NiteCore D10 Golden Dragon Plus Review

[UnknownVT]

Hot off the press from 4sevens (http://www.4sevens.com) is this NiteCore D10 Smart PD Golden Dragon Plus

Size -

obviously externally the Golden Dragon Plus versions are going to look the same as the Cree-Q5.

Heads -

the Golden Dragon Plus emitters are small compared to the Cree-Q5.

How does it perform?

Using NiMH on Max -

vs. NiteCore Defender Infinity - Golden Dragon Plus

the cool/leaning to blue tint is still there. Notice the hotspot is more neutral with a cream/yellow colored "donut"/corona and a very slight hint of a blue halo - this seems to be the opposite to the beam characteristics of the Nichia 5mm GS (like in the Fenix E01 - creamy side-spill with blue center)

vs. NiteCore D10 (Cree-Q5)

this emphasizes the blueness in the side-spill of the GD+ compared to the already cool'ish Cree-Q5 - the slight blue halo may be easier to see in the -2 stops underexposed shot.

vs. NiteCore EX10 Golden Dragon Plus (primary CR123)

I also picked up an EX10 Golden Dragon Plus - similar in tint.

More to come......

Index to follow up parts -

More comparisons using NiMH - Post #6

Outdoors foliage comparison - Post #27

Macbeth color rendition shots - Post #34

Stairway beamshot - Post #54

 

[Thujone]

Thanks for getting shots up so quickly!

 

[jzmtl]

Thanks, that was fast! The tint is still cooler than expected.

 

[Splunk_Au]

do u notice the difference in beam profile as shown by this thread?
http://light-reviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=152

 

[LED-holic]

Very cool, the Q5 spill is a lot brighter, but the GDP+ has a nice transition from hotspot to the spill...

Both are very nice in their own ways.

Thanks for the review!

 

[UnknownVT]

More comparisons using NiMH -

vs. Fenix L1D-Q5

both are cool tints with the L1D-Q5 being a bit purple?

vs. Fenix L1D-RB100 (L2D-RB100 head on L1D body)

both beams are smoother than the Cree Q5 - but it is pretty obvious the Rebel has a much nicer tint - this comparison emphasizes the cool leaning toward blue tint of the Golden Dragon Plus.

 

[LED-holic]

Man you guys stay up late!!

That L1D Q5 looks like it is blueish... My L1D Q5 is yellowish, with the new reverse polarity protection design.

The GDP+ looks very intriguing...

Thanks again.

 

[nathan310]

Thanks for that.

I couldn't tell from the pics...

Is the d10 gd brighter than the current d10?

What do you think are the most significant differences between the gd and the current d10?

 

[LED-holic]

From what I've read and seen so far, it's about as bright as the current Q5 D10, but the beam is smoother. The spill seems a bit brighter on the Q5 though.

Will look forward to more outdoor beamshots, longer range shots, to see the minute differences.

 

[nathan310]

Thanks...

 

[276]

i forget what separates these versions vs the older ones

 

[LowBat]

From the picture it looks like the reflector in the GD version has a smaller aperture to match the smaller emitter. Is this the case?

 

[TONY M]

Thanks for excellent pics Vincent!

The beam is nicer than the crees but the Blue tint is not so appealing. Perhaps it is warmer in real life than what the camera pics up as was mentioned before with the NDI GD (I think).

I think I prefer the GD beam shape to the rebels too.

 

[BabyDoc]

There must be emitter variation in these lights. My GDPLUS NDI* has no blue tint at all. In fact if anything there is a yellow tint. Around the creamy whitespot, there is a fairly wide light yellow band that blends seamlessly with the hotspot on the inside and the spill area on the outside. This band is most noticable on turbo with 14500 cells, but it is still there even on lower settings. If you are 8 feet or more away from the wall, it is also less noticable.

(If there is any blue, it is in the spill area which isn't as bright as with the Q5 and therefore more difficult to see differences)

*I know this thread is about the D10 GDPLUS, yet I would expect the output to be similar to the NDI GDPLUS. It could be that the NDI's used a different BIN since they were made first. I have ordered a D10 GDPLUS and a EX10 GDPLUS but haven't yet gotten a shipping notice. When I receive the lights, I will have 3 samples to compare and report my findings here.

 

[TONY M]

There must be emitter variation in these lights. My GDPLUS NDI has no blue tint at all. In fact if anything there is a yellow tint.

Must be the Gold Dragon tint lottery then.

Its a pity the beamshots are so blue as the beam quality is great IMHO.

 

[selfbuilt]

Hi Vincent,

:thanks: for the rapid release of photos!

Just curious - have you ever examined any lights with the Edison Opto KLC8 emitter? Their cool white LEDs never really caught on, since they tended to have a very pronounced overall blue tint with a strong yellow corona around the hotspot. Just wondering how they compare to the GDP+.

In any case, I've got an old UF WF601A that I modded with a KLC8 when they first came out, so I will try to do comparison pics when my NiteCore GDP+ lights get here.

FYI, my samples are en route to me - but they are currently in customs at the other end of the country, so I'm not likely to get them until tues-weds next week, due to the holiday weekend coming up. But I'll try to post some beamshots right away, before I start all the runtime testing.

 

[UnknownVT]

Edison Opto KLC8 emitter <snip>
have a very pronounced overall blue tint with a strong yellow corona around the hotspot.
In any case, I've got an old UF WF601A that I modded with a KLC8 when they first came out, so I will try to do comparison pics when my NiteCore GDP+ lights get here.
I'll try to post some beamshots right away, before I start all the runtime testing.

Very cool - really looking forward to your very comprehensive review of these lights
especially the comparison with the Edison Opto KLC8 :thumbsup:

 

[UnknownVT]

There must be emitter variation in these lights. My GDPLUS NDI* has no blue tint at all. In fact if anything there is a yellow tint. Around the creamy whitespot, there is a fairly wide light yellow band that blends seamlessly with the hotspot on the inside and the spill area on the outside. This band is most noticable on turbo with 14500 cells, but it is still there even on lower settings. If you are 8 feet or more away from the wall, it is also less noticable.
(If there is any blue, it is in the spill area which isn't as bright as with the Q5 and therefore more difficult to see differences)

Thank you for your input -
I did read and took note of your comments in post #71 of
NiteCore Defender Infinity - Golden Dragon Plus Review

Although your emitter could well be different and I can't see it - I feel your observations may not be quite as inconsistent with the beamshots of the production GDP versions of the NDI, D10 and EX10.

I made note of the neutral white hotspot with the creamy/yellow "donut" corona (and the slight blue halo) - this is predominently what one would see shining the light on a wall from about 8 feet away - one would not really notice the side-spill - as you said yourself -
" (If there is any blue, it is in the spill area which isn't as bright as with the Q5 and therefore more difficult to see differences) "

Most of the blue was exactly in the side-spill area - and don't forget I now have 4 GDP NiteCores in hand - 3 full production lights that show quite remarkable consistency in both output and tint.

The pre-production GDP NDI was just that a pre-production -
it had the horrendously blue side-spill in the photos (but not quite as bad as in real-life) - I consider that an anomoly - and since it was a pre-production - it was never intended/destined to be marketed -
I showed it because it was of interest and because the shift to blue caught me by surprise -
the full production units did/do NOT have that problem, although the side-spill is still cool/leaning toward blue as the beamshots show, especially when compared to a better tint like the LumiLEDs Rebel 100.

I hope that helps.

 

[Badbeams3]

The brightness between the EX10 and the D10 are pretty much the same.

Why is the 123 batt EX not killing the lowly AA D10?

Is the total lumen output the same as believed between the GDP and the Q5?

In the outside world does the GDP wide hot spot perform better?

Mine should be here soon...guess like any light I`m waiting on I scan desperatly for info :candle:

 

[Raytech]

What would have been cool for the Golden Dragon versions of the Nitecore lights would be to have a gold band or gold lettering. Pure Bling!:laughing:
Example below (original photo from 4sevens)