Interest check: Optisolis (98cri) triple s2+

I’ve built 3 triple Optisolis Convoy S2+s (4000K, 5000K, and 6500K) using the Convoy 2.1 amp driver and haven’t had an issue with them on high. They will slowly get hot, just like any other moderately driven flashlight on high, but not excessively hot.

If you want the highest CRI LED flashlights, then Optisolis is your best choice. So I can see the appeal of PyriteParachute offering to make these for the BLF community.

Did you need to use the frosted lens or any DC-Fix?

Highest CRI on paper perhaps but realistically would anyone be able to tell?

Is it possible to tell the difference between 70 cri and 90 cri? Yes.
80 cri vs 90 cri? Perhaps if you spend a lot of time observing them.
90 vs 95cri? You probably wouldn’t really be able to identify which is which most of the time.
95 vs 98 cri? I’d be willing to bet that all else being equal, the two would be indiscernible to our eyes.
You’d need special measuring equipment to be able to measure an on paper increase in cri of 3.

I suspect you’d be able to sell a few of these on blf, maybe even a handful, but ultimately they’d be chasing an on paper numbers game unless the tint is particularly good.

I am sorry that I have been particularly negative towards your idea. It’s always good to have people create new things and to share them with the community. I really appreciate you for bringing this idea to us. I may very well be wrong, but I just don’t think this will be a popular choice compared to the alternatives already available on the market.

I would be very happy if you prove me wrong and this turns out to be a flipping success. Personally I just don’t it as very appealing, though others definitely do have different desires in a flashlight.

Don’t worry about it. I’ve passed my lumen chasing phase and am now after cri/tm-30 (short of going incandescent!) I could probably scoff at folks paying twice the money for 15% extra throw or whatnot, but once something is important, even diminishing returns are interesting.

My goal is to try the various high cri emitters to build a mobile video kit. Video lighting now is nice, but heavy and expensive. I think a good flashlight plus some kind of small softbox opens up a lot of locations due to the cut weight.

I’ll admit the difference between Nichia 219b and sst-20 isn’t huge, but it’s there. So will this pan out? Will these new emitters give a noticeable color rendering improvement? I just ordered 15 hosts. There’s only one way to find out :slight_smile:

For video lighting you’ll definitely want one of convoy’s constant current drivers instead of the 7135 ones. You just have to change the sense resistor to a higher resistance one to get a lower current.

7135 drivers will give you pwm and possibly flickering. The good thing about 15 hosts is that you can turn them into anything :slight_smile:

How much did each host end up costing?

The video light stuff is later, need to get these lights working first.

About $11 each.

I would be interested in 4000k with a constant current or perhaps the single mode buck driver.

Got it. The closest one with I’ve found is the Convoy sst40 driver with a swapped current sense resistor. I’m not willing to run that experiment on this first batch.

Mtn also sells a $20 guppy drv driver that should work.

Kaidomain also has this: http://kaidomain.com/BD39-17mm-2200mA-3V-9V-1-cell-or-2-cells-Buck-Driver-Board?search=Buck driver

I’ll keep looking.

When I use my 6500K Optisolis S2+ (which is essentially pure white), it’s amazing how the colors come out when I walk around the house. I think it’s due to the lack of yellow in the CCT that makes the colors even more noticeable. None of my other flashlights do that to that extent, including my quad E17A and 219B flashlights. It just doesn’t seem feasible that such a high CCT can bring out the colors vs dulling them like what usually happens with high lumens high CCT LEDs.

But you do make a good point that when it comes to high vs ultra high CRI, it may be hard to notice a difference. It may then come down to tint and how the LED is installed in the flashlight that make the LED more favorable vs higher CRI. But for me, I like knowing that I have the highest CRI LEDs available in 3 of my flashlights.

I just got in a c8+ with sst20 2700k. Yes temp and tint make a huge difference. Difference types of brown become really easy to distinguish, but whites and yellows blend together. I can only imagine how nice the 5000 and 6500k optisolis will be.

BTW, what host did you use for the e17a quad? And you used the clemence board? Mulling a build with the broad-spectrum red emitters.

Here are the hosts (all Convoys) that I’ve used with the quad E17As: S2, S2+, S3, S5, S6, S8, and M1.

The quad E17As are quite special due to their nice tint, high CRI, and good output. Plus you can mix and match them to create your own tint/CCT if you want. But they are a little difficult to install.

And yes, they’re all on the Clemence VR16SP4 board.

I’d throw my name on the interest list but I want to see what the final configuration will be before committing. Both the E2L and S2+ are excellent hosts. My preference would be for a good low mode (1-5lm), a good high mode (approx 1hr runtime) and either a very high PWM or constant current.

Interested…

I don’t know if it’s possible, but I was hoping to get a flashlight around 5700K, but would probably be happy with anything in the 4000-6000 range.

I am unable to reflow leds right now, might be down for one in 4000k or 5000k.

I modded D4 with quad Optisolis

Now D4 is $45 (maybe without leds it’d be cheaper), I don’t remember if you have to pay extra for KR4 driver. Optisolis quad board is around $5. So that’s $10 more than S2 triple.

What do you think?

Re: buck91
S2+ hosts ordered. Aiming to use default driver on most of them.

This nice writeup shows 4.5 kHz pwm, should be fine. Low mode is 30-40 lumens, which is much higher than requested. Runtime is fine but unregulated. Convoy S2+ measurements (7135*8 3B) | Candle Power Flashlight Forum

The kaidomain board has the same modes, just constant current. Moonlight special driver is out of stock. I checked the forum sticky for known good drivers, but most links were broken. Best I can offer is the 20+$5 shipping guppy driver which does have moonlight. That brings price from 50->75 dollars, which is too much for an s2+. Edit: found a qlite driver with guppy for 5usd

So I have another idea. My next round was going to use Jetbeam rrt01 2020 version as hosts. I can source a few now. 2.65-3amp depending on battery. No pwm. Good, but unregulated runtime. The lowest modes I’ve seen (use one on my nightstand). Sometimes it displays a barely perceptibe ripple/flicker on extreme lows, but turning on and off gets rid of it. If you don’t mind waiting on me to get the build details figured out, I can do one for 65(host)+10(optic/led/pcb)+10(shipping)+10(profit)=95 usd

Re: Scotty 321

5700k is doable with 5000k and 6500k tint mix. I’m not doing d4 or dt8 mods now, if you don’t mind asymmetry, I could do two 5000k and one 6500k, but the front will look funny.

Re: g-damian

Cool build! Appreciate the firmware notes. I got host and spacer for 17 usd, and shipping, labor, and optic/pcb/led together are 30 usd. So 50 for the Convoy, 80 for the d4. Not a bad idea. I’d personally rather do the dt8, more lumens in a similar package.

I currently have 15 triple mpcbs on the way, so I’d need to use those first.

Re: PyriteParachute

5000K would be fine. :smiley: