NiteCore D10 Golden Dragon Plus Review

[Badbeams3]

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:

Good thought! Are these limited run/highly prized smooth wide spot beam kick butt lights marked in anyway? I want the poor Q5 guy`s to know not to mess with me :laughing:

 

[BabyDoc]

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.

According to your description in your review, the corona around the hot spot is "cream colored". I see the corona as light yellow, and the hot spot as more cream colored with a very definite change in color from the hot spot to the corona. They don't seem to be shades of the same color at all. ( We could be seeing the same thing and just using different terms here. I don't know.) In any case, I think beamshots do a dis-service to this light. In real life, the GDPLUS"s beam and its tint looks far better than the beamshots. Athough I think this is a major improvement in the Nitecore beam, I prefer the smoothness and more uniform tint of the LF5XT beam with its R2 emitter.

As hard as I try to see it, I don't see a blue halo around the yellow corona with my light. Perhaps the blue halo you are seeing is just the beginning of the cooloer white spill area, which to me, seems cooler because it contrasts so much in color with the yellow corona. Maybe that's why you see a little blue there?

 

[UnknownVT]

As hard as I try to see it, I don't see a blue halo around the yellow corona with my light. Perhaps the blue halo you are seeing is just the beginning of the cooloer white spill area, which to me, seems cooler because it contrasts so much in color with the yellow corona. Maybe that's why you see a little blue there?

It is much harder to see with the NDI -
I first noticed it on the D10 (different reflector - therefore different characteristics) - and then looking harder saw it on the NDI too.

Hold the light on Max about 1 ft away from a plain white surface where one should be able to see the whole of beam including all of the side-spill - now look carefully at the transition/boundary from that creamy/yellow "donut"/corona out to the side-spill see the violet/purplish very faint halo?
(use the -2 stops underexposed shot of the D10 vs. NDI as a guide to where it is)

Like I said it is much easier to see on the D10, and hardly even there on the NDI - so in all practicality it is "not there"
- but it really still is, if you deliberately look for it.....

EDIT to ADD -
another consideration when looking at beamshots is the monitor - most people are probably now using LCD monitors - which tends to make things look cooler and much more blue when compare to real-life.

Why? think about the backlight used on LCD monitors they are mostly CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescents).

This is what the DIYwiki on Fluorescent lighting says:

" CCFL cold cathode fluorescents are very thin tubes that backlight LCD monitor & TV displays. CCFLs are also used in scanners. "

Under - Can I re-use my scanner/monitor CCFL?
" CCFLs for these apps typically use a very high colour temperature tube, which gives a very cold looking light "

So LCD monitors tend to make things look much bluer, than they actually are.......

 

[BabyDoc]

It is much harder to see with the NDI -
I first noticed it on the D10 (different reflector - therefore different characteristics) - and then looking harder saw it on the NDI too.

Hold the light on Max about 1 ft away from a plain white surface where one should be able to see the whole of beam including all of the side-spill - now look carefully at the transition/boundary from that creamy/yellow "donut"/corona out to the side-spill see the violet/purplish very faint halo?
(use the -2 stops underexposed shot of the D10 vs. NDI as a guide to where it is)

Like I said it is much easier to see on the D10, and hardly even there on the NDI - so in all practicality it is "not there"
- but it really still is, if you deliberately look for it.....

EDIT to ADD -
another consideration when looking at beamshots is the monitor - most people are probably now using LCD monitors - which tends to make things look cooler and much more blue when compare to real-life.

Why? think about the backlight used on LCD monitors they are mostly CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescents).

This is what the DIYwiki on Fluorescent lighting says:

" CCFL cold cathode fluorescents are very thin tubes that backlight LCD monitor & TV displays. CCFLs are also used in scanners. "

Under - Can I re-use my scanner/monitor CCFL?
" CCFLs for these apps typically use a very high colour temperature tube, which gives a very cold looking light "

So LCD monitors tend to make things look much bluer, than they actually are.......

I had thought the NDI and D10/EX10 shared a common reflector. I guess I was wrong, only owning a NDI. I will check my NDI again when I get home for the blue halo, although it is purely academic.


Vincent, I suppose you can compare your actual beamshot photographs to what they look like on your LCD monitor, can't you? Do you a see a major difference in how blue the tint is? In other words, do your actual photos compare better to what you see than the monitor scan of the photos?

Given the limitations of beamshots and how we see them on our monitors, could you give your subjective impressions of the new D10 versus the old regarding the beam.

If you were buying a new D10 today, would you order the GDPLUS version or would you still go for the old D10? If you like the GDPLUS more, is the improvement so great that someone with the Q5 D10 might want to consider "upgrading", or is the improvement so little, you would never really appreciate the difference unless you were to do side-by side comparisons.

 

[UnknownVT]

I suppose you can compare your actual beamshot photographs to what they look like on your LCD monitor, can't you? Do you a see a major difference in how blue the tint is? In other words, do your actual photos compare better to what you see than the monitor scan of the photos?

I have an old fashioned CRT monitor which is still cooler than real-life - but no where near as blue as a LCD monitor.

A side-by-side comparison between the light reflecting off a sheet of typical white paper and next to the CRT monitor - the beamshots look more blue than real-life (which is always what I maintained) - the real-life color/tint is more pink/purple in the side-spill and the creamy/yellow corona and the blue halo on the D10 is more obvious.

However if I now shine the Rebel 100 on that paper I can then see the GDP (D10 or NDI) are a lot bluer than the the RB100 - that's the whole point of doing side-by-side beamshots they emphasize the difference.

If you were buying a new D10 today, would you order the GDPLUS version or would you still go for the old D10? If you like the GDPLUS more, is the improvement so great that someone with the Q5 D10 might want to consider "upgrading", or is the improvement so little, you would never really appreciate the difference unless you were to do side-by side comparisons.

I think I'd be happy with either one.
I would not "upgrade" from either to get the other -
but if you gave me a choice of just one I think I'd still prefer the Cree Q5 version - which I still think is far from perfect -
I would have liked a RB100 version......

FWIW - Just a very subjective comment about the "blueness" - it is kind of like the way I see HID headlights on cars - in isolation I can see the light is much whiter. But when most of the headlights on the road are halogen "white" (which is really yellow) then the HID headlights when seen peripherally seem blue - until I look more directly.

This was the case with a GDP D10 last night when I went to pick up these lights - 4sevens was shining the GDP D10 from quite a way away... and I caught a sideways glance/flash of the light - and there was quite a bit of blue - until I realized it was a D10 (closer up) - but that blue impression didn't go away - especially when he used the light to illuminate my way back to the car - again it was not the main beam lit area - but almost a side-glance peripheral flash look that made the light seem blue.

This doesn't affect the practicality/functionality of the light - but my current preference would be RB100, Q5 then GDP
- but as always YMMV, and personal tastes do differ.

 

[thefish]

I just got my D10 GD+ and so far I really like it, running a Kodak Pre-charged NiMH this thing just blows away my Ultrafire WF-602A and is almost as bright as my VB-16 (Q5) single 18650 on high. One thing that bugs me though is the loud (easily noticeable) high pitch wine it makes. It only is noticeable on highest (click hold) even slightly below this level it is almost impossible to hear. Is anyone else getting this?

 

[UnknownVT]

Outdoors foliage shots -

Daylight Control shot -

These shots really only expose for the hotspot - which is what we tend to use outdoors - the Golden Dragon Plus do have the advantage of larger hotspots - but as for seeing colors - I think these all do as well as each other - since the side-spills are not involved - any blue tint is not revealed here.

 

[Mostlarge]

Mine is being over driven by AW 14500's. It shuts off after 3-5 seconds on high. works fine on reg AA but is noticeably dimmer.

The fit and finish on the D 10 is very good.

Great work on the review and the others you've done. Top Notch!

 

[UnknownVT]

Thanks for the compliment.

Mine is being over driven by AW 14500's. It shuts off after 3-5 seconds on high.

That sounds wrong - the light should not do that - my samples of the D10 both this Golden Dragon Plus and the original Cree-Q5 both have run several tens of minutes on Max on Li-Ion 14500 without any unexpected shut off.

There is also another possibility - this has happened with an AW Li-Ion RCR123 - in any light on high the battery's safety circuit would cut off - causing an unexpected shut off. If you have another Li-Ion 14500 try that and see if the same thing happens - if it doesn't then it's just the battery - but if it does then it's most likely the light.

I suggest getting the light exchanged if it's the light - if you got the light from 4sevens.com - they have customer service that is second to none.

 

[subq]

just fired up my GDP D10 and it is definitely on the cool side (blue)

overall, I really like it though

 

[kts]

People keep saying it has a better beam, it doesnt look that way to me...

Compared to the Q5, the cree has a MUCH better beam, I cant even see the infamous "cree-rings", but I can see a blue donut surrounding the hotspot of the GD.:thumbsdow

And the blue tint :shakehead

Especially this pic looks like a VERY ringy beam on the EX10...maybe its just the pic?

 

[jzmtl]

Outdoors foliage shots -

These shots really only expose for the hotspot - which is what we tend to use outdoors - the Golden Dragon Plus do have the advantage of larger hotspots - but as for seeing colors - I think these all do as well as each other - since the side-spills are not involved - any blue tint is not revealed here.

I honestly don't see any difference between GDP and rebel, which supposely have 10 less points in CRI.

 

[HKJ]

I honestly don't see any difference between GDP and rebel, which supposely have 10 less points in CRI.

The picture only has white and green, we can not see how they compare for other colors.

 

[UnknownVT]

Ad-Hoc Color Rendition Test -
using Macbeth Color Rendition chart -

Daylight Control shot -

The lighting from all the flashlights are uneven so the outer color patches are not well lit even though it was mainly the hotspot that illuminated the chart - so strictly speaking one should really look at the center patches - although the white borders also tell a story.

These are NOT meant to be quantitative - so any measurements are probably misleading simply because of the uneven lighting.

One should really just look at the pictures and decide which looks the "best" compared to the daylight control shot (in daylight/sunlight at about 12:30pm today). I know which I'd choose - but YMMV.

 

[Mostlarge]

Thanks for the compliment.



That sounds wrong - the light should not do that - my samples of the D10 both this Golden Dragon Plus and the original Cree-Q5 both have run several tens of minutes on Max on Li-Ion 14500 without any unexpected shut off.

There is also another possibility - this has happened with an AW Li-Ion RCR123 - in any light on high the battery's safety circuit would cut off - causing an unexpected shut off. If you have another Li-Ion 14500 try that and see if the same thing happens - if it doesn't then it's just the battery - but if it does then it's most likely the light.

I suggest getting the light exchanged if it's the light - if you got the light from 4sevens.com - they have customer service that is second to none.

I received 2 new AW's along with the light from 4sevens.
Both of the new batteries are shutting off the light. All batteries tested at 4.12v.
I have yet to hear back from 4sevens and his voice mailbox is full and not accepting messages.

 

[4sevens]

mostlarge - Friday we experienced a network outage which also took out our
phone system. I apologise for that. They will be fixing it this weekend.
Monday we're closed due to labor day here in the US. If you emailed us at
[email protected], we will be sure to get back to you and get this figured out

 

[Oink]

Ad-Hoc Color Rendition Test -
using Macbeth Color Rendition chart...

Thanks Vincent, good thorough work! ...but for the purists outthere, there are now photography equipment and monitor calibration issues!

Personally I believe our eyes/brain make a great deal of colour shift compensation/adjustment anyway. With bare eyes I doubt anyone can tell the CRI of a light. It used to give me a major headache trying, but I am more relaxed.

Cheers,

 

[Mostlarge]

Thanks 4Seven...No Worries....Call me on Tuesday..........
4:11 AM...talk about burning the midnight oil..

 

[applevision]

Ad-Hoc Color Rendition Test -
I know which I'd choose - but YMMV.

Vincent! Which one WOULD you choose? It's important because you also had the benefit of seeing them in real life, without photography/monitor issues and with some element of the fourth dimension allowing you to shine it over all the colors...

Pretty please!


p.s. 1,000 thanks again for amazing reviews and photos and wonderful insight into these (and so many other) lights!

 

[UnknownVT]

Which one WOULD you choose?
Pretty please!

Thanks for the kind words -
as stated previously RB100 is currently my favorite beam/tint -
so it would be a D10 with a Rebel 100 in it .....