Review: Ver2 Deep M*g Reflector by Fivemega (Outdoor Beamshots)

[RichS]

Well, I got my FM Deep M*g reflector and dropped it in...the first thing I noticed was the beautiful polished SMO reflector was pristine, and fit my Mag like a glove. It dropped right in, and the stock bezel screwed right on.

That ugly batwing beam pattern...gone forever!! Even with the SMO reflector, it totally turned that crazy shaped hot-spot into a perfectly round circle. The beam pattern it gave my Mag85 reminded me of my Deree DBS - very defined, perfectly cutout hotspot and bright sidespill.

Then I took it outside - I must say my initial impressions were that it threw way better than it did with the stock-sized, Litho LOP reflector. It just had that laser beam look to it, and it lit up a treeline way in the distance.

So I set up my camera, and did a quick shootout between my new FM Deep reflector and my Litho LOP reflector. I used manual settings, with a 3 second exposure, daylight white balance, ISO 200 on a Fuji F30

Here we go:

Ver2 Deep M*g Reflector by Fivemega

Fivemega Deep Reflector installed

Litho LOP Reflector Installed

Target - Tree at 175 Yards (525 Feet)

Ver2 Deep M*g Reflector by Fivemega installed

Litho LOP Reflector Installed

Same images cropped close in to the target:

Ver2 Deep M*g Reflector by Fivemega installed

Litho LOP Reflector Installed

Here are animated Gifs for better comparison
(Unfortunately I couldn't add text in this version. But it's pretty obvious the more narrow beam is the FM reflector)

Uncropped:

Cropped

Here is a super-close crop of the hot spot:

FM Deep M*G.............Litho LOP............... Animated Gif

My impressions: This is another quality item from Fivemega, as always. I must say that I was surprised when I was doing the beamshots, that after putting the Litho reflector back on and going outside, I was expecting to see a lot less throw from the Litho reflector in comparison. I was surprised that it seemed to light the target up as well as the FM Deep reflector. Prior to doing a direct comparison, the throwy nature of the FM deep reflector made it seem like it had much more reach than the stock-sized reflector. It is clear in the beamshots that the FM reflector does take some of the spill on the outskirts of the stock-sized reflector and bring it in closer, but it looks like it is putting the extra lumens back into the spill beam closer to the center of the beam, but not to the hotspot. But these are only my observations from this shootout - your experience may be different.

If you are looking for a solution to clean up your Mag85 beam profile and give you a nice round hotspot - then this does that beautifully. It provides a very nice beam pattern while allowing you to use a SMO reflector. If you are only wanting to get more throw out of your Mag85 than you're getting with your stock-sized reflector, my beamshot comparison doesn't conclusively show that this will provide a large gain in that area.

UPDATE: Mudman CJ posted that he saw a substantial improvement in throw on his Mag11, that was measured on a light meter to be 16,000 Lux greater with the FM Deep reflector than with the stock-sized SMO. This is a 53% increase in throw!! This may be due in part to the smaller filiment of the WA1111 vs. the Mag85. Also - as I don't have a light meter there may also be some level improvement in the Mag85 Lux that just isn't easily discernable with my eye or camera, so bear this in mind. Now I know there are a lot of Mag85 owners out there that bought an FM Deep reflector - do any of you have a light meter that can test this??

-Rich

 

[farmall]

Great review.

Thanks

 

[ANDREAS FERRARI]

Great review-love those beamshots!:twothumbs

 

[Joe_torch]

Nice beam shots & thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

I do see a brighter hot spot of the deep reflector. Maybe if you try to lit up a more distant object, the difference would be more observable.

Joe

 

[Dioni]

Nice shots. Good performance of Litho reflector too, both are excellent.

Thanks Rich!

 

[RichS]

Nice beam shots & thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

I do see a brighter hot spot of the deep reflector. Maybe if you try to lit up a more distant object, the difference would be more observable.

Joe

Thanks for the nice comments.

Joe_torch - I couldn't see the difference in the hot spot intensity you referred to, so I did a very close crop of the hot spot area and included it in the OP. I put it in an animated GIF for a closer comparison. I still don't see it - I just think the two hot spots are lighting up slightly different portions of the target tree.

 

[mudman cj]

I have only tried my V2 SMO Deep FM reflector with the 1111 bulb, and the hotspot intensity increased noticeably. I took Lux measurements, and with a SMO KD reflector the Lux was 30k @ 1m but with the V2 SMO deep FM reflector the result was 46k @ 1m. My meter tops out at 40k, so the deep reflector measurement was taken at 5m and calculated back to 1m for comparison. Both setups used the same bulb on the same cells (AW C cells). I am more than willing to bet that the result is not the same with the 1185 though, due to the longer filament.

 

[RichS]

I have only tried my V2 SMO Deep FM reflector with the 1111 bulb, and the hotspot intensity increased noticeably. I took Lux measurements, and with a SMO KD reflector the Lux was 30k @ 1m but with the V2 SMO deep FM reflector the result was 46k @ 1m. My meter tops out at 40k, so the deep reflector measurement was taken at 5m and calculated back to 1m for comparison. Both setups used the same bulb on the same cells (AW C cells). I am more than willing to bet that the result is not the same with the 1185 though, due to the longer filament.

Good to know CJ, thanks for the info. I really wish I had a light meter to compare more scientifically. Would you happen to have a Mag85 you can test it with? If not - you need to build one! Every true incan guy should a Mag85!

Anyway....you could be right about the longer filament being the issue here. The only odd thing is, the FM reflector still does provide a perfect - and much smaller hotspot with the 1185 bulb. You would think that would also make it more intense.

 

[mudman cj]

As you know, it is difficult to accurately compare light intensities with the eye. It probably is somewhat brighter with the deep reflector. And I do have an 1185 light, but it is a Megalennium with an M6 head. The hotspot is big and beautiful. :twothumbs But, I do not have a Mag host that can accommodate the 1185 bulb, so I am afraid I cannot provide the requested light intensity measurements. :sigh:

 

[maxspeeds]

Anyone have comparison shots between the SMO and VLOP Deep M@g reflectors? lovecpf

 

[RichS]

I updated the OP with information on the Mag11. Initially I had assumed there would be similar results with the WA1111, but that is not the case. The following information was added:

Mudman CJ indicated that he that he saw a sustantial improvement in throw on his Mag11, that was measured on a light meter to be 16,000 Lux greater with the FM Deep reflector than with the stock-sized SMO. This is a 53% increase in throw!! This may be due in part to the smaller filiment of the WA1111 vs. the Mag85. Also - as I don't have a light meter there may also be some level improvement in the Mag85 Lux that just isn't easily discernable with my eye or camera, so bear this in mind. Now I know there are a lot of Mag85 owners out there that bought an FM Deep reflector - who has a light meter that can test this??

 

[Jarski]

What about ROP? So it should have more throw with this than stock sized, because it has smaller filament than 1185?

 

[Fulgeo]

I have compared two Mag85 side by side. Both of my Mag85 builds use FiveMega's bi-pin adapter and battery holder. The mods are identical except one has the VLOP Ver2 Deep Reflector and the other has a FiveMega MOP Reflector. I even switched the heads of the two flashlights back and forth to make sure one mod was not more powerful than the other. The beam that the Ver2 Deep Reflector has a hot spot about 20% to 25% the size of the MOP Reflector. When cast at a reasonable close back drop the Ver2 Deep Reflector's small hot spot completely and noticeable walks over the MOP Reflector's beam. You can follow the path of the hot spot thru the MOP's beam if you follow me. There is a water tower I like to bounce my many mod's beam off of to check throw. The Ver2 Deep Reflector worked much better at illuminating said tower at 200-300 yards. I might prefer the MOP Reflector's beam on a target 100-125 yards away but after that the Ver2 Deep Reflector is superior in my observations. I also have the SMO Ver2 Deep Reflector and truthfully it might put up a slightly brighter beam with a few more artifacts but really I can not see much difference between the VLOP and SMO Ver2 Deep Reflector. In closing I would say if you do not have at least one of them get one. I purchased quantity 4 knowing that it might be 2 years if ever available again.

Happy Mods!

 

[LuxLuthor]

As you asked me, I took these four shots with the same Mag85, aiming at tree trunk. There are some bulbs that have more artifacts than others, especially the bat-wing defect. The 2" deep are not profoundly different in terms of throw/hotspot for a bulb like 1185, but you do get a nicer pattern.

You cannot adequately capture the horizontal bat-wing pattern with most outdoor shots, but you see it on a white wall. When you wave the light around you can see the oblong shape of Mag85 if using a more standard reflector in person.

Some bulbs get a significant improvement in hotspot with these deep reflectors, but they all have a rounder, better quality beam with almost no artifacts if your bulb is centered. Biggest thing you notice is the side spill pattern with smaller reflector. I don't feel that these shots really capture what I see when moving beam around to see defects.

Shots are with same mag85:

1) Old FM Deep SMO 2" Deep Reflector
2) New FM Deep-2 SMO
3) New FM Deep-2 LOP
4) Litho MOP #3
5) Gif

 

[iapyx]

with 5 black SMO left I pulled the trigger.
And now the waiting has started

Thanks for the good review RichS
And for the beamshots RichS and LuxLuthor.

 

[Dioni]

It was what i thought. Outdoors pics do not show some changes. If principal improvement is less side spill so this amount of light is used, if not on hotspot, on corona!

Maybe some pics on white wall could show that.

Thanks for excellent pics. :twothumbs

 

[RichS]

As you asked me, I took these four shots with the same Mag85, aiming at tree trunk. There are some bulbs that have more artifacts than others, especially the bat-wing defect. The 2" deep are not profoundly different in terms of throw/hotspot for a bulb like 1185, but you do get a nicer pattern.

You cannot adequately capture the horizontal bat-wing pattern with most outdoor shots, but you see it on a white wall. When you wave the light around you can see the oblong shape of Mag85 if using a more standard reflector in person.

Some bulbs get a significant improvement in hotspot with these deep reflectors, but they all have a rounder, better quality beam with almost no artifacts if your bulb is centered. Biggest thing you notice is the side spill pattern with smaller reflector. I don't feel that these shots really capture what I see when moving beam around to see defects.

Shots are with same mag85:

1) Old FM Deep SMO 2" Deep Reflector
2) New FM Deep-2 SMO
3) New FM Deep-2 LOP
4) Litho MOP #3
5) Gif

[Beamshots]

Thanks so much for taking the time to take these shots Lux! The results are very similar to what I saw in my shots. With the Mag85 specifically, although the FM Deep rreflector doesn't seem to produce extra throw, it virtually eliminates that unfortunate batwing shape and artifacts you get with the standard more shallow reflector.

In this review I was hoping to provide some real life images to show the beam pattern differences to help people make their decision. Thanks again for the valuable contribution Lux! :thumbsup:

 

[RichS]

It was what i thought. Outdoors pics do not show some changes. If principal improvement is less side spill so this amount of light is used, if not on hotspot, on corona!

Maybe some pics on white wall could show that.

Ask and ye shall receive - courtesy of fivemega in his 2nd Sales Run thread (http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=142631). I think this shot shows very well how it improves the beamshape:

 

[JamisonM]

Has anybody tried these with an Seoul or Cree?

 

[maxspeeds]

Shots are with same mag85:

1) Old FM Deep SMO 2" Deep Reflector
2) New FM Deep-2 SMO
3) New FM Deep-2 VLOP
4) Litho MOP #3
5) Gif

LuxLuthor, I think you forgot to include 3) New FM Deep-2 VLOP in your photos.

What is your impression on the effect that the VLOP has over SMO on incan bulbs in these deeper reflectors? Does it sacrafice a measureable amount of throw, or is it negligible? Is the gain of light in the spill and corona noticeable?