Romisen RC-N3 II NW - First Impressions

[futz]

Ordered a Romisen RC-N3 II NW from shiningbeam.com (SKU #1022). Received it today and I have to say I'm very impressed, considering the very low price. Excellent bang for the buck. With a RCR123A in it I compared it with my 135 lumen Fenix L2D. Judging by relative brightness I'd guess the Romisen puts out maybe 110ish lumens. Not too shabby for a <$25 light. Fit and finish is excellent.

One not so good thing - the two modes (medium and high) are not very different from one another. It's hard to tell which one you're on sometimes.

 

[hyperloop]

sounds good, i recently gave away my RC N3 neutral white single mode and was considering this one.

Have you tried the 2 modes when in 2xAA configuration? I found that when i used my RC N3 II Q5 with an RCR123, there was only one mode, it was only when i tried it with a primary CR123 that there were 2 modes. Not too sure about the RC N3 II NW though.

If there isn't any (or hardly any) difference in the 2 modes when using an RCR123 i might have to reconsider. Any chance of beamshots?

 

[sol-leks]

The modes on my RC-C6 II are also way too close. I think this may just be something common to all the 2 mode romisens from shiningbeam. Hopefully, they will try and improve this in the near future. There are still great lights, but this is a disappointing feature.

 

[Wiggle]

I bought one for my dad and it's a nice light. I too wish the modes were spaced more though.

 

[futz]

Have you tried the 2 modes when in 2xAA configuration? I found that when i used my RC N3 II Q5 with an RCR123, there was only one mode, it was only when i tried it with a primary CR123 that there were 2 modes. Not too sure about the RC N3 II NW though.

Just tried that. No change. Maybe I'm not doing it right. Does it just alternate modes each time you turn it off and on?

Any chance of beamshots?

There's a very good chance, but it'll have to wait till tonight. Must work now.

 

[futz]

Beamshots. I live in a tiny, ultra-cluttered rental house. I have no bare walls that I can shoot beamshots on. So I laid on the floor and shot them on the ceiling. No tripod or anything, so they aren't always perfectly centered.

These are not touched up in any way - only resized for web. They're approximately 250K each.

Romisen RC-N3 II NW - on high - RCR123A

JETBeam RRT-0 - highest brightness - RCR123A

EagleTac T20C2 MkII - highest brightness - R17670

Quark Mini 123 NW - highest brightness - RCR123A

 

[Dude Dudeson]

I really like this ceiling approach - it really gives a much more automatic perception of scale than a white wall.

 

[GarageBoy]

Sweet
Wonder what a runtime plot would look like

 

[^Gurthang]

Nice beamshots! Using the ceiling is a great idea.

+1 on the Romisen being a top "bang for the buck" light. Gave several as gifts and the owners were shocked at the amount of light from a AA light.