Reflections on the McFlood - beam shotz

I've been looking for ways to improve on the NX05 optic lately and have been very satisfied with the results I've achieved. But, even though I can get much smoother, more even beams, the overall size and dispertion angle of the beam remains the same.

In the midst of all my testing, a kind and generous fellow CPF'er offered me the opportunity to test the McFlood reflectors. I had seen the McFlood while surfing for flashlight parts, but never really knew enough about them to really jump at getting one.

All I can say is Wow! I can't believe I never discovered these before!

They are a perfect fit for any Luxeon mod that uses a stock collimator. They can fit in LS/o's since they have the same lip, or even in a Brinkmann or Mini-mag AA.

In the photo below are a pair of nearly identicle Brinkmann 3AA batwing mods (built from the same reel). The light on the left sports an NX05 collimator, and the McFlood is on the right. The lights were placed about 8 inches from the wall as this was the best comparison that the camera could pick up. Regretfully, beam color is about all that was properly reproduced by the camera. A new digi-cam is in the works, so yall won't have to put up with my crappy pix much longer..



The thing that's most striking about these reflectors is how they can create a "whole new flashlight" out of an identicle twin. I have yet to find any other solution that creates such a smooth evenly distributed beam. The McFlood seems to turn the beam "inside out" in a way that improves the color dramatically. These two luxeons looked the same color before the McFlood was installed. I'm thinking this reflector will be useful for times when I get a Luxeon that has a blotch or color defect.

What the photo really can't convey are the many uses for this light. Make no mistake about it, you won't be using the McFlood at ranges greater than 8 feet. But while the McFlood gives up range, it TOTALLY dominates the close task uses for a flashlight. The light can be easily used at ranges of just a few inches up to a few feet and still get an even light spill.

This light is ideal for working in small areas - like from inside of computers all the way to under the hood of a car. A person can now actually use a luxeon up close without an uncomfortably bright hotspot. Here's a shot of everyone's favorite book in a completely dark garage holding the light about 14 inches away..



In my tests I tried an SE, batwing, and lambertian emitter. The SE thew an even wider flood than the batwing, but with artifacts. The batwing is my favorite as it makes a smooth, even disk of light with a corona, The lambertian exhibited a beam similar to the batwing, but also included a slightly pronounced hotspot. You won't have to waste lux on diffusive lens coatings with the McFlood either.

You can find them here - about halfway down the page..

The best way I can sum up the McFlood is to say that any halfway serious Luxeon modder should try at least one.. It will give you a kind of light that you probably never had before. The more I use this light, the more I like it. I might also add that I'm the kind of person who likes tools that are specifically suited to a task. I have plenty of oustanding long range lights, now I have one that kicks a$$ at short range too.

Slick,
Nice review and photos! Like you, I have applications were broad, even light distribution is what is needed, not a narrow beam. That Don is sure one prolific modder.

Slick,

Great review! Thanks for taking the time and articulating so well! I can't tell you how pleased I am of your comments; not because I designed the reflector but more importantly because I concur with your findings. I feel that touting a flood beam as having real merit on CPF is some what going against the tide.

Lost somewhere in the archives is a thread where I made the analogy that for me, I wanted a light source to be an objective reporter or illuminator of what was at hand. Frankly, I consider any rings, dark spots AND hot spots to be artifacts which can bias the information that is returned. Further, your comment on task specific tools is right on the money, IMHO.

Lately, I have been trying various methods of photon management to try to take the yield from the Luxeons and focus into a spot beam with some throw. Once I had the McFlood reflector available, I was satisfied that I had a viable solution for in close light disbursement. I don't have tactical needs for light and most often need to illuminate areas and objects relatively close at hand. Because of this, I always have a McLux with a flood reflector on my person. I will also take a light with throw with me if I leave my "base of operation" (house, garage or car) I have plenty of lights that can throw located throughout my "base of operation" - something to do with flashaholisim.

For permanent light installations, I venture to guess that flood lights are used more often than spot lights. I would think that for portable light, the flood would have more air time than seems to be the case. For awesome beam shots and cool bright spots on the wall, the big guns come out; kind of like showing off your biggest pipe wrench, hammer or drill motor. In reality, very often the proper tool isn't the biggest or most powerful. Flashlights are no exception. Light, like any tool is used skillfully by those who understand it and need it. Would someone consider replacing all of the house lighting with high wattage spot lights? I don't think so. If you are in a dark room with a powerful flashlight and want to get a take of what's at hand, I wonder how many folks would consider pointing the powerful flashlight at the ceiling to provide diffused and reflected light through out the room as opposed to scanning the room with a bright spot that is sensory overloading on the returned image and leaves most of the area in darkness.

Flashlights are cool tools that can be appreciated as such but also USED cleverly with very satisfying results. I guess it boils down to a simple question of do you want to see the beam or do you want the beam to allow you to see. If the latter, a flood of even light is often the right thing to have.

Sorry I rambled on your thread.

- Don

Also, while I haven't had a chance to confirm it personally (My BB400 is enroute from California to sunny New Jersey), according to dat2zip's site, the acrylic 1/2 balls combined with the McFlood make for a light with excellent throw. So a light with a McFlood might make for a light that provides the best of both worlds.

Entropy,

I wouldn't call it the best of both worlds as the hemi-sphere or convex/plano lens on top of the flood does have some distinct rings of light on the perimiter. However, you may find that the center spot is a good even disbursement of light and will probably throw farther than the collimator with the exception of the very center hot spot in collimator. For my normal usage, I prefer the flood and would rather add an attachment for throw as opposed to using a focused beam with a light shaper on it most of the time. Key again is different tools for different jobs and each of us have different needs.

- Don

Originally posted by darell:
Now, just wait until you guys see the flashlight for which the McFlood was originally created....

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">And what, pray tell, might THAT $125 wunderkind be?

Originally posted by darell:

Now, just wait until you guys see the flashlight for which the McFlood was originally created....

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">
When? where?

I'll put in my $0.02..

I replaced the NX05s in my Mag3D double LS/O conversion with McFlood reflectors, and the end result is a true floodlight which really lights up a room.
The beams combine perfectly, and give a really even floodlight. I can stand on one side of the room, and with this light the whole other side of the room is brightly and evenly lit. It really makes a good area light.
I was originally a spotlight fanatic, and loved nice tight beams with a long throw, but after playing with these reflectors I understood just how truly practical they are compared with a narrower beam profile - I'm converted!

Mind you, the intended home for the McFlood is quite a piece of work, in itself...

Graham

i rather like its intended home also...

[No message]

For me, I concur totally with everything that has been said about the flood reflector (McFlood).

Another great side benefit is that the Luxeon generates quite different whites in what I see as three distint cases.

1) The bare emitter shining on a bare piece of paper in the 1" to 8" range. A grade 2 Luxeon will have different rings of shades of green typically.

2) The same emitter with the NX05. For whatever is happening with the optics and LED combination, the center hot spot tends to whiten out, but, you still can have some darker green bands than in case 1.

3) Using the Flood reflector. The whole uniform beam pattern tends to move towards bluish in color. I don't why this is, but, rarely do I see any of the green that is dominant in cases 1 and 2 above. So, not only do you get a great wide uniform even beam, but, the blending of the light output tends to shift away from showing the puke green effect.

This may or may not be true, but, it seems to me from my observations that that is what I see when I have coupled the flood with the Luxeon.

It's is the ideal EDC for me since I tend to almost exclusively use it to find my freeking BIG LEDs I keep dropping in the carpet.

Wayne

Thanks DougS.. and Don, you can ramble all you like in any thread I write! Just keep turning out those reflectors, you've got a winner.

I'm glad that I was able to articulate (at least somewhat) the benefits the McFlood has to offer. It's so much like having a whole new light that I really think modders who haven't discovered it yet will be truely impressed. And yes, I guess that I did feel like it was "going a little against the grain" to hype a product that's not about improving lux readings.

I've been toting around a 2AA mod with a red/orange for the past few days, and I'm a likin' it real well!

Don:

My McFlood is in a minimag with a BB500 and sits in my car's console box. It is a pleasure reading with it or trying to find anything that might be on the floor. It made me appreciate how counterproductive hot spots are inside a car.

You can simulate the problem of a tight-beamed flashlight in its extreme by using a laser pointer to find something in a dark room.

I also like a good flood beam. It makes a much better reading light that way. That is one reason I do love my inretech light. If I turn it on normally, it produces a decent spot, but if I want a nice flood light, I just unscrew the head completely off. It seems to produce a whiter light than even my 2AA flourescent from Radio Shack, and has a wider angle beam.

I will bet everyone has already gone to sleep tonight, but... there is one more tiny mod that seemed to further enhance the McFlood's that I recently purchased from the Samich shop. I think that is a Donism, "Samich shop" but it's hard to keep up with you guys, anyway... the Semichrome Polish treatment on the reflector seems to give it some more punch! When in doubt, make it more shiny!!! I have done that to the two BB400's that Dat2zip sent me and they are great lights for general work, I placed them in a standard Mag with the Mineral lens that you can order from Dat2zip. I can't believe it, but I actually went out and bought 2 new Mags to utilize all the goodies purchased from Wayne. Great stuff!!!

I have to agree that the McFlood adds a new dimension to LS-based lights - it turns them into quasi-fluorescent lanterns!

The useful spread beam you get from a McFlood is akin to that of a CCFL or fluorescent light and is far more practical for work at close quarters (eg. in the tent, walking around, under the hood).

This is the optics option I pick when I'm actually intending to do some real work and not just impressing folks with a spot (not that the NX05 actually throws a spot ).

Originally posted by Aluminum Junkie:
there is one more tiny mod that seemed to further enhance the McFlood's that I recently purchased from the Samich shop. I think that is a Donism, "Samich shop" but it's hard to keep up with you guys, anyway... the Semichrome Polish treatment on the reflector seems to give it some more punch!

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hey AJ, I never heard this before! You can bet I'll be trying it. Thanks for contributing this to the thread

To avoid having to strain myself with coming up with my own word-smithing, I'll just quote Don from a while ago: I'd rather find what I was looking for than SEARCH for what I'm looking for.

And that sums it all up. A wide beam is simply more practical for MY USE because it lights up the entire area, and I don't have to wave the bright spot around searching. The bright spot, in fact, often makes the corona useless because of the sensory overload. There are times when I'd like the light to penetrate a bit farther, but far more often, the wide beam is what works the best. Reading anything with a McFlooded beam is fantastic. You'll never go back to the optics!

The problem is, as Don again points out, this is like swiming upstream. Nobody is impressed with a light that doesn't paint a bright spot on the wall at 50'. That is the measure of a good light in the public's eye. Here I have a $125 light that won't even hit the ceiling in ambient daylight - but it is SO much more useful to me than one that will. I'm used to people just shaking their heads when they see what excites me, so I'm not too put out.

No, the refector is not for everybody, but for certain tasks, it is the ANSWER. Ever tried to look for something in a tight spot (like in an engine compartment or behind the stove)? Usually the light is just a few inches or a foot away from what you're looking for, and you don't know where to point the light (or can't point it there). The flood is the ANSWER. For zero to 10' the flood rules, and that's where I do probably 90% of my flashing.

Now, just wait until you guys see the flashlight for which the McFlood was originally created....

Yep, Badboy500 in Mini-mag with McFlood, mineral glass, kroll switch and NiMHs. That's about the perfect task light. Thank you Sandwich Shop!

Other points about the McFlood. I figure it aids in heat transport away from the LED. It is not exactly the same dimensions as the standard optic. I have found that if I swap it out for the NX05 in my Mini-mag with the glued on head, the NX05 pushes the module down more and the light goes out. The Surefire K1 with the beam shaper gives an even more perfect white flood, but is more concentrated. Ofcourse the beam shaper over the McFlood is also nice but not worth the extra trouble. Unfortionately, the Surefire beam shaper lens does not fit in the Mini-mag bezel.