Review: Convoy Diffuser for S2+

Disclaimer

The diffusers reviewed were purchased by myself.
Product link: 2.3€ |Max innere durchmesser 24,5mm taschenlampe diffusor (weiß) für Convoy S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 taschenlampe|s3 screen|s4 phones3 player - AliExpress

Introduction

The white plastic diffusers reviewed have a maximum internal diameter of 24.5mm, and are designed to fit the Convoy S2, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, and S8. I tested them on a black Convoy S2 with new firmware. They may also fit other similar tube lights with an approximately 24.5mm external diameter tubes. In fact, a photo on Convoy’s website shows it being used on a Roche F12.

Design

The manufacturer specifications are as follows:
outer diameter:28mm
inner diameter:24.5mm
length:60mm
weight:6.5g/pcs
Material:plastic
The diffuser sits around the end of the flashlight tube, but doesn’t clip onto place. Despite the lack of clipping, it remained surprisingly stable on the end of tube when waving it around. The diffuser is quite solid, and will take quite a few knocks or mis-treatment when not fitted on the light.

Diffusion

The diffuser does a great job of diffusing the light almost 360 degrees around the light as shown in the photos. As expected there is more “throw” forward than behind.

There appears to be a small amount of tint shift, which seems to be slightly cooler. However, in reality this is not much of an issue, and may just be due to the evening out of the overall tint (which is variable between the hotspot and spill beam when not diffused). These photos are with Convoy S2+ with 1A (cool white), 4C (neutral white), and 7A (warm white) emitters.

Heat handling

As with most tube lights, the more powerful Convoy S2+ models can heat up very quickly on high, and can even get rather toasty on medium in some ambient conditions (especially if not handheld). During testing the diffuser handled the heat better than the flashlight. When having to step down due to the flashlight getting too hot, the diffuser was experiencing no adverse affects from the heat.

If using the light as a diffuser where it is not being hand held (e.g. hanging diffuser light in tent), and not experienced with that use case, I would recommend periodically checking on the flashlight’s temperature.

Conclusion

This diffuser is great for photography (e.g. light painting, or diffused illumination), camping, or other purposes requiring a low to medium output diffused light. As with other Convoy products, the price (US$1.65 at the time of writing) is exceptionally low for the quality. Below are few photos of the diffusers in use.

amazing pictures! I was looking for one and now I know which item to buy! good review!

Great review and beautiful pictures! I’m going to order them.

Nice! I’m going to order a couple. BTW, your pictures are stunning!

nice review and nice pics
indeed nifty little thingy!

Wowwwwwww, stunning pictures!!! Amazing… seriously wow… :wink:

Wow!! Those pictures!! What kind of camera? Settings? Did you use for those outdoor shots? I’m glad I’ve been looking for diffusers or I probably wouldn’t have clicked on this thread. Thanks for the awesome review!!

Thanks for the comments!

Camera Nikon D3300 and Nikon 18-55mm VR II lens. Remote shutter used. Post processed from RAW files in Adobe Lightroom 6.
Convoy S2+ output in these photos would be in the 300-400 lumen range.
From top to bottom of the three photos:
Manual, f/16, 30secs, ISO800
Manual, f/8, 30secs, ISO400
Manual, f/16, 30secs, ISO200

i dont know why but in my particular diffuser from convoy requires somesort of ‘break-in’ if you get what i mean, not sure if yours had the same issue but mine appeared to have me forcefully fit it on as the S2+ bezel scrape away some of its plastic ridges inside and only then it fits and works perfectly after that

I haven’t found that I’ve had to purposefully ‘break them in’, though they do indeed seem to fit better each time I use them.

stephenk,

Thanks for your review.

Nice captures too.

Splott-Light :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot for your input, maybe i got a weird one, two of them actually directly from simon at aliexpress.

love the pictures.

Nice review, much more comprehensive than my quick text-only summary on CPF.

However, my CPF post does include some thoughts on the use of Convoy, Fenix and Nitecore diffusers with the S2+, along with some comments on a couple of other accessories, if that’s useful to anyone here.

Awesome idea using the diffusor for your pictures. I’ve just ordered some for my next night photography outing.

Are you using standard emitters in your S2(+) lights or did you mod them for High-CRI? I assume you turned up the saturation and vibrance a little in Lightroom?