Both lights do well on nimh but the brightness does go down a bit but you will get longer runtime with nimh.
Both lights do well on nimh but the brightness does go down a bit but you will get longer runtime with nimh. The SA1 makes a small compact thrower when lith rechargeables are used and it does not get hot at all, just warm.
Bryan is a good guy ;) AFAIK, R5 version has the same throw, but the hotspot is bigger. Will be great to see some comparison with pics (and with data from lumens meter)
I would get you comparisons shots but I messed up my xpe version..I now have the xpg version and I can say that the hotpot is much larger from what I remember from the xpe version..seems slightly brighter also when comparing it to lights that matched the output of my xpe version..
I love this light and as an edc its wicked..
I like ShiningBeam too, I've received several items from them. If I had more $$, I'd buy more stuff from them.
Until then, the foreign distributorships will have to do, slow as they are.
Yep, that's what I heard.
Do you have C7 to compare?
I still use this light lol, both bright on nimh and even brighter with liths.......
Ok, to avoid creating new thread, I will add to alfred's review other R5 version info (hope you don't mind :8) ) Will add some pics and other thoughts later.
**PROS**
- Excellent machining/threads and build quality, perfect anodizing. No changes here I suppose (comparing to old R2 version I mean). Less mate than C7 for example. Came lubed (as usual)
- Same excellent package: holster, lanyard, 2 spare o-rings, 2 extra rubber tail caps, extra switch, manual.
- Nice white tint (on very slightly cold side) and with no other color variance. Great color reproduction.
- and... it's bright :) I'm quite pleased with brightness.
**CONS**
- Well, I will add this as a con: Emitter is not well centered (same thing with R2 version) and beam pattern has too many (IMHO) "artifacts". My P60 with XML and SMO has much less artifacts :~ Strange thing, it comes with HOP (see OTHER INFO also), I thought HOP will smoothen the beam nicely. Anyway, could be design problems, so reflector and head should be redesigned for better centered emitter and better beam profile. BTW, I could be very picky here, in real life those artifacts are almost invisible and don't bothers you in any way. But again, a con in this light and for that price (40 bucks, retail price of course)
- with 14500, LOW starts with momentary MED (same bug with 4Sevens?)
**OTHER INFO**
- HOP (heavy orange peel) reflector!!! Yup, I was surprised here :| (see CONS also)
- Spill is veeeery wide. I would prefer slightly narrower, but brighter (i.e. bigger than C7 and smaller than SA1)
- Switch: stiff and similar to C7 (don't like it very much). Glad it comes with other switch, will try it later for sure :D
**COMPARISONS** (with my eye meter, lol :D )
Ok, I don't have too many lights, so a few comparisons I have made so far:
Spill (MAX brightness with 14500): more or less the same brightness as MF UF XML (3 mode) drop-in on MED (with 18650), and very similar to Xeno E03 XML on HIGH (with 14500). C7, with 14500 too, is quite brighter.
Hotspot: similar to MF UF XML (3 mode) drop-in on MED (with 18650) in brightness but smaller in size. Again, to my eye, but I've tried both at home, and both lights up quite the same are with same brightness, but SA1 with a much much much better tint :p I like ITP tints :p Could be slightly brighter because of white beam color instead of purple/blue on UF drop-in.
In summary - well worth 30 bucks I've paid for it, thanks to DD offer :p Those "artifacts" shouldn't be there in such semi budget light, but despite that, I recommend SA1 and ITP.
Dont mind at all buddy......would love to see a comparison beam shot with the two.
;)
Well, comparison shots will be difficult to make, the best cam I own is my Samsung Galaxy Ace 5 Mpx cam, which I like to much btw, excellent cam for smartphone. I can adjust some things, but yeah, will try it later ;)
Just got this light. Really like it. I had previous got a refund on the Jetbeam BA10 cause I just didn't like the feel of the switch. Felt really limp and spongy to me. Before I asked for a refund, I had a second switch sent to me and it felt even worse than the first one. The switch on this light is nice and crisp like all my other lights. The only complaint I have on this light is a clip that is backwards to me (head up) and the only way to get it off is to figure out how to take the head off (which I don't feel like messing with). I did a google search and apparently no one else has tried to do it either. Other than that I'm very satisfied with the light. A bright light, nice beam pattern, nice functions, works well with 14500. I also like the side mode button.
That's how I did it with my SA2 ...
How hard was it to get the head off? How did you do it?
when I messed up my xpe sa1 I decided to take it apart..it took 2 channel lock pliers to get the body to unscrew from the head..it is glued on there good..so unless you want to mess up the finish bad it isn't going to happen..
OTOH..I love the clip backwards..it attaches to the bill of a baseball cap if you don't have a headlamp..works great..