Lumintop FW1A discussion and review

Sounds grrreat

Does anyone remember, offhand, what the throw numbers are for the triple?

See above.

If you mean just above, those figures are for the 1A, and I was trying to remember how it would compare to the 3A. I have to leave for work, so no time to search right now.

Thanks, TK. That sounds great! I’m looking forward to comparisons with some known lights (S2+, ZL SC6x).

The numbers are pretty approximate. I measured 3.8 cd/lm at the 1x7135 level on a FW3A with XP-L HI 3D. However, maukka measured 4.46 cd/lm (12500 cd / 2800 lm). And maukka’s numbers are probably much more accurate.

In any case, the FW3A gets about 4-ish cd/lm with XP-L HI emitters… and FW1A gets about 22-ish cd/lm.

Using the same equipment, I measured the FW1A at about 5.95X more throwy, so it goes a lot farther at the same power levels. During normal use, this makes a huge difference. In particular, it can really increase the overall runtime, since it only needs a fraction as much power to achieve the same visible brightness.

However, the turbo level makes fewer lumens, so the maximum hotspot intensity is only about ~2.4X as much as the FW3A. And the maximum throw is about ~1.5X as many meters as the FW3A.

TL;DR: FW1A has a much smaller but much brighter hotspot, so it’s way better for seeing into the distance. If used up close though, it’ll require aiming much more carefully since it lights up a smaller area.

I’m interested to have it along the fw3a but waiting to see if they release any other colors first.

The FW1A doesn’t have a list of literally thousands of people waiting to buy it, so I don’t expect there will be a lot of colors to choose from. Probably just grey. That could maybe change eventually, but it’s far less popular than the original FW3A because it’s a spinoff, so the chance of multiple flavors is probably not very high.

It’s probably also worth mentioning that if the grey one sells well, the chance of multiple colors increases. If the grey one doesn’t sell well, there probably won’t be other colors.

It’s a good light though, so I hope it sticks around.

I don’t know anything about plans for more colors and I agree with TK that they might not come.

I did hear from a little birdie that there might be an option for an add-on bezel of a different material down the road if things go well…

Anyone know if Ti is coming?

This right here, I’d be first in line to buy a FW1T.

I guess the problem here is that most of us are probably holding out for different colours and finishes and therefore not buying the standard grey one, causing Lumintop to think there’s not enough demand and therefore not produce any other variants!

I’ve gotta say my bare Alminum FW1A (converted from a triple) has really been serving me well as my EDC. I’m still using an S2+ reflector with a sliced 4K SST20. If I had a complaint, it’d be the beam was actually a bit too narrow. If there ever is a HiCRI SST40 or SST70, that’d make it perfect IMO as a do-it-all light.

Hmm. Maybe I need to order a basic gray one, too.

Do you have any pictures of that mod? It’s almost certainly more floody than the production FW1A. Sounds like you need to put an LH351D in yours.

Anxiously waiting for mine. I am always a thrower person. Fw3a was never attractive to me just because it is multipla emitter light. Fw1a is perfect to me.

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/56663/726
(I’ve actually swapped out the SMO for an OP since then)

I have thought about it and may do so. If I come across - or someone points me towards - a known good tint of the Samsung emitter then I’ll do that. For now, I’m mostly content. I have the stock FW3As if I need more flood.

Another emitter option I’ve been tossing around is a quad e21a with a heavy OP reflector.

I’m interested but not gray.

So it isn’t just me. I have two gray FW3As because I bought them both before the colors came out, now I don’t really want another gray one. The FW1A and FW3a share most of their anodized parts, seems like all they’d have to do is start making the same colors of the longer head.

I want the FW1A, but I know as soon I buy one the next day they’ll announce all the new colors.

Seems like the heads by themselves would sell for those that already have one of the FWXX lights.