Just Purchased: Lambda's Megaclops SE

S4MadMan · Jan 11, 2003

Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

I just purchased Lamba's new Megaclops SE, I'll have it sometime next week, should be fun.

I'll post some comparison pics thereafter.

Question: I'm looking to purchase a light meter to measure flashlights as well as automotive headlights. Any recommendations? Will the MeterMan LM631 suffice?

I rapidly becoming a Flashaholic, I also just picked up a Elektrolumens' Blaster, talking to Mr. Bulk on a few purchases, and comtemplating purchasing Inretech's Helios 6D and Mega 6D.

Thanks!

Lambda's For Sale Page

Elektrolumens' Sale Page

lambda · Jan 11, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

The Meter Man 631 is what I use, and I believe it's what Mr. Bulk and most of us have here on CPF.

I'll be looking forward to your impressions of the Megaclops SE; not your average LED flashlight..

MR Bulk · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

MEGAclops??? Wow, why have I not heard of this'n?

Waiting for the new owner's review with baited breath...

x-ray · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Lambda,

How does the new illuminator with side emitter (Item #0301) compare with the standard illuminator ?

Thanks

lambda · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Mr. B, but you have heard of it, only refered to as the 5W Cyclops. I wanted a unique name for it so there would be no confusion during sale. Also, Cyclops 5W is misleading, as when powered by the Mr. Bulk 6AA battery cartridge, it's actually running at about 10 watts.

X-Ray, the SE Illuminator is pure white. No blue tinted center with different color corona, no shades of green/blue/purple, or any of that. With the SE it's just pure white light from beam center to the edge. I'm still fiddling with the new converter design trying to work out the best set point for moon mode to kick in. This was one of the prototype converters I've been testing.

More to follow........

Icebreak · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

S4MadMan -

Congratulations.

S4MadMan · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Lambda: Thanks for the info on the MeterMan, I just ordered one.

Looks like I'm going to "have to" pick up a Lamdba Illuminator SE too...

Mr. Bulk: I will definitely post something though I'm a Newbie at all this. I just like bright flashy things.

Anything you want to know other than the usual, "WOW!!! This thing is bright!"?

Icebreak: thanks!

I feel like a kid at a candy store, this is so fun!

James Van Artsdalen · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Originally posted by lambda:
Mr. B, but you have heard of it, only referred to as the 5W Cyclops. I wanted a unique name for it so there would be no confusion during sale. Also, Cyclops 5W is misleading, as when powered by the Mr. Bulk 6AA battery cartridge, it's actually running at about 10 watts.

I assume the 5W "Cyclops" I bought a few weeks ago is really a Megaclops. This is a "spot" light, not a flood like all of the other LEDs. It is the equal or better of all of my incandescent lights except for the very best. Skipping the NX05 optics and using the reflector works incredibly well.

Is the 10W measured with Alkaline or NiMH?

S4MadMan · Jan 12, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

I assume the 5W "Cyclops" I bought a few weeks ago is really a Megaclops. This is a "spot" light, not a flood like all of the other LEDs. It is the equal or better of all of my incandescent lights except for the very best. Skipping the NX05 optics and using the reflector works incredibly well.

Is the 10W measured with Alkaline or NiMH?[/QB]

What are the very best incandescents?

I have a SureFire 9N = 140 lumens and a Streamlight SL-20X = 35,000 cp. Those are pretty bright for incans.

Please advise, thanks.

James Van Artsdalen · Jan 13, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Originally posted by S4MadMan:

What are the very best incandescents?

I have a SureFire 9N = 140 lumens and a Streamlight SL-20X = 35,000 cp. Those are pretty bright for incans.

Click to expand...

I should have worded it "my best incandescents".

I tried a TigerLight, a SF Z3 w/HOLA and the Megaclops.

The TigerLight is clearly brighter, has a larger spot and a longer throw. I can make out details further away. The Megaclops makes the TL's beam look a sickly yellow but TL is brighter.

The Z3 HOLA is rated at 200 lumens. It has a much larger spot than Megaclops, but Megaclops has a longer throw (!) and is of course a far whiter beam. At ranges the Z3 HOLA can reach it illuminates a far larger area: the Megaclops can only get a small part of the wall the Z3 HOLA covers completely. But, the Megaclops can find the mailbox three doors down that the Z3 HOLA cannot.

I consider the best handheld incandescent flashlights to be the SF M6 and 10X and both are going to clearly be brighter than Megaclops. But both are incredibly expensive to buy (and the M6 is the most expensive to operate that I know of) and dropping them is going to induce far more heart stress than dropping Megaclops.

I can't say which is best: that depends on usage and priorities. The TL presumably has a longer battery life and is probably the better overall choice. The Z3 is pocketable. Megaclop is cheaper (if available), more rugged and has a white beam. I have yet to run through a set of batteries in Megaclops (fresh bright batteries are more fun) so I'm not sure what the effective run time is.

All batteries fresh. Megaclops used 1.8 AH Maha NIMH.

This point should be stressed: it was worthwhile to compare lambda's single LED Megaclops against some top-rank incandescents. That's a remarkable achievement.

S4MadMan · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Originally posted by James Van Artsdalen:
I should have worded it "my best incandescents".

I tried a TigerLight, a SF Z3 w/HOLA and the Megaclops.

This point should be stressed: it was worthwhile to compare lambda's single LED Megaclops against some top-rank incandescents. That's a remarkable achievement.

Thanks for the very detailed review James, I greatly appreciate it.

Do you have a 5 watt or 10 watt MegaclopsSE?

The MegaclopsSE I purchased is overdriven to 10 watts. Lambda estimates ~4,500+ lux = ~418 lumens! If that's the case, that's incredible.

Both the 10x and M6 are rated at 500 lumens, that's certainly impressive.

Regardless, I'm going to compare these lights when I get receive them (hopefully tomorrow).

brightnorm · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Any runtime figures on the Mega?

Brightnorm

Nerd · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

S4MadMan. I don't think any reasonable driving will get the 5 watt to a 418 lumens.... at most you over drive it and get 240 lumens... anything above and you are asking for some serious troubles......

S4MadMan · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Nerd, please help me with the conversion. Lambda states an output of 4,500+ lux for the Megaclops SE. How many lumens does that translate into?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I used this formula:

lumens/square meter (lux) x 0.0929 = lumens/square foot (foot candles)

So 4,500 lux x 0.0929 = 418.05 lumens

Please advise as I'm very curious to know the conversions among lumens, lux, candlepower, mcds, etc... I searched online but can't get a definitive answer/correlation among all the units. Thank you.

FalconFX · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Well, all I know is it bodes that at a spec driven 5W LS, especially the white 5W LS, the output is 120 lumens; from Lumiled's spec sheet. Theoretically, doubling that to 10 Watts should double the lumens to 240.

And, with 9V input and only 1.1Amp draw, it's not nearly enough to generate 400+ lumens, something an M6 would best at 18V (true 9V) and over ~4.5Amp draw...

S4MadMan · Jan 14, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

I'm with ya Falcon, thanks, I know this. I'm just simply restating what Lambda posted.

Regardless, I should have the Megaclops SE tomorrow, I'll load 'er up and use my Light Meter and the mystery will be no more.

Thanks, you Guys are great help!

James Van Artsdalen · Jan 15, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

I've got the 6AA battery pack so I assume it's the 10W model.

I understand that there is a lot of variance between the light output of one Luxeon to the next, but 418 lumen seems hard to swallow.

There are a lot of things that a light-meter can't tell you. Take the lights out and annoy the neighbors: that's what I did.

It's not always obvious which is best: note that I said my Megaclops had a longer throw than my Z3 HOLA, not a better throw. Some people might say that since the illuminated area of the Z3 is so much larger than the Megaclops at 90% of the latter's range the Z3 has a "better" throw for them. And, of course, your particular Luxeon may be quite different.

The final test would be to test which can find animals at the greatest distance, either from eye reflections or movement, but the deer that are normally around won't stay put when I'm outdoors and there weren't any other animals I could see.

S4MadMan · Jan 15, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

James, I agree, 418 lumens is a lot.

Nerd · Jan 15, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

There is no way of converting from Candlepower to Lumens or Lux to Lumens or vice versa. Lumens = total amount of light given out. Put the collimator/reflector into the picture and you get some losses, how much you ask. But the thing is we don't know. Unless you measure it with one of those sphere thingys.. you won't know how many lumens your light is giving out. Lux is just amount of light per area right?

S4MadMan · Jan 15, 2003

Re: Just Purchased: Lambda\'s Megaclops SE

Originally posted by Nerd:
There is no way of converting from Candlepower to Lumens or Lux to Lumens or vice versa. Lumens = total amount of light given out. Put the collimator/reflector into the picture and you get some losses, how much you ask. But the thing is we don't know. Unless you measure it with one of those sphere thingys.. you won't know how many lumens your light is giving out. Lux is just amount of light per area right?

You are absolutely correct... in automotive lighting they talk about spherical lumens and there's no way we can measure that without one of those multi-million dollar machines Philips, Osram-Sylvania and other OEM companies have.

But I see different measurements from all sources when it comes to flashlights. I've seen lumens from Sure Fire, Candlepower from Streamlight, mcds and lux. There has to be some way of measuring/of comparing/of translating these numbers in a measurement we can compare.

For instance, I know my SureFire 9N = 140 lumens output. That's what SureFire says. But what's that in Lux, Candela, MCDs or CandlePower?

Just Purchased: Lambda's Megaclops SE

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