What's the cheapest GENUINE 500 lumens light?

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GaryH

Newly Enlightened
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Jan 27, 2010
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I'd like to buy a CHEAP new torch with a GENUINE 500 lumens output. What do you recommend? Any help much appreciated.

Cheers

Gary
 
I have only seen the Fenix TK40 MC-E, Solarforce P7 or MC-E, and Custom P7/MC-E or SST type builds.

Sorry,
but nothing production has been tested as true 500 plus OTF.:thumbsdow

See my thread for actual OTF lumens here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=260659
Here is MrGmans thread for other OTF lumens too:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=229135


Me an MrGman are the only un-bias folks that test for ACTUAL OTF lumens. You will notice that most of the 500 plus lumens lights are Custom. Sorry, but its is true. I think I tested one 5 Q5 DX type light that did in fact do 500 plus, but it is huge and floody with uggly beam to boot.
 
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buy a nailbender SST-90 drop-in, its rated at about 650+lumens and will run off 1x18650 for a good while. This is at least 500 otf lumens. Unfortunately you need a host as well, one with lots of metal for heat sinking, my surefire 6P bored out for the 18650 handles it perfectly....though prolly not as cheap as you were hoping, you'll stay under $200, it throws by brute force, mostly a wall of light, but there is so much of it that it goes a long ways, hotspot is huge and beautiful, best tint of any LED i own.
 
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SFG2Lman said:
buy a nailbender SST-90 drop-in, its rated at about 650+lumens and will run off 1x18650 for a good while. This is at least 500 otf lumens. Unfortunately you need a host as well, one with lots of metal for heat sinking, my surefire 6P bored out for the 18650 handles it perfectly....though prolly not as cheap as you were hoping, you'll stay under $200, it throws by brute force, mostly a wall of light, but there is so much of it that it goes a long ways, hotspot is huge and beautiful, best tint of any LED i own.
Click to expand...


If I am not mistaken Nailbender gets those 650plus lumens with a Fivemega 3C hosts and 3 NiMH C Cells. I think for more realistic OTF numbers a 6P type hosts with IMR or li-on 3.7v cells should be used. Just to make it fair because most of us on this forum are li-on fanatics not NiMH C or D cell nuts.:crackup:
 
the nailbender numbers are based on the current draw, mine draws 2.5A which is about perfect for 650+ it gets warm, but never hot, i ran it for 20 minutes and finger tested the pill, i could hold it in my hand with no discomfort, and this was running at 2.5A the whole time, so i don't think the host/batteries matter so much, the circuitry delivers the same current
 
Many thanks for your views. I like the Thrunite Catapult but wondered, probably being unrealistic, if there was anything cheaper.

Cheers

Gary
 
The Romisen RC-T6 BC tested did over 500 OTF, and was perfectly regulated through the 4 minute run.

1Sec = 564
30Sec = 562
1Min = 549
2Min = 535
3Min = 564
4Min = 569

$71 at KD
$58 at DX for the Q4 version
 
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My MG RX-1 mc-e measures 2.2A draw from battery, could it be near 500?
And then there are some $25 spiderfires with mc-e, but there's no current mentioned.
 
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SFG2Lman said:
the nailbender numbers are based on the current draw, mine draws 2.5A which is about perfect for 650+ it gets warm, but never hot, i ran it for 20 minutes and finger tested the pill, i could hold it in my hand with no discomfort, and this was running at 2.5A the whole time, so i don't think the host/batteries matter so much, the circuitry delivers the same current
Click to expand...


Nailbender has a 16.5in IS Sphere made and Calibrated by MrGman and I know how accurate it is. It can measure instant peak or 1 sec readings. It is true that NB gives his OTF readings based on the Curent draw at 2.5A/ SST-90, but then he uses the Fivemega hosts to get those awesome OTF numbers. I know this cause I asked him.:grin2:

The cool thing is that a regulated SST-90 at only 2.5A will be bright and hold its brightness longer than the Direct drive variants.
 
ITP A6 polestar maybe? As cheap as it gets. I wonder if those are 500 "real" lumens or not. Dunno!
 
i was at a police and emergency personel equipment demonstration about a year ago. we were up on a hilltop overlooking the city. It was dark outside and night vision equipment was being demo-ed. Cool stuff,, very cool and expensive. we took turns. Then out comes some lights. He had some nice LED lights.. i know not what brand or type because at the time I was not yet collecting lites so i was just enjoying how bright they were.. probably 200 lms or so.
Then out comes the mother of ALL lights. Held with 2 hands, aim it kinda like a shotgun. :bow: This thing put out a beam that shocked me. I used to have one of those "2 million candlepower" Brinkman spotlights a long time ago and thought I had used some powerful lights. I shone it on a house on the other side the field adjacent to us.. about 1/2 mile away. Did it light up the whole house?.. no sir it put an intense pencil beam on the house, about half the size of the house. Extremely focused. My jaw about dropped to the ground. I asked the guy how the hell does this thing work and he just said its ultra high precision optics and its range was in fact a couple miles. Everyone is oohing and awing and he says but dont drop it.. its $6000.00. I did a quick google to see if i can find it but could'nt.. someone here should know. ANYway, maybe you can find a used one for $200.:D
 
ballisticmike said:
i was at a police and emergency personel equipment demonstration about a year ago. we were up on a hilltop overlooking the city. It was dark outside and night vision equipment was being demo-ed. Cool stuff,, very cool and expensive. we took turns. Then out comes some lights. He had some nice LED lights.. i know not what brand or type because at the time I was not yet collecting lites so i was just enjoying how bright they were.. probably 200 lms or so.
Then out comes the mother of ALL lights. Held with 2 hands, aim it kinda like a shotgun. :bow: This thing put out a beam that shocked me. I used to have one of those "2 million candlepower" Brinkman spotlights a long time ago and thought I had used some powerful lights. I shone it on a house on the other side the field adjacent to us.. about 1/2 mile away. Did it light up the whole house?.. no sir it put an intense pencil beam on the house, about half the size of the house. Extremely focused. My jaw about dropped to the ground. I asked the guy how the hell does this thing work and he just said its ultra high precision optics and its range was in fact a couple miles. Everyone is oohing and awing and he says but dont drop it.. its $6000.00. I did a quick google to see if i can find it but could'nt.. someone here should know. ANYway, maybe you can find a used one for $200.:D
Click to expand...

Sounds like the Maxabeam, still over $2k from what I hear. But the new version is quite a bit brighter.
 
GaryH I think you're going to be really dissapointed if your criteria is simply "500 OTF" Lumens. The type of beam is much more important than the lumen output. Do you want a flood, thrower, general purpose?...is the most important consideration. I have a 150 lumen light that will outthrow my 500 lumen light, for example. The Reflector (size, beam pattern, texture) makes the biggest difference in how a light performs. It also determines how big the light is, and how easily carried it is. Lumen output is a secondary consideration. There are many lights in the 300-400 lumen range that will far outperform a 500 lumen light, depending on what purpose the light is intended.
 
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