WildChild
Flashlight Enthusiast
For those interested, I made a small comparison of those bulbs. MA03 on CR123A and the two others on AW RCR123A.
Comments:
----------
MA03 (stock bulb):
- Half as bright (to my eyes).
- Longer runtime (1h instead of around 30 minutes).
- Almost perfectly round hotspot.
TL-3:
- Biggest brightest hotspot.
- Brightest.
- About the same color as the MA03.
- I think the runtime is a little under the LF bulb.
LF EO-E2R:
- Whitest.
- The hotspot has a bean shape.
- The glass bulb isn't perfectly centered.
- Filament isn't perfectly aligned in the glass envelope.
- Mounting legs of the filament are also not aligned perfectly.
- Slightly dimmer than the TL-3 bulb.
Even with the misalignments of the LF bulb, it looks like a winner to run the E2E/E2D on RCR123A. We can see the bulb has probably been made to reduce the manufacturing cost but to give an aftermarket bulb with decent quality that will lower the usage cost with the use of rechargeable batteries.
About the TL-3 bulb with the Fivemega's socket, I can say that the socket has an amazing build quality (See this: http://picasaweb.google.ca/picasawildchild/FivemegaTL3StrionBulbSocketForSureFireE2EE2D). I think I prefer the TL-3 bulb overall and even if the socket is expensive, the bulbs are the least expensive ones. It's also easy to perfectly center the bulb, it gives a slightly oval shaped hotspot. But depending of your needs, it's the bulb that drain the batteries the fastest.
As I got the TL-3 socket, I don't think I'll buy again a LF bulb but I had to try it. As I said, if you don't mind the possibility of an off-center bulb that won't give a perfectly round/oval hotspot, I think it's an excellent. I just can't tell about bulb life yet as I got it today.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/picasawildchild/E2DBulbsComparison
Comments:
----------
MA03 (stock bulb):
- Half as bright (to my eyes).
- Longer runtime (1h instead of around 30 minutes).
- Almost perfectly round hotspot.
TL-3:
- Biggest brightest hotspot.
- Brightest.
- About the same color as the MA03.
- I think the runtime is a little under the LF bulb.
LF EO-E2R:
- Whitest.
- The hotspot has a bean shape.
- The glass bulb isn't perfectly centered.
- Filament isn't perfectly aligned in the glass envelope.
- Mounting legs of the filament are also not aligned perfectly.
- Slightly dimmer than the TL-3 bulb.
Even with the misalignments of the LF bulb, it looks like a winner to run the E2E/E2D on RCR123A. We can see the bulb has probably been made to reduce the manufacturing cost but to give an aftermarket bulb with decent quality that will lower the usage cost with the use of rechargeable batteries.
About the TL-3 bulb with the Fivemega's socket, I can say that the socket has an amazing build quality (See this: http://picasaweb.google.ca/picasawildchild/FivemegaTL3StrionBulbSocketForSureFireE2EE2D). I think I prefer the TL-3 bulb overall and even if the socket is expensive, the bulbs are the least expensive ones. It's also easy to perfectly center the bulb, it gives a slightly oval shaped hotspot. But depending of your needs, it's the bulb that drain the batteries the fastest.
As I got the TL-3 socket, I don't think I'll buy again a LF bulb but I had to try it. As I said, if you don't mind the possibility of an off-center bulb that won't give a perfectly round/oval hotspot, I think it's an excellent. I just can't tell about bulb life yet as I got it today.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/picasawildchild/E2DBulbsComparison
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