Yeah, Convoy is supposedly better quality than KD, but I don’t have one myself. The XinTD c8 from intl outdoor is supposed to be the highest quality c8 around. I do have a xinTD and it is worth every penny and more IMO.
The KD is known to be very bright for the price. Some members have also had good experience with Lightmalls xml2 c8 and c12 (myself included). Lightmalls xml2 seem to be a little bit brighter than KD according to most reports.
Cheapest bang for buck I would go lightmalls. Ultimate best overall and best longterm value is still the xinTD.
The Convoy is a better quality light but does not have that bright a spot as far as C8s go. It’s overall output is similar to other C8s. I can’t give you exact measurements on the Convoy because I replaced the emitter with a FT U3.
But ….
Convoy C8 with U3 with original driver = 17k spot/61k overall light output (ceiling bounce)
KD C8 U3 = 25k spot/61k overall
Lightmalls C8 L2 = 24k spot/81k overall
Ultrafire stock C8 U2 = 20k spot/51k overall
Spot was measured at about 15 feet in a dark room. I’m redoing these measurements because some were a bit high. I think there may have been more ambient light in the room than I originally thought, but these measurements were all taken under the same conditions so for relative comparisons they should be okay. Bounce measurements were on the middle scale.
Hhhmm, wonder if that's real. DanceLite -- hhmm..... I'd buy one just to get the emitter, also the host having "XM-L2 U3" engraved on it is pretty cool. If it's real, SinkPAD - Nanjg 3.85-4.0A, de-domed and should get 120 kcd or so... That 7000K is a great candidate for de-doming.
I suspect that m8 uses same driver as LM c8 and c12. Price is even exactly the same as the c12.
Given all these options being thrown around it is a good time to buy c8s! $15 convoy is a steal. Still think the xinTD is worth every bit of $30 how it is built, but I need to check out these convoys.
And I also have the lightmalls C8XMLU3 and for the 3.00 $ diffrence and 21/2 month wait from kaidomain I cant see any visual diffrence I’d fo with lightmalls C8Xml2!
Pretty sure light junkie meant he has the older lightmalls xml1 u3 and KD xml2, and given price, shipping times, etc he thinks lightmalls is the way to go… Lightmalls has an xml2 u2 version out now.
But, FYI, xml2 u3 emitters are supposedly around, but still hard to get. Armytek is selling an xml2 u3 version of their Barracuda already. They just haven’t quite trickled down to the budget lights yet.
cutter.au has them listed, but sold out. That aliexpress link I posted earlier was advertising it - who knows if it's real. Lots of crap out there being sold under false labeling.
Probably… eventually most xmls will probably be upgraded…. but that could literally be a couple yrs for budget models. Really hard to predict. You could put a request in to fasttech, but no certainty anything will come of it.