
You can start to see the LED being projected like the little single AA LedLenser
clone. The pigeons by now were making nasty hand gestures. Well they would have,
if they'd had hands.

The LedLenser H7 goes a little bit wider than the Deal Extreme Cree LED
clone. For the difference in price though... I know what I'd buy again.

Above is the LedLenser H7 on narrow focus going head to head with the single
AA LedLenser clone on narrow focus. The little clone is brighter in this case.

The Ledlenser H7 on wide beam however, shows the LedLenser single AA clone
how it's done. Wider and fractionally brighter.

The LedLenser P14 on spot focus shows up the little Ledlenser 1xAA clone.
Well, no surprises there. It's not a bigger torch with more batteries
just to stroke your ego.

The P14 on wide beam also convincingly buttstrokes the little Ledlenser 1xAA
clone on widebeam.

The LedLenser P17 goes wider than the Ultrafire SSC-P7. The Ultrafire has a
hotspot which is brighter, but that's not the point really.

Here the LedLenser P14 shows the Ultrafire SSC-P7 how to get it's arse kicked
in a hotspot competition. It's a little uneven though, considering the Ultrafire
has no focus.

The 2xAA maglite with the NiteIze conversion is seriously embarrassed by the
diminutive Trustfire 1x AAA. The converted maglite went home and cried. Then it
went emo.

The Trusty Terralux blasts the pigeon's night vision into shards as the
Ultrafire SSC-P7 spills over everywhere.

At both ends of the size spectrum, here's the tiny AAA Trustfire beating the
6D maglite for spill and losing on brightness. If you had to hold one in your
mouth to free both hands to do something, your choice between the two may not
require much thought. (Unless you're Linda Lovelace.)

 

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The Deal Extreme 5
x P4 Cree LED insert[/URL] is being driven by a single
14500 Lithium Ion[/URL]
3.6 volt battery here. This battery is about 3mm longer than a normal AA. In
terms of pissing off the roosting pigeons you can just make out in the space on top of the wall, this is the light for the job. Several pigeons put on welding masks and went back to sleep. I haven't bothered to put it up against any other torches here. I know that it will kick arse. We saw that on the last test.

If you put the insert onto strobe mode and wave it about for 2.5 seconds, it
looks like this. The pigeons must have been experienced at attending raves. None of them had seizures.
That's the end of the beamshots for this round. Essentially, if you're after
a versatile single AA torch, you pretty much can't beat the Deal Extreme Led
Lenser clone. I've just bought a few more of them to give away as presents. For an AAA torch, the Trustfire gets my vote. All around practical torch is
still the Terralux conversion if you have a maglite already. The P14 is pretty
compelling for the size and focus ability. Compact and grunty, the pre
conversion Frankentorch has it, as it's just better than the Jaycar CR123a at a third of the price. When Frankentorch Mk2 is finished, it will be my every day carry, but it won't be lent to anyone because it becomes something that requires some awareness to use.
Here's a shot to give you an idea of the reflector sizes.

Here's a bit of a closer shot to show you what to avoid. The second and third torches from the left in the front row are the absolute single LED dogs.

The start of the detail shots. The Energiser AAA is for scale, by the way. It
doesn't power many of these torches.

The once all conquering SSC P7. Although I don't know from what bin it is, I
expect it won't be up near the top. (LED's are sorted into grades, like
diamonds)

The vomity ebay AAA torch.

It's miniscule LED is below. If you see something like this, shovel some dirt over it and place a sign on the pile that says "Beware of the Leopard
poop"

Below is the old tech MultiLED ebay special. Not bad when you've only got
Maglites to compare it to.

Frankentorch Mk1. With the conversion, it's better than the original which
was pretty good anyway. When it gets to Mk2 with the P7 insert, it won't be so
practical and will go flat pretty quickly. It will be bright until it does though.

This is how you get more grunt out of an LED emitter. Cheat and put four of
them together.

Below is the original Minimag work torch I had over twenty years ago. Then it
was good. Comparatively now, it's abysmal. It sucks LESS with the LED conversion but the newer double AA magLED makes it look pretty bad. And the MagLED itself is no real paragon of illumination. It shows you just how much better things have gotten since I was 20 and these torches were considered a status symbol to illegally use on the flightline for aircraft examinations.
Whoops. Did I say that?
Best I not put this on the Internet. After all, nobody else did that kind
of thing all that time ago.

The insert below is actually turned on in this shot. (Nah. I'm kidding.) I don't know if it's on or not.

Here you can see the solder pad connections and divisions on the Led Lenser
H7 LED emitter. You can see this shape also projected on the wall with the
little Ledlenser clone torch.

Even when I bought this MiniMagLED new for 85 dollars when they first came
out, I was a little underwhelmed.

It's been around the block a few times and performed admirably in one
bushfire. The 6D maglite.

So much torch for so little relative cost. The Trustfire can now go off to
live in Marilynn's handbag. (It was bought as a present.)

The single AA ultrafire. It can also handle a lithium cell which increases
it's output a bit. But that's cheating against the single AA's. The LED is
similar to others already shown.

I hope you found that somewhat educational and didn't blow your download
limit too much. If you're on dial up, I hope your roast cooked nicely while you
were waiting.
Maybe when the prices go down on the SST-90 powered torches, I will be able to show what a portable 2200 lumen searchlight looks like in comparison.

 

[lolipopo]

cool,pics,and the width is really useful

 

[ctky]

good job,very nice

 

[admacdo]

Thanks. I have an X21 owner interested in throwing his into the mix.
Any Canberran Torch owners feel like congregating under the overpass for a beamshot comparison and capture session?

 

[Stress_Test]

===========================
"The 2xAA MagLED versus the 1xAAA Trustfire. The single smaller battery
Trustfire convincingly bitchslaps the old MagLED that has twice it's voltage.

=====================


Also, excellent usage of the term "bitchslap"

 

[HarryN]

Wow - nice beam collection. I am very impressed not only by the shots, but the ability to keep it all organized.

I can see this thread will be one of my more commonly read ones.

Thanks for all of that effort.

Harry

 

[admacdo]

Organisation was handled by my good friend Chris. She had my second camera taking photos of what was in my hands at the time and then triggered the main camera remote. I also had the digital recorder and recorded which torches I was holding just in case. Dual photos sorted it incredibly easily though.

 

[rlorion]

Great job:twothumbs Thanks for Posting.

 

[HarryN]

Organisation was handled by my good friend Chris. She had my second camera taking photos of what was in my hands at the time and then triggered the main camera remote. I also had the digital recorder and recorded which torches I was holding just in case. Dual photos sorted it incredibly easily though.

LOL - I knew a woman had to be involved to make it that organized. :laughing:

 

[Nos]

 

[admacdo]

I also guess that I should mention, being that I'm in the presence of educated flashaholics, that the testing and write up was done to show examples to a non flashaholic audience. So please excuse me if it seems a bit patronising.

 

[BigBluefish]

:twothumbs

That's what we like to see - beamshots outdoors, where you use the lights!

Nice job.