Looking for budget light that can reach out at least 500m with hot spot much larger than strictly dedicated thrower.
Also need NW/WW option and something at least close to moonlight mode.
Q8 is almost there, but seems a bit too floody from beam shots.
I’m thinking maybe Thorfire S70S.
Suggestions?
I am extremely fond of the Emissar D1S and D1.The D1 series are the best misize and compact throwers under $100.
The Klarus XT12GT and Skilhunt S3Pro are very goos choices as well.
Sofirn C8F? Ticks all your boxes. Not sure if it will quite make it to 500m. Might get close. Cheap enough to find out. About $35 or so. I love mine. Use it all the time spotting critters and coyotes at night. Quite deadly attached to the bottom of an AR for nighttime critter hunts.
I agree on the Emisar as well. Another one of my favorites.
What about Haikelite MT07 Buffalo? Price-wise, M4DM4X has a coupon for it
This light will be $$$ [EDIT] Maybe not though with retailers like GB, BG and coupon codes.
You can rule out the Convoy L6 and Thorfire S70s… they won’t have any beam definition at 500m. Their beam starts to disperse at less than half that distance.
Do you mean 500m as defined by the ANSI standard, which corresponds to 62.5Kcd?
I guess the exact intensity you need depends on your application.
This is what I was going to say. There is a coupon code for 55 dollars from gearbest. Under fin17s thread. Banggood has coupons as well. Look on YouTube to see the beam. Large beam that will go down range.
Does the Thorfire S70s hit that spec?
I think the L6 and S70 are both around 70Kcd stock. But I don’t think .25 lux is adequate illumination for most things. The level of illumination can vary a lot between flashlights and the level that is adequate or the level that one wants or needs also varies on the person and application. I guess I’m trying to say it’s difficult to determine what light is best for the OP with the given information. It is safe to say he wants something big and bright. 
Sorry about my lack of specificity.
ANSI throw at 500m? No, I don’t really consider that standard useful (except for comparison). But as I consider it I realize perhaps my original stated expectations were unrealistic.
How about a significant amount of light at 300m, with a wide beam (relative to a dedicated thrower) at close quarters (say 30ft).
Extreme throw is fun, but I find a pencil beam at 50ft to be annoying/worthless. And I seldom have need for all out flood.
I thought the Haikelite MT09R might’ve been perfect. I bought one via recent GB, but got refund when it hadn’t been sent over a month past promised date and some significant problems surfaced with all the lights that had been delivered.
>> What about Haikelite MT07 Buffalo?
Been considering that for a while.
A) it’s just so friggin huge! it weighs a kg with batts.
B) it’s a Haikelite, and given some of the feedback I’ve seen here coupled with my recent GB experience, I’m a bit wary.
>> There is a coupon code for 55 dollars from gearbest. Under fin17s thread.
I believe that’s for the newer MT07S. From what I’ve read around here the original is a better thrower. I’ve seen beamshot comparisons of the V1 MT07 Buffalo when it had XHP70 and OP reflector and was impressed. V2 MT07 Buffalo has XHP70.2 with smooth reflector, and I’m concerned that the beam profile may have narrowed too much to be useful at closer range. The only coupon for the MT07 buffalo I could find was from M4DM4X, and I think it was around $73.
MT07 70.2 is good enough. Smaller than MT07 buffalo.
Try the Nitecore TM03 or the Klarus XT12GT I use both for hiking, they have a good spill so you can see where you are walking but also a decent throw if you need to identify the track from a distance.
You may also be interested in the Klarus XT11GT which is the same as the XT12GT but has better flood at the cost of a slightly shorter throw.
I personally prefer the XT11GT because of the bigger flood
I’m also thinking of the Sofirn C8F or Convoy L6 — not sure which of these 2 would be floodier.
Otherwise, the Sofirn C8A (using XP-L2 driven at high currents) can also throw quite far and has somewhat bigger hotspot than the XP-L Hi C8’s.
According to Google Maps distance measurement tool, ground-to-ground distance from ground-zero (flashlight position) to target structure is around 125 meters or 410 feet. But target structure is maybe 18 stories high and flashlight was shone at a slight angle, so the distance would be slightly more than “ground distance”
sharing some pics (not taken at the same time; unfortunately my budget digicam doesn’t have manual controls, so it’s auto-compensating the brightness…)
Sofirn C8F (triple XP-L HD)
Sofirn C8F (triple XP-L HD) another
Sofirn C8A (XP-L2)
Sofirn C8T (XP-L Hi)
Convoy C8 (XP-L Hi, U6-3A)
Convoy L2 (XM-L2, T6-3B)
Astrolux S2 XP-L Hi, 3B)
The haikelite MT09R that you mentioned in XHP35 or 70 versions would probably suit you well. They do about 7000lumens, 220kcd? and 16000lumens, 90kcd, respectively.
If you are open to modding, an L6 or S70S with sliced XHP70.2 and FET driver would give you close to what you want I think. That would give you 7000lumens and 250kcd. Note that this would be “turbo” mode and pulling ~17A from 2s 26650 cells. But there is a suitable FET driver available from mtnelectronics that also has moonlight levels.
Acebam K40M
haikelite MT09R XHP35 version have driver problem. i dont recommend this light
Acebeam K60
Acebeam K60 looks nice, K65 even nicer, but definitely not “budget” lights.
And re MT09R, I would steer clear of either version as of now, they both have major problems. They’re trying to work them out, might be good option in future.
How about one of these?
KDLITKER C8.2
The HI should hit 500m, I think.
The HD also might, and should give a wider spill beam.
Both have “Very Low” (0.01%)
The best part is the true budget price, only thirty bux!
XHP35 HI NW ………http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S027411.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP35-HI-Neutral-White-5000K-2000-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
XHP35 HI WW………http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S027412.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP35-HI-Warm-White-3000K-2000-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
XHP35 HD NW………http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S027414.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP35-HD-Neutral-White-5000K-2200-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
XHP35 HD WW………http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S027415.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP35-HD-Warm-White-3000K-2200-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
.
Or one of these, (don’t think these will hit 500m though, but maybe 350m-400m?)
These have “Very Low” (5%)
XHP50.2 NW……….http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S026928.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP50_2-Neutral-White-5000K-2600-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
XHP50.2 WW………http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S026929.KDLITKER-C8_2-Cree-XHP50_2-Warm-White-3000K-2600-Lumens-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Black
.
I’m also looking for something as you describe and considering one of the XHP35 versions.