OneBigDay
Enlightened
This is my latest set of beamshots. These are all stock single cell lights that accept AA, 14500, or both. I wanted to see the differences in brightness and beam profile for this format. You can also clearly see how much brighter these are at the higher voltages. All photos are at maximum output (brightest mode setting). I give my usual disclaimer that I make no absolute statements other than here are some photos I took and here are my opinions, but hope somebody finds this useful. I used Daylight white balance on the camera.
I have mostly Eneloops for AA but used a couple of Tenergy high capacity cells as well for the testing. 14500 cells were all AW protected cells.
The Lineup
AA Only
Both AA and 14500
** Note: AW protected cells fit in all the 14500 lights except for the Sunwayman V10R. I had to back off the extender tube about 1.5 mm on each end to get the protected 14500 cell to fit (fine for beamshots but you wouldn't want to carry it this way). I have since gotten AW IMR cells which are about 3 mm shorter than AW protected and they fit perfectly in the V10R with the extender tube.
The Playground
This is the same park I have done some of my other longer range shots from. I picked a different grouping of trees with a more reasonable range to try and hit with these smaller lights. As you will see this range is still too much space for the lower voltage (AA) lights but is about perfect for li-ion (14500).
Individual Images
I'm going to stick to mostly animated gifs since they give the most bang for the buck as far as what they demonstrate. If anyone is interested in looking at individual images, here are the thumbnails. These are all the individual images that make up the slideshows.
Powered by AA (AA only lights)
(1) Maratac AA (2) Quark Mini AA (3) ITP A2 SS (4) Jetbeam E3S (5) Zebralight SC51
Powered by AA (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(6) Xeno E03 XP-G (7) Xeno E03 XM-L (8) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (9) Dereelight C2H (10) Sunwayman v10r Ti
Powered by 14500 (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(11) Xeno E03 XP-G (12) Xeno E03 XM-L (13) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (14) Dereelight C2H (15) Sunwayman v10r Ti
One 18650 light for comparison (because it's new and was in my bag!)
(16) Download Pocket Rocket XM-L
Slideshows
Below are all 10 lights powered by AA cells. As I mentioned before this is not exactly the right range to see the subtleties of these lower powered lights but I figured it was still worthwhile to post as long as I had already done the work.
Below are the 4 brightest AA (to my eye). Pull the weeds from the above slideshow and this is what is left. The SC51 is the winner for total output, but the V10R is hanging in there and has a more even and less floody beam. The Xeno (XP-G) is really close to the V10R with just a little less brightness. Honorable mention that has gotten hardly any press on CPF is the Jetbeam E3S. The Xeno XM-L which I did not include in this slideshow is also bright but it is not so apparent because of the floody nature of the beam.
Below are the 5 lights that accept li-ion cells (according to voltage rating by the manufacturer) powered by a 14500 cell.
Xeno 14500 Comparison. These Xeno lights have been really successful and for $30 USD you can't really beat them. For anyone wondering what is the difference between the XP-G and XM-L beams - here you go.
The next 5 comparisons are just showing the difference between AA and 14500 for those lights that do accept both.
Xeno XP-G AA vs. 14500
Xeno XM-L AA vs. 14500
Lumapower Trust Model-1 AA vs. 14500
Dereelight C2H AA vs. 14500
Sunwayman V10R Ti AA vs. 14500
This last show does 2 different comparisons. The first 2 frames show just how similar the V10R and the Xeno XP-G beam profiles are. The last 2 frames show the Xeno XM-L (the only XM-L light in this roundup) compared to my new Download Pocket Rocket (1x18650 XM-L U2). This is comparing apples to oranges but I wanted to see what the next step up looks like.
Conclusions
The End
I have mostly Eneloops for AA but used a couple of Tenergy high capacity cells as well for the testing. 14500 cells were all AW protected cells.
The Lineup
AA Only
- Maratac AA XR-E R2
- Quark Mini AA XP-G R5
- ITP A2 XP-E R2
- Jetbeam E3S XP-G R4
- Zebralight SC51 XP-G bin not specified
Both AA and 14500
- Xeno E03 XP-G R5
- Xeno E03 XM-L T6
- Lumapower Trust Model-1 XP-G R5
- Dereelight C2H (w AA extender) XP-G R5
- Sunwayman v10r Ti (w AA extender) XP-G R5 **
** Note: AW protected cells fit in all the 14500 lights except for the Sunwayman V10R. I had to back off the extender tube about 1.5 mm on each end to get the protected 14500 cell to fit (fine for beamshots but you wouldn't want to carry it this way). I have since gotten AW IMR cells which are about 3 mm shorter than AW protected and they fit perfectly in the V10R with the extender tube.
The Playground
This is the same park I have done some of my other longer range shots from. I picked a different grouping of trees with a more reasonable range to try and hit with these smaller lights. As you will see this range is still too much space for the lower voltage (AA) lights but is about perfect for li-ion (14500).
Individual Images
I'm going to stick to mostly animated gifs since they give the most bang for the buck as far as what they demonstrate. If anyone is interested in looking at individual images, here are the thumbnails. These are all the individual images that make up the slideshows.
Powered by AA (AA only lights)
(1) Maratac AA (2) Quark Mini AA (3) ITP A2 SS (4) Jetbeam E3S (5) Zebralight SC51
Powered by AA (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(6) Xeno E03 XP-G (7) Xeno E03 XM-L (8) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (9) Dereelight C2H (10) Sunwayman v10r Ti
Powered by 14500 (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(11) Xeno E03 XP-G (12) Xeno E03 XM-L (13) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (14) Dereelight C2H (15) Sunwayman v10r Ti
One 18650 light for comparison (because it's new and was in my bag!)
(16) Download Pocket Rocket XM-L
Slideshows
Below are all 10 lights powered by AA cells. As I mentioned before this is not exactly the right range to see the subtleties of these lower powered lights but I figured it was still worthwhile to post as long as I had already done the work.
Below are the 4 brightest AA (to my eye). Pull the weeds from the above slideshow and this is what is left. The SC51 is the winner for total output, but the V10R is hanging in there and has a more even and less floody beam. The Xeno (XP-G) is really close to the V10R with just a little less brightness. Honorable mention that has gotten hardly any press on CPF is the Jetbeam E3S. The Xeno XM-L which I did not include in this slideshow is also bright but it is not so apparent because of the floody nature of the beam.
Below are the 5 lights that accept li-ion cells (according to voltage rating by the manufacturer) powered by a 14500 cell.
Xeno 14500 Comparison. These Xeno lights have been really successful and for $30 USD you can't really beat them. For anyone wondering what is the difference between the XP-G and XM-L beams - here you go.
The next 5 comparisons are just showing the difference between AA and 14500 for those lights that do accept both.
Xeno XP-G AA vs. 14500
Xeno XM-L AA vs. 14500
Lumapower Trust Model-1 AA vs. 14500
Dereelight C2H AA vs. 14500
Sunwayman V10R Ti AA vs. 14500
This last show does 2 different comparisons. The first 2 frames show just how similar the V10R and the Xeno XP-G beam profiles are. The last 2 frames show the Xeno XM-L (the only XM-L light in this roundup) compared to my new Download Pocket Rocket (1x18650 XM-L U2). This is comparing apples to oranges but I wanted to see what the next step up looks like.
Conclusions
- The Zebralight SC51 stands out as far as total output for a AA only light. This has been discussed at length and has been a true selling point for this light. These photos just reinforce the stated measurements found elsewhere.
- The Xeno E03 series are a great value. The output and beam profile keep up with (and in some cases are better than) more expensive lights. The build quality is good and even though the circuitry seems geared towards 14500, they also have good output on AA in a pinch.
- The Dereelight C2H has a beam where you can kind of see a dark circle between the hotspot and the spill in these photos, but in real use (outside) the beam is good and it throws pretty well for a small XP-G based pocket light.
- The Lumapower Trust Model-1 has the most artifacts in the beam of these 5 lights. I have other issues with the build quality of this light. In practical terms there is nothing wrong with the beam that I can't live with and there are some nice things about this light, but with more competition out there now I would probably pass on this light.
- I don't know much about the circuitry of these things, but it seems that it is difficult to make a light that has excellent output both on AA and on 14500. The Xeno lights are better than average in this regard, but the only real standout is the Sunwayman V10R. The V10R on 14500 is about what I expected in terms of overall output, but on AA the V10R exceeded my expectations by a longshot.
- To me the Sunwayman V10R Ti is the standout in this crowd for many reasons. The beam profile is perfect. With all attention right now on XM-L based lights, I think the XP-G emitter is the right choice for this light. With a small reflector like this an XP-G gives nice spill and some throw. As mentioned above the output on NiMH is also fantastic which I didn't expect. On top of all that there is the infinitely variable output. The only other light I had this on was the LiteFlux LF2XT, I find the V10R control ring easier to use and more precise than using the LF2XT ramping function. With a AA extender in Ti available for this you can't really go wrong. Just like the C2H this means you can run it on CR123/RCR123/AA/14500 - that is a lot of flexibility especially considering the output on lower voltages (AA NiMH) is still better than average. Get one before they are gone!
The End
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