Title says it all. Since a lot of us – including me - want real life outdoor shots in addition to the more scientific approach of the classic white wall beam shot, I tried to compile a pack of those with all the major lights I currently own. In the backyard of my new apartment there is a shed, and it is fairly dark there, too, so I went for it last night /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
It is a shootout of medium distance, the target area is about 15 yards away. A shot of my first story window:
And here we have a close-up view of the target area:
The lights were aimed at the bottom of the shed, but sometimes my hand was not as steady as desired, I am getting older /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif.
I am just presenting the beamshots of various lights without reviewing the units, I added a few comments when necessary, otherwise the pics should speak for themselves. At the end of this post I have compiled some rather subjective conclusions in no special order. Before looking at the pics you should know some details about the setting:
- The colors in the target area are suffering from the fact that it is not 100% dry, meaning they come out a bit darker than usual. This compromises the visibility of the weaker coronas in front of the shed in the grass a bit.
- To get an impression of the width of coronas and flood beams watch out for the trees left and right as well as for the factory building behind the shed
- My camera was set to brightest setting at 640ASA (yeah, while moving to my new home I discovered the long lost manual of the camera /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif, and it is at least semi-adjustable), but it is still working in some kind of auto-mode
- All pics are brightness-enhanced of 12%, they do pretty much reflect what you see except that weaker coronas are underrated.
- Ambient light was present, but not too much. You could have walked without a light in the backyard, but not too comfortably so.
- The colors reflect pretty well what your eyes actually see.
- All lights were either running in regulation or had new batteries fed to their greedy emitters …
The whole shootout is cut down into different sections with a pic of the contenders at the beginning. Let's start with the most important section …
1. LED lights ==================================================
1.01 Arc LS1rev2
1.02 Arc LSH with R2H driven at 363mA done by Chop.
1.03 Arc LS 5W Fraen LP BB750 done by Jets22.
This light produces a wonderful medium flood with the LP optix on a 5W LS. When looking closely at the L4 shot below, you notice that this Arc is dimmer. This might come from the fact that the optix loose more light than a reflector and / or that a single CR123 cannot provide the juice to fully power a BB750 …
1.04 Firefly in stock configuration. By DSpeck.
1.05 McL4, a R2H modded in the KL4 head by McGizmo, driven by a BadBoy600 on a 3V single cell body. Produces a good hotspot with a satisfying corona. Hotspot is less tight than the one of the PR heads, but much more intense than the L4. Runtime is about 45 minutes constant on.
1.06 SF L4
1.07 McLux PR-T-BK with SWAK/BB611 on black 1x123 McLux body
Done by McGizmo.
1.08 McLux PR TWAK DB917 on E2e-BK, Don's Porsche.
1.09 McLux PR R2H DB700 on McLux 3x123 body
Done by McGizmo.
Note that my camera was unable to catch the huge corona of the PR and PR-T heads that is beginning to be rather weak at this distance. Nevertheless it is still there and of some limited use even at 15 yards.
1.10 McLux PR-T W4V / BB500 on E1e This is a very interesting little light, I had to force Don to do it for me … he said it would not be perfect on one cell. The kick-*** feature here is that it can run on one or two 123 cells and still be in regulation without the penalties of the reduced efficiency of the wizard boards. I do love the 5W LS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. It runs regulated about 30min on 1x123 and is plenty bright with still good heat management. A very good little light IMHO, very versatile, too.
1.11 Golden Dragon McLux: PR head with X3T / BB750 on 2x123 pack … my favourite of all the time… tremendously strong medium flood with a perfect beam (one of the older PRs with more orange peel) in pure white … hmmmm …
Read more about this marvel here
For all those who are not familiar with the McLux, look at …
www.skunklights.com
www.dmcleish.com
this thread
1.12 Schulzendorf Gamma1
A 1W LS with NX05 on 2x123, resistored. A tad brighter than the Arc LS1, but a bit on the creamy side of the lottery. Read more about this light here
1.13 LedLenser V2 Law Enforcement
A 1W LS with a Fraen optix on 3xAAA in a round holder. Pushbutton switch with "reverse" momentary-off. Good knurling, but not watertight and no lens to protect optix.
Read more about LedLensers here
1.14 SF L6
1.15 MR Bulk's LGI LE
An especially bright LD LS with an NX05 on 3 x AA in a Legend host, only a hand full were built. Reached about 900 lux and was a real killer light a year ago. Still a very good performer and runs of cheapo batts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
1.16 LedLenser V2-16 Chip
A 16 x 5mm LED stainless steel flood light on 3 C-cells. It is brighter than the KL2 but a bit on the blue side. Read more about LedLensers here
1.17 MR-X
An X3T in a 2D-Mag driven by a special circuit at 1.5A. Uses a hotlips heatsink abd runs of 6 x AA, either L91 lithium /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif or NiMhs or even Alks … and it has a Direct-Drive Indicator LED … and … by hotbeam.
2. Incandescent and HID ===========================================
2.01 PT Blast
2.02 MiniMag look-alike
2.03 SF E2e-BK with MN03
2.04 SF M3 / HOLA
2.05 SF M6 / HOLA
2.06 KenRad UDL-35A1 - SPOT
A 35W D2S Metal Halide HID divelight with a spot (4°) and a flood reflector. Bulb is rated 3.200 lumens. If interested, click here for a complete review of this beast, it is a really good HID light. Those shots are overexposed to remain consistent in relation to the weaker units in the test.
2.07 KenRad UDL-35A1 – FLOOD
3. Colored LEDs ================================================
For our amusement I have included a few shots of colored LEDs. Note the monochromatic result that limits the usefulness of those devices as general lighting tools.
3.01 Arc LS1 1W RB with NX05 done by ab, who left this forum some time ago.
3.02 5W RB BB700 on SF E2e using stock reflector done by McGizmo. This is a pure flood light and rather uncomfortable to look at in close quarters, it is very bright and very blue.
3.03 Black Widow McLux: 1W Red with McFlood, BB500
This elusive unit was manufactured by McGizmo like its twin that is living in the Led Museum …
Black Widow McLux
3.04 Black McLux with a 1W Amber LS SE, BB400
By McGizmo. This is a rather weak unit, only the hotspot manages to be seen by my camera, the huge corona has fallen into oblivion.
3.05 C2/M2 5W Cyan Mod, BB750 by McGizmo, the second 5W flashlight on earth after the famous Terra Destroyer. Uses the stock reflector.
Inova X5T-M UV … nothing to be seen here. Completely useless outside …
4. Weaklings ================================================
To bring this to an end, you'll see some shots of smaller and weaker lights that still manage to show up on the camera.
4.01 Eternalight EliteMax on boost mode.
4.02 Nano Mate with Turbo Head done by lambda. Uses an R2H with a drive current of 170mA on 1 x N-Cell. The corona is completely useless at this distance.
4.03 LedLenser V1 Moon Spot … do YOU see anything??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
This one has an aspheric lens and produces a beam like the Inova X1 on 1 x 5mm LED. It is not as completely outgunned as the black pic might suggest, the digicam just cannot capture the faint glow projected in a perfect round and smooth beam.
Want to know more? Click!
4.04 LedLenser V2 Triplex
Not bad for a 3 x 5mm light on 3 x N-Cells.
Want to know more? Click the link above ..
4.05 Opalec NewBeam in SF E1e done by McGizmo.
RANDOM CONCLUSIONS ========================================
The SF E2e … is dead. We have LED lights that throw further, put out more light and have a better color rendering and are regulated, and all that in a package of the same size. Thanx Don and L4 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif !!!
The SF E1e … a great host to make something decent out of it. Nothing more.
McLux PR and PR-T with 1W / Lux III: The huge corona is becoming pretty useless at this distance and beyond which leaves us basically with the intense but small hotspot. There are better alternatives for the closer medium range than those combos …
… the 5W with a PR-Reflector: ideal for medium range … a big and bright medium flood with a very good all-around illumination gently fading into the corona. My personal favourite.
The best throw in the LED category has the PR reflector mated with a 1W or Lux III. Given the size of this combo it is a true marvel if it is throw what you're after.
In the end, the PR with a 1W / Lux III is formidable in close quarters due to the huge corona and is a killer in the long range. Only in medium range it is clearly outclassed by other lights, especially those with a medium flood beam.
The current 5mm LEDs are at the limit of their useful distance at 15 yards. And they are quite blue and lack quality when compared with Luxeons.
Colored LEDs are useless for general purpose illumination. Except when you are one of those freaks who liked monochromatic monitors … /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
The creations of our modders and makers are supreme and surpass the production lights easily /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif.
The SF M6 HOLA is soooo cool! It might look yellow and not too impressing in white-wall tests, but shine it outside and you get to know flaming demon power!
LEDs rule in the 2x123 size or smaller. Incans are dead in these classes of lights. Although they are still the big guns. Even if we have the SNII and the MR-X, Incans and HID still rule supreme in the upper class.
A good flood is preferable over a tight hotspot with a weak corona in the medium range. Allows you to see more of your surroundings and thus greatly improves orientation. What is the difference between a pencil beam and a ringy beam in this distance? Not much, both don't let you see very well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (putting on flame jacket)
The Fraen LP is a medium flood light when used with a 5W LS.
The difference between the 1W R2H up to 700mA and the Lux III at higher drive levels is only important when throw is concerned. For close and medium range applications the little increase in brightness is not worth the sacrifice in energy / runtime / heat.
If you want throw with a LED, you'll need a reflector. Otherwise, the beams of the lights with optix might be less beautiful when used in white-wall comparisons, but do their job just as well outside, if they fit your choice of light distribution.
That's it, thanx for reading. I am sorry for the rather chaotic conclusion-section, I just could not find a possible structure there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
bernhard
It is a shootout of medium distance, the target area is about 15 yards away. A shot of my first story window:
And here we have a close-up view of the target area:
The lights were aimed at the bottom of the shed, but sometimes my hand was not as steady as desired, I am getting older /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif.
I am just presenting the beamshots of various lights without reviewing the units, I added a few comments when necessary, otherwise the pics should speak for themselves. At the end of this post I have compiled some rather subjective conclusions in no special order. Before looking at the pics you should know some details about the setting:
- The colors in the target area are suffering from the fact that it is not 100% dry, meaning they come out a bit darker than usual. This compromises the visibility of the weaker coronas in front of the shed in the grass a bit.
- To get an impression of the width of coronas and flood beams watch out for the trees left and right as well as for the factory building behind the shed
- My camera was set to brightest setting at 640ASA (yeah, while moving to my new home I discovered the long lost manual of the camera /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif, and it is at least semi-adjustable), but it is still working in some kind of auto-mode
- All pics are brightness-enhanced of 12%, they do pretty much reflect what you see except that weaker coronas are underrated.
- Ambient light was present, but not too much. You could have walked without a light in the backyard, but not too comfortably so.
- The colors reflect pretty well what your eyes actually see.
- All lights were either running in regulation or had new batteries fed to their greedy emitters …
The whole shootout is cut down into different sections with a pic of the contenders at the beginning. Let's start with the most important section …
1. LED lights ==================================================
1.01 Arc LS1rev2
1.02 Arc LSH with R2H driven at 363mA done by Chop.
1.03 Arc LS 5W Fraen LP BB750 done by Jets22.
This light produces a wonderful medium flood with the LP optix on a 5W LS. When looking closely at the L4 shot below, you notice that this Arc is dimmer. This might come from the fact that the optix loose more light than a reflector and / or that a single CR123 cannot provide the juice to fully power a BB750 …
1.04 Firefly in stock configuration. By DSpeck.
1.05 McL4, a R2H modded in the KL4 head by McGizmo, driven by a BadBoy600 on a 3V single cell body. Produces a good hotspot with a satisfying corona. Hotspot is less tight than the one of the PR heads, but much more intense than the L4. Runtime is about 45 minutes constant on.
1.06 SF L4
1.07 McLux PR-T-BK with SWAK/BB611 on black 1x123 McLux body
Done by McGizmo.
1.08 McLux PR TWAK DB917 on E2e-BK, Don's Porsche.
1.09 McLux PR R2H DB700 on McLux 3x123 body
Done by McGizmo.
Note that my camera was unable to catch the huge corona of the PR and PR-T heads that is beginning to be rather weak at this distance. Nevertheless it is still there and of some limited use even at 15 yards.
1.10 McLux PR-T W4V / BB500 on E1e This is a very interesting little light, I had to force Don to do it for me … he said it would not be perfect on one cell. The kick-*** feature here is that it can run on one or two 123 cells and still be in regulation without the penalties of the reduced efficiency of the wizard boards. I do love the 5W LS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. It runs regulated about 30min on 1x123 and is plenty bright with still good heat management. A very good little light IMHO, very versatile, too.
1.11 Golden Dragon McLux: PR head with X3T / BB750 on 2x123 pack … my favourite of all the time… tremendously strong medium flood with a perfect beam (one of the older PRs with more orange peel) in pure white … hmmmm …
Read more about this marvel here
For all those who are not familiar with the McLux, look at …
www.skunklights.com
www.dmcleish.com
this thread
1.12 Schulzendorf Gamma1
A 1W LS with NX05 on 2x123, resistored. A tad brighter than the Arc LS1, but a bit on the creamy side of the lottery. Read more about this light here
1.13 LedLenser V2 Law Enforcement
A 1W LS with a Fraen optix on 3xAAA in a round holder. Pushbutton switch with "reverse" momentary-off. Good knurling, but not watertight and no lens to protect optix.
Read more about LedLensers here
1.14 SF L6
1.15 MR Bulk's LGI LE
An especially bright LD LS with an NX05 on 3 x AA in a Legend host, only a hand full were built. Reached about 900 lux and was a real killer light a year ago. Still a very good performer and runs of cheapo batts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
1.16 LedLenser V2-16 Chip
A 16 x 5mm LED stainless steel flood light on 3 C-cells. It is brighter than the KL2 but a bit on the blue side. Read more about LedLensers here
1.17 MR-X
An X3T in a 2D-Mag driven by a special circuit at 1.5A. Uses a hotlips heatsink abd runs of 6 x AA, either L91 lithium /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif or NiMhs or even Alks … and it has a Direct-Drive Indicator LED … and … by hotbeam.
2. Incandescent and HID ===========================================
2.01 PT Blast
2.02 MiniMag look-alike
2.03 SF E2e-BK with MN03
2.04 SF M3 / HOLA
2.05 SF M6 / HOLA
2.06 KenRad UDL-35A1 - SPOT
A 35W D2S Metal Halide HID divelight with a spot (4°) and a flood reflector. Bulb is rated 3.200 lumens. If interested, click here for a complete review of this beast, it is a really good HID light. Those shots are overexposed to remain consistent in relation to the weaker units in the test.
2.07 KenRad UDL-35A1 – FLOOD
3. Colored LEDs ================================================
For our amusement I have included a few shots of colored LEDs. Note the monochromatic result that limits the usefulness of those devices as general lighting tools.
3.01 Arc LS1 1W RB with NX05 done by ab, who left this forum some time ago.
3.02 5W RB BB700 on SF E2e using stock reflector done by McGizmo. This is a pure flood light and rather uncomfortable to look at in close quarters, it is very bright and very blue.
3.03 Black Widow McLux: 1W Red with McFlood, BB500
This elusive unit was manufactured by McGizmo like its twin that is living in the Led Museum …
Black Widow McLux
3.04 Black McLux with a 1W Amber LS SE, BB400
By McGizmo. This is a rather weak unit, only the hotspot manages to be seen by my camera, the huge corona has fallen into oblivion.
3.05 C2/M2 5W Cyan Mod, BB750 by McGizmo, the second 5W flashlight on earth after the famous Terra Destroyer. Uses the stock reflector.
Inova X5T-M UV … nothing to be seen here. Completely useless outside …
4. Weaklings ================================================
To bring this to an end, you'll see some shots of smaller and weaker lights that still manage to show up on the camera.
4.01 Eternalight EliteMax on boost mode.
4.02 Nano Mate with Turbo Head done by lambda. Uses an R2H with a drive current of 170mA on 1 x N-Cell. The corona is completely useless at this distance.
4.03 LedLenser V1 Moon Spot … do YOU see anything??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
This one has an aspheric lens and produces a beam like the Inova X1 on 1 x 5mm LED. It is not as completely outgunned as the black pic might suggest, the digicam just cannot capture the faint glow projected in a perfect round and smooth beam.
Want to know more? Click!
4.04 LedLenser V2 Triplex
Not bad for a 3 x 5mm light on 3 x N-Cells.
Want to know more? Click the link above ..
4.05 Opalec NewBeam in SF E1e done by McGizmo.
RANDOM CONCLUSIONS ========================================
The SF E2e … is dead. We have LED lights that throw further, put out more light and have a better color rendering and are regulated, and all that in a package of the same size. Thanx Don and L4 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif !!!
The SF E1e … a great host to make something decent out of it. Nothing more.
McLux PR and PR-T with 1W / Lux III: The huge corona is becoming pretty useless at this distance and beyond which leaves us basically with the intense but small hotspot. There are better alternatives for the closer medium range than those combos …
… the 5W with a PR-Reflector: ideal for medium range … a big and bright medium flood with a very good all-around illumination gently fading into the corona. My personal favourite.
The best throw in the LED category has the PR reflector mated with a 1W or Lux III. Given the size of this combo it is a true marvel if it is throw what you're after.
In the end, the PR with a 1W / Lux III is formidable in close quarters due to the huge corona and is a killer in the long range. Only in medium range it is clearly outclassed by other lights, especially those with a medium flood beam.
The current 5mm LEDs are at the limit of their useful distance at 15 yards. And they are quite blue and lack quality when compared with Luxeons.
Colored LEDs are useless for general purpose illumination. Except when you are one of those freaks who liked monochromatic monitors … /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
The creations of our modders and makers are supreme and surpass the production lights easily /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif.
The SF M6 HOLA is soooo cool! It might look yellow and not too impressing in white-wall tests, but shine it outside and you get to know flaming demon power!
LEDs rule in the 2x123 size or smaller. Incans are dead in these classes of lights. Although they are still the big guns. Even if we have the SNII and the MR-X, Incans and HID still rule supreme in the upper class.
A good flood is preferable over a tight hotspot with a weak corona in the medium range. Allows you to see more of your surroundings and thus greatly improves orientation. What is the difference between a pencil beam and a ringy beam in this distance? Not much, both don't let you see very well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif (putting on flame jacket)
The Fraen LP is a medium flood light when used with a 5W LS.
The difference between the 1W R2H up to 700mA and the Lux III at higher drive levels is only important when throw is concerned. For close and medium range applications the little increase in brightness is not worth the sacrifice in energy / runtime / heat.
If you want throw with a LED, you'll need a reflector. Otherwise, the beams of the lights with optix might be less beautiful when used in white-wall comparisons, but do their job just as well outside, if they fit your choice of light distribution.
That's it, thanx for reading. I am sorry for the rather chaotic conclusion-section, I just could not find a possible structure there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
bernhard