Ledil Crystal, coming soon

fingers crossed + hoping one of you will get one to do a review! A couple of these would make a monster bar light :slight_smile:

I need some help from you guys to bug ledil to get on the ball with these. They were added to the catalog back in July and still no response. Im after the tightest spot for XM-L2 and will need at least 16 of these, and possibly as many as 48… and I need them soon:

If you can email the following people with a request, maybe they will respond with good news… hey, its worth a try. :wink:
Please copy/paste these recipients into your email: nonna.raita@ledil.com; sales@ledil.com; joni.maki@ledil.com and ask.

Thanks!

I imagine it will only serve to irritate.

My response from them was:

Hello Justin,

Thanks for the inquiry.

Crystal has not been released yet. Shall keep you posted on the release schedule. You can also contact me from time to time, see where we are.

Regards,

Jin

At least that sounds like they are still in the pipeline.

Maybe youre right OL. I doubt they have any feedback for demand in some of their unreleased products and thought a bit of customer anticipation might help.

Looking at the Ledil website the RS product sheet was last revised in July 2013, the MINE was December 2013.

Ledil does make other large diameter optics, the IRIS family in particular. Digi-Key and Newark both stock IRIS optics for the XP-E and MC-E

Of the five 10 degree XML spots offered, its hard to ignore the merits of the Crystal.

C12916_CRYSTAL-RS = cd/lm 27.200
FCA12104_IRIS = cd/lm 18.100

This should fit my K3, which would be awesome with the MT-G2! :), yeah yeah the domes to big, but I have a scalpel for that...

… and you’ll be just the one to try. Have you seen the C12476_MIRELLA-50-S Its the tightest and highest cd/lm they offer for mtg2

I actually had used a TIR on a de-domed MT-G2 before in the K3 and the beam profile was quite decent. But I had ruined the emitter in the de-dome process and when I replaced it I left it domed, which wouldn't fit in the TIR designed for an XM-L2. So I still have that TIR floating in my kit.

I'll look into that link, thanks. ;)

Hmmm.....you reckon I can cram that into an AA MiniMag?

Update:

A US rep contacted me and had this to say in regards to the Crystal product line: “Ledil experienced some difficulty in manufacturing the optics. Now the tooling is in process being transferred to a different facility which is adequately equipped to mold such a big optics. I shall keep you posted once I have more definite schedule.”

I’ll update this thread when I know more.

sweet, thanks for the leg work fp!

Of course you all know that tighter beam angle doesn’t mean higher spot intensity? 27200 cd/lm means that from 1000 lumens you’ll get 27,2klux/1m. That’s less than C8 with smaller diameter reflector. And there’s something wrong with their specs:

More lux/1m from XP-G than XP-E at the same brightness?

Maybe they have some Chinese engineering interns.
-Edit Oops, that sounds terrible. I formally appologize to all Chinese engineering interns. Maybe they have some Chinese advertising interns.

The mirella only gets to 9 degrees w/xp, 10 w/XML.

Outside of lux meter readings, these might offer more than what is derived from botched performance data. After looking at OL's SRK build threads, Im pretty interested in what a carefully optimized TIR might do in the outdoor environment. I know this is a rough comparison, but it does illustrate a point. From Old-Lumens SRK build threads:

Mouse out: SRK with stock reflector

Mouse in: SRK with FT 20mm 15-Degree Optical Lens

I think a large tir has the drawback of lower efficiency than a reflector due to absorbtion of energy but a potential offsetting benefit is the ability to achieve a tighter focus in a shorter depth leaving more room for heatsinking, drivers, etc. Also, something often forgotten in the comparison between tir optics and reflectors is a reflector still needs a glass lens which adds cost for high transmition or adds to losses if cheap glass is used. Pmma isn’t as durable as glass but even glass gets scratched and pmma can be repolished.

^^ That.

As I posted in MrsDNF's TIR thread, the FT/IOS 10* part is nearly identical in beam profile to a smooth P60 reflector when using the same LED, but in a much smaller/shorter package.

I have an MTE flashlight with a large high quality TIR, and it was useless behind an XML till I swapped in a C8 reflector. Maybe it would dance well with MTG2… another mod trial for a different time.

Lets wait and see what Ledil comes up with. It doesnt make sense that a company like that would go through the expense and trouble of manufacturing a large and comparatively expensive opic when a FT 20mm might do better. But then, who knows what companies will do these days? Fingers crossed that they will perform at least as well as a C8 reflector.

TIR optics are designed for use in office and household environments. They are used for spot lighting from above. They blend spot to spill just about seamlessly and they make the eye think it's all one smooth beam. The object is not to be super efficient, but to produce a spot in a very short distance, as in a few feet. The fact that they produce the spot and spill smoothed together within a very short distance, is why they are made. They were never designed for flashlights. They just happen to work for us in some applications.

If you want a thrower, then the best ones will always be an aspheric lens, followed by a mirror finish reflector of a decent diameter. Even "tight" optics will give a widening spot that opens up quickly. I like them because they give a smooth beam, comparable to a stippled or OP reflector and that's just my preference. I also like them because they do that with a very short optic, which translates to more modding opportunities, due to less room needed.

As far as molding them, it sounds like they tried to run them in a molding machine with too low a tonnage and the clamp couldn't stay closed during the injection process, blowing the mold open, or the barrel was too small and there wasn't enough shot size to fill the mold correctly. I imagine they are still a month or so away from any real production. The next shop will have to develop a process and submit samples for spec, before they can run production.