Trustfire SST-50

[wolfy]

Just purchased a Trustfire SST-50, was intrigued by the low cost and similarity to the Jetbeam M1X. It came in today, and as I havent seen much in the forums about it, thought I might put up a couple pictures and a quick comparison.

So here is a couple pictures of it next to a Jetbeam M1X and the Thrunite Catapult V2, the two lights I have which are most similar.

Reflector view

The M1X and the Catapult have a better build quality, with better attention to detail, but for AU$88 (delivered) I think it looks pretty good.

As can be seen in the picture above, the Trustfire has a SMO solid aluminium reflector similar in shape to the M1X but smaller in diameter, the Catapult V2 is deeper but similar in diameter. The Trustfire has a fairly tight hotspot similar to the Catapult, but the spill of the M1X. Early indications suggest it out throws the M1X. The photo below was taken with exposure set to 2 stops under exposure, white balance it set to auto, Catapult V2 on left, Trustfire SST-50 and Jetbeam M1X on the right. PS: hotspot photo taken with lights almost 2m from the wall.

It runs between 6-12volts, with its body setup it can run on 4xCR123A or 2x18650, so the M1X has more battery options. There are five modes, High, Medium, Low, Strobe and SOS, all selectable by quickly turning the tailcap switch off and on (or half pressing it), and it remembers the last setting. The LED assembly is fairly easily removable, also the tailcap doesnt fit the the body with the extension removed so no 3xCR123A.

Im quite pleased I bought it now, cant expect more for AU$88.

 

[brted]

Thanks for taking a chance on this light and letting us know what you think. Any chance you could do some outdoor beam shots?

 

[wolfy]

Ill try get some beam shots on the weekend.

 

[jwyj]

déjà vu

ON mine, it appears that the reflector is not sitting tight on the pill. But yes, it is a good deal.

 

[shipwreck]

Thanks for the photos! lovecpf

 

[wolfy]

@jwyj: On mine the reflector seems to be practically touching the SST-50, and the SST-50 lens is protruding through into the reflector. On mine the SST-50 isnt perfectly centered though about 1/2mm from dead center.

Also pulls about 2.4 amps at the tailcap on high using 2x18650 Ultrafire 3000mAh protected cells.

 

[wolfy]

A few quick beamshots, that I promised (but a little late);

Beamshots against a wall from about 15m in following order, CatapultV2, JetbeamM1X & Trustfire ST-50 (Camera=A700, Shutter=1/10s, Aperture=F2.8, Whitebalance=Auto);

Beamshot onto a tree about 70m away, same order (Camera=D90, Shutter=5s, Aperture=F9, Whitebalance=Auto);

The order also reflects which is warmest to coolest, with the CatapultV2 being warmest, and the ST-50 the coolest (raw files suggest the following camera WB colour temp setting for the three as (A700/D90) 3850/4020, 3880/4120, 4000/4120).

I would say visually the Catapult has the best throw and least spill, with the ST-50 coming in second and followed by the M1X.

PS: Will try get some longer range shot this weekend.

 

[teomav]

Hi, ST-50 can operate with 3 batteries RCR 16340 ?

 

[wolfy]

Hi, ST-50 can operate with 3 batteries RCR 16340 ?

It works fine with 2x18650 and 4xCR123A (which is 12v), as input voltage is specified as 6-12v, and 3x16340 is under 12v. The only problem is you will need to use a blank to act as a spacer for the forth battery, though I have not tried this setup.

As mentioned in the description, the tailcap doesnt fit the the body with the extension removed (a design shortcoming in my opinion) so no 3xCR123A, so the only way to run with 3x16340 is to use a blank or find a tailcap switch which will fit with extension removed.

PS: OK just tried 3x16340 with blank, tested for a few minutes, and seems to work fine.
PSS: Tailcap current with 3x16340 reads just under 2A.

 

[teomav]

thanks for the detailed response. how quickly heated Trustfire st-50 compared with THRUNITE CATAPULT?

 

[wolfy]

I ran both the Trustfire ST-50 and the Catapult V2, in a room which was measured at 15 degrees celcius, and each one was run for 20min. I then measured the temperature of each at the head roughly where the LED is, after a 20min run on high.

Trustfire ST-50 was 36 degrees celcius
Catapult V2 was 30 degrees celcius

After the run, the Trustfire ST-50 did feel warmer than the Catapult V2. After letting them cool down for 15min, the ST-50 was still the warmer to touch.

Hope that helps.

PS: Batteries used on both were two freshly charged AW 2600 18650 protected cells.

PSS: I did a tail cap current test on both after they cooled down;
Catapult = 1.6A (using fresh cells 1.5A)
Trustfire = 2.5A (using fresh cells 2.4A)
My guess is the Catapult is running a more efficient driver. Stated by manufacturer, the Catapult is rated at 1000 emitter lumens, and the Trustfire is claimed to be 1300 emitter lumens.

 

[teomav]

thank you, the result satisfies me and I ordered the ST-50

 

[Brucolac]

I think I order one too, even tough Im here beacuse I want to make me some real lights instead of spending my gold at DX