Review: Manker MC12 (EDC Compact Thrower, 1x18650, Micro USB rechargeable, Osram)

Budda

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
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590
Location
Italy
MC12 was sent to me from Manker for the review.
The MC12 is a small EDC thrower, powered by a 18650 cell and with a OSRAM KW CSLNM1.TG emitter.

It comes in this box, with a micro USB Rechargeable Manker 18650 with 2600mAh capacity, clip, lanyard, manual.
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The light is longer that most regular EDC lights (134mm long and 40 mm of head diameter), and with a wider head because the MC12 is dedicated to throw. You can see the very small OSRAM emitter, in a smooth and wide reflector. The glass has AR coating.
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The tailcap (only part you can take apart from the light) is U shaped and offers a compromise between easy of access to the forward mechanical clicky, and tailstanding.
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The positive contact pole is a spring
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The threads are square cut and anodised, so physical lockout is possible
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UI
The UI is pretty straight forward: You keep progressing between the modes (Low, Medium, High, Turbo, Strobo, in loop) with a soft press, and then click fully when you reach your desired level. After 5 seconds, the light will memorise the output.

Output and runtime
Measured with the provided battery
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Beamshots
Three at 140 meters.
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The house is at around 300 meters.
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Note that I use the 3.2" exposure time for most pics, but this time was lowered to roughly match the what my eye saw.

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
The Output matches the specs and the runtime curves are flat. Note that the battery I used is a 2600mAh battery, using a higher capacity battery will produce noticeably longer runtimes.
The outputs are well spaced and the UI is fine, although I would prefer not to go through strobe each time I pass through the levels.
I was surprised by how much does this little light throw, without resorting to huge reflectors or high output. A relatively low output, small LED focused in a well designed reflector, is able to reach considerably long distances even at high mode (around 300 lumens). The spill is narrow and starts a few meters from the user, but it is quite bright for a thrower light.

I would like this light to come with a pouch and a NW emitter.

Thanks to AntoLed, P.P, Won, Zampa.
 
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