The Gotham Review

EricMack

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Jan 13, 2004
Messages
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The Gotham – Leef/Milkyspit Collaboration Project

I recently received a new light which is to be released soon to beta test and review. The light is called The Gotham, and one look at the pics below will easily explain its name. Its an 18650 based light, though 2x 123's can also be used. But its designed primarily for an 18650, which will provide around two hours of runtime on high. :thumbsup:

The body was designed by Milky and Leef, subsequently produced by Leef, and is electroless nickel plated. The machining is as good as anything I've ever seen, and overall the light is just gorgeous. The first thing I thought when opening the box and seeing the light for the first time was "dang, this is fresh!" I believe this light fills a void that's been left in the last six months as it seems every true custom light being produced is made out of Titanium. Not knocking that by any means, but its great to have an outstanding custom light again that's NOT Ti. The bezel ring IS Ti though.

The Gotham uses a new board sporting a U-binned Seoul, with all new custom circuitry Scott designed based upon the original Milky Candle. This board provides four levels of light from either of two distinct UI's, let's call them User and Tactical. One can choose which UI they want to use, which is dang handy. The production version will be driven roughly as follows: High – 867, Medium – 280, Low – 50, and Candle – 10. This is controlled by tapping the McClickie tailswitch, and given that the overall length of the light is 5.5 inches, this is extremely easy to do even one-handed. In a nutshell, the Tactical UI means the light will always come on at the High level, whether it's a momentary press and hold or a click to stay on. The User UI in contrast, will always come on at the last level used when the light was last shut off. The design of the UI's and the operation of the light has been exemplary for me over the time I've had it.

The Gotham utilizes a McR20 SMO reflector, and throws out a gorgeous beam. Scott individually hand tested over 250 U-binned Seouls for the optimal match of Vf and brightness for the new board. I have two beamshots below, and hopefully Scott will post better ones soon. The beam is great, nice hotspot with a gradual fade to spill, and the throw is very respectable. I will say that driven fairly hard on High, this is the brightest single LED light that I have (200+ Lumens). Its bright! It uses a UCL lens, and mine has a glow ring which is a cool touch. There are four holes from which to attach a lanyard, and I should mention the light is going to come with a cool box, lanyard, and a couple other goodies. Overall, it's a very impressive offering and IMO provides an overdue opportunity for those who would want a top shelf, cutting edge custom light, priced much more affordably than all the Ti offerings.

Overall, I'd rather the pics do the talking, but I have to say that I really feel Leef and Scott have combined to provide an outstanding performer, thats a beautiful blend of visually stunning aesthetics driven by cutting edge electronics and a great LED choice. This light has impressed me greatly, and my hat is off to these gents for creating what I think is a really strong performer. :twothumbs

Without further ado, The Gotham
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He he, Spidey didn't want to give it back…
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On High
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On Candle
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Edit I don't know if this matters to anyone, but I paid full price for my Gotham. This review IMO is pretty favorable, and that's because it deserved it. If there was something that was flawed about my light, I'd reveal it, you guys deserve no less.

No trees were cut down to produce this review.
 
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So the User UI goes from High>Med>Low>Candle>repeat as well, just that it starts at the level it was when it was shut off? I'm not familiar with the McClickie. Is the Gotham push-momentary, twist-latch? Do you happen to remember how far the light was from the wall and can you tell me the dimensions of a block?
 
So the User UI goes from High>Med>Low>Candle>repeat as well, just that it starts at the level it was when it was shut off? I'm not familiar with the McClickie. Is the Gotham push-momentary, twist-latch? Do you happen to remember how far the light was from the wall and can you tell me the dimensions of a block?

Sure. Push lightly = momentary, push a little harder and it clicks and stays on. No twisting required.

Scott or Leef will post some better beamshots with hopefully some measurements, I'd guesstimate the light was about 3 feet from the wall. The beam is very smooth, no rings are visible. My camera kinda sucks, as does the photographer... :rolleyes:
 
The pic is fine, we just need some numbers to be able to compare it to other lights we're familiar with. How "long" do you have to momentary the torch for it to realize you're doing momentary and not trying to swap levels?
 
The pic is fine, we just need some numbers to be able to compare it to other lights we're familiar with. How "long" do you have to momentary the torch for it to realize you're doing momentary and not trying to swap levels?

To change levels, you tap and release, then tap again (or click) within a half second to go to the next level. Its very easy, much more so than dealing with the twisty based Flupic based lights. At 5.5 inches, this is easily accomplished one handed. :p
 
Some shots, outdoors against other lights will be nice.

How quickly does it get hot on high? 2hours on high... is that really achievable with a continuous run?

How long on CR123? Is the brightness lower on the CR123 vs. 18650?

Thanks.

Curtis
 
The announcement thread states 1'40 (almost 1'50, depending on where you look) regulated on high.
 
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The Gotham utilizes a McR20 SMO reflector

Is this true or do you mean the cheap plastic IMS 20mm?
i didnt know Don made Smooth McR20`s.If he does i really want to try some.

Great review btw :thumbsup:


Benny
 
Damn. That's just fantastic work!!!!! Great design, and I even like the name! You should send one to Warner Bros. (I think) for the next Batman movie!

:wow:
 
Cudos to Leef and Milkyspit!! :thumbsup:

I find the non concentric or symetric about the major axis, mill work on the surface to be quite refreshing and interesting!! No doubt some of us may have invisioned similar deviations, in general, from the common place but thinking about it and doing it are two different things! You guys did it, and nicely! Cool! :D
 
I must admit that is some serious pice of engineering.
Is the body one with the head?


Benny
 

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