which Surefire has the tidy-est beam ?

i dont like a bright hotspot with spill,

i prefer a more even distribution of the output where hotspot and spill are almost the same brightness.

narrower beam not wide,

18650 2 or 3 modes preferred. led not incan.

Of the SF light tha tI have the LX2 would best fit the bill. It only has a hot spot and little to no spill but the beam pattern "hot spot" is even. It doesn't take 18650 though and I do not recall if anyone has bored out one.

Also would be the E1L same beam pattern just not as bright.

You could also go with a C2 with Malkoff M61 drop in but I would not say that qualifies as a "true" SF. I have this set up and it is incredible! The beam is fairly throwy and tons of bright spill to boot.

I have several of the TIR optic SF lights and they all have pretty similar beam patterns. The standard reflector lights (SF) have fairly wide beam profiles but very good light distibution from hot spot to edge of spill. The L4 and the L5 have the smoothest beams that I have seen with SF.

Just my opinion though.

Hopes this helps a little

Chef

Oh I overlooked the T1A. It has a very smooth beam from one end to the other but more floody than throwy and doesn't take 18650 either.

Chef

i owned a malkoff m61 for 6 months,

nothing like what im looking for, it was almost all flood.

Unless you use a diffuser, I think you will find it hard to find any light that has a beam like that.

If you are talking about a pure flood beam like the LED Lensers when they aren't focused, or the McGizmo Sundrop's, I think you will struggle to find what you are looking for.

How can you have a narrow beam, with the spill almost the same brightness as the hotspot? :thinking:

To be honest, I think you are being far to picky and asking for something that isn't really possible...
Also, 18650 and 2 or 3 modes doesn't sound like a SF at all...

This thread comes across as very trollish. You already have two dedicated threads, asking virtually the same question, here and here. No current, stock SureFire is going to do what you are asking for. As has been mentioned several times, the beam through a slightly defocused aspherical lens will probably get you closer to what you want than anything else.

im thinking a beam that looks similar to an aspheric, but not 100% like an aspheric.

a beam i can throw 80- 100 feet approx, to create a brightly lit area about 6-8 feet in diameter, with very little spill.

all my reflector lights seem to make a lot of spill, my only optic light (Decree) is close, but still has some spill.

just wondering if surefire use better/different optics then the others?

ejot said:

the beam through a slightly defocused aspherical lens will probably get you closer to what you want than anything else.

Click to expand...

perhaps this is the answer i have been looking for?

Here is the beam from my Lenslight, adjusted to the most defocused setting. It is about 30" at 7'.
There are substantial artifacts outside the main beam, this is very hard to avoid with out $$$$$ optics.

ejot said:

Here is the beam from my Lenslight, adjusted to the most defocused setting. It is about 30" at 7'.
There are substantial artifacts outside the main beam, this is very hard to avoid with out $$$$$ optics.

Click to expand...

id take that if it were at 80 feet 7 feet across and 350 lumens.

waddup said:

im thinking a beam that looks similar to an aspheric, but not 100% like an aspheric.

a beam i can throw 80- 100 feet approx, to create a brightly lit area about 6-8 feet in diameter, with very little spill.

all my reflector lights seem to make a lot of spill, my only optic light (Decree) is close, but still has some spill.

just wondering if surefire use better/different optics then the others?

Click to expand...

This is pretty tight collimation. An aspheric will do it, but probably with a somehwat square "projected die" beam instead of a nice, clean circle. I think the DEFT beam, which is about as collimated as you're likely to see, is about 40" @ 100'. So you're asking for something that is only slightly less collimated than that. Simplest platform to start experimenting is probably Mag with KD aspheric lens.

waddup said:

id take that if it were at 80 feet 7 feet across and 350 lumens.

Click to expand...

Here is the same light, focused sufficiently to meet your beam angle requirements.



Artifacts do get much worse, but at 80 feet, you will only see the light that makes up the bright square, the rest of the light is comparatively very dim and does not throw. It is a square beam, but if that's the size you really need at that distance, you will be very hard pressed to find something cleaner.

ejot said:

This is pretty tight collimation. An aspheric will do it, but probably with a somehwat square "projected die" beam instead of a nice, clean circle. I think the DEFT beam, which is about as collimated as you're likely to see, is about 40" @ 100'. So you're asking for something that is only slightly less collimated than that. Simplest platform to start experimenting is probably Mag with KD aspheric lens.

Click to expand...

yes,

a light that throws about 1/3 what the deft does with a nice clean beam would be ideal.:thumbsup:

i was hoping the experimentation had already been done and i could just purchase the light.

im surprised this type of beam isnt more popular :thinking:

throwing all the lumens into a very nicely controlled area, and close enough to see whats there easily.

we (humans) can put a ship on mars but not control a flashlight beam?

Streamlight supertac has very little spill, and has a tight beam. Do to the huge reflector. Maybe a Surefire with a turbohead? Might do the same

If you are willing to spend the money and don't mind carrying a longish looking light with a big head, more like a toilet plunger, then Surefire's M3LT would fit the bill according to the beam profile you are looking for. Almost zero spill with a very big hot spot. And I do mean very big. The further you shine the larger the hot spot.

Alternatively, LX2 would seem to fit the requirement you have but LX2 has a little bit more spill than the M3LT, and of course a lot less bright even though it is bright on it's own.

M3LT is able to utilize 2 pieces of 17500 and LX2 only 2 pieces of 16340.

SureFire L4.

First thing that popped into my mind.

The newest U2 (Seoul)...
L4
or the two-stage L4 (More commonly refered to as the L2)
The three stage KX3's (G2D/G3D) put out a pretty even beam as well, and look really nice on a G3-BK