M61 219... HOLY FLOOD

Well I don't really know what to think with this guy it is sorta love/hate, The tint is perfect, it looks totally neutral exactly what I would expect to see looking at something. It is my first malkoff and these things are pretty cool I would like to have more than one mode but then you lose momentary unless someone could rig up a head tight/lose thing, but other wise I really like it.

But the thing is so darn floody and in a P60 sized light, it is fairly bright I would guess about 250lm and it has really wide spill that I like but the hot spot is almost nothing? Its hardly any brighter than the spill it doesn't even throw across the street. Are all M61's this floody or is this a 219 thing? I wouldn't mind that much flood in a smaller light but in a thick P60 sized light it is sorta a let down.A

And why are the reflectors on the M61's so small? I know they have the nice heat sink around them but there like a full inch smaller around than the bezel?

if you use your dropin in a malkoff MD2 host with high/low ring, you can have your bezel tight/loose high/low thing.

i have the L and LL 219 drop ins, but i still prefer the beam with the XPG emitter, which is what the reflector was designed for. XP-G has more throw, with a more defined hotspot, and is one of the most perfect and useful beams you will ever see.

skyfire said:

if you use your dropin in a malkoff MD2 host with high/low ring, you can have your bezel tight/loose high/low thing.

Click to expand...

Yeah its on my wish list along with the SHO, I wish 6P's could do this. How low does it go? Could someone mod it with more or less resistance?

skyfire said:

i have the L and LL 219 drop ins, but i still prefer the beam with the XPG emitter, which is what the reflector was designed for. XP-G has more throw, with a more defined hotspot, and is one of the most perfect and useful beams you will ever see.

Click to expand...

So the 219 is really floody? What do you use the L and LL's for? I wouldn't want JUST a low out put, except I want a LLL219 for a CR123 battery vampire.

i sold my malkoff host with hig/low ring a couple years ago. i had a M61 XP-G HCRI drop-in in it. my questimate of its low mode.... around 25 lumens perhaps?
im not sure, hopefully somebody can chime in with more accuracy.

M61LL is in a G2 host, and the M61L in a G2Z host. both lights float around the house for family to use, loaded with primaries.
the M61LL is still plenty bright enough for general use, and i actually like it more for its longer runtimes.

My M61L 219 doesn't seem any floodier, in regards to spill width, than any of my other Malkoff drop ins. The hotspot is isn't nearly as bright as the M61L, but it is roughly the same width. My guess (barely educated at that) is the the M61L 219 puts out around 125-150 lumens, compared to an M61L's 200. The smoothness from spot center to peripheral spill is exceedingly nice, in my opinion.

If my 219 put out 50-75 more lumens, I think it'd be a wicked all purpose close to mid range solution. If you decide that it really won't work for you, I bet it'd sell very quickly on the Marketplace

I've got an M61LL in a 6P host for indoor late night use, and the M61 L in a 2 stage MD3 for long run time.

Grizz

Grizzman said:

My M61L 219 doesn't seem any floodier, in regards to spill width, than any of my other Malkoff drop ins. The hotspot is isn't nearly as bright as the M61L, but it is roughly the same width. My guess (barely educated at that) is the the M61L 219 puts out around 125-150 lumens, compared to an M61L's 200. The smoothness from spot center to peripheral spill is exceedingly nice, in my opinion.

If my 219 put out 50-75 more lumens, I think it'd be a wicked all purpose close to mid range solution. If you decide that it really won't work for you, I bet it'd sell very quickly on the Marketplace

I've got an M61LL in a 6P host for indoor late night use, and the M61 L in a 2 stage MD3 for long run time.

Grizz

Click to expand...

Yeah I was actually looking at one and it sold in like an hour before I got mine. I like it, it just mite as well have a defuser on it... which would be great in a smaller light. I wonder what the smallest P60 host is?

The smallest P60 host I can think of would be a E1B or E1E with a VME head and a 16340. I've got an L1 based P60 host which is nearly as small (17500 or AA), and feels like just the right size in the hand.

Thanks for posting the feedback on the Malkoff 219's, I have read other reports on them but there haven't been that many IIRC - however I was gone quite a bit earlier this summer and am still catching up.

I have been using P60 dropins for the majority of my flashlight usage since my first Malkoff M30 ~4.5 years ago.
The reflector in the M61 series provides the finest beam I have ever seen, a very usable hotspot with an exceedingly smooth transition to ample spill.
As the reflector was optimized for the XP-G, there have been some reports of artifacts from using the Nichia 219 LED in these modules.
The fact that the reflector is a bit on the small side was due to the limited working depth in the M6x modules (posted by Gene Malkoff). The design goals did require the current proportions of the reflector.

I do confess that the 4500K 219 HCRI looks to be an exceedingly attractive emitter (I'm slowly working toward getting nearly all of my lights to 4500-5000K) and am looking forward to future designs using it. I like the XM-L overall, but smaller pocket lights using the 219 emitter would be nearly perfect IMO.

of my 2x 219 drop-ins. the "L" module has a better beam than my "LL" module. both have faint rings, but the L has less.
during use it doesnt bother me at all though, ive been spoiled by the beam of the XP-G modules.

I wish somebody would post an outdoor beam shot of these things. I find white wall beam shots to be less than useless.

You must enjoy some pretty wide streets...

I haven't directly compared the M61W in my 6P to the M61-219 in my C2, but I use one or the other of them almost every night and love them both.
I thought the tint on the M61W was perfect until the 219 came in - now that's my new perfect.
I haven't noticed any artifacts from either. Colors just come naturally into focus with the 219, and the beam is super smooth.
Neither throws as well as the 2.8a P60 219 that Vinh made for me, but that's not what Gene set out to do.

Either of my M61's will light up an entire room from any location within the room; either easily illuminate accross or down the street in a nice wide swath, both light up stop signs and reflectors hundreds of yards away, and either one will allow me to see the tops of 60 to 100 foot redwoods from over 50 yards away.
I do agree that the hotspot from the 219 does not seem as intense as that of the W, but to me that just makes for a smoother transition to spill.
Now I need to do a closer comparison tonight to see if either one has any artifacts or if one truly out throws the other. Thanks.

I just ran a totally unscientific not very well controlled comparison test between my full intensity Malkoff modules: M61W in old-school round 6P vs M61 Nichia 219 in C2. Both have soft-press McClicky switches and a fresh pair of SF CR123 primaries.

The M61W has a significantly more pronounced hotspot than the 219, at all practical distances.
They each have a single "ring" toward the outer edge of the spillbeam; on the W it's slightly brighter than the surrounding spill; on the 219 the ring is slightly darker.
Otherwise both are artifact-free and don't appear to tint-shift.
Tint on the W is just a touch more yellow; the 219 appears perfectly white to me.
For a given intensity on target, the W looks to throw (very) roughly 15 yards farther than the 219.
W puts a "spot" on objects in the distance - hotspot is much brighter than spill; 219 doesn't have much pronounced spot after probably 30 yards or so - just an even transition to spill.
Color rendition with the W is very, very good - but at times it seems like it's trying a little too hard. With the 219, colors are just natural and neutral - Reds, greens, yellows, browns, blues - rendition is truly excellent.
Lighting a trail, at distance, or wall/ceiling bounce - total lumen output is a wash to my eyes (I don't have a meter), but the W seems to put a bit more into the hotspot, whereas the 219 blends more light into the spill.
Long story short, I can see where the 219 would seem like a flood light in comparison to an XP-G in the P60 host. However, since neither Malkoff is all that much of a thrower to begin with, I don't see it as a drawback.
I like how the W puts a "highlight" on the middle of what I'm lighting up; I love how the 219 gives a smooth, even wall of light.
I think the one I like best is the one I have in hand - both are great at what they do.

^^^Nice to know I'm not crazy, I like the 219 a lot I just wish it either threw further or was in something the size of a E1B, both my V10R and RRT-0 out throw it. My next purchase will be the M61SHO.

ScaryFatKidGT said:

^^^Nice to know I'm not crazy, I like the 219 a lot I just wish it either threw further or was in something the size of a E1B, both my V10R and RRT-0 out throw it. My next purchase will be the M61SHO.

Click to expand...

An M31 in a VME on an E1E is a teeny bit shorter than an E1B, but the bezel end is slightly wider.

The onl9 219 I have currently is an M61LLL model. I completely love it. An M31L 219 might be my next Malkoff (after my M91A comes in! )

fresh eddie fresh said:

An M31 in a VME on an E1E is a teeny bit shorter than an E1B, but the bezel end is slightly wider.

The onl9 219 I have currently is an M61LLL model. I completely love it. An M31L 219 might be my next Malkoff (after my M91A comes in! )

Click to expand...

I was thinking about using a E1B body

Do the E1e and E1L and, E2e and E2L have the same bodies?

Yes, for some reason as similar as they are, the 219 and the XP-G have very different beams in the McGizmo reflector that Gene uses. I love my M61 and M61L 219's for their floody, room filling beams, just perfect for walking in the woods where you don't want to be blinded by the hotspot to anything in the flood.

But if you want 219 goodness with throw in a P60 host, and modes, do what I did and add a Nailbender module to the mix. His reflectors produce a much tighter beam with the 219, even the OP one, and he has one, two and three level drivers for them. I think the combination of the M61 219 in a hi-low MD2 and a Nailbender 219 three level module is the ultimate P60 neutral arsenal.

Brasso said:

I wish somebody would post an outdoor beam shot of these things. I find white wall beam shots to be less than useless.

Click to expand...

The is the best I could get tonight.

These are from 25-30 feet away from the tree.

C3 with 2xAA's running an M31-219



Stock Fenix PD32 on Turbo.



Next is the same tree from 10-12 feet.

M31-219



PD32



Sorry but I only have the one malkoff module now so I used a fairly commonly known light for a comparison.

Thanks. I find this type of photo much more useful than up close or white wall shots. The color is really great on the 219, albeit not very bright. Should make an excellent pocket light.

As soon as I can get my hands on an HDS 120 it will be modded to a 219.

Brasso said:

Thanks. I find this type of photo much more useful than up close or white wall shots. The color is really great on the 219, albeit not very bright. Should make an excellent pocket light.

As soon as I can get my hands on an HDS 120 it will be modded to a 219.

Click to expand...

Don't fully rely on my pics for output comparison, shortly after the pics I threw the Duraloops on charge and they were at least half dead. Definitely do the HDS 219 Mod! My HDS 140GT I modded to 219 is my FAVORITE light, perfect beam with just the right flood/throw ratio.

I have a 219 Aleph-LE (made by "datiled") in an Aleph-2 host and the beam is fantastic in that.
Very nice defined hotspot merging gradually into the spill with no rings.
Perfect mix of flood and throw.
The reflector in that light is a McR20S, I believe.
It goes to show that the 219 can certainly produce a beam with throw when married to a suitable reflector.