Hi guys,
This is the third thread I have started this afternoon and all three are somewhat related. This is about a new light I personally think is pretty cool but I also think it has a small niche of potential interest. It is essentially a Mule but with a bit more focus and more attention to color rendering at the expense of flux or lumen output.
It is a titanium morph of the Aleph McMule and it is shown in comparison to an Aleph McMule which also hosts the same light engine as the SunDrop.
The light engine has a Nichia 083 High CRI LED as the light source and this is the significant element.
So why the name SunDrop? Well need some kind of name first and foremost. I designed a custom sapphire lens to aid in condensing the flood beam of the Nichia and the intent is to get a drop of sunlight on the target when the target can't be viewed under the sun itself. The lens itself looks like a drop and the name just seemed appropriate if not to ambitious.
The light engine:
The light:
To give a comparison of the SunDrop VS an Aleph McMule hosting a Nichia 083 High CRI LE, I took the two shots below:
Although the photos don't agree with what I am about to state, the tints from both of these lights are actually very similar to the point of seeming the same when both lights are used in a ceiling bounce. The SunDrop does have a corona or thin band about its perimeter which you can see in the shot above. This band does not grow much thicker though as the beam or spot increases in diameter as you back away from the target.
I think there is a net gain or value in providing the beam comparison above but it would really help to show a comparison with the sources further from the target as well. This is something I may get around to doing but candidly, I want to get some information down and in print and then get busy making some lights instead of talking about them!
The SunDrop first article next to an Aleph McMule hosting a sister LE:
You can see looking into the mule head how the MCPCB is flush with the mating surface in the head. I wanted the LE to work in the Aleph McMule and designed it accordingly and then designed the SunDrop head to be host to the LE as well as get the lens as close as possible to the top of the LED. The diameter of the lens was dictated by the needed circle under it to accommodate both the LED and its lead wires. There is a lot of interrelated geometry at play here and it was kind of confusing trying to come up with some solutions that would be modular and versatile beyond one application.
The Nichia LED is about half the flux of a contemporary Cree or Seoul LED. There is a price to pay in going for better color rendition and in many cases, I doubt the price is justified. In others, I believe it certainly is. If you want to cook some meat on the BBQ, the SunDrop can be real handy, IMHO! If you want to gauge a sunburn, again, nice to have the color rendition. If you need to identify a bunch of different colored wires a light like this might indeed prove helpful.
The SunDrop is vapor at this point but it isn't necessarily vapor for too long. I already have some Ti McClickie paks set aside for a wave and I expect the heads within a week. I do have to build the LE's though. At this point, the only converter I have available is a NexGen which is possibly the right choice for at least some of these lights. A buck/boost would be preferred by some folks I understand and even a buck/boost with multi level output would have some appeal. I have converters that meet these descriptions in the works from a couple new sources but no idea on ultimate viability or any ETA. The 083-D can which is the base of the SunDrop LE can host any number of .550" diameter converters. What I will use beyond an anticipated small first wave where I will use NG330's is still to be determined.....
I should add that the Nichia 083 is a 350 mA max part or 1 watt device.
This is the third thread I have started this afternoon and all three are somewhat related. This is about a new light I personally think is pretty cool but I also think it has a small niche of potential interest. It is essentially a Mule but with a bit more focus and more attention to color rendering at the expense of flux or lumen output.
It is a titanium morph of the Aleph McMule and it is shown in comparison to an Aleph McMule which also hosts the same light engine as the SunDrop.
The light engine has a Nichia 083 High CRI LED as the light source and this is the significant element.
So why the name SunDrop? Well need some kind of name first and foremost. I designed a custom sapphire lens to aid in condensing the flood beam of the Nichia and the intent is to get a drop of sunlight on the target when the target can't be viewed under the sun itself. The lens itself looks like a drop and the name just seemed appropriate if not to ambitious.
The light engine:
The light:
To give a comparison of the SunDrop VS an Aleph McMule hosting a Nichia 083 High CRI LE, I took the two shots below:
Although the photos don't agree with what I am about to state, the tints from both of these lights are actually very similar to the point of seeming the same when both lights are used in a ceiling bounce. The SunDrop does have a corona or thin band about its perimeter which you can see in the shot above. This band does not grow much thicker though as the beam or spot increases in diameter as you back away from the target.
I think there is a net gain or value in providing the beam comparison above but it would really help to show a comparison with the sources further from the target as well. This is something I may get around to doing but candidly, I want to get some information down and in print and then get busy making some lights instead of talking about them!
The SunDrop first article next to an Aleph McMule hosting a sister LE:
You can see looking into the mule head how the MCPCB is flush with the mating surface in the head. I wanted the LE to work in the Aleph McMule and designed it accordingly and then designed the SunDrop head to be host to the LE as well as get the lens as close as possible to the top of the LED. The diameter of the lens was dictated by the needed circle under it to accommodate both the LED and its lead wires. There is a lot of interrelated geometry at play here and it was kind of confusing trying to come up with some solutions that would be modular and versatile beyond one application.
The Nichia LED is about half the flux of a contemporary Cree or Seoul LED. There is a price to pay in going for better color rendition and in many cases, I doubt the price is justified. In others, I believe it certainly is. If you want to cook some meat on the BBQ, the SunDrop can be real handy, IMHO! If you want to gauge a sunburn, again, nice to have the color rendition. If you need to identify a bunch of different colored wires a light like this might indeed prove helpful.
The SunDrop is vapor at this point but it isn't necessarily vapor for too long. I already have some Ti McClickie paks set aside for a wave and I expect the heads within a week. I do have to build the LE's though. At this point, the only converter I have available is a NexGen which is possibly the right choice for at least some of these lights. A buck/boost would be preferred by some folks I understand and even a buck/boost with multi level output would have some appeal. I have converters that meet these descriptions in the works from a couple new sources but no idea on ultimate viability or any ETA. The 083-D can which is the base of the SunDrop LE can host any number of .550" diameter converters. What I will use beyond an anticipated small first wave where I will use NG330's is still to be determined.....
I should add that the Nichia 083 is a 350 mA max part or 1 watt device.
