I came to the light...
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,059
Since the numbers have been posted many times, there's not much point in my posting lux measurements, etc, even if I had a lux meter. But I'll try to add a few things - personal opinion, impressions, comparisons - that aren't evident even with all the numbers.
I have owned a Tiablo A9 Q5 and MA6, and currently own only the latter. I think the MA6 is really where Tiablo pulled its act together (in terms of throwers) - it has all the great qualities of the A9, and none of its quirks. I've had my MA6 for about a month now. In a few words, it's really a miracle that in such a small package I can always have all the light I need. But that's nothing new here, so I'll start being pickier
from the packaging to the head down:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Packaging and Accesories <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The light came in Tiablo's blue/white MA6 box, which I like a lot better than their old black box because the black coating is easy to scrape away, leaving silver marks. Needless to say my A9's box had many silver marks when it arrived.
The light comes with instructions, spare o-rings, a GITD switch cover, a tactical clicky switch, a holster, and a lanyard. I am using the GITD switch cover and the multimode switch, but it is still nice to have the tactical switch w/ momentary on. The holster is useful, although slightly inconvenient as the bezel only just barely fits in. The lanyard is well made and very useful - most of the time I have it on.
The instructions are acceptable. They are easy to understand and with one exception very thorough, but could be much more fluent. There are no errors that get in the way of understanding, but it is kind of annoying. The one thing they left out is how to change the switch and reflector. I delayed for a week because I thought I need a special tool, before I heard it was loose enough I could just use tweezers.
One of the things I like most about this light are the options - it's impossible to be disappointed unless you don't like the size. The only complaint I have about options is that the clip should be detacheable and stronger. More on that later.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Build Quality <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The clip is only a nuisance for me. It's strong enough to hold the light securely only if it has the increased tension of gripping something thicker than a jeans pocket, and since that's all I would use it for, it is useless to me. The clip ring provides a great grip, but it is a bit uncomfortable for me to reach my pinky down to grip it.
The bezel is not crenellated, which isn't a big deal either way. I would have preferred a crennelated bezel because it makes it obvious if the light is on when standing on its bezel, but I would probably prefer non-crenellated if I didn't pamper my light as much as I do because of the extra protection to the lens. Then again, I had to resort to the A9 to take my avatar pic
The praise I've heard most often and most enthusiastically for Tiablo is how beautiful their lights are. The MA6 keeps perfectly along with that tradition with absolutely perfect black type III annodizing and smooth lettering. That's what makes this light addictive - I don't know if I could love an older DBS as much even with its higher output.
The only real problem with this light is the loose reflector. The story is simple - Tiablo didn't permanently secure the reflector in order to make it replaceable, and their non-permanent means of securing it doesn't work well enough. The reflector is secured by screwing in a ring behind it, pressing it into place. But the ring tends to come loose. When the light first arrived it rattled whenever I shook it, and I couldn't find the cause. A week or so later I got around to fully disassembling the light, and found that the retainer ring was loose, and it was the reflector moving vertically that was rattling. I screwed the ring in and the rattling stopped. But just recently I found the ring loose again, although not enough to rattle.
All threads on my MA6 came well lubed. For waterproofing, there is a single GITD o-ring between the lens and head, a single o-ring between the bezel and body, and two between the body and tailcap. Some have complained the the GITD o-ring isn't visible, but it is because of its reflection in the reflector. Speaking of complaints about GITD, the GITD tailcap and o-ring work perfectly, contrary to some - they are bright enough at first to be seen with vision adjusted to a 200 lumen beam, and glow visibly for night-adapted vision for many hours. I think the tailcap is the only place with double o-rings because of its more frequent use.
The body is one piece from the bezel down to the tailcap (the head is not detacheable), making it more waterproof than many-piece lights like the A9. The kurling is perfect for me - it isn't agressive enough to be able to cause any problems, but has enough grip so make it easy to hold the light and unscrew the tailcap.
The battery tube is thinner than the A9's, which I personally like because it is more comfortable in my hand and more secure with CR123s.
I like the fact that the switch is protruding. It makes it far easier to press than the A9's switch. And, personally, I can't see any reason to try to tailstand an A9 or MA6 - the large bezel makes it very unstable anyway.
As for actual sturdiness, I can't say I have tested it much. The light has been dropped onto the edge of a sidewalk from about 5' once, and the annodizing isn't even scratched. The light feels very study after tightening the retaining ring, but I'm not about to abuse a $90 light
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Output <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
And finally to the drive behind all these fanatics The output is great - noticeably brighter than my L2D Q5. This was my first high output thrower, and it really amazed me that I could blind myself with this light by looking at its hotspot on the wall!
This light's slightly looser hotspot is not noticeable indoors, but only at a distance. So I still get the harsh spot at at ten feet, but at around a hundred I get a much more comfortable spot than the A9 gives me. I'd put the maximum range of this light at about 500 feet for night-adapted vision. This is noticeably less than my A9, but much more than any other light I own (that isn't saying much - my next best thrower is probably a 6D mag )
The medium level is a good all-around level, with very useful output for a decent runtime. The low is also fairly useful, but much too bright for many indoor tasks. A 10-20 lumen fourth mode, or adjusted low mode if necessary, would be very helpful.
I do have a serious complaint about the output - the default mode should be the low-med-high-SOS-strobe mode, not high-med-low. When the light looses power, like when it cuts off, it resets the mode. So if you're using it on high and its cuts off, you can't get to low mode and eke out enough light to get home.
Overall, I am very glad I bought this light. Looking back, my only regret is not getting the OP reflector too
I'll try to post beamshots comparing it to the A9 and L2D Q5 later. Sorry, white wall only, since I don't have a good place or setup for outdoor shots.
I have owned a Tiablo A9 Q5 and MA6, and currently own only the latter. I think the MA6 is really where Tiablo pulled its act together (in terms of throwers) - it has all the great qualities of the A9, and none of its quirks. I've had my MA6 for about a month now. In a few words, it's really a miracle that in such a small package I can always have all the light I need. But that's nothing new here, so I'll start being pickier
from the packaging to the head down: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Packaging and Accesories <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The light came in Tiablo's blue/white MA6 box, which I like a lot better than their old black box because the black coating is easy to scrape away, leaving silver marks. Needless to say my A9's box had many silver marks when it arrived.
The light comes with instructions, spare o-rings, a GITD switch cover, a tactical clicky switch, a holster, and a lanyard. I am using the GITD switch cover and the multimode switch, but it is still nice to have the tactical switch w/ momentary on. The holster is useful, although slightly inconvenient as the bezel only just barely fits in. The lanyard is well made and very useful - most of the time I have it on.
The instructions are acceptable. They are easy to understand and with one exception very thorough, but could be much more fluent. There are no errors that get in the way of understanding, but it is kind of annoying. The one thing they left out is how to change the switch and reflector. I delayed for a week because I thought I need a special tool, before I heard it was loose enough I could just use tweezers.
One of the things I like most about this light are the options - it's impossible to be disappointed unless you don't like the size. The only complaint I have about options is that the clip should be detacheable and stronger. More on that later.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Build Quality <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The clip is only a nuisance for me. It's strong enough to hold the light securely only if it has the increased tension of gripping something thicker than a jeans pocket, and since that's all I would use it for, it is useless to me. The clip ring provides a great grip, but it is a bit uncomfortable for me to reach my pinky down to grip it.
The bezel is not crenellated, which isn't a big deal either way. I would have preferred a crennelated bezel because it makes it obvious if the light is on when standing on its bezel, but I would probably prefer non-crenellated if I didn't pamper my light as much as I do because of the extra protection to the lens. Then again, I had to resort to the A9 to take my avatar pic
The praise I've heard most often and most enthusiastically for Tiablo is how beautiful their lights are. The MA6 keeps perfectly along with that tradition with absolutely perfect black type III annodizing and smooth lettering. That's what makes this light addictive - I don't know if I could love an older DBS as much even with its higher output.
The only real problem with this light is the loose reflector. The story is simple - Tiablo didn't permanently secure the reflector in order to make it replaceable, and their non-permanent means of securing it doesn't work well enough. The reflector is secured by screwing in a ring behind it, pressing it into place. But the ring tends to come loose. When the light first arrived it rattled whenever I shook it, and I couldn't find the cause. A week or so later I got around to fully disassembling the light, and found that the retainer ring was loose, and it was the reflector moving vertically that was rattling. I screwed the ring in and the rattling stopped. But just recently I found the ring loose again, although not enough to rattle.
All threads on my MA6 came well lubed. For waterproofing, there is a single GITD o-ring between the lens and head, a single o-ring between the bezel and body, and two between the body and tailcap. Some have complained the the GITD o-ring isn't visible, but it is because of its reflection in the reflector. Speaking of complaints about GITD, the GITD tailcap and o-ring work perfectly, contrary to some - they are bright enough at first to be seen with vision adjusted to a 200 lumen beam, and glow visibly for night-adapted vision for many hours. I think the tailcap is the only place with double o-rings because of its more frequent use.
The body is one piece from the bezel down to the tailcap (the head is not detacheable), making it more waterproof than many-piece lights like the A9. The kurling is perfect for me - it isn't agressive enough to be able to cause any problems, but has enough grip so make it easy to hold the light and unscrew the tailcap.
The battery tube is thinner than the A9's, which I personally like because it is more comfortable in my hand and more secure with CR123s.
I like the fact that the switch is protruding. It makes it far easier to press than the A9's switch. And, personally, I can't see any reason to try to tailstand an A9 or MA6 - the large bezel makes it very unstable anyway.
As for actual sturdiness, I can't say I have tested it much. The light has been dropped onto the edge of a sidewalk from about 5' once, and the annodizing isn't even scratched. The light feels very study after tightening the retaining ring, but I'm not about to abuse a $90 light
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Output <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
And finally to the drive behind all these fanatics
The output is great - noticeably brighter than my L2D Q5. This was my first high output thrower, and it really amazed me that I could blind myself with this light by looking at its hotspot on the wall! This light's slightly looser hotspot is not noticeable indoors, but only at a distance. So I still get the harsh spot at at ten feet, but at around a hundred I get a much more comfortable spot than the A9 gives me. I'd put the maximum range of this light at about 500 feet for night-adapted vision. This is noticeably less than my A9, but much more than any other light I own (that isn't saying much - my next best thrower is probably a 6D mag
)The medium level is a good all-around level, with very useful output for a decent runtime. The low is also fairly useful, but much too bright for many indoor tasks. A 10-20 lumen fourth mode, or adjusted low mode if necessary, would be very helpful.
I do have a serious complaint about the output - the default mode should be the low-med-high-SOS-strobe mode, not high-med-low. When the light looses power, like when it cuts off, it resets the mode. So if you're using it on high and its cuts off, you can't get to low mode and eke out enough light to get home.
Overall, I am very glad I bought this light. Looking back, my only regret is not getting the OP reflector too
I'll try to post beamshots comparing it to the A9 and L2D Q5 later. Sorry, white wall only, since I don't have a good place or setup for outdoor shots.
