SMALL SUN ZY-T08 TEST & INCREDIBLE BEAM SHOTS TO 400 METERS !!

This is a short review of the SMALL SUN ZY-T08, my first review actually , mostly concentrating on beam shots. I was curious to see how far this lamps could throw and i tested it last fall. Well, to say the least it went beyond my expectations ! This lamps have the farthest throw of any 'pocket' lamps that i have ever seen in its price range, while also beating lamps that cost several times more or that use several more XML-T6 LED emitters, and does this in a much more efficient, more compact package. Still, it have quite a large head due to the large reflector, not practical to carry in a jeans pocket but quite easy to carry in a coat pocket, or else in a shoulder bag.










This is a beam shot of the ZY-T08 from Small Sun in a soccer field. The ZY-T08 uses a single XML-T6 LED emitter. Shot taken with the lamp at its highest power setting. Distance to the trees is roughly 100 meter.





Now compare the shot above to this beamshot from an UltraFire lamp which uses 3 XML-T6 emitters (versus the single emitter of the Small Sun ZY-T08). Shot taken with the lamp at its highest power setting.

As you can see there is a lot of throw but the central part of the beam for the Small Sun ZY-T08 is so concentrated it completely obliterates the more powerful (estimated at 1650 Lumen according to my calculations) Ultrafire and its 3 XML-T6 emitters (installed in smaller individual reflectors).

The huge deep dish reflector of the ZY-T08 with its high reflection coating is clearly making the difference and focuses its beam much more tightly and further away, as you will see on the pictures i will post below. In terms of pure throw, the Small Sun ZY-T08 also beats the more powerful 3 LED Ultrafire, in my tests (which i will publish in more detail about that specific lamp later on) i got a range of only about 265 meters for the Ultrafire with 3 XML-T6 emitters.

The Small Sun is rated at 640 Lumen, versus 1650 Lumen for the 3 XML-T6 UltraFire (according to my estimates, not according to what's written on the body of the lamp which gave a '4000 Lumen' which is far more than 3 hard driven XML-T6 could give in reality)(more on this later).

I will add the more detailed info regarding camera and lens settings soon.

that beamshot is intense! that's a lot more output than i was expecting

Now this is another test i ran for the Small Sun ZY-T08 from a vantage point. There aren't too many places in the city where i could get an open area with enough range to show its real potential and with appropriate structures to show range and not blind people in the process, so i chose a relatively secluded area located high enough that i could aim the lamp at a tall structures without being blocked by other buildings. I must say this lamp is MUCH too bright for use inside an apartment or home, if you have white walls or reflective surfaces in the room the beam will bounce back and blind you.

So here we go, first shot shows the non-illuminated building. The back wall of that large building on the corner of which you see a large illuminated rectangle is located 350 meters away.

The 2nd large structure on the roof of that building on the right side of the photo is located 400 meters from the vantage point from where this photo was taken. In the next 2 shots you are going to see the SMALL SUN ZY-T08 showing its true range of 400 meters.




Photo copyright Stratosphere Models.




Photo copyright Stratosphere Models.

Taken from a vantage point, this telephoto shot shows the SMALL SUN ZY-T08 LED flashlight throwing its beam at 350 meters, illuminating the back wall of that building.



Photo copyright Stratosphere Models.

See the beam illuminating the 2nd large structure on the roof of that building, to the right of the photo.

I now understand why some people use this lamps on yachts. That's a 400 METERS throw beamshot !!! (Tested and measured). SMALL SUN ZY-T08 LED flashlight showing its ultimate power ! This lamp is 'only' rated at some 640 lumen, yet in some ways it is giving a run for its money to hugely expensive specialized military lights.

Now this is in an urban area, with all the light pollution around. If this picture had been taken in a dark area in the countryside it is very likely the beam would reach close to half a kilometer (!).

This lamp truly qualifies as a search light, because the central portion of the beam is so concentrated. However you can see there is a very generous amount of spill on the shot i took at the soccer field, rivaling that of true flood lamps like the UltraFire with 3 XML-T6 emitters.

I have also tested it in a park and there is nothing that can escape this lamp (got to get those photos uploaded to Photobucket, then i will post more test shots of the Small Sun ZY-T08 right here). Initially i was planning to do the review on the UltraFire with 3 XML-T6 (on which i have collected more test data), but the UltraFire being heavier, nearly twice as long as the Small Sun and not having as much range nor brightness even though it uses more brute power, i ended up doing more beam shot tests to compare the ZY-T08 to it as well as to other lamps such as my new upgraded Klarus XT11 and a couple other lamps.

More beamshot comparison pics to come soon.

Good beamshots ..Thanks

This is a wide angle view of the 350 meters beam shot for the Small Sun ZY-T08:



Photo copyright Stratosphere Models.



And the 400 meter beam shot on the same building.

(Photo copyright Stratosphere Models).

More shots, just uploaded to Photobucket.

Quiet street at night.

F4.5, 3200 ISO, 1-5th sec, 24mm, +0 compensation.

(Photo copyright Stratosphere Models).





Now i am literally blasting it with the SMALL SUN ZY-T08. Too bad i took this shot last fall, i have to redo it this summer with leaves on the trees so the beam will be even more visible.

F4.5, 3200 ISO, 1-6th sec, 24mm, + 0 compensation.

(Photo copyright Stratosphere Models).






F4.5, 3200 ISO, 0.77 sec, 24mm, +2 compensation.

(Photo copyright Stratosphere Models).

Thanks for the pictures, I was not aware of the existence of this light. It looks like a bit like a Fenix TK35 with a larger reflector. Note that lumens are a measure of overall output and have nothing to do with throw. Also, Ultrafire tend to greatly exaggerate the lumen output of their lights.

Hi Monkeyboy,

thank you, don't worry, i am aware of the difference between lumen and throw, i have been lurking and studying high power LED flashlights since about 2006. When i comes to throw (as well as announced lumens) i tend to believe only what i see so i walk the walk (litterally) and i measure the distance to the fartest object the lamp will illuminate. Of course i am aware this method have its limits in urban areas where a lot of the output gets masked by ambient light and light pollution.

For the moment i have no access to darker skies to see the ultimate performance in terms of throw of the lamps i test, but since most of the population worldwide is living in urban areas i think it is a good practical example of the performance of these lamps in the environment where they are the most likely to be used. For sure i would like to see how they perform in the countryside, at sea, in the desert or in caves and forest, but that will have to wait, However i should be able to get some night shot in forested areas since we have some here in our urban area.

Years ago i also tested a 37$ MTE 900 lumen lamp which have an SSC P7 LED, but as i found out the actual lumen value for that lamp was way below that, probably 400 lumen as i learned by comparing it to more recent and more powerful lamps and by doing the usual "wall hunting" beam comparisons.

Some other things play against the total announced lumen value of such lamps, apart from boasts and fake advertising on the part of some manufacturers of cheaper (30-50$) lamps to boost sales, that MTE i tested years ago for example had a far less reflective surface treatment on its reflector compared to more recent lamps which have benefited from more recent advances in coating technology (it also had no surface treatment on the lens). The reflector coating of that older MTE lamp might also have dulled with time (it looks kind of dull to my eyes now when i compare it to my more recent lamps), something which is hard to tell because at the time i didn't think about taking pictures of the reflector to see how well it would resist aging. Also, that MTE lamp developed problems after a while and gave less output than when i first started using it. The retainer ring in the tail cap would unscrew itself little by little when i pressed the tail clicky, progressively giving less light, in which case i had to partially unscrew and then rapidly screw back (tightly) the tail cap to get more light output from that lamp while it was still on. Mind you i also found the same problem on much more sophisticated big brand names (depending on the length of batteries used and due to different internal design (plunger type contact versus spring contact designs). It's not funny for example when a pro lamp starts to act out and unscrews its own components when you remove the battery cap to change the batteries (a big no no when you are on duty and you NEED the lamp to work NOW (it's not like people on duty carry a compass arm equipped with a broken compass tip to be able to screw back-in the retainer ring...). I"ll talk about this and other specific examples in other reviews.

Yes, in the case of the UltraFire lamps, and they are not the only offenders by far. I took the tail of that lamp apart and calculated the raw output in terms of lumen based on the data on the electronic components inside the lamp (i am not equipped with sophisticated equipment like some people on the forum who use lab equipment to measure the output of lamps (in the case of my quick calculation for the output of the UltraFire as being about 1650 lumen instead of the announced 4000 lumen, i could not take into account things such as the percentage of reflection provided by the reflector size and the exact type of reflector treatment and coatings nor any of the data about the transmission through the glass lens as you can understand (with me not being an optician and not having lab measuring equipment at my disposal). So i kept things simple by relying only on the data found on the internal components and the known voltage and amperage for that lamp. I forgot exactly where i took the formula for the calculation, but it was most likely here or on another flashlight forum (since i am no electrician ).

I know this lamp have even greater potential, if modified a bit and driven harder. I have seen at least 1 or 2 threads on another forum or here where people did just that. Modified, i believe it could probably approach or equal the Fenix TK75 range of 690 meters in a smaller package than the Fenix (which uses 3 XML Cree emitters, like the UltraFire i pitted against the Small Sun ZY-T08).

Still, as it is, unmodified, it is still superb performance for a lamp of that size and with only 1 LED emitter and 2 18650 batteries. Compared to other long range compact search lights, personally i find the TK75 and TK61 Fenix lamps for example too large and too thick to be carried and handled everywhere easily (at least for me who do not have large hands).

The flat sided design with one battery on top of another of the ZY-T08 makes it easier to handle than the 4 X 18650 or the 8 AA battery designs of other super-powered lamps.

The reflector indeed appears to be made of plastic, as mentioned by other reviewers, i can see light coming through the silver coating a little (pinholes) when lighting it from the front with another lamp (i didn't attempt to remove the reflector as it is very easy to scratch and dull the surface of very highly reflective smooth coatings like this one, including those on metal reflectors. I only removed the emitter pill from the back side to have a look at the back of the reflector. I cannot complain too much at this price though, but i would have still preferred a metal reflector.

A good thing is that the lamp can be dismantled, a good point for Small Sun and something which is much appreciated by moders. I cannot say the same with some other brands i bought via a well known Hong Kong based internet store (which now glue the head of most of them lamps, making it impossible to modify them or change the emitter or other components if it breaks down.

The ZY-T08 also have a decent wrist loop (something that was rare until recently) with a solid steel ring to attach it to the battery tube, instead of the too frequent flimsy type that too often break up at the wrong moment.

Now the bad (which is to be expected for a lamp selling at such a low price). Despite the solid aluminum construction, thick glass lens (un-coated), good fining and stunning high performance, the lamp could be better, particularly when it comes to QC:

Uneven milling traces are visible on the flat faces of the battery tube, but that's only cosmetic and is covered by the anodized coating. Where it gets less funny is that from different batches of ZY-T08 i have received from different dealers, most of them either had a sub-size O-ring for the battery tube and thus did not provide rain and splash-protection for the batteries, or else the O-ring was missing.

In one case i received a dead lamp and another was defective. Luckily the dealer i got most of them from had a return policy (a rarity with Chinese lamp suppliers, but that maybe explained by the fact they actually had a US address). So i got the 2 defective lamps returned and reimbursed. But strangely they elected not to deliver to me the other lamp i had ordered, preferring instead to reimburse it, which tells me that they KNEW that they might ship me more lamps that could be defective and that i would ask to have them replaced. A pity for such a high performance product because i would have liked to purchase more. But then again, the dealer was not responsible for these problems, it was the manufacturer. However, the ones i have in stock now are good ones, and fully tested.

I do not know how widespread the problem of Made in China defective lamps is in general, but i can say that i have seen more expensive lamps from well know brands also present defects and i also got at least 1 dead lamp from such a company as well plus other defects, so this is not limited to low cost lamps based on my experience. I have tested multiple samples of the same lamps from various brands bought from different dealers, so i already got a fair idea. To be fair, this kind of things also exists a plenty with products made in the West or in Japan, from car recalls to computers and cellphones, but at least here, when there is a problem, generally they provide a solution or they try to.


Which brings me to the biggest problem (although many might call it a small problem):

The ZY-T08 I found out this would be a perfect product for its price if it wasn't for the manufacturer itself, which, as is often the case with Chinese lamp manufacturers is doing a good job of cutting corners too round on what would otherwise be a perfect product, a detail that become Extremely important if you use your lamp on a boat or in the rain.

The one problem with the ZY-T08 is that the manufacturer is often shipping them without O-ring or with a sub-diameter O-ring, making the lamps not splash-proof. On more than 50% of the lamps i received i found out that the O-ring problem was true. My attempts to obtain replacement O-rings via the dealers were fruitless. I wasn't going to let such a spectacular product be ruined by a small detail like this one.

So i went on a search for new O-rings to solve this problem and so that those interested by this lamp or who already own one could fully profit from its great performance without fear of risking a short circuit or a battery explosion. A 18650 Li-Ion battery explosion is NOT something you would like to see. I saw photos of this while doing research on the UL website about the risks posed by lithium-ion batteries, and it's not pretty. A typical lithium-ion battery can pack as much as 40 times more power than an alcaline battery. That`s why i feel it is essential that O-rings should be there to keep water away from the batteries and electronics.

Ever tried to get spare or missing parts from a Chinese lamp manufacturer or dealer ? You may try as hard as you want, the dealer will either not be able to persuade the manufacturer, or the manufacturer will tell you a fairy tale to explain why they cannot get you the parts, or will simply ignore your requests. Been there, tried that and it is a pity that it is so widespread: they absolutely do not want to hear from you after they have sold you the product. Worse, some will even try to trick you to buy MORE of their product with the vague promise to perhaps send you the missing part later. Whatever you do, NEVER commit to purchase larger quantities or even one more product from such dealers as long as they have not given you satisfaction. I will post more info about specific cases in future posts.

That left me with only one solution to help that great lamp: order CUSTOM O-rings.

Well, that too proved challenging. To make a long story short, after many trials, lengthy negociations and paying for it but never receiving it the first time around, and a manufacturer who tried to make me pay for several new molds even though they were advertising the parts are being available on their website, I finally got what i wanted: NEW CUSTOM MADE O-rings for the ZY-T08.

So now i can take my Small Sun ZY-T08 under the rain or on a boat, thanks to that modification with the new CUSTOM O-ring. For those who might be interested, i will make a separate post with all the info on the Marketplace section of the CPF forum.

Here is a picture of the Small Sun ZY-T08 with the new CUSTOM O-ring i installed on it (with battery tube partially unscrewed to show it)(the regular O-rings that Small Sun normally provides with this lamp (that is when they do provide them) are black).



Picture copyright Stratosphere Models

The only way to accurately measure lumen output is to use a calibrated integrating sphere. This is an extremely expensive piece of equipment, in fact only a couple of people on these forums have access to one. Some CPF members have created improvised integrating spheres using a light meter with various enclosures with varying degrees of success. You can roughly compare lumen output by eye using the ceiling bounce test but not by looking directly at the beam itself. In a dark room, shine the light directly up at the ceiling and observe the brightness of the objects in the room. Be sure to shine your lights at the same spot on the ceiling for comparison purposes.

With regards to the quality, remember these are budget lights so don't expect top quality fit and finish. I think it's amazing that they are able to offer what they do at such a low cost but there is a reason why a Fenix TK35 costs 3 times the price.

Anther thing that helps with perspective, is if there are control shots with no flashlight, taken along with the shots WITH the flashlights.

Hi Moneyboy,

Thank you ! I was not aware of the specific type of lab equipment that is being used to measure exact amount of lumen but i had guessed it had to be very expensive

Yes, 100% on that, i guess i am more difficult to satisfy than most people (still, i will have more info on more expensive lights which i have been reviewing and testing in the future, i will provide a look at quality control for more expensive lights from big brand names as well).

Note, i have seen a photo of the inside of one factory showing a bit the work conditions of the workers there, and that was for the Ultrafire 3T6. I must say i am amazed at the level of quality and quality finish of that light given the relatively crude work conditions in that factory (seating looked tough to me for long hours of work, simple crude little wood stools). More on this one later as i have prepared a detailed review of it, however i am sad to say i will not recommend people buy that Ultrafire lamp for a variety of reasons, several of which having to do with the total absence of will on the part of the manufacturer to provide replace part for damaged parts (and that's for one of the damaged parts only, a part worth 1$ at most...) even for an official review that thousands of dedicated users would read here (poor quality control for the cosmetic aspect of lamp, despite its higher price and good construction)(i am talking about a banged lamp, several impact marks often seemingly anodized on top of the impact marks).

I even bought a new camera and a new high quality lens to take better quality pictures of that lamp for review, but that did not seem to convince the sales representative who as was slippery as an eel and who tried to trick me into buying 10 more to 'maybe' get that replacement part for the photos of my review (which might have sold them lots of lamps). Frankly i was amazed at the totally un-smart moves on the part that sales rep, being satified with only 1 lamp sold instead of thousands... I was even planning to try to convince some of the municipal public services to have a look at that lamp, but considering they would be totally unable to obtain replacement parts or service from that company, i have totally given up on it. I still consider it a pity and it's not the 1st time i am amazed at how much some of these manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot and are ruining what could be great repeat sales for their products if they were LISTENING and responsive. But the attitude instead is 'i'll take the money and i don't care about anything else after' (...). I hear this is also the case for at least 1 well known big brand name from China that makes expensive lights where obtaining replacement parts (or even replacing a new, defective lamp) seems to be quite difficult, based on what i have read from a thread here some time ago.

thank you 4 the review! this seems a fenix tk35 flashlight! can someone compare this to the fenix? which do have better throw performances?
...........explorer did u see this flashlight? [h=1]SMALL SUN ZY-T07 . seems to be similar to the one you reviewed. same side by side battery. just a bit cheaper.[/h]