Received mine today. I got the 219c version and it is awesome. I’m using button top LG HG2. I’ve noticed better performance with the HG2s vs the Samsung 25r cells in my meteors. When comparing the tests they seem almost the exact same performace of the samsung 30q cells. I have 12 of those on order so I’ll have to check them out too later. The battery carrier in this light feels more solid than any other that i’ve seen including those of my firefox lights and supbeam or even the thrunite light carriers. The weight in the hand seems balanced like a dumbbell with heavier weight on the ends. It’s output is astonishing. I have a couple of M43 meteors that I compared it two. Both of the M43s are also 219c. The MF-01 has a much brighter hotspot and seems to overpower the meteors in every way. I’ve noticed the 219c astrolux lights I have seem to use a slightly cooler tint than the M43s. It is a very white tint very similar to sunlight.
This light easily worth the full retail price. When you consider what something like this put together in a custom build would cost in parts alone the GB and sale price on this is a complete steal. It’s not all the time you get a light that satisfies the itch till the next ones come in the mail- Q8s and BLF GT in my case. But this is certainly one of those lights I would highly recommend. Also, if you do not have any 219c lights this would be a good one to get with that emitter cause you get 18 of them in one shot. I have the Astrolux S42 in the xpg2 CW and the 219c NW. I thought I had lost the xpg2 but didn’t really care since i thought the 219c version was that much better.
I got the MF01 yesterday, 3 Q8's today, but my MF01 is the XP-G3 version. Overall totally agree - it's a steal, output actually matches the specs, overall quality is outstanding. checked all the screws/threads - nothing stripped, all at/near perfect. Amaz'n for this price.
Just got mine in the mail yesterday; here are some thoughts:
This light is BRIGHT! A lot of people up here have lightbars on their rigs, and this puppy seems to be just as bright. Except it’s all in the palm of your hand!
It’s much heavier than I expected. This means there’s plenty of thermal mass to soak up extended turbo runs.
Flat tops DO fit! I’ve run both VTC6’s and 30Q’s flattops (No solder blobs) without any issue. I have not removed the white protectors and this still seems to work just fine.
Could a custom driver push this light even harder? With 18 Nichias I see the potential for over 20,000 lumens. With the XP-G2 model it could even be 25,000 lumens! Granted that would require over 300 watts… But maybe it’s possible for like 15 or 20 seconds? Kind of like a D4 but a D18 instead. VTC6’s should be able to kick this much power out… Maybe the voltage sag would be too much though and would require some kind of boost driver though?
It’s seems crazy to say a light with 18 power leds needs a lower low but it would have been nice here. The UI isn’t anything fancy but compared to the mess of their S42, where you couldn’t turn it off without going to level 2 and if you try it goes to turbo and if you try at that point to switch modes you get strobe. Yeah, way better than that but not a big fan of the hold and wait to turn off but have been getting used to it in their lights and the Manker ones. Maybe it’s just their thing.
Just got my Nichia! One bank is a noticeably dimmer than the other two in Low and Med (not enough to be noticeable to the casual observer on Med), but seemed to be gone by Med1. To get a good look (without frying my retinas out) I used a Shade 12 welding mask to look directly at the light at all levels . I could then see that the one bank is still dimmer on Med1, but only slightly so. On High and Turbo, all banks appear to be emitting at equal levels.
Only one little nick at the base of the head. I installed then took out the tripod mount, as the hole for it seems to be the natural spot to rest the head on your index finger.
Dedicated Extension Tube and additional battery holder doubling capacity??
One of troubles of this model.
After contacting BG, it seems to send a battery holder.
It becomes two battery holders, it is used for spare use or for verification, it is a meaning hit.
As soon as both heads are turbo with 2 heads it will be red indicator.
The battery is Samsung 30Q.
Once turned on, it became a green indicator with one head.
In the outdoors, the XP-G3 also showed no unevenness and was not bad.
I also feel a little bright.
I took some beamshot last night. Both Q8 & MF01 is very impressive based on cost–performance ratio! I estimate MF01 is over 10000lm. MF01 UI really bug me… it works, but I much prefer Acebeam, Olight or Q8 ’s UI.
:exclamation: *Sorry guys, I decide to take off some of my beamshot photos. I was so exciting about new MF01 & BLF Q8, I forgot to check the batteries in the lights before taking the beamshot photo. I recheck all batteries & found out none of them is fully charge 4.20V; only MF01 & BLF Q8 used fully charge batteries.
I’ll post new beamshot soon* :exclamation:
From top to bottom:
Control
MF01 219c- ~10000+lm
BLF Q8- 5600lm
m43 219c D320- 7400lm
Olight X7 NW- 8900lm
MK34vn xpl-hi 4000k- 7400lm WB 5000k/iso 400/ shutter 1/4
control
MF01 219c
BLF Q8
Just using a ceiling bounce test I’m reading the MF01 34.8% higher than my M43 meteor. So if the meteor Nichia 219c is 6600 then that would make the MF01 around 8897 or so. I had used it a little earlier in the day so the cells were prob at 90%. But I’m happy with a 9000L OTF NW. Also, I’m just using a cheap Lux meter and they don’t measure NW as high as CW since I understand they are more sensitive to more blue vs reds.
Also, I meant to mention like other Astrolux lights with the green eye, you can turn off the green dragon breathing light and lock it out by holding down the button for 2 sec. Then, unlocking it by hold it again for 2 sec.
Mine just arrived (219c), cosmetically perfect except for a very tiny scratch ~0.5mm long. Have to be looking for it. Functioning perfectly but only 5 minutes playing with it in full sunlight so far. Think I’m going to love the beacon.
Just hold the button down for < 2 sec. to turn it off / on. This is the lockout.
It would be great if you could measure all brightness levels too. Than we can compare it.
Perhaps I will open a ticket on banggood and ask for a new driver of the XP-G3 Version.
It is not good if the XP-G3 reaches almost the output of the specs and the Nichia reaches only 65% of it.
I just received my Nichia-equipped light and can’t wait to see what a quad of VTC6 cells does to the neighborhood night sky. Only a few more hours until we see.
I bought some smoke grenade pouches for my soon-to-arrive Q8 lights and the main body of the light fits but the top-heavy bright end sticks out and it doesn’t reach the bottom. There’s a lot of velcro holding the flap on so I guess it could work, but I’ve got a couple other larger pouches ordered that will most likely work better.
I also added a screw-in thingy inside the tripod mount so I can attach a sturdy strap. It sticks out kinda far but it keeps it from rolling. Here’s the link to see what I mean:
. I could then see that the one bank is still dimmer on Med1, but only slightly so. On High and Turbo, all banks appear to be emitting at equal levels.
:exclamation: *Sorry guys, I decide to take off some of my beamshot photos. I was so exciting about new MF01 & BLF Q8, I forgot to check the batteries in the lights before taking the beamshot photo. I recheck all batteries & found out none of them is fully charge 4.20V; only MF01 & BLF Q8 used fully charge batteries.
