YLP coupon for BLF

I also hope to see these LEDs in Panda-3 (or maybe 351D + XP-L HI ?).
But it will not happen in the near future…

My much-anticipated Falcon F15 arrived just before Christmas.

I’m comparing it with Severe Cold zoomie that I got some time ago.
I didn’t expect I would be making this comparison but it is close in so many ways….

These seem to use almost the same TIR lens. As far as I can tell the only difference is that YLP has the central part frosted while Severe Cold doesn’t.
With SC there is a dark hole in the half-zoomed position. Not really problematic in real use though. YLPs partially frosted lens is better, as expected. On the white wall I can still see some beam artifacts but very very minor and surely meaningless in practice.

Both lights take 18650 which is surprising when looking at them side by side - Falcon has the battery tube thicker by full 3 mm and looks like it could take 21700. Quick check - no, you can’t bore it out at all, the threads are quite narrow and only the knurled part is so thick.
Seeing how massive it is I expected a big difference in weight. YLP is heavier but the difference is smaller than the looks suggest.

YLP comes with a clicky switch of a kind I haven’t seen before. It has half-latched positions both when on and off.
You half-click while off for momentary mode and half-click while on to switch modes. Interesting. Actually it can even tell half-clicks and shutdown from each other - it uses that to implement mode-group changes.
The switch is protruding. To prevent accidental activation the manual recommends physical lockout at the tailcap.

UI is simple 3-mode with several mode orders.

The zooming action is very stiff. Furthermore the bezel is smooth, providing little grip.
This is a bitter disappointment. With zoomies I like how a small hand movement focuses the light where I look. To work well, the hand movements should be as fast as head movements. Here it’s plain impossible. I have to use significant force to even move the bezel and trying to make the light follow the eyes is a fight against friction. And it’s a lost one, YLP just doesn’t work like that.
I suppose that it uses tight o-rings to make it as waterproof as possible without fancy tricks. For me - it’s clearly not worth it.

I checked if I could improve that with some grease. No I couldn’t. I’ve seen maukka’s light disassembled but I was unable to open mine even with a pair of strap wrenches. :person_facepalming:

Considering that I meant this light to be merely a host rather than a finished light and that the zoom just doesn’t work as well as it should…this is the first and likely the last light I regret buying this year. :frowning:
An interesting one. And not bad in general. But clearly not good for me.

I’ve got some more time with Falcon F15.

The switch clearly is some kind of e-switch. It doesn’t have an “ON” and “OFF” position but rather “A” and “B” - If I have the light ON, unscrew the tailcap, screw it back - it light is OFF. Click - it’s ON. Click again - it’s OFF. The switch positions got reversed which means that they are defined by software rather than hardware. The way they implemented mode group change makes me think it’s a momentary switch with extra clicks. It probably enables some UI possibilities not present in our e-switch hardware…

The zooming action is slow but passable. I learned to zoom out by putting my thumb in front of the bezel and pushing back.
It’s much faster and doesn’t require much force but zooming still feels sluggish. Waiting for the focus to get adjusted is annoying but other than this the light works well enough. I guess some people would like it though I still don’t.

The hole in the beam is actually more visible than I expected - the slow zooming action is responsible for that.
The exposed switch is a mixed blessing. Fingers find it very easily when I want to use it. But I’ve got a few accidental mode changes. And I blasted myself with momentary a few times. I’d rather not have that momentary at all…

On the positive side I really like the tint. And performance is definitely good enough.

I’m still waiting for updates to my YLP order since November. Do they send tracking numbers?

The rest of site looks fine except for cart page. it’s looks like it’s missing a style sheet or something in Firefox.

I do not understand what you mean. The site looks normal, it always looked like this. Most importantly, it works. At Opera, it looks the same.

Damn, just missed the XMAS19 offer. I had stuff in my basket with the discount applied but when I came to checkout, the discount had gone. When I try to re-apply it I get a small pop-up message in Russian which I assume means code not valid or something similar. It must have expired at midnight St.Petersburg time.

Doh. Should have just checked out, but I got distracted reading about all the other YLP lights on the site.

I told YLP your story, and they extended the coupon Xmas19 for a week (until 01/15) :slight_smile:

Can you write me your name and order number? I will ask ylp to check it.

NVM. I received it two days ago. I guess shipping from Russia is the same as from China but takes even longer :weary: Oh well, the lights are good. I will post some results later.

Thank you fnksb. That was awesome of you. I ordered a Falcon F15 yesterday. I’m still not sure if the discounts end at midnight St.PB time or what, so I ordered a day early to make sure.

I hope this one comes as quickly as my Panda 2M-CRI. That was super fast, 11 days door to door. :smiley:
It was dispatched on day 2 and was in my hands on day 11. It spent the first 3 days enjoying a tour of post office “local distribution centres” in St.Petersburg where it visited no less than 4 of them, plus the post office it was dropped off at.

It was in Russian customs for about 27 hours, it left Russia the next day and was handed over to UK customs a day later.
It was in UK customs (GBLALA) for only 16 hours which was a pleasant surprise and it was in my hands a day later.

Russia Post (pochta.ru) tracking was very good and it tracked the whole way.
Read the tracking from the bottom up.


British Post

Delivered
11 December 2019, 13:30 , England

Handed over for delivery within England
10 December 2019, 03:30 , England

Processing in England
10 December 2019, 02:22 GBLALA, England

Passed registration in England
10 December 2019, 00:15 GBLALA, England

Handed over to England for further delivery
09 December 2019, 10:22 GBLALA, England

Russian Post

Released from Russia
08 December 2019, 05:12 190970, Sankt-Peterburg

Released by custom house
07 December 2019, 01:02 190977, Sankt-Peterburg

Handed over to the customs
07 December 2019, 01:01 190977, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the customs of Russia
05 December 2019, 22:23 190977, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the local distribution center
05 December 2019, 22:21 190975, Sankt-Peterburg

Departed from local distribution center
05 December 2019, 06:13 190970, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the local distribution center
05 December 2019, 06:09 190970, Sankt-Peterburg

Departed from local distribution center
03 December 2019, 23:19 200960, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the local distribution center
03 December 2019, 15:26 200960, Sankt-Peterburg

Departed from local distribution center
03 December 2019, 14:52 190916, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the local distribution center
03 December 2019, 13:06 190916, Sankt-Peterburg

Sorting complete
03 December 2019, 07:58 192102, Sankt-Peterburg

Arrived at the Post office
02 December 2019, 17:48 192102, Sankt-Peterburg

Tracking number assigned
02 December 2019, 15:53 192102, Sankt-Peterburg


Double thumbs up for YLPs packaging department. The customs declaration was marked “Gift” and the value was declared as 300 rubles. That’s about $5 / £4 / €4, therefore way under the £15 threshold for UK tax. :money_mouth_face:

This was a big factor in me deciding to order again.

Thanks again fnksb and a big thanks to YLP for the discounts.

Coupon code BLF-10 works again, 10% for any lights and accessories :slight_smile:

Measured these with the Texas Ace Lumen Tube calibrated with Maukka lights and the Sekonic C-800-U Spectrometer. Lumens taken at 2 seconds.

YLP Falcon F20 Flood Mode 578 lumens 4264K -0.0060 DUV 72.6 CRI -8.4 R9 46.6 R12 66 Rf 100 Rg included battery
YLP Falcon F20 Throw Mode 651 lumens 4144K -0.0038 DUV 72.1 CRI -12.0 R9 45.5 R12 66 Rf 99 Rg included battery
YLP Grphon G20 High 1,034 lumens 3831K -0.0021 DUV 71.6 CRI -18.2 R9 43.7 R12 66 Rf 100 Rg included battery
YLP Grphon G20 Mid 285 lumens 3732K 0.0000 DUV 71.8 CRI included battery
YLP Grphon G20 Low 53 lumens 3748K 0.0006 DUV 72.0 CRI included battery
YLP Grphon G20 Moonlight 3 lumens 3721K 0.0010 DUV 72.1 CRI included battery
YLP Falcon FH5 Max Flood 328 lumens 4492K -0.0026 DUV 84.9 CRI 23.5 R9 67.8 R12 83 Rf 98 Rg Eneloop Pro
YLP Falcon FH5 Max Throw 359 lumens 4263K -0.0003 DUV 84.2 CRI 19.0 R9 67.3 R12 83 Rf 98 Rg Eneloop Pro

I'm surprised how nice the tint is coming from cheap low cri emitters. The negative DUV gives it a nice rosy tint

The battery that came with the YLP F20 is rated at 3500mah and described as NCR18650GA. However, of the dozens of NCR18650GA I measured, none measured this low. 3,310mah may be from a lower grade batch of the cell but either way I have tons of 18650.

The battery that came with the G18 is rated at 2600mah and I measured 2622mah.

Thanks for sharing. I did not know the Falcon FH5 has a CRI80+ emitter (despite the low R9). Now I know why I quite like it compared to other low cri CREE 5D or 5A tints.

Is there any timeline on the Panda 2M CRI coming back in stock? Or any plans for another high-cri headlamp? Thanks.

Panda 2M CRI is available.
https://ylplight.com/en/katalog/1/panda-2m-cri/

Thanks!
edit Ordered one. With coupon, shipping to US, and current exchange rate, was just over $36. Looking forward to it!

I just got mine and love it. Yes, turbo run time is good and the tint is excellent(for me, anyway)

I've been waiting for the Panda 2M CRI's to return to stock since I bought my first one last year. Want to order two more. It's a great head light.

My first one has a three-strap headband.

Does the headband still include the top over-the-head strap? I don't see it in the pics on the YLP site, only the main strap that goes around the wearer's head.

slmjim

Yes, headband with the removable top strap :slight_smile:
I think the photos on the site will be updated a little later.