Apex 5T6, pics, impressions, beamshots added...

i have some big paws and its snug. The thickness isn’t an issue . If it were thin i would have yanked it and made a new handle or retro-fit a Jetbeam or Niteye handle. I actually bought 1 extra handle to mod with tape switch underneath the handle/trigger finger. Its not thin and will not flex…

The tape switch is a great idea. The handle might not “flex” much but the spare handle you bought can certainly be bent/reshaped. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

AFAIK, there is no way to lock the exposure in iPhone. There is no EXIF. I do not think it throws farther than the J12. Coz (1) its a little floodier and (2) The output is actually a wee bit less than J12.

The first and second picture actually shows that the J12 would be able to throw a wee wee bit more than the APEX (brighter)

lol so do I! Hard to drop $$ on a meter instead of a light isn’t it?

I know nothing about IPhones. Just looking at the 2nd picture and the post to the left it appears that it would be a better thrower by the post and the tree to the left of centre. Cheers.

Mouse over for APEX, out for TR-J12:

Lights are pointed to a bit different direction, making the APEX to look brighter on the tree.

I think they are pretty similar in the real world.. TR-J12 is known to be good for longer runtimes, and APEX did run a bit cooler in my 10min "indoors, no-cooling" tests => very promising!

At the end of the day they are both appear to be good lights with a different format. Thanks for the mouse over.

Almost DSLR app brings the exposure locking mechanism to iPhone.. And that's what kramer5150 used.

nit-picking: Yes there is EXIF, but it doesn't tell aperture or shutter speed. Does tell where the photo was taken though.. ;)

Procamera app. You can’t key in a specific exposure but you can make it keep the same exposure and focus through repeated shots.

Thanks for all the positive comments gents!! Yeah I used almost DSLR on the iphone, (THANKS pounder for the tip!!) which is the best I can do for now. It has the ability to lock the exposure setting. So I turned on the J12, aimed the camera for the shot and locked down that exposure. Using the same “locked” exposure setting I fired up the 5T6 and took another shot.

The biggest problem I was having is the Apex has almost NO center hot spot… just BIG huge spot that opens out to a wall of flood. So I had no way to really “aim” the light and center it on target. It clearly evident on the mouse-overs. Thanks the for doing that!! EDIT I now have updated the original post with better “aimed” beamshots.

I’ll try and re-take some better shots tonight. Looking forward to impressions, beamshots, and tailcap measurements from everyone else.

the if your thread is stickied as a formal review I’ll just post a comment+link to my impressions here so they don’t get lost/buried. I did that with JohnnyMacs HD2010 review sticky…. I hope you don’t mind me doing that (just let me know… no hard feelings).

I think the best feature about this light is that it can be left on for LONG durations without worry of thermal stress, battery abuse, or internal resistance issues. Unlike the TR-J12, which pulls up to 7A (!!) from each cell in 2-cell mode, and melts its springs in the process. Another way to look at it is like this…. they both emit about 2000 Lumens, but the TR-J12 needs 3.6-7Amps from each of its cells while the 5T6 only needs a mere ~1.33A. So that opens up the possibility of using ANY 18650 cell in this light. It also means each cell will not voltage sag under load, and as we all know Lithium based cells exhibit higher capacity with lower “C”. So this light does not need $$$ IMR, or other high current Lithium chemistry. As I said before, pick cells for their capacity… don’t worry so much about current draw and “C”. The other plus is the XML forward voltage will remain low at these drive currents. So overall its just a very efficient way to convert Watts to Lumens.

Its a very well thought-out design overall.

Side note… I am starting to FIRMLY believe theres just no way to top ~2000-2300 Lumens using the XML in lights this size and overall heatsinking mass. You can drive up the current, but it will just dim with increased temperatures… or worse yet, over-stress poorly designed internal components. I think the only way is to direct bond the emitters to copper in a bigger, thicker, heavier, $$$$ heatsink design and push them with higher currents.

Further side note… I’m also starting to think this is the ideal way to design a multi-XML torch. Stack up a bunch of 18650 cells in parallel, wire the emitters in parallel and drive them to whatever current the heatsink design can handle. I think you can really pull a LOT of wattage from a 4-5P cell arrangement, transpose that to the LEDs, and if the heatsink design is up to the task youre good to go. I really hope we see more designs like this and the Skyray King.

I have no problem with that. Just go ahead. I actually linked to your beamshots (and "how to handle the handle") in the review. :)

Here's a link to my review.

If you are going to take more photos tonight, would you please try to lock the white balance as well? Now I can't see much difference in the tint. Yours was NW, right?

Definitely… I think there is a way to do that with almostDSLR.

No my 5T6 is the pale white version…. although it has a noticeable cream tint in person. My J12 is slight but noticeably more pale.

It sure looks like the 5t6 is brighter. And not just because it is pointed more at the tree. Also, check out the driveway pictures. It is noticeably brighter. Maybe is it just the camera making it appear brighter.

Thanks for the new beamshots!

Here's mouseover (mouse over for APEX, off for TR-J12)

Light output seems about the same, but the tint in APEX is better. Almost like a NW.. Are you sure you didn't get NW by mistake? :)

Yeah the Apex has a slight but noticeably warmer tint, slightly more yellow. The difference in the pics is about what I see in the field.

Great review, kramer - thanks for posting. I really like looks and finish of this light and the long run time is fantastic.

And thanks for including the HD2010 shots as well - what a great little thrower.

Thanks for the feedback Between. Yeah the HD2010 is a SOLID XML thrower. I wanted to include it in the lineup because a LOT of BLFers have it or similar 45K Lux XML throwers like the STL-V2/Fandy-V6. So the thinking is it would make an excellent/popular baseline for comparison. The problem is though that the camera just does NOT see things the way the human eye does. So when I locked down the exposure settings for the 2000 Lumen flooders the HD2010 side spill gets lost, and all you see is a center spot. In reality though, the HD2010 has a nicely flooding beam out to the sides that the camera can’t capture.

Great review Kramer. This one is going on my list.

I’m With Chicago X - a few options would Greatly Improve This.

I would also add the possibility of employing U2 emitters. That alone would up the ante.
As Chicago X implies, it also seems that it is underdriven. How much could it cost to change that?
About the Center Emitter – I’m not convinced it needs it but I woudln’t be against it – and it would probably be difficult for the manufacturer to add (not to mention the lack of heat sink in the middle).
The solid copper heatsink would certainly be a plus:

  1. It would more easily allow the addition of a 6th emitter.
  2. It would allow the existing emitters to be more highly driven – either by a higher output driver – or by 2 drivers.

By the way, I would be interested in this wide-beam light if it had NW emitters as an option.
And last, but not least, I really like the look and the handle!