Nautilus vs. NovaTac - photos & beamshots

[precisionworks]

There's lots of information on CPF about each light, but I couldn't find a side by side comparison - so here's a start.

Both lights share many similarities. Each retails for around $175, each uses a single CR123 battery, each has more than one output level.

To keep the beamshots as fair as possible, a number of fresh Surefire CR123s were measured with my Fluke 87V meter. The two batteries selected each read 3.248v (the lowest voltage in the lot was 3.246, highest was 3.250). All photos were shot at a distance of 10', with the lights supported on a tripod stand.


Side by side

Front view, 120L left, Nautilus right

Back view

Looking down, 120P on left, Nautilus on right

View into head, 120P left, Nautilus right

120P @ 10 L setting

Nautilus @ low setting

120P @ 120 L

Nautilus @ high setting

The beams are similar but different. The 120P has a hotspot that softly fades into the spillbeam. The Nautilus hotspot is more defined, with a less gradual transition to spillbeam. Both have beams that I'd characterize as extremely useful.

Haven't had a chance to do night shots yet. I'm expecting that the Nautilus may have better throw, while the 120P will have more flood.

 

[Derek Dean]

Howdy Barry, man, the Nautilus is a sweet looking little torch. Thanks for posting the nice side-by-side photos, beam shots, and your initial impressions of these 2 fine lights. I must admit I'm amazed at how much smaller the Nautilus is compared to the NovaTac. Seems to me that would work in it's favor for being an excellent pocket light.

I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts after you've had the Nautilus for a while, and seeing some more beam shots.

 

[FloggedSynapse]

They're both beautiful lights. I think the 'finger' light form factor is going to prove one of the more enduring types among the new LED lights.

I've decided the latest generation of LEDs are bright enough -I'm more interested in long run times, because for the things I do I don't need that much light. I'm thinking of getting the NovaTac 80P in the next couple of months or so. I'm happy to hear it's more of a flood light, which is what I'm looking for.

I've got a cr2 ion - what Muyshondt was offering before the Nautilus. I got the light a little over a year and it's still my primary EDC. The ion has a perfect flood output, just a bit of a hotpot but it's overall a very smooth wash of light. Sounds like the Nautilus is tuned for more throw. On low the ion is about 2-5 lumens of light, but it's perfect for up close work. I find when using a light to navigate a dark trail that much more than about 10 lumens of light is too much more me. The 35 hour regulated low run time on the ion is perfect, though it does have a 50+ lumen high which lasts for over an hour if needed.

(in this image the ion is about 20" above the books - no annoying hotspot when used as a reading light)

 

[precisionworks]

Two more comparisons, side by side, 18', against identical mini-blinds.

Nautilus .........................................................NovaTac

Nautilus...............................................................NovaTac

Nautilus...............(enhanced shadow detail)........................NovaTac

The second & third photos were both shot on max setting for the lights, but the third photo is shadow enhanced to eliminate most of the glare from the second photo. IMO, it better shows how the beams disperse.

The photos show that the emitter in the Nautilus has a warmer color temp than the NovaTac. Since it's the only one I've ever used, I can't say that this is to be expected. Both beams are near white enough that you would not describe either one as colored.

I'm amazed at how much smaller the Nautilus is compared to the NovaTac

It is tiny, but the straight cylinder shape, plus the checkering, make it easy to twist the head for low or high settings. Some Nautilus owners had mentioned that the switching action was too stiff (they'd trimmed down the internal foam spacer), but mine has the right mix or friction & easy movement.

latest generation of LEDs are bright enough -I'm more interested in long run times

That seems to be the trend among many manufacturers. One Nautilus owner asked Enrique Muyshondt to make a limited run of maximum output models, but he refused because of both short battery life & a light that would be too hot to hold. I'll run both lights at max setting & record the head temps with an infrared thermometer - and my guess is that neither gets too hot to use.

 

[Draven451]

Wow - Great review - looks like a good partner for your two 120P's!

 

[regulator]

That Nautilus is a very cool compact light. I really like the Novatac too for its amazing UI and nice build quality but its size is the only thing preventing me from getting one (at least at this point).

If I remember correctly, the Nautilus was capable of running on high for something like 2.5 hours regulated? That is pretty impressive too. Thanks for the size comparison photo - that really helps put things into perspective on how small the Nautilus is.

 

[precisionworks]

The following shots are from 50' against a tan painted wall, high setting. The low setting shots looked like a black cow on a dark night

NovaTac

Nautilus

The first photo appears to have chromatic bands around the hotspot, which is probably caused during the photo compression process. These are not visible to the eye.

To me, both beamshots are surprisingly close in dispersion. Again the NovaTac is a cooler color, the Nautilus warmer, although the Nautilus does not have the green cast that the photo shows (at least to my eyes). I'd expected a wider beam from the NovaTac, narrower from the Nautilus, but the photos do not show much difference.

 

[Russianesq]

:twothumbs
thanks for all the hard work

 

[Russki]

Think about runtime: Nautilus more then 2 hours via Novatac 30 min.
Brightness identical to my eyes. Nautilus is THE WINER.
:thumbsup:
Does anybody knows on what curent Novatac driven on high?

 

[precisionworks]

Nautilus more then 2 hours via Novatac 30 min.

Those runtimes are driven primarily by newer technology. When Seoul brought out the SSC P4 (late 2006 IIRC) it was one of the most efficient emitters on the market. When Cree introduced the Q5 bin of the popular XR-E in mid 2007, it became the LED of choice. The 120P uses the SSC P4, the Nautilus uses the Q5. If a Q5 were swapped into the 120P (with the correct driver) the 120P would be expected to have equally long run times.

Nautilus is THE WINER.

In some areas like smaller diameter & smaller length, it surely is. But it cannot compare to the 120P regarding user customization.

The Nautilus has two preprogrammed settings whose order of selection cannot be changed. The 120P has 22 programmable settings that can be user configured to activate in any desired order. I'm not knocking the Nautilus, it's a beautifully made light that will always have a place in my pocket. As will the 120P

 

[Russki]

You absolutely right. This both are amazing light.
But my point is: I consider Novatac to be next in HDS line, and after that we have HDS twisty coming.
So twisty runtime with reported brightness 70-100 Lm for 1hour sims to be short comparing to last LED on market. Question: Is HDS using the best LED available?:thinking:

Those runtimes are driven primarily by newer technology. When Seoul brought out the SSC P4 (late 2006 IIRC) it was one of the most efficient emitters on the market. When Cree introduced the Q5 bin of the popular XR-E in mid 2007, it became the LED of choice. The 120P uses the SSC P4, the Nautilus uses the Q5. If a Q5 were swapped into the 120P (with the correct driver) the 120P would be expected to have equally long run times.

In some areas like smaller diameter & smaller length, it surely is. But it cannot compare to the 120P regarding user customization.

The Nautilus has two preprogrammed settings whose order of selection cannot be changed. The 120P has 22 programmable settings that can be user configured to activate in any desired order. I'm not knocking the Nautilus, it's a beautifully made light that will always have a place in my pocket. As will the 120P

 

[woodrow]

Great pics! And thanks for the hard work. Its nice to see the Nautilus next to the 120... Thanks.

 

[DM51]

Excellent comparison, precisionworks. Very useful pics.

 

[precisionworks]

Thanks for all the positive comments ... I'm glad that the information is useful.

This comparison isn't meant to be about which is better, as each one is better in certain areas. In the best CPF tradition, you'll want one of each

twisty runtime with reported brightness 70-100 Lm for 1 hour seems to be short

The best manufacturers seem to err on the conservative side regarding runtime & lumen output. Henry has been around lights for a long time, and may use this conservative rating system. If you deliver greater lumens & more runtime, customers love you. And yes, a Twisty is on my short list

 

[regulator]

And dont forget that the Nautislus is driving the emitter at a lower current drive which was decided as the best balance between runtime and brightness. Somtimes you almost have to increase power consumption by a factor of 2 just to notice a "slight" increase in brightness once you are operating an LED at the higher limts.

On an adjustable light (like the Novatac) you could simply lower brightness output by just a little bit to get a significant increase in runtime which is nice. Of course to make a good comparison between the two the Novatac would need the latest LED. I like them both and they are impressive designs.

 

[Hitthespot]

I must admit I'm amazed at how much smaller the Nautilus is compared to the NovaTac. Seems to me that would work in it's favor for being an excellent pocket light.

This is why I chose the Nautilus over the Novatac. I much prefer the smaller size. Perfect for a pocket or key chain. I have handled the Novatac a number of times but can't get past the size of it. I'm sure the extra heft goes a long way in making in a very strong light though. This gives the Novatac some greats features but I prefer the small size.

Precision, In the high setting garage door shots, it looks like the Naulilus is much brighter. Is this just an optical illusion due to the camera exposures?

Thanks

Bill

 

[precisionworks]

Those are excellent points, regulator, often overlooked in the quest for maximum output. The time-to-temp readings also correlate your statements.

The photos show my Fluke 62 IR thermometer resting at a level even with the head of the light. Distance is 1/2" (measured) from light to front of thermometer. Both lights were allowed to stabilize to room temp of 66[SIZE=-1]° F before testing started. A clock with moving second hand allowed me to key the thermometer[/SIZE] at 10 seconds before each minute mark, so the thermometer could stabilize to the reading.

NovaTac
66.0 @ 0 minutes
71.0 @ 1
75.0 @ 2
78.0 @ 3
81.0 @ 4
84.5 @ 5
87.0 @ 6
89.5 @ 7
91.5 @ 8
94.0 @ 9
96.0 @ 10
----------------------------------------------
30.0[SIZE=-1]° F rise over 10.0 minutes


Nautilus
66.0 @ 0 minutes
70.0 @ 1
73.0 @ 2
75.5 @ 3
78.5 @ 4
80.5 @ 5
82.5 @ 6
84.0 @ 7
85.5 @ 8
87.0 @ 9
88.5 @ 10
-------------------------------------------------
22.5[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]° F rise over ten minutes

In actual (hand held) use, the temps would have gone up by a lesser amount, since a bare hand conducts heat away faster than still air, according to the manufacturers. The temp readings are an accurate indication when using the lights for tail standing, ceiling bounce lighting - something that might be done in a tent, or during a power outage.

[/SIZE]

dont forget that the Nautislus is driving the emitter at a lower current

Certainly true. The XR-E Q5 has a great deal of potential. Gene Malkoff installs it in a massive brass heat sink, drives it at a modest 6v @ 750ma, and produces 235 lumens. If someone has a way to measure the NovaTac & Nautilus current draw, those would be interesting numbers.

 

[precisionworks]

In the high setting garage door shots, it looks like the Naulilus is much brighter. Is this just an optical illusion due to the camera exposures?

That's the problem with an autoexposure camera, it tries to make every shot look the same:scowl: To my eyes, the Nautilus looks almost as bright as the NovaTac. The biggest difference in the two, not clearly visible in the garage door shots, is beam dispersion. The NovaTac is seamless from center to edge, while the Nautilus has a more clearly defined hotspot, and a sharper cutoff at the edge of the spillbeam.

 

[Derek Dean]

More useful info Barry.... interesting temperature readings.

Knowing that you are using an auto-exposure camera I would suggest that you continue with the photos which show both beams in the same shot, like your first photos do, that way we can always see the relative difference between the two.

Thanks again for taking the time to compare these two excellent lights. I especially appreciate the fact that you understand and emphasize that one light doesn't have to be bad for the other light to be good! They can both be good in different ways. Great job.

 

[matrixshaman]

Note that the higher temperature readings on the Novatac may indicate it is doing a better job of heatsinking - pulling heat away from the LED and getting it out to the body then the Nautilus. It also looks from the last couple pics that the overal output from the Novatac is a bit more and sometimes just a bit more noticeable brightness takes a lot more Lumens and heat to create.