mhanlen
Enlightened
Spark SG3-CW & SG5-CW Review
Ok, let me first thank Spark for sending me these lights for review. To be honest I had no idea I'd be getting these lights. They came 2 weeks after I sent them an email inquiry about reviews, and they said they'd send me a video and then a bike light for review. I sent them my address, and that was it- until these showed up on the door step.
And second, here is a full video review of the light. You'll see the lights in action, and see some extreme stress tests later in the video. Including the light being frozen.
You can keep the clip on or remove it. Unfortunately you can only put it on one way. So if you're using it as a clip light on an exterior pocket, you'll have to use it upside down. I chalk this up to a minor annoyance, and there's not much you can do about it without a redesign of the light. For some, this sort of thing is a deal breaker- not for me though. This clip is serious too, and it takes a bit of forcing to go on the tube. It isn't cheap, thin, or easily malleable. Assume that taking it on and off repeatedly will leave some wear on the clip depression on the tube. This isn't a knock on the finish, because it seems the anodizing holds up well to something that would rub off the finish on pretty much any other light.
Cool right? More on that later. Keep reading. Now lets throw a battery in both lights and see how the UI works. Sounds like a good idea! The user interface is pretty simple and identical on both lights.
Click once to turn it on. Now that it's on, select a mode by pressing and holding the button. The light will then ramp to each of the 4 main modes, in order from lowest to highest. The are as follows: Min, Med1, Med2, and Max. When it hits the mode you like let go and it's saved. So when you turn it off and turn it back on it uses that last mode it was on. Nice and simple. If you'd like to change modes... Hold the button on the current mode, and it will revert back to min and ramp through all the modes again. I dig this more than if it were to go to the next mode. In addition to the 4 regular modes there's one called "Super" You can access this mode if the flashlight is off or on, by doing a steady double click. The absolute best part? Since the manual doesn't state it, and because I haven't inadvertently accessed it, there are NO BLINKIES. I can hardly believe it and I love it. Ok five modes total. What do they output and how long?
Here are the manufacturer specs for both lights. Unfortunately it does not specify which battery chemistry these outputs and run-times are good for. I am going to assume they're for Li-ion. The manual says simply this light uses an XM-L emitter. I'm pretty sure it's an XM-L2 because it looks different than all my other XM-L emitters. And having done the "running water trick" PWM is not detected on any mode.
Super- 280 lumen at .9 hours.
Max- 110 lumens at 2.8 hours
Med2- 40 lumens at 9 hours
Med1- 8 lumens at 32 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 10 days
SG5-NW Manufacturer specs. (not reviewed)
Super- 260 lumens at .9 hours
Max- 100 lumens at 2.8 hours
Med2- 30 lumens at 9 hours
Med1- 6 lumens at 32 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 10 days
SG5-CW output on Eneloops.
SG5 output on 14500s.
SG3-CW Manufacturer Specs (reviewed)
Super- 380 lumen at .8 hours.
Max- 200 lumens at 1.8 hours
Med2- 70 lumens at 6 hours
Med1- 10 lumens at 30 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 12 days
SG3-NW (not reviewed)
Super- 350 lumen at .8 hours.
Max- 180 lumens at 1.8 hours
Med2- 60 lumens at 6 hours
Med1- 8 lumens at 30 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 12 days
Spark SG3-CW output on Ultrafire "1000 mah"
Within each chart all camera settings stay the same. If I start at at 1.8f, 1/100 sec, 400 iso on the first pic in say High Mode, the last and all inbetween pics on high mode are 1.8f, 1/100, and 400 iso. Sometimes on lower or higher modes I will adjust the camera settings for the entire chart so you can see the difference better. For the extremely technical, sometimes I did not press the button exactly on time- the times posted can vary by up to five minutes but rarely more than or or two. Please note the camera specs on each chart.
Ok one more thing before we get to these charts. You'll notice that I do not have run times posted for the SG3 currently. Well there is a good reason for that. Remember earlier when I said I'd explain the reverse polarity protection in greater detail? Well I decided to take Spark up on this claim, and threw the battery in backward on the SG3. Prior to this I had made sure the light operated correctly, which you can see in the video, and even took some output beamshots, so what you see is what I had accomplished before I did the test. So I threw in the battery and after screwing down the tail cap it lit up like in turbo mode. I unscrewed it immediately, and just for the heck of it I did it again for a brief second and unscrewed it. Since the manual stated it had reverse polarity protection and I didn't see mechanical evidence of it, I had assumed it was built in. I guess that's not the case, because now the light now only operates in two modes... and maybe some sort of Super mode. The thing is, I have no idea which modes it left and which are no longer there. The UI operates identically but now with fewer modes. After doing this I decided it was not a good idea to test this out on the SG5, if I wanted to play it safe. I had no idea if my light was defective and didn't have this mode or if the information in the manual is incorrect for all the SG3s. Anyway please be very careful when putting a battery in the light. Do not put it in backwards. Double and triple check.
Well after this set-back I decided that I'd conduct additional stress tests for the partially working light, since it's already sort of bunk. But that's later on.
Anyway. So what about the runtimes on the SG5? How do they stack up against the manufacturer specs? What chemistries are the runtimes good for? For the sake of time, it's nearly impossible to check the chemistries of every battery in moonlight because it would take a a month, and considering the test area is our main stairwell, it's impossible to leave the camera and light set up for weeks at a time. I will make an earnest effort to test the moonlight mode in the near future on the SG5, minus a camera, to see if it lives up to the claim of 10 days- on a 14500. By the way, spolier alert, this light works best on 14500s. Also it's a very minor thing but I believe all these charts are using 500 iso instead of 400. Check it.
First off lets go with 14500s.
Max
No data available for moonlight. Spark claims 10 days.
How about eneloops?
Max
So what about the missing info about the SG3? Well since I don't expect a replacement sample, I'll try my darnedest to beat the crap out of this light to see how well it holds up. So that's good right? Make lemonade out of "No reverse polarity protection." So there won't be any photos for that segment, and you'll need to watch the video. And it should be noted- all abrasions on the SG3 that you see in later photos (and maybe a few early ones) all came from those tests. The light DID NOT come that way. You'll see me freeze, throw, and drop the light a full two stories on the pavement. How will it fare????
How nice are the head bands? Reading around there seems to be some complaints. Mainly that the SG5 seems to not fit tight enough in the headband. I agree with this, but the SG3 seems to work alright. So upon closer inspection I've found that the head bands that come with both units appear to be identical. Since some of the proportions on the SG3, particularly the ones that the headband touches are thicker, the rubber of the head band grips better. So I've found one way that keeps the SG5 from sliding around. Leave the clip on, but swivel it, so it doesn't come in contact with your head. It is guaranteed to stay in place. Anyway, here are the best ways I've found to mount both lamps. The way I have each one mounted works the best for me.
So that's it. I will add additional data for med1 on AA batteries over the next few daysif I get time.
A quick summary of what I like.
- Awesome regulation. I am assuming the SG3 is pretty much identical in regulation to the SG5. The sustained brightness times on 14500s is awesome. I could detect no step-downs. AA is no slouch either, but this light shines on 14500s.
- No PWM. A $60 shouldn't have detectable PWM anyway right?
- Flexibility of battery chemistries. I like that you have the abilty to use lithium ions.
- Excellent runtimes.
- Super easy lockout. Try as I might I wasn't able to get a reading on parasitic drain. It has to be small, but my multimeter wasn't able to detect it.
- Great thermal management. The whole body of the light makes direct contact with the star. It's a solid piece of aluminum.
- Awesome anodizing and build quality. Save for the killer clip area, the SG5 (which did not drop 18 feet onto concrete like the SG3) has no signs of wear after a week of carrying and tests.
What could be improved.
- How about the light being clipable rightside up in pockets? It's kind of a minor thing for me (just clip it upside down) But I'd like the light to have the button on the top if I'm clipping it.
- The fit of the SG5 in it's headlamp apparatus.
- Real REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION. Seriously do not attempt this. The manual says it has it, my real world experience says it doesn't. Be cautious when inserting the battery.
Anyway that's it for now! Thanks for looking, I spent many hours on this. And if you'd like to see many many more photos that didn't make it into this set check out my flickr for the SG3 and SG5. And I apologize for any errors, I will also do some minor adjustments throughout the week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhanlen1/sets/72157635199475527/
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