I am not aware of any way to get the optics by themselves. I don’t know what they are, or if they come in more than one style.
I haven’t seen a SST-20 which wasn’t greenish on low modes. It’s just how that particular product line works.
As maukka showed, the tint green-shifts on low, and red-shifts on high:
Tint-mixing helps with this, but I think I had too many 4000K + 5000K emitters to pull the low-mode tint below the BBL.
No, this is significantly more throwy than M43 or ROT66. M43 has a big wide hotspot and basically no spill. ROT66 has a slightly smaller hotspot, and also has spill around it. D18 has a significantly smaller/tighter hotspot and even more spill. SP36 is even more throwy, with its larger reflectors, but it only comes in cool white so far and its spill area is kind of a mess.
I’ll get the cd/lm measurements in a bit; kinda waiting for something in the mail. In any case though, the D18 is more throwy than the other many-emitter soda can lights, and it also puts out a lot more lumens.
I’m really interested to see what kind of numbers Vinh can get using the Osram emitters with this host then, given the throwier nature of these individual optics.
TK, Review is thorough and very much appreciated, Thanks for your effort. Too bad Nichia 219B’s are not available anymore without 3000 piece min order. They would be great and would not have to be driven too hard.
One can still dream…
Nice review ToyKeeper.
If you have time, could you please unscrew the batteries copper board and take a picture of the spring side and end of the batteries tube ?
A pity that there is no chamfer on the whole periphery of the lanyard cut out and also batteries cut out while Emisar has generally good fit and finish and attention to details.
D18 is bigger, has smaller runtime,worse stabilisation( require hidrain cells too).Has simple fet+ linear driver vs. boost in m43 (pwm low efficiency, simpler fw), has no indication in button, no new features. All this “improvement” takes 4 years.
Bidger output of D18? M43 can be simply moded to increase power in 1.5times.
Not so sure about that. M43 output isn’t stable at low levels and at higher levels it can’t sustain flat output either due to high temp.
I wouldn’t compare the Meteor and D18 at all. Meteor is clearly in a class higher with its driver, but the D18 has a better UI. Maybe that’s why the D18 isn’t a Noctigon after all. If the tint is alright, I’ll probably prefer the D18 overall.
The M43 driver, yuck! Hated it from the very beginning and removed it very quickly. My M43 has graduated to Anduril… wasn’t exactly easy as there is so little space in that head but nonetheless, it now has a UI I love and will use.
Of course, it’s always about perspective.
I will get a D18. I like what Hank is doing. What I don’t like about this new light, I will change. Nothing new there I suppose…
