How many C8 “versions” are there on market now.
I’ve got 3 myself. NICE. But At up to and over. $30 USD a pop currently,
for a $15 light. They getting a little over the top.
When you add them all up Head size. Drop ins. body length/dia.
26650 are “really” the only NEW versions.
all the others are just different tooling on same old. same old. Basic body.
With varying cree chips/drivers inside.
Un/fortunately. Size Shape, and power wise. They close to ideal.
Below them are water pipe shape IE- NO shape.
Above them get to be bulkier and. Needing the beam/outputs Getting a fair bit bigger in head sizes
and body length/dia…
I need somebody to show me a “improved” version of my Imalent DN35.
with beam/range, spread. of a L6 with throw of that Giga…
or one of it’s mates. with a 2 x battery body length.
This has Biscotti and a few improvements like the board and lens which the product page mentions. Body styling is different - better IMO - but I doubt it actually handles heat any better because of that.
The Astrolux version has a noticeable bump in output (its got a FET installed IIRC?) and has Bistro UI.
Yeah some of the versions are more expensive but there seems to be at least one of the companies with a sale at any given time, I paid less than $20 for my Astrolux.
Astrolux C8 has a great perfomance of 1300 lumens and 640 meters throw. If you change driver of Convoy C8+ with BLF X5/X6 driver you will get same perfomance, more options and new more tactical look of C8+.
I believe all the Sofirn C8s are regulated but I could be wrong. I know the C8F has higher output but is a triple and obviously not a thrower (uses XHP50 IIRC?)
Yup, for me it was just luck that the Astrolux model was on sale. Same price and no work to put in a different driver, normally the $10 higher price vs many other C8s wouldn’t be worth it IMO. The output is higher stock vs stock but nothing mind blowing, just some icing on the cake.
I’m very happy with the 8x7135 on the original convoy xplHi version.
Even the 8x7135 xml2 version is still nice to me.
My astrolux c8 xplHi is the brightest and furthest throwing though.
If the new c8+ has the same fet driver as the astrolux, it would be a winner.
I will let other folks chime in on C8 vs C8. But I can tell you dollar for dollar the Sofirn and Thorfire provide a better bang for the buck than Convoy does. No the C8F does not use XHP50’s. The C8A by Sofirn does 1700+ with a XPL2 and the C8F does the 2580 with XPL’s as well. They may be regulated or not, not really sure but I think they provide a better light with the same modding capabilities. Not to mention unless you get a driver that you aren’t going to replace and you get a C8 from Convoy that is the 3/5 mode driver, you won’t like it. x8 with Biscotti is livable at best. Get a C8F from Sofirn or a Kaidomain. Better leave and let be C8’s.
Just curious, is changing the C8+ from its default Biscotti to the BLF X5/X6 driver just require purchasing the “BLF X5/X6 driver” Banggood, then unsolder the old driver and just re-solder the new BLF X5/X6 driver? Or are there other changes that may need to be done?
How difficult or easy is it to change the driver?
Another question, can I transplant the Biscotti driver from the C8+ and use it on a Convoy S2+ (which still has the old 5/3-mode groups) driver; or is the board a different size?
Just curious, is changing the C8+ from its default Biscotti to the BLF X5/X6 driver just require purchasing the “BLF X5/X6 driver” Banggood, then unsolder the old driver and just re-solder the new BLF X5/X6 driver? - YES.
Or are there other changes that may need to be done? - NO
How difficult or easy is it to change the driver? - It is easy if you can solder.
Another question, can I transplant the Biscotti driver from the C8+ and use it on a Convoy S2+ (which still has the old 5/3-mode groups) driver; or is the board a different size? - Yes, you can. Drivers are same size
I have an Astrolux C8, but I’d welcome if someone offered a modified BLF driver for sale that has an extended timed interval for the Turbo mode.
I suspect a C8 can easily handle more than the 45 sec. that the stock driver is set to, and many probably don’t have enough of an interest in flashing their own driver.