My interest is much different from most of the comments above. I see no point in taking an excellent thrower and negating the strong points with emitters that generate a wider hotspot and more illumination off axis. I don’t have it yet, but I bought the W1 version and expect it to do exactly what I want.
And yes, I do have a practical use for this light — I boat at night and want a light to identify markers in the water at long distances without adversely affecting my night vision by lighting up the white bow of the boat. This is the perfect light for this purpose — good price point and small form factor! The ability to charge the battery without removing is helpful if I need a quick charge while at the helm.
Would I like it in a warmer tint? Sure, but not at the expense of a tight beam and long throw.
FWIW, ordered K1 W1 in dark gray on 12/1 and do not have a shipping notice yet.
Spill is very soft, I have several lights with White Flats in lesser sized reflectors and spill is among the least obtrusive of any light I own. (all 250+ of em!) Should work great for you Hollybrook.
Lights are supposed to ship by Dec 15th as I understand it from the site, I ordered on the 29th and of course it hasn’t shipped yet. Looking forward to it.
I also hate cool white throwers for the same reason (visible backscatter). Regarding SST-20, I don’t mind the narrower hotspot - in turn, I will get my first high CRI dedicated thrower :partying_face:
I already made an order without any hesitation. I would deeply prefer 3500K of SST-20 (GXX is the nicest tint range for thrower usage), but I found myself choosing 4000K eventually.
Many people buying and actually using throwers have a different use case than you, simple as that. For them (myself included) a light with only 2/3 the throw but a beam that is more versatile makes much more sense. I would have to work hard to even find an area with something at >700m that isn’t already lit up because it’s a building, etc.
I like to walk several miles in the evening. One of the walking trails I use is 2.8km and is absolutely straight. One of the lakes I walk around is about 1km across. I’m looking forward to taking out the K1.
Every time I buy a light it’s “my last one.” But really, I (we on BLF, or some) use them. Some of us need to reach out, some need a mid range wider brighter light, some need an up close area light. The D18 is my current dog walking light with an MF04 or TN40s for throw. I’m hoping the K1 serves the purposes the D18 can’t, without being a total novelty. Hoping it’s a tool for what I need, aside from a work of art
The beamshots will have more information if something remote is illuminated, with the brightness setting and white balance fixed, rather a bit under-exposed than overexposed to show the differences better.
The TN42 is larger, but the wider beam is way more usable than this tiny beam. However, it’s a beautiful designed light and the throw is amazing for its size
Pure fun!