bouncer33441
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2011
- Messages
- 94
would someone please post a review of their newest tactical light
I don't think the control ring is quite that bad (referring to the 20 degrees) on mine, but it would definitely help if there was a click-stop on min like there is on max, or if moving off min automatically turns the light to the minimum level. There is definitely a not-insignificant amount of space between off and when the led actually turns on.Received mine today and I although I love the concept and form factor, I have a major issue with this light.
My problems with this light stem from the variable brightness control ring and UI. I have several lights of this style and I typically prefer the logarithmic ramping that Sunwayman offers compared to the linear ramping on the Nitecore and JetBeam lights. The execution of this ramping style is severely hindered on the V20C.
They allow for only 90 degrees of rotation between off and the detent for max. That alone makes adjustments difficult since there is not a lot of room to operate. Add to that the fact that my light does not come on until I have rotated the ring about 20 degrees of so (just eyeballing here). That only leaves 70 degrees of rotation between minimum and maximum. To make matters even worse, when dimming the light from max, the light hits the lowest level around the 45 degree mark. WTH?!? In order to appreciate the benefits that the variable brightness control ring offers you have to move very slow and deliberate when rotating the ring. In real world use, you haven't really gained any benefits over a multi-level light by the time you factor in the increased amount of time it takes to get the level you want/need.
I'm going to wait to hear more reports from other users, but I am severely disappointed by these characteristics.
I've been thinking about this light since I won a 25% coupon for it, but I thought the same thing when I saw this video. Too bad that my suspicions seem to be true. Sunwayman needs to drive their Led's harder too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFv-Nm9mM2o
For me, the benefit of a variable control versus multi-level is ability to choose the light level for appropriate use, so I still like the V20C for what it is.
Just to clarify the runtime numbers concerning the T20C you should take a look at truboBB's review of the T20C on this post regarding the stated runtimes.Also, from what I understand the variable control thing uses battery juice so even though there is a super low 0.5 lumens min output it only lasts a claimed 120hrs. Compare that to the min ouput of the T20C of 10 lumens for a claimed 200hrs. That's a big hit on runtime. I'm fairly new to variable controlled lights so this may be normal - if this is the case I may stick to preset level controls for now.
Just to clarify the runtime numbers concerning the T20C you should take a look at truboBB's review of the T20C on this post regarding the stated runtimes.
TL;DR - The T20C's runtime is lower than 200 hours on low. The stated runtime on the Sunwayman site (and turboBB's review assuming he didn't change it in his OP yet) was for an XP-G model with a different driver. Manufacturer's rating a la BatteryJunction is 50 hours, with turboBB's personal testing giving a rough estimate of 81 hours on low on an AW 2600 mah battery.
My V20C just arrived, and yes, it is as on this video. On my example it is even more than half way. Annoying. And I like the look of T20C crenulated bezel more than V20C flat one. It is really not driven hard, 1.2 A at the tailcap, and the throw is some 5700 lux, even less than T20C (6100 lux).
I take it you didn't click on the link I provided for your convenience.I've seen the review thanks but seeing as I haven't seen a thorough review of the V20C yet I had nothing to compare it to and so went to SWM's site.
turboBB's review is a finalised production sample utilising the XM-L.
Everything on the SWM site suggests that it's for the XM-L model