Olight M21 first impression

[Painful Chafe]

Are you sure?

It looks like you just have to unscrew the bezel, just like the M20... only thing is, that Olight don't sell a smooth reflector for it :nana:

The bezel does come apart. The threads are glued, but mine came apart with just a little elbow grease. The reflector will come out.
I wonder what a smooth reflector would look like with a SST-50. I wouldn't mind a little more throw on these lights as long as the beam doesn't suffer too much.

BTW. This light is growing on me. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it, but the more I use it the more I like it.

 

[berry580]

not sure about M21, but with M20 Ti, a SMO reflector doesn't improve throw by much compared to an OP.

IMO, SST-50s produces great beam profiles. Bright spill, and a relatively large hotspot. I believe it'll be most useful at intermediate range (<50m), it should prove to have adequate throw for many people.

 

[Burgess]

to Tom_123 --


Excellent Review !


:goodjob::kewlpics::thanks:
_

 

[recDNA]

Seem like head to head the MC-E beats the SST-50 in many cases. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

 

[MattK]

Great job Tom! :twothumbs

For your homemade sphere what did you use for the sphere itself? Looks like a big styrofoam sphere - wondering where that came from?

 

[toby_pra]

Nice review...:twothumbs

 

[Painful Chafe]

Seem like head to head the MC-E beats the SST-50 in many cases. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Effficiency seems to be the biggest benfit of the SSt-50. Vertually the same output as the Wolf Eyes MC-E but the M21 has about 30-35 minutes of run time versus the Wolf Eyes. And, the M21 just only gets warm with extended run time. Most MC-E's I have seen get very warm to hot after 10 minutes or so.

 

[jirik_cz]

Are you sure?

It looks like you just have to unscrew the bezel, just like the M20... only thing is, that Olight don't sell a smooth reflector for it :nana:

The bezel on M21 is glued and it should stay that way

 

[Tom_123]

Thanks again for all the nice comments.

I have just added the CR123 and 16340 runtime chart and a remark
about the chart of the Wolf Eyes Sniper.

Any possible with SMO reflector beam shots ?

AFAIK, there's no SMO reflector available (yet?).
Another problem is, that the head of the M21 is glued.

Seem like head to head the MC-E beats the SST-50 in many cases. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

I recon, it depends on how hard the emitter is driven.
The M21 just draws 1A - 1.3A, that's not very much.
On the other hand I think with such a compact light, you would run in a lot
of heat and runtime problems if you would try to go much further in regard to output.

For your homemade sphere what did you use for the sphere itself? Looks like a big styrofoam sphere - wondering where that came from?

Yep, it's a 400 mm styrofoam sphere. I bought it in on of these shops for decoration supplies.
I wraped the outside in tin foil to prevent light pollution and coated the inside
with common wall paint.
Nothing very scientific, but it works sufficient for comparing flashlight.

regards
Thomas

 

[Frank_Zuccarini]

Lux Reading

Hi.

In post #11, a lux reading of aproximately 8k is referenced, but I don't see that anyone actually measured this level.

Has anyone measured the 1 meter lux produced by the M21, and is this more or less than that produced by the M21 (which I measure at 9.1k @ 1.0 meter)?

Thanks............Frank

 

[Hitthespot]

Good Job. Thanks for the information.

Maybe I missed it but it looks like the head of the M21 is slightly larger than the M20.

Bill

 

[Painful Chafe]

Good Job. Thanks for the information.

Maybe I missed it but it looks like the head of the M21 is slightly larger than the M20.

Bill

It is larger. It's to help give the larger SST-50 a little better throw.

 

[gsxrac]

I was at a gun show today and had a chance to try this light out. It was alright. The head wasnt quite as easy to twist and change modes but I highly doubt the one there had been lubed and maintained. Overall I liked it but would really appreciate a switch like the M30 has.

 

[tab665]

I was at a gun show today and had a chance to try this light out. It was alright. The head wasnt quite as easy to twist and change modes but I highly doubt the one there had been lubed and maintained. Overall I liked it but would really appreciate a switch like the M30 has.

they should consider a M31 with a sst-50, becaue i too am a fan of the m30's mode changing.

 

[jirik_cz]

they should consider a M31 with a sst-50, becaue i too am a fan of the m30's mode changing.

I don't think that M30 would be better with SST-50.

 

[MattK]

An M30 UI on an M21 type build is something we've discussed at length with the factory - it's not iminent but it's not an impossibility either.

 

[pamparius]

how is it compared to Olight M20 Titanium ? is it a good thrower?? or just the same flooder like the M20 Ti ??

 

[tcmault]

I was just given an M21 as a Christmas present and have to say that I am thoroughly in love with this light. The flood vs. throw of the M21 over the m20 fits my preference perfectly.

Knowing that I would use this light a little too much in the beginning by just playing around I ordered up a 50 pack of Titanium 123s and a couple of battery magazines.

Since I am relatively new to lights of this fashion and obviously need to spend a lot of time on this forum reading everything, I do have one question as I did not see this stuff on the website. Are replacement parts available? Lens, Power Switch, the little shiny bezel....?

Also, will there be any type of accessories for the M21 like colored lens adapters, reflectors....etc?

If this has already been discussed I apologize and will hopefully find those threads shortly.

 

[Light11]

Great review :twothumbs

 

[DM51]

Nicely done, and very informative - this tells people what they want to know. Thank you! Moving it to the Reviews section.