Review: Kaidomain 5-mode XM-L U2

I haven't had any problems and, I've grown to really like the OP reflector. I have it in an L2P.

Foy

I’m going to go back to the OP. I wish I still had the emitter that came off. I would
Love to try to learn how to reflow solder it

Really? The OP from your U2 fits on the MF xml? I can't get any other reflector onto the Ultrafire, it's like some other size (bigger) or something.

No. The OP from the U2 does not fit on the UF T6. It works the other way though. The SMO from the UF T6 will fit on the KD U2. It causes problems on there though

Sorry I was replying to Foy just above. He said it works for him (?) but maybe it's a miscommunication or something.

No miscommunication here - I thought we were talking about the U2, I didn't say anything about the MF drop-in - simply said I liked the OP on the U2, the one it came with . . . .

Ohhhhh . . .okay, you thought I meant I didn't have any problems screwing the other reflector on . . . . (sigh) Yeah, I don't know, I'll have to try it.

tiredFoy

If this is the same drop-in (looks like it), then it's suddenly a huge bargain:

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S009990

$11.84

I've been trying to decide between this and the KD warm drop-in that's been frying people's switches. If the U2 really is that much more powerful, then it seems the best solution is to order it and use a Lee filter to alter the color. (I've been doing that with the Manafont 3-mode -- it's now quite nice. The Soft Amber Key 1, Lee #774, is lovely. 71% transmission -- so if the U2 offers 29% more light, it's a wash.)

Hmmm . . . is the U2 that much brighter?. It's been a while - I'll have to measure it and see.

IhopeitisFoy

Please do! It's too late for me to back out -- I ordered it this afternoon -- but I suspect it will be a month or so before I actually get to test it.

(I'm following in your footsteps, by the way, as an increasingly wild-eyed Solarforce convert.)

The one thing I've come to love about that old U2 is the tint. Everybody's taste is different but I like a clean white and my U2 has that with what appears to be a touch of blue near the edge of the flood.

Kind of hard to explain but I really like the tint.

Foy

I noticed that, too, and figured I should pick one up. I fried my last U2

You know what . . . you guys are awesome. I just ordered two of these guys. That's a killer deal. It'll be fun to see how these compare with the old one.

thanksFoy

How does it compare with XML-T6?

It doesn't seem hardly brighter than a T6 to my eyes but others say it is. What I like about the one I got was the tint. I'm thinking of having E1320 put a 980L driver under that bad boy and see what it'll do at 3.5+ amps.

Foy

Yeah ill be getting me few of these soon after my aspherics are in hand. But be honest didnt we all want to see the beam shot of the light lay in the bottom of the pool?

To me, it’s no brighter, but “seemingly brighter” due to the blue-white light. The fact that one is neutral bordering on warm alone, would suggest that it will not put out as many lumens as a cool white will. Cool whites are always the “brightest”, but also there’s something scientific about how the human eye reacts to different bands of light. (I’m just not smart enough to put in into the proper words). To me the cool white, with the blue edge is distasteful. Bright yes, but it bothers my eyes. I prefer the neutral beam much more and in reality, the percieved brightness difference is insignificant.

Foy thanks for putting up this review. Comparison beamshots like yours help the individual decide which they like. To me it's neutral white on the verge of warm, not warm or cool white, that's best.

I wonder which one the Foy prefers now, KD or MF. I put my money on MF.^^

Yes, I prefer the one from Manafont.

I gotta say O-L, that mouse-over does indeed show the U2 being a bit brighter. It may be the tint messing with me but to my old eyes, the two trees to the left of my cactus plant and the house behind them are more illuminated. Also, the U2 seems to have more flood.

What I think the problem is; too many vaiables in Foy's beam shot protocols. I must have got lucky with flashlight placement/aiming with these two and if memory serves me, that drop-in came with two reflectors? An OP and an SMO. Maybe the 2nd mouse-over is the OP.

Whoever said beam shots were easy hasn't tried it. I wonder how hard it would be to do some kind of drop-in shoot-out. I have a few of those new XM-Ls from IO due here any day so . . . .

Foy

so far im loving my KD u2 xml drop ins for the price. i ordered 3 and all 3 tints are different. one is pure white and one has blue hues and one has purple hues. im gifting the colored tints.

i just wanted to update everyone that KD now has 3 mode u2's! im ordering some myself. hope they are driven hard.

*edit* they do have 3 mode u2's but its high-med-strobe =/