9+hr burners... SF E2L vs. Olight T20Q5 level 3 vs. Fenix T1 med

Hi,
I, like most of us I am sure, have really been enjoying reading (and even posting a couple) of the new bright led reviews. But I thought it might be neat to post some beamshots of a comparison of a light meant to simply run for a long time - the Surefire E2L Outdoorsman (which Chao measured at over 9 hours in regulation) and two lights with multiple levels set to give at least 9 hours of runtime. For these I chose the Olight T20Q5 set on level 3, which x2x3x2 gave over 9 hours in regulation in his review....and the Fenix T1 set on regular, which x2x3x2 actually marked at over 12 hours in regulation. Just for fun, I put my old e2e with the MN02 bulb, rated at 2.5 hours by Surefire into the mix.

First, a couple of pics of the lights. I just received the Surefire E2L Outdoorsman with its KX2 Cree head today from Batteryjunction. I was really nervous about buying this light. I bought it because I had just had some expensive Chinese lights give me some problems, and I wanted to get back to an American product. I also wanted a simple... forward switch, tough, decently bright and loonnng running light. The e2l is no barnburner to be sure, but it is bright. Its spill, while no where near as bright as the spill on the Olight, is usable and surprisingly more than adequate to get the job done. It will work around the house, or walking a trail. It has a nice medium size spot. It also has a nice warm (Fenix R100) type tint. I actually really like its beam.

Anyway, here it is next to my well used e2e.


Next, here is the E2L next to the Olight and T1



I took some close beamshots of each of the lights at f/7.2 to attempt to show their spillbeams decently and not just the spot. Again, both the Olight and Fenix are on their medium levels, plus the MN02 bulb of the e2e.

First, the MNO2 rated at 2.5 hours.


Now the Olight T20



Now the E2L


Now the Fenix T1 on Regular



Now for some outdoor beamshots. The camera was set at f/2.8 at 2 seconds. Light balance was set to daylight. The target was about 19 yards away.

First the e2e with the MN02 bulb.


Next, The Olight level 3


The E2L KX2 Cree


The Fenix T1 regular


And for perspective, the T1 High


All lights were using Panasonic or SF 123a primaries. If you have looked at my other reviews, all my back yard beamshots were always taken at 1 second, not 2 like in this review.

The verdict: The E2L was worth getting. I see myself carrying it with the T1 for my EDC lights. The T1 is more versatile, but it is also a good chunk wider and heavier than the E2L. The E2L will let me have a light that should always have hours of burn time on it without really ever needing to worry about using rechargeables for cost. Its much brighter than I thought it would be, and it does not leave me with tunnel vision like I was afraid it would. Its beam is also of a much more pleasing color than the Olight's. (keep in mind the Olight can be much brighter than the e2l on level one, but it has a colder beam and a reverse clicky for downsides)

If you have a old e2e just sitting around collecting dust, buy the KX2 head. I think you will find yourself using your light again. Even if you don't, it is a good buy for a tough, no worries about working (or batteries quickly going dead for that matter) light. I would not want it to be my only light, but I am happy to have it as my backup.

Thanks for reading!

What did you use to resize your pictures? They're kinda pixelated. No big deal, though.

Thanks for the beamshots and tests.

Normally I shoot at 3megapixels and than re-size on flickr. Often my size choice is slightly smaller than 640x480, so this time I thought I would shoot with the camera set to 640x480 and just make everything simpler. I won't do that again... oh well.

Hopefully, you can still get a decent idea of what each light will light up. Just understand that most of the plants in new MEXICO don't usually stairstep up and out.

edit:
Also, My slr died (when it fell off a cliff- I am patiently waiting for Fenix to come out with the T-slr) so I am using a cheap 6mp Fuji point and shoot. It warned me that it was having trouble with its autofocus in the light these lights provided. I could see more than well enough with the lights, the camera's sensor just needed more light, and it does not offer manual focus.

I have used the e2l between 2-3 hours now. It is amazing to me to think that it still has 2/3+ of batterylife still in it.