I just got a very small shipment (only half of what I've had on order from nearly 6 months ago) of "W2" Bin Coded 5W White Lambertians (High Domes).
Of course one went into the Legend LX with stock reflector which resulted in a fairly wide and soft flood beam, although it still threw three times farther than my LGI keeper which is no slouch, but I sold it being I had no use for yet another flooder, albeit brighter (I need throw at work!).
But seeing that the real 5W power monsters seemed to be best created from the Mags with their excellent reflectors when cut just right in relation to the height of the emitter, I swapped out one of these new HD's with the 5W SE that was in my Mag 2C Space Needle and did some comparison tests.
Here it is with my Turbo McLux (also with just-installed 5W HD W2 Bin Code) along with the brightest 5W mod I ever made with an unusually super bright 5W SE. This should be one hell of a comparison test:
First I took a beamshot up on my outside patio ceiling, about 12 feet high. The lights were laid on a husk pillow angled upwards in this order (Mag 2D in the center):
And here are the beam patterns they made:
Note the significant sidespill from the SE through the Mag 2D's reflector, and how tight the beams are from the HD's of the 2C and McLux Turbo. Note especially how much larger and brighter the hotspot is from the Mag 2C. It should be stated here that both HD emitters were selected from approximately the same range of brightness during the preliminary testing I always perform, before installing them in any lights. Obviously the Mag's reflector is simply better than the SF TurboHead at grabbing more of the available light output from the emission pattern of the Lambertian.
Then I lined them up on the carpet five feet from the wall for the now-standard LLS (Lambda Light Saber) shot:
And finally the acid test -- I went out back to see what they would do across a small dark valley onto a tree fifty yards away -- and in order of brightness, here are the beams from the Mag 2D (w/super bright SE), the McLux Turbo, and the Mag 2C:
Mag 2D
McLux
Mag 2C
The Mag 2D's more diffused beam made it appear less bright than the McLux Turbo with its tighter TurboHead focused pattern, but the light meter told a different story:
McLux Turbo - 4,400 lux
Mag 2D - 7,020 lux
Mag 2C - 6,850 lux
But those readings were taken from one meter away. 50 yards away is a whole new ball game.
So it would appear that a well-focused High Dome in the big Mag reflector makes for the brightest and longest reaching mod now available.
Introducing: The Space Needle II...
Of course one went into the Legend LX with stock reflector which resulted in a fairly wide and soft flood beam, although it still threw three times farther than my LGI keeper which is no slouch, but I sold it being I had no use for yet another flooder, albeit brighter (I need throw at work!).
But seeing that the real 5W power monsters seemed to be best created from the Mags with their excellent reflectors when cut just right in relation to the height of the emitter, I swapped out one of these new HD's with the 5W SE that was in my Mag 2C Space Needle and did some comparison tests.
Here it is with my Turbo McLux (also with just-installed 5W HD W2 Bin Code) along with the brightest 5W mod I ever made with an unusually super bright 5W SE. This should be one hell of a comparison test:
First I took a beamshot up on my outside patio ceiling, about 12 feet high. The lights were laid on a husk pillow angled upwards in this order (Mag 2D in the center):
And here are the beam patterns they made:
Note the significant sidespill from the SE through the Mag 2D's reflector, and how tight the beams are from the HD's of the 2C and McLux Turbo. Note especially how much larger and brighter the hotspot is from the Mag 2C. It should be stated here that both HD emitters were selected from approximately the same range of brightness during the preliminary testing I always perform, before installing them in any lights. Obviously the Mag's reflector is simply better than the SF TurboHead at grabbing more of the available light output from the emission pattern of the Lambertian.
Then I lined them up on the carpet five feet from the wall for the now-standard LLS (Lambda Light Saber) shot:
And finally the acid test -- I went out back to see what they would do across a small dark valley onto a tree fifty yards away -- and in order of brightness, here are the beams from the Mag 2D (w/super bright SE), the McLux Turbo, and the Mag 2C:
Mag 2D
McLux
Mag 2C
The Mag 2D's more diffused beam made it appear less bright than the McLux Turbo with its tighter TurboHead focused pattern, but the light meter told a different story:
McLux Turbo - 4,400 lux
Mag 2D - 7,020 lux
Mag 2C - 6,850 lux
But those readings were taken from one meter away. 50 yards away is a whole new ball game.
So it would appear that a well-focused High Dome in the big Mag reflector makes for the brightest and longest reaching mod now available.
Introducing: The Space Needle II...
