Nitecore D10 brighter than Quark AA

joepa150 · Jan 30, 2010

So is the following statement true. All using same battery (say Eneloop). Brightest to least brightest on the highest setting.

Quark 123 R5 > Nitecore D10 R2 > Nitecore D10-Q5 > Quark AA R5 > Fenix LD10 > Quark AA R2

I am loosely basing this on these posts. I didn't even look at the claimed lumens.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/256685&highlight=Quark

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/233925

Also where would the Jetbeam Jet-I Pro V3 fit into the above comparison?

Henk_Lu · Jan 30, 2010

You watch too many beamshots!

Define brightness! Lumens? Lux? Subjective feelings?

choaticwhisper · Jan 30, 2010

Yes Beamshots don't really tell you how bright lights are.
I found these numbers from SelfBuilt's Thread
THESE ARE NOTE LUMENS, Just relitive numbers
Quark 123 79
NiteCore D10 (R2) 61
NiteCore D10 (Q5) 58
Fenix LD10 (Q5) 56
Quark AA (R2) 54
JetBeam Jet-I 53

Quark AA(R5) ??

joepa150 · Jan 30, 2010

Henk_Lu said:
You watch too many beamshots!

Define brightness! Lumens? Lux? Subjective feelings?

Man you got me on that o ne. I guess subjectice feelings

choaticwhisper said:
Yes Beamshots don't really tell you how bright lights are.
I found these numbers from SelfBuilt's Thread
THESE ARE NOTE LUMENS, Just relitive numbers
Quark 123 79
NiteCore D10 (R2) 61
NiteCore D10 (Q5) 58
Fenix LD10 (Q5) 56
Quark AA (R2) 54
JetBeam Jet-I 53

Quark AA(R5) ??

Thanks I will check this out.

jblackwood · Jan 30, 2010

Before I give you my feelings, let me give you my background so you know where I'm coming from: Flashaholic for one year. Absolutely loved the design of the D10 that I bought four more instantly, only one for me the other two to give away. I have lots of Quarks, at least one of each form factor. I don't like the clip, though, so I don't edc any Quarks, never have. Both my D10's have a tritium insert, which I find essential in an EDC. Only one has the clip installed, since it's the one I used to EDC.

Here are my subjective feelings on the subject:
Don't worry about brightness. My Quark AA is slightly brighter than my Q5 and a lot "brighter" than my GDP D10. That may only be because of the beam profile, though. The Q5 and Quark are the most comparable but (for once) the Quark wins out on tint. There's a hotspot, which I find a little annoying for most of my EDC uses. The GDP have a much more even beam profile but a violet tint. Even though the tint is sub par to both the Q5 and Quark AA and the GDP D10 isn't as bright as either light, the beam profile beats out both lights.

My point? You need to decide what most important to you. For me, the D10 beats out the Quark for ME based on form factor alone. Throw in my preference for its UI and you've got an obvious win for me . . . but my needs are my own. Everybody's got to decide for him or herself, so do you! Good luck.

alfreddajero · Jan 30, 2010

I dont have a Quark and yes i know i should have one.....i like my D10, had it since they first came out, it is okay on a nimh but even brighter on 14500. Its the best edc light that i have owned, its small well built and survived a torcher test from my daughter.

joepa150 · Jan 31, 2010

jblackwood said:
Before I give you my feelings, let me give you my background so you know where I'm coming from: Flashaholic for one year. Absolutely loved the design of the D10 that I bought four more instantly, only one for me the other two to give away. I have lots of Quarks, at least one of each form factor. I don't like the clip, though, so I don't edc any Quarks, never have. Both my D10's have a tritium insert, which I find essential in an EDC. Only one has the clip installed, since it's the one I used to EDC.

Here are my subjective feelings on the subject:
Don't worry about brightness. My Quark AA is slightly brighter than my Q5 and a lot "brighter" than my GDP D10. That may only be because of the beam profile, though. The Q5 and Quark are the most comparable but (for once) the Quark wins out on tint. There's a hotspot, which I find a little annoying for most of my EDC uses. The GDP have a much more even beam profile but a violet tint. Even though the tint is sub par to both the Q5 and Quark AA and the GDP D10 isn't as bright as either light, the beam profile beats out both lights.

My point? You need to decide what most important to you. For me, the D10 beats out the Quark for ME based on form factor alone. Throw in my preference for its UI and you've got an obvious win for me . . . but my needs are my own. Everybody's got to decide for him or herself, so do you! Good luck.

Since I never had anything other than a normal cheap flashlight, I don't knkow what UI I would like or prefer. From reading CPF, it seems that Quarks and Nitecore D10s are both popular but for some reason the D10s seem legendary. The D10s IMO look the nicest too.

tsask · Jan 31, 2010

joepa150 said:
Since I never had anything other than a normal cheap flashlight, I don't knkow what UI I would like or prefer. From reading CPF, it seems that Quarks and Nitecore D10s are both popular but for some reason the D10s seem legendary. The D10s IMO look the nicest too.

The "Old style" D10 (with "infinite" brightness settings) is built like a tank, like the curent version (with 3 pre set levels). IMHO the piston drive in the D10 is VERY stiff, hard to use with one hand .

My AA/ 2AA Quark in neutral tint is a winner across the board. The D10 feels a little beefier yet the Quark is more than adequate.

jblackwood · Jan 31, 2010

I've owned more than my fair share of D10's and they've all been fine to operate with one hand. Let me put it this way: even out of the box, without having to relube a D10, it's easier to use a piston drive with one hand by far than it is to screw and unscrew the head of ANY Quark, and I own at least one of each model, both tactical and regular. I can even unscrew the D10 for momentary operation easily with one hand, not to mention how quiet the D10's piston drive is.

alfreddajero · Jan 31, 2010

Its the aggresive knurling that allows for better one hand operation.......

jblackwood · Jan 31, 2010

Really? To me, the threads feel infinitely more smooth on all four D10's I've had (exchanged on, gave away another) than on any of the Quarks. Of course I'm comparing aluminum because if we got into the Ti Quarks (I have two), that's just murder on my wrists. Why can't 4sevens take a page from Don McCleish's book. Both my McGizmo's have buttery smooth threads and that's with the original Krytox he shipped them with.

pobox1475 · Jan 31, 2010

I want a D10 to EDC but am stuck on warm tints

.

yowzer · Jan 31, 2010

My D10 R2 is quite a bit brighter than my Quark AA, but since it's one of the XP-E Q3 neutral white run, that's not too surprising.

Another vote for a neutral D10 here. As it is, the D10 is my main EDC light, and nothing else I've used has even come close to taking its place... a NW tint would make it even closer to perfect (Along with a <1 lumen low, and longer ramping and/or a liteflux-style programmable UI.)

jslappa · Jan 31, 2010

pobox1475 said:
I want a D10 to EDC but am stuck on warm tints .

I purchased a D10 from a Euro CPF'r who swapped out the original LED for a beautiful Q3 5A. I pulled the pill and put it in a D10 Sunspot body. It is now my favorite D10 by far. (and I have the Q5, XR-E R2, XP-G R2 and the GDP.

There are so many CPF members who have the ability to swap LED's that you can simply find a D10 and post a request for the service.

Henk_Lu · Feb 1, 2010

jslappa said:
I purchased a D10 from a Euro CPF'r who swapped out the original LED for a beautiful Q3 5A. I pulled the pill and put it in a D10 Sunspot body. It is now my favorite D10 by far. (and I have the Q5, XR-E R2, XP-G R2 and the GDP.

There are so many CPF members who have the ability to swap LED's that you can simply find a D10 and post a request for the service.

What a coincidence, I also have a neutral white in a Sunspot, a Q3-5B I guess. I killed the original Q5, the cables were ripped off when I screwed the light engine in, so I had it modded. I agree that it is VERY nice now!

The Q5 was somewhat dim and didn't have a nice tint either. I now also have XRE-R2, XPE-R2, GDP and XRE-Q3/5B in D10 bodies, furthermore XRE-Q3/5A & 5C in EX10 bodies. The R2 are the brightest of course, if you love neutral white, the Q3s are not that much dimmer. The GDP are not so bright, but have the best beam, well floody.

I'm waiting for Nitecore to put XPG-R5 in there! :naughty:

skyfire · Feb 1, 2010

my D10 R2 is probably my most least used light (i edc my jetbeam RRT-0 and/or zebralight h501w these days) i have considered gifting it, or selling it, but cant bring myself to do so, because i really like it alot.

the tint is neutral, mine is tad bit on the warm side. its definitely not cool by any means. and its very bright considering i run a single alkaline in it.
the threads are excellent, anybody else love the noise it makes as your screwing on the head?

the user interface is great. its more compact compared to the fenix and quark AA. its very solid, and surprising heavy for its size.

it is more expensive, and youll probably want to buy the clip for it too, which isnt included. but i dont regret it buying it over the other single AA lights.

pobox1475 · Feb 1, 2010

I'm waiting for Nitecore to put XPG-R5 in there!

This is where I get lost. Will it be bright white, or will there be warm variants?

the.Mtn.Man · Feb 1, 2010

In my experience, it's the lower settings on a flashlight that see the most use, and on the rare occasion when need maximum output I find the Quark AA R2 to be plenty.

Super-bright compact flashlights are a great novelty, but you have to ask yourself how often you really need that much light.

bfksc · Feb 1, 2010

the.Mtn.Man said:
In my experience, it's the lower settings on a flashlight that see the most use, and on the rare occasion when need maximum output I find the Quark AA R2 to be plenty.

Personally, I use Med most often at night when there is not enough light to watch your step, but use Max whenever I need lots of light. I would say for me it's been 60/40 Med/Max so far.

Super-bright compact flashlights are a great novelty, but you have to ask yourself how often you really need that much light.

More light available is always a good thing. If you use your light during the day at all, you need those lumens. That's why I opted for the AAx2 instead of the single AA which would have sufficed in size and design (not interested in 123 cells), but the extra cell nearly doubles the lumens and gives a good boost to the perceived light levels.

pobox1475 · Feb 1, 2010

for me it's been 60/40 Med/Max so far.

+1. The tiny spark in the night low modes do little for me.

Nitecore D10 brighter than Quark AA

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