MDM
Newly Enlightened
I've read Flashlight Reviews review of these lights. Has anyone bought one and if so what are your thoughts?
UK C4 or C8 ELed-Anyone bought one of these?
- Thread starter MDM
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
illumiGeek
Enlightened
Got one yesterday. Actually, an eLED module since I already have the light. 1st impression; bright, but not impressively so (I think it will be better in NiMh, but haven't tried yet). Round, pretty even hot spot. Not "Surefire" quality smooth, but acceptable. 2 brightness settings are nice, but on 4 cell there is hardly any difference (more noticeable on 8 cell).
Compared to the C4 (6.6W) incandescent lamp, it's probably putting out a similar ammount of light. Maybe a little more with 8 cells. The 8 cell incan (at 13+ watts) is brighter. The spot is not very tightly focused. Think of it as a medium flood. Enough throw to light up something across the street, but not down the block.
Color temp is nice and white. Similar, but warmer than my LC100 HID light. The incan version by itself looks pretty white (compared to other incans), but next to the eLED or HID the incan looks very yellow. The eLED by itself looks very white, but next to the HID it looks warm. With all 3 side-by-side the eLED looks pure white, while the HID looks a bit blue.
EDIT: Found a bad cell in the HID. Will have to re-evaluate when I get good batteries in it. See next message for more info...
Compared to the LC100 HID; well... not much to compare really. The HID beats the eLED in just about every way. Larger, smoother, brighter hot spot with more spill, and (in spite of the larger hot spot) more throw. And that's with the older, more diffuse (metal) reflector. With the newer plastic reflector that has a bit tighter focus, the HID hot spot is only slightly larger than the eLED, and quite noticeably brighter. With the metal reflector you can still barely see the eLED spot when superimposed over the HID. With the newer reflector the HID overwhelms the eLED.
Haven't had a chance to take it under water. Probably won't for a week or two.
That's my quicky review for now. Will post new info when I get some. I may try for some beam shots tonight (if I get the time).
Aloha, iG
Compared to the C4 (6.6W) incandescent lamp, it's probably putting out a similar ammount of light. Maybe a little more with 8 cells. The 8 cell incan (at 13+ watts) is brighter. The spot is not very tightly focused. Think of it as a medium flood. Enough throw to light up something across the street, but not down the block.
Color temp is nice and white. Similar, but warmer than my LC100 HID light. The incan version by itself looks pretty white (compared to other incans), but next to the eLED or HID the incan looks very yellow. The eLED by itself looks very white, but next to the HID it looks warm. With all 3 side-by-side the eLED looks pure white, while the HID looks a bit blue.
EDIT: Found a bad cell in the HID. Will have to re-evaluate when I get good batteries in it. See next message for more info...
Compared to the LC100 HID; well... not much to compare really. The HID beats the eLED in just about every way. Larger, smoother, brighter hot spot with more spill, and (in spite of the larger hot spot) more throw. And that's with the older, more diffuse (metal) reflector. With the newer plastic reflector that has a bit tighter focus, the HID hot spot is only slightly larger than the eLED, and quite noticeably brighter. With the metal reflector you can still barely see the eLED spot when superimposed over the HID. With the newer reflector the HID overwhelms the eLED.
Haven't had a chance to take it under water. Probably won't for a week or two.
That's my quicky review for now. Will post new info when I get some. I may try for some beam shots tonight (if I get the time).
Aloha, iG
illumiGeek
Enlightened
Thought the HID looked a bit cooler than usual, so I checked the batteries. Found a bad NiMh cell (only outputting 68 milivolts). So the HID was running on only 7 cells for the above comparison.
FYI: HID looks cooler with less power. Color temp should be closer when running on all 8 cells. Of course the HID will be even brighter, then. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Batteries are charging now... will post update when I re-evaluate.
Aloha, iG
FYI: HID looks cooler with less power. Color temp should be closer when running on all 8 cells. Of course the HID will be even brighter, then. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Batteries are charging now... will post update when I re-evaluate.
Aloha, iG
pedalinbob
Flashlight Enthusiast
illumigeek: would you say the eLED's are worth it for general use?
i am really starting t ogrow fond of UK stuff. seems thoughtfully designed and well built. reasonable prices as well.
Bob
i am really starting t ogrow fond of UK stuff. seems thoughtfully designed and well built. reasonable prices as well.
Bob
illumiGeek
Enlightened
Sorry I didn't get back to this thread a bit sooner. Had a couple of minor disasters to deal with. One involving my air conditioner; which I won't go into because it would involve a lot of language that would be inappropriate for a family oriented board; and as for the other...
Got the bad cell problem resolved with the Light Cannon, then my 7 year old niece knocked it off the table and it wouldn't light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif Thought I may have lost the $70 lamp, but I personally have subjected it to much harder knocks.
Tried new batteries and still no go. Popped in some old Duracell C cells and it lit up. Put my AA adapter back in with the NiMh AA cells and it still wouldn't light. Took a close look inside and found that one of the battery contacts had moved very slightly. Just enough to miss the - contact on my kluge AA adapter set up. Snapped it back in place and she fired right up.
That makes more than half a dozen hard knocks/drops for my LC100, and the "super fragile" HID lamp is fine. I wonder why people think these things are so fragile? WA Solarc data sheets say they are tested to something like 400G. Oh well...
Update:
A little more info; the C4/C8 eLED module uses a 5 watt SE Luxeon emitter (Side-Emitting). It is mounted on a slight pedestal in a faceted reflector. The reflector itself appears to be plastic, but the pedestal and underlying frame are metal. Not the best heat sinking I have seen for a Lux, but certainly better than a star mounted Lux sitting on plastic. If you'd like to see the module, BrightGuy has a very nice picture. And he has 'em in stock at a nice price.
The switch on the C4/C8 moves two ways. With the incan version this moves 2 different lamps into position. This interesting arrangement allows you to switch to your "spare" lamp even under water! With the eLED module it acts as a high/low beam mode selector. Low beam provides less light, but increased battery run time.
Updated Comparison:
Running on all 8 cells the HID still looks cool-white, but without the blue-violet tint I saw a few days ago. In comparison, the C4 eLED looks warm-white. Not as warm as incandescent, but very noticeable next to the HID. Firing up my modded Mag running (6)CP1300SCR high output NiCAD cells and a GH24 lamp I find that the eLED looks more neutral-white in comaprison.
My modded Mag is one of the "whitest" incadescent lights I have seen. Much whiter than Xenon lights like the LX or PM6. But next to the C4 eLED it looks distinctly yellow; and next to the HID it looks yellow-orange.
With all 3 side-by-side, the HID looks the whitest, though on the cool side. The eLED looks warm, but not yellow. The incan, of course, looks yellow-orange.
Both the HID and the modded Mag (which I estimate is outputting something like 14-15 watts) are quite a bit brighter than the C4 eLED. Running on 8 cells the C8 eLED is noticeably brighter than the C4, but still no match for the HID or Mag-Mod.
I tried a quick-n-dirty beam shot, and the C4 eLED looked green with the camera locked on daylight/sunlight color balance. The HID looked white with a blue tinge around the edge; and the Mag-Mod looked yellow, with an orange surround.
HID / C4 eLED / Mag Mod
The green color is surprizing because I don't notice it at all in normal use. In fact I'm quite pleased with the C4 eLED and have been using it quite a lot around the house for general lighting. It's certainly not a photon monster that we flashaholics covet so much. It is a nice, durable light that is easy to use; lights things well at close to medium distances, and is easy on the eyes. The best way I can describe the light from the C4 eLED is relaxing. In using it around the house while modifying computers or fixing air conditioners [GRRR!] I find that I can see details clearly, and with less eye strain than with the yellow-orangy incan, or the stark, ice cold HID.
Color, of course, is subject to the "Luxeon Lottery" so you may (and likely will) get different results. I have no idea what "bin" lux is in this thing; and I don't know if there is a way to tell.
Hopefully I'll get to take this thing for a dive soon. Will post again if/when I get more info...
Aloha, iG
Got the bad cell problem resolved with the Light Cannon, then my 7 year old niece knocked it off the table and it wouldn't light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif Thought I may have lost the $70 lamp, but I personally have subjected it to much harder knocks.
Tried new batteries and still no go. Popped in some old Duracell C cells and it lit up. Put my AA adapter back in with the NiMh AA cells and it still wouldn't light. Took a close look inside and found that one of the battery contacts had moved very slightly. Just enough to miss the - contact on my kluge AA adapter set up. Snapped it back in place and she fired right up.
That makes more than half a dozen hard knocks/drops for my LC100, and the "super fragile" HID lamp is fine. I wonder why people think these things are so fragile? WA Solarc data sheets say they are tested to something like 400G. Oh well...
Update:
A little more info; the C4/C8 eLED module uses a 5 watt SE Luxeon emitter (Side-Emitting). It is mounted on a slight pedestal in a faceted reflector. The reflector itself appears to be plastic, but the pedestal and underlying frame are metal. Not the best heat sinking I have seen for a Lux, but certainly better than a star mounted Lux sitting on plastic. If you'd like to see the module, BrightGuy has a very nice picture. And he has 'em in stock at a nice price.
The switch on the C4/C8 moves two ways. With the incan version this moves 2 different lamps into position. This interesting arrangement allows you to switch to your "spare" lamp even under water! With the eLED module it acts as a high/low beam mode selector. Low beam provides less light, but increased battery run time.
Updated Comparison:
Running on all 8 cells the HID still looks cool-white, but without the blue-violet tint I saw a few days ago. In comparison, the C4 eLED looks warm-white. Not as warm as incandescent, but very noticeable next to the HID. Firing up my modded Mag running (6)CP1300SCR high output NiCAD cells and a GH24 lamp I find that the eLED looks more neutral-white in comaprison.
My modded Mag is one of the "whitest" incadescent lights I have seen. Much whiter than Xenon lights like the LX or PM6. But next to the C4 eLED it looks distinctly yellow; and next to the HID it looks yellow-orange.
With all 3 side-by-side, the HID looks the whitest, though on the cool side. The eLED looks warm, but not yellow. The incan, of course, looks yellow-orange.
Both the HID and the modded Mag (which I estimate is outputting something like 14-15 watts) are quite a bit brighter than the C4 eLED. Running on 8 cells the C8 eLED is noticeably brighter than the C4, but still no match for the HID or Mag-Mod.
I tried a quick-n-dirty beam shot, and the C4 eLED looked green with the camera locked on daylight/sunlight color balance. The HID looked white with a blue tinge around the edge; and the Mag-Mod looked yellow, with an orange surround.
HID / C4 eLED / Mag Mod
The green color is surprizing because I don't notice it at all in normal use. In fact I'm quite pleased with the C4 eLED and have been using it quite a lot around the house for general lighting. It's certainly not a photon monster that we flashaholics covet so much. It is a nice, durable light that is easy to use; lights things well at close to medium distances, and is easy on the eyes. The best way I can describe the light from the C4 eLED is relaxing. In using it around the house while modifying computers or fixing air conditioners [GRRR!] I find that I can see details clearly, and with less eye strain than with the yellow-orangy incan, or the stark, ice cold HID.
Color, of course, is subject to the "Luxeon Lottery" so you may (and likely will) get different results. I have no idea what "bin" lux is in this thing; and I don't know if there is a way to tell.
Hopefully I'll get to take this thing for a dive soon. Will post again if/when I get more info...
Aloha, iG
