I have one coming too but having placed my order last tuesday I will probably use it first in the next flashlight season ;)
A downer is that the reflector is plastic. Not that it is a bad thing per se, but it was advertised by DX as an aluminium reflector. (But then, if I liked to get what I had ordered I wouldn't shop at DX...)
One question: does your sample tailcap-lockout (not sure if this is even a verb) reliably?
Well, I'm back from my excursion and here is what I saw (but my eyes have lied before).
At best focus, the Small Sun hotspot seems brighter, but is smaller. The emitter image makes the comparison a bit difficult. If I defocus the zoomer as required to enlarge the aspheric hotspot to the A60 size, the latter is unequivocally brighter. Now I really have to take luxmeter readings sometime soon.
Small Sun was drawing 1.33A, Jacob 1.75A. For the latter, I used one of my crappiest batteries, as I don't feel comfortable driving it harder than that, especially considering the poor heatsinking.
Re: Reflector.
I agree, an aluminium reflector would be nicer, although this one seems to do the job well. It's 50.4mm wide at the flange, 48.0mm at the cup (right below the flange) and depth is 45.0mm. All outer dimensions. Just in case someone knows where to get a matching alu one. I haven't searched yet.
Re: Tailcap-lockout
I just tried and seems to work fine. I never use that feature, so I can't speak about reliability, but I'm afraid I don't see the problem, at least not with regard to locking out.
Re "reliability": With a tailcap that does not locked out securely there is a (very small) risk that the light accidently turns on when carried in a bag with other stuff inside, thus draining the battery. Happened to me once, and -of course- when I didn't carry any spares.
Ah, I see now, but that shoudn't be a problem here. The oring exerts quite a bit of friction that should prevent the tailcap from turning easily when losened.
Your concern makes sense, though, since the switch is the softest I've seen.
When you receive the flashlight don't be disappointed if the lens looks total crap and soap and water doesn't make it clean. I had to rub it very well with acetone to get it in shape. Must be some protective layer applied to the glass while being cut to size. It's the first time it happens to me.
Thanks for the review, agedbriar. I had to pull out my M8 when I clicked on the link. Except for the shinier finish, pretty close to exact match in most details. That is a great price too.
As promised, here are my lux readings, taken at 8m, luxmeter in Max-Hold mode.
61.3 kcd Small Sun ZY-C10-S aspherical (1.37A)
59.5 kcd Jacob A60 (1.75A)
47.3 kcd UniqueFire HS-802 (1.60A)
40.6 kcd UltraOK Tactical (1.75A)
As expected, the aspherical wins, but not by much and with a smaller hotspot and a less pleasing/useful beam. Note that I kept Jacob's current within reason by using a low-quality battery, as I don't want to overdrive it too much for now. Small Sun, on the other hand, got a Panasonic grey unprotected, and 1.37A is as high as it would go.
UltraOK was not at its best tonight. I already suspected that the original plastic reflector might have been better than the current alu C8 replacement, but didn't switch back yet. Anyway, the difference could only be small, undetectable to the eye in real use.
I apologize if I made the wait for Jacob even harder to some forum friends.
What a bargain this seems to be. I have my thrower needs somewhat covered but seeing this makes me wonder if I should try to mount a XR-E EZ 900 to my X8 and drive it at 1,8 A. Just for the fun of it and to see what Lux readings I can obtain.... Decisions decisions.
Anyway super review. As others mentioned this is potentially bad for the wallet! LOL
This relation remains pretty much unchanged at grater distances.
Jacob's XR-E ringiness is not pronounced, practically invisible at working distances (100-150m for me). There is no corona to speak of, only a nice soft-edged spot. Compared to an aspherical, the outer spill is quite bright, but less so than with any of my XM-L lights. Target image is crisp, there is no haze (the big issue with my X9).