Looking for lights that "out-shines" itself for its size

Haterade,

Maybe I worded what I said unclearly. I am not disappointed in the SC52 at all. I love it, and it’s the only (unmodded) light that has really “Wowed” me aside from the DST.

As for the D25a Ti clicky… It may be hard to explain… I did side-by-side comparison of the D25A Ti clicky and the SC52 after I had both in-hand, and every time I do that, I still think “That SC52 is really bright”, but, for the D25A, it’s more like “it’s ok”. Again, hard to explain. I know from those side-by-side sessions that the D25A is more throwy and the SC52 is more floody, but even then, I keep finding myself impressed by the SC52, and not-so-much by the D25A. Sorry if I’m not explaining very well :(…

Maybe where I’m coming from is because where I started. When I started, I was mainly interested in smaller lights, only AA and AAA, and I thought that I’d never get into any other formats. But then, I got a couple of 18650, which opened up a bunch of lights, but even then, I’ve avoided the physically large lights (the DST is again an exception, mainly because I ran across garrybunk’s gigantic thread, and I happened to be in Home Depot after that).

I guess that I’m hoping to keep things that way, i.e., not start trying/getting physically gigantic lights, so I keep trying different lights within my admittedly vague “size parameter”, but maybe that effort is futile, and maybe the SC52 is the best that can be done within those parameters, and, maybe I need to start looking for “bigger” lights, but/so I figured that I’d throw the question out there via this post/thread.

Thanks,
Jim

Well, check out the suggestions listed already…

Also thinking maybe the Nitecore EA4? About 900 lumen on 4xAA. Very compact.

The Olight i1 on RCR123s has always impressed me.

Same goes for the Xtar WK21 Meteor.

I’m in the process of assembling one of these with parts supplied by Chicago x.

considering its about the diameter of and shorter than a 2d maglite tube, 3000 ish lumen should be fun 8)

:open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

If you pick up a hid FF3 you will get that feeling back. There aren’t too many lights that still give that wow feeling, but that would be one of them. I don’t know anything currently as impressive. 4000 real lumens and 225k lux in a beer can. There is nothing in this size available that comes close to that ratio or the numbers individually.

And it’s slightly bigger brother, the FF4 comes out next month. 60watt hid

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the output of my Nitecore EC25, nice UI, just wish it had a lower low. for a budget option the Ultra Fire HD 2011 is crazy bright for its size and price($12), but gets hot really fast on high.

Another vote for the EC1. If you like floody lights then the Convoy S3 is a great candidate with the 2.8A driver and U2 1B emitter. Its a much better host than the UF2100 or HD2011.

Yes, yes, am doing (going through the suggestions). I’m a bit overwhelmed though, so many choices :)…

JohnnyMac,

I hadn’t been too interested in the “tube” lights, until I just “accidentally” got an A8 last week (“accidentally”, because I got it for the tube, to try with a DST). Speaking of Convoy, I have one of the Convoy C8s from FT, the one with the 8*7135s. How does that do? It took FT like 5 days to ship, the first time it took them so long, but naturally, it was the order with the Convoy C8 :(!!

The FF3 is tiny. Here it is next to a 2D MagLed.

This is a white wall shot comparing the 2. 2D MagLED on tightest focus.

I’ve been interested in the WK-21, when I saw it on md-lightsource.com when I was buying a Crelant (Mark has it on sale, for like $29). I really tempted to put it into the cart, but removed it at the last minute. Do you have one? And have you done anything with the mode programming? The things I’ve read are that it’s very floody, with very little throw?

Hi,

I’ve seen the recent threads about the FF3/FF4, but didn’t really check them out, so sorry for the stupid question, but do these use bulbs?

HID capsule bulb.

Due to the size of the reflector vs. the size of the LED, it is destined to be more floody than not. At around 450-500 lumen, it still has some punch as a close- to mid-range light.

The mode programming is as simple as bridging two small contacts with anything conductive: wire glue, pencil graphite, or solder for a more permanent solution.

I have mine set as a three-speed, L-M-H.

Mag54656, 2D MagLED, FF3

The Mag64656 is said to put out 14-17,000 Lumens… but it’s huge 7 26650s. To me it’s amazingly bright and puts out enough heat to warm up people 20ft away, but due to the size the wow factor isn’t there. But that said it is awesome. I keep several unmodified Mags just so I remember what normal is. That said the FF3 is the real deal. The soon to be released FF4 will be something like 5mm larger and a larger SMO reflector but also has a low 24w, 40w, and turbo 60w. But when I’m looking for something that’s a bit more practical because of shorter runtimes of the HIDs, I’m a huge fan of the wicked MagMods at LambdaLights. I think I have about 15 or so of those and they all still have that effect you get when you get a light that put you in awe once again.

Do you happen to have an SC52 or SC600 (or MKii)? How does it compare a high? I think that the SC600 MKII is suppose to be “900 lumens”, but at least to me, on high-high, and on 18650, it seems just barely brighter than my SC52 on 14500, even outdoors, at night. I’ve heard otherwise, but I’m wondering if there’s something wrong with my eyes (night vision problems?).

I don't have either of those Zebralights, only the SC80.

The WK21 crushes it in output, but the ZL has a much lower low.

Hi,

I was just outside, checking out some of my “smaller” lights (ITP A3 “upgrade”, D25A TI clicky, SC52, and my new SC600 MKii), and something occurred to me: It seems like it’s a lot easier for a smaller light to “impress”?

I first tried the ITP. I hadn’t used it at night in awhile, and I was kind of surprised, it pretty well lit up a large part of the area in front of our house (we have about a 250-300 yard open area, line-of-sight, in front - it won’t be long though, cuz they’re building next to us).

Then I tried the D25A, and it was a bit brighter, but a lot more throw than the ITP. The SC52 was brighter yet, but lit up a wider area. Finally, the SC600 was brighter yet, but even flipping between the two highs that it has, the high-high didn’t seem that much brighter than the SC52.

I guess that that goes to show that the SC52 is still a heck of a light :)?

But, it also got me to thinking that as the light gets bigger, and the brights get brighter, it gets harder to impress? In other words, and this is just a theory and some made-up numbers, it seems like going from say, 110 to 300 lumens looks like a huge difference, but going from 500 to 900 doesn’t seem that much?

I’m going to go take out some of my “bigger” (not that big though) lights now…

Jim