Lumen question...

BruPri

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I recently purchased Mega Micro Diamond Dragon, John has been great and support is exceptional. This is a quality product and I have nothing but praise for the company. My question is about lumens and if the MMDD is described as over 400 lumen light output, how much brighter say should I expect it to be than my
Surefire Digital 2 Ultra(100 lumens) on high? As I told John, they are almost identical in brightness and he suggested perhaps the DD is not performing correctly. Fresh, tested SF123A 3V batteries in both lights.

Part deux, I have the option of a P7 version, anyone care to share their experiences with this light and their opinions on DD or P7


thanks,
BruPri
 

MrGman

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It should definitely be noticeably brighter. Can you take pics at a fixed exposure to show the difference in brightness of both? If the exposure is "fixed" they will definitely not light up the area the same.
 

BruPri

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Gman, I'll do that, I've seen some shots on the site. Would it be advisable take one pic, with beams side by side or two separate pics, one for each light? We'll see, perhaps the U2 is just "overachieving"

More to come,
thanks,
 

Gunner12

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Does the light have a buck driver(I don't remember reading it on the thread)?

If yes, then the LED isn't being driven that hard(well, not driven at all by the driver, essentially directly connected to the battery) and has a lower output.

400 lumen vs 100 lumen, presuming the same beam pattern it should appear around 2x brighter.
 

BruPri

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Here's what the description states:

Mega Micro - the world's brightest single 1 x CR123 tactical light
Specifications
T7075 aluminum
HA olive drab
Chem kote interior
AR coated mineral glass lens
Cut down 27mm orange peel reflector
Converter - SC1500 = roughly 25 minutes regulated
LED - Diamond Dragon - LUW W5AP-NY-5C or SSC-P7-DSWOI
Approximately, over 400 lumen light output
Single mode on/off twisty
Serial number milled into body
1 x CR123 or RCR123 rated at 3.1 volts

I took beamshots however I then realized one needs a picture host to link to so for now I can only tell you the dual 123A U2 that's supposedly rated at 100 lumens is actually slightly brighter than the MMDD with its single 123A which is why I originally wanted to know if measurement criteria vary or my particular MMDD is not operating as described.
 

BruPri

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U2half.JPG.w300h225.jpg
U2full.JPG.w300h225.jpg

the first shot is the U2 at 1/2 power on the left, MMDD on the right
the second is the U2 at full power, MMDD on the right....
 

MrGman

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Feb 6, 2007
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that sure doesn't look good for the mmdd. Try and take individual shots and don't cut off too much of the spill. Make the exposure for SF ultra first figure out a good manual setting to see it for what it is, don't change that exposure setting at all. Must be in manual mode where you set the f Stop and shutter speed or this is all meaningless. Then take the pic of the mmdd with that same setting as the ultra at the exact same distance. But make sure we get a good amount of the spill to compare, not just mostly hot spot. If you have to use the ceiling, its okay. If you really can't see that much of a difference than that MMDD isn't anywhere near 400 lumens. The camera should see 4 times more light as a 2 f stop difference in exposure level. If it doesn't, then it aint. G.
 

BruPri

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Ok...I took these both F2.8 on manual setting...
the first is the U2, second the Micro-Mega Diamond Dragon...which appears to be a-draggin':mecry:
U2F2.JPG.w300h225.jpg

MMDDF2.JPG.w300h225.jpg
 

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