Surefire L7 and Beamshot Comparisons

Received my Surefire L7 the other day. It's a Surefire 8AX body (HA) with a Surefire KL7 head and rated at 65 lumens. The beam pattern is supposed to be similar to the L5 although I can't personally make that claim since I don't own an L5. I can say that it has a tighter beam and more throw than the L4. I posted pictures of my L7 on my Imagestation account here. (Sorry, I don't have any other way of posting photos)

I also took some beamshot pics in my garage tonight and I have posted them on my Imagestation account here . I took two sets of photos. In the first set, all beamshots were within my closed garage at a range of 15 feet (my digital camera and flashlight were at the 15 foot mark).

The second set of photos were taken at approximately 100 feet. The digital camera and flashlight were still at the 100 foot mark within my garage but this time, the garage door was open and I was aiming at the van parked across the street. Now keep in mind that this is in the city and there is ambient light pollution and I am in no way a professional when it comes to this beamshot comparison stuff.

The lights that I used consisted of:
- Surefire L7
- Surefire L4
- Surefire M3 with MN11 lamp
- Surefire 9P with KT Turbohead and N2 lamp
- Pelican M8LED
- Surefire 6P with P60 lamp

The L7 was able to hold its own and it's definitely a nice, white light. But it's interesting to see that incandescent lights still rule when it comes to long-range throw, especially the M3 with MN11 lamp and the KT Turbohead with the N2 lamp. Also interesting that the Pelican M8LED did so well at 100 foot range. But the M8LED is pure throw with virtually no sidespill at all. The L7 has a bit of sidespill.

I also tried posting the pics to my Yahoo Photos account but they shrink them. Seems hard finding a good online photo hosting site.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

-Mike

Nice pics, how's the runtime?

Not sure yet. Just got the L7 and haven't put it through timed tests yet. Still marvelling at its smooth white light.

Pardon my ignorance but I never expected the L7 to be so big!!! It is bigger than the M3??? I thought it is either equal to or smaller than the M3.

Hi Andy,

Click on this link to see the size comparism between a L7 and a M3. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

The L7 measures 8" and my M3 measures about 7"-7.25" depending if count the rubber part of the tailcap.

According to the Surefire 2004 catalogue, the 8AX measures only 6.9". So I guess that extra length is due to the KL7 head. The KL7 measures about 3" on its own.

But yes, it is quite a big light as far as Surefires go. "Beefy" is the best word to describe it. The KL7 is long, the body is thick and there's a lot of heft when you pick it up in your hands. The M3, on the other hand, almost feels flimsy with its thin combat-grip and heavy bezel after playing around with the L7.

But putting all flashlights into perspective, the L7 is still tiny when compared to a M@g 2D.

How is it with heat on extended runs-1/2 to 1 hour?

Rich

I haven't quite run it that long yet but after 5 minute runs, it does get quite warm. I can still touch it but I get squeemish about leaving it on for too long. Let's put it this way...it's a great light for those Canadian winters /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Update: I don't have any temperature readings but after running the L7 for 10 minutes, it's not too hot. Meanwhile, if I ran my L4 for 10 minutes straight, it'd be way too hot to touch.