Single cell AA and 14500 beamshot comparisons

OneBigDay

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This is my latest set of beamshots. These are all stock single cell lights that accept AA, 14500, or both. I wanted to see the differences in brightness and beam profile for this format. You can also clearly see how much brighter these are at the higher voltages. All photos are at maximum output (brightest mode setting). I give my usual disclaimer that I make no absolute statements other than here are some photos I took and here are my opinions, but hope somebody finds this useful. I used Daylight white balance on the camera.

I have mostly Eneloops for AA but used a couple of Tenergy high capacity cells as well for the testing. 14500 cells were all AW protected cells.

The Lineup

AA Only


  • Maratac AA XR-E R2
  • Quark Mini AA XP-G R5
  • ITP A2 XP-E R2
  • Jetbeam E3S XP-G R4
  • Zebralight SC51 XP-G bin not specified


Both AA and 14500


  • Xeno E03 XP-G R5
  • Xeno E03 XM-L T6
  • Lumapower Trust Model-1 XP-G R5
  • Dereelight C2H (w AA extender) XP-G R5
  • Sunwayman v10r Ti (w AA extender) XP-G R5 **


** Note: AW protected cells fit in all the 14500 lights except for the Sunwayman V10R. I had to back off the extender tube about 1.5 mm on each end to get the protected 14500 cell to fit (fine for beamshots but you wouldn't want to carry it this way). I have since gotten AW IMR cells which are about 3 mm shorter than AW protected and they fit perfectly in the V10R with the extender tube.

The Playground

This is the same park I have done some of my other longer range shots from. I picked a different grouping of trees with a more reasonable range to try and hit with these smaller lights. As you will see this range is still too much space for the lower voltage (AA) lights but is about perfect for li-ion (14500).

img2899daylight3wdistan.jpg


Individual Images

I'm going to stick to mostly animated gifs since they give the most bang for the buck as far as what they demonstrate. If anyone is interested in looking at individual images, here are the thumbnails. These are all the individual images that make up the slideshows.

Powered by AA (AA only lights)
(1) Maratac AA (2) Quark Mini AA (3) ITP A2 SS (4) Jetbeam E3S (5) Zebralight SC51


Powered by AA (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(6) Xeno E03 XP-G (7) Xeno E03 XM-L (8) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (9) Dereelight C2H (10) Sunwayman v10r Ti


Powered by 14500 (AA & 14500 voltage acceptable)
(11) Xeno E03 XP-G (12) Xeno E03 XM-L (13) Lumapower Trust Model-1 (14) Dereelight C2H (15) Sunwayman v10r Ti


One 18650 light for comparison (because it's new and was in my bag!)
(16) Download Pocket Rocket XM-L


Slideshows

Below are all 10 lights powered by AA cells. As I mentioned before this is not exactly the right range to see the subtleties of these lower powered lights but I figured it was still worthwhile to post as long as I had already done the work.

hw0dhg.gif


Below are the 4 brightest AA (to my eye). Pull the weeds from the above slideshow and this is what is left. The SC51 is the winner for total output, but the V10R is hanging in there and has a more even and less floody beam. The Xeno (XP-G) is really close to the V10R with just a little less brightness. Honorable mention that has gotten hardly any press on CPF is the Jetbeam E3S. The Xeno XM-L which I did not include in this slideshow is also bright but it is not so apparent because of the floody nature of the beam.

1t62iq.gif


Below are the 5 lights that accept li-ion cells (according to voltage rating by the manufacturer) powered by a 14500 cell.

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Xeno 14500 Comparison. These Xeno lights have been really successful and for $30 USD you can't really beat them. For anyone wondering what is the difference between the XP-G and XM-L beams - here you go.

2ngy4np.gif


The next 5 comparisons are just showing the difference between AA and 14500 for those lights that do accept both.

Xeno XP-G AA vs. 14500

w1l6f.gif


Xeno XM-L AA vs. 14500

2cymikz.gif


Lumapower Trust Model-1 AA vs. 14500

af7cm1.gif


Dereelight C2H AA vs. 14500

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Sunwayman V10R Ti AA vs. 14500

w2m89g.gif


This last show does 2 different comparisons. The first 2 frames show just how similar the V10R and the Xeno XP-G beam profiles are. The last 2 frames show the Xeno XM-L (the only XM-L light in this roundup) compared to my new Download Pocket Rocket (1x18650 XM-L U2). This is comparing apples to oranges but I wanted to see what the next step up looks like.

rsxzec.gif


Conclusions


  • The Zebralight SC51 stands out as far as total output for a AA only light. This has been discussed at length and has been a true selling point for this light. These photos just reinforce the stated measurements found elsewhere.
  • The Xeno E03 series are a great value. The output and beam profile keep up with (and in some cases are better than) more expensive lights. The build quality is good and even though the circuitry seems geared towards 14500, they also have good output on AA in a pinch.
  • The Dereelight C2H has a beam where you can kind of see a dark circle between the hotspot and the spill in these photos, but in real use (outside) the beam is good and it throws pretty well for a small XP-G based pocket light.
  • The Lumapower Trust Model-1 has the most artifacts in the beam of these 5 lights. I have other issues with the build quality of this light. In practical terms there is nothing wrong with the beam that I can't live with and there are some nice things about this light, but with more competition out there now I would probably pass on this light.
  • I don't know much about the circuitry of these things, but it seems that it is difficult to make a light that has excellent output both on AA and on 14500. The Xeno lights are better than average in this regard, but the only real standout is the Sunwayman V10R. The V10R on 14500 is about what I expected in terms of overall output, but on AA the V10R exceeded my expectations by a longshot.
  • To me the Sunwayman V10R Ti is the standout in this crowd for many reasons. The beam profile is perfect. With all attention right now on XM-L based lights, I think the XP-G emitter is the right choice for this light. With a small reflector like this an XP-G gives nice spill and some throw. As mentioned above the output on NiMH is also fantastic which I didn't expect. On top of all that there is the infinitely variable output. The only other light I had this on was the LiteFlux LF2XT, I find the V10R control ring easier to use and more precise than using the LF2XT ramping function. With a AA extender in Ti available for this you can't really go wrong. Just like the C2H this means you can run it on CR123/RCR123/AA/14500 - that is a lot of flexibility especially considering the output on lower voltages (AA NiMH) is still better than average. Get one before they are gone!


The End
 
Last edited:

RI Chevy

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Excellent post! The 14500 are so much brighter than the AA's. Very interesting thread. Thank you for doing it. And it was very professionally put together. :thumbsup: :thanks::goodjob:
 

anethema

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The Quark Mini AA will run a 14500 in direct drive. It is amazingly bright!
 

Paul_in_Maryland

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It was most generous of you to spent I-don't-know-how-many hours preparing the photos and the write-up. You've spared your brothers hundreds perhaps thousands, of dollars in speculative purchases! For that, our families thank you.
 

my#1hobby

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Great beamshots!! Thanks for putting this together, great work. I just got my Xeno NW X-ML and a 14500 a few days ago, what a light! Beautiful beam and the NW color is wonderful.
 

B0wz3r

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Yes, my thanks too!!! Outstanding work!!! :D I'm really surprised by some of the differences seen here.

I got a neutral E03 a couple of weeks ago, and another 14500 to go with it, and I am amazed at what a little cannon the thing is! On a 14500, the medium setting looks brighter than the high setting on a nimh or L91! At that level, which is not very different from the high on 14500, I see little reason to have to use the high setting at all, not to mention that it tends to heat up pretty fast on high with a 14500... :eek:oo: I'm planning on getting another one as soon as I can.

I like the idea of the V10R too... I'm not enamored of variable control rings, but I do like that you can use any of the AA or 123 format cells in it. I just wish they made it in a neutral!
 

OneBigDay

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Thanks for the support guys. Trying to give back a little.

It was most generous of you to spent I-don't-know-how-many hours preparing the photos and the write-up. You've spared your brothers hundreds perhaps thousands, of dollars in speculative purchases! For that, our families thank you.

This cracks me up because I wonder if my wife has a different view. :thinking: It actually does take quite a bit of time to pull it all together, but now that I have done it a few times I think the results are worth it. Sure it is not as scientific as meter readings and such, but sometimes a picture is really all you need with some relative comparisons.
 

mrlysle

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Absolutely fantastic work! I really liked the time between the slides. Gave me plenty of time to read all the info you included like emitter used, reflector type, etc. If your idea was to "give back", you certainly did, and then some. Thank you very much! Superb job!
 

specimen

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I can understand how long you take the time to prepare this post.
Thanks very much for you to show a very clear picture.

From you post, I like Xeno.
I have two, and from your post make me sure that I choose the correct one.
 

turboBB

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Great shots and write up, thank you for taking the time to do this! Also, is that a custom made PVC pipe stand that you used to mount the lights? Would you mind sharing more about this set up as it made your shots extremely consistent and allows viewers to easily and more importantly accurately compare the beam profile from light to light.

One of the difficulties I experience during beamshots is accurate placement of the hotspot. Sometimes I think I've centered it but it isn't until after I'm done and am reviewing the shots on my PC that I see it was just a tad off-centered.

Cheers,
Tim
 

OneBigDay

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Great shots and write up, thank you for taking the time to do this! Also, is that a custom made PVC pipe stand that you used to mount the lights? Would you mind sharing more about this set up as it made your shots extremely consistent and allows viewers to easily and more importantly accurately compare the beam profile from light to light.

One of the difficulties I experience during beamshots is accurate placement of the hotspot. Sometimes I think I've centered it but it isn't until after I'm done and am reviewing the shots on my PC that I see it was just a tad off-centered.

Cheers,
Tim

Thanks for the comments. The stand where I mount the lights is extremely low tech. It is a about a 4 foot long PVC pipe with a small elbow cemented on one end, and then I put a spike in the other end so that I can spike it into the ground when getting setup. I use a $2 DX bike mount on the elbow so that the light gets seated approximately in the same place every time. On the bottom I have 3 wooden legs (approx 2 feet long each) that I attached to the main pipe with pipe clamps. The whole thing is pretty comical actually but it works great. I guess I came up with this because I didn't want to have to spend more money on a second tripod, and also I am doing these shots from my bike so I don't need any more gear to be carrying than lights, camera tripod, and then the light mount. :sick2: PM me if you want more details about it but for me this was primarily a budget decision to do the light stand on the cheap.

I wish I could give credit to where I got the original idea but somewhere I noticed that beamshots that included the light in them were a lot easier to tell what you are looking at. It just gives a better perspective overall so I thought it was worth incorporating.

The only bummer about this approach is you only get to directly compare stuff you bring with you in a single session. It would be impossible to go back even the next day and try to overlay more shots becuase you would never be able to get the camera just right, light stand in the same place, same amount of ambient light, same time of night, same moonlight, cloud cover, blah blah blah... So basically you get one shot at it and it is excellent at comparing everything in the same session, but is much less accurate to try and compare photos taken in different sessions. For example I forgot a control shot (Again!) in this session, which I think would have made these slideshows better; no going back a day later to try and cover because it wouldn't be a true control.

As far as centering the hotspot target. The only thing I would say is to make sure you have in your brain somewhere that is specific both horozontal and vertical. A virtual crosshair. With the floody lights it is harder to center but they are also more forgiving because you don't have the high lux on the target. Having the bicycle mount also helps keep things lined up and I do adjust it between each light but it usually doesn't need too much. This can mess with your brain sometimes but since I am just doing this for fun I figure whatever I can do is good enough. :D
 

turboBB

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Cool, thx for the reply. Time to rig up a flashlight holder w/tripod mount.

Cheers,
Tim
 
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