Mega-Beamshot Thread: TK/40/41/45, DRY 3*XML and more.

Hello,

First thread here on BLF :)

I wanted to post up some beamshots of several torches I recently acquired, along with some faithful users from the last year or two.

Camera is a Panasonic Lumix with Leica DC Vario-Elmar F:3.3 2-second exposures across the board. Imaging processing was unified across all images. All torches on highest level, unless indicated otherwise.

First, the venerable 6*AA iTP A6 Polestar:

Another AA superstar, the 8*AA MC-E Fenix TK40:

The newest member of the 8*AA TK family, the XM-L-powered TK41:

The floodiest of the trio, the 3*XP-G TK45:

Ready? Here's the DRY 3*XML Warm White version:

Here's a thrower for you, the Solarforce Masterpiece PRO 1:

And the wee Sipik SK68 on 14500:

Here's a new addition, the JetBeam PA40:

The new CNqualityGoods long-run 3*18650 single XM-L:

So far, I am blown away by the DRY 3*XM-L and Longrun XM-L, and recommend both.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about any of the torches.

Thanks for looking !!!

The extreme runtime XM-L from CNqualitygoods is cool and now has NW 5A3 tint which is nice (I like neutrals which are a wee bit warm like the 840 NW fluorescents), looks same sized spot but brighter than TK40. I just received the new 5A3 neutral white 3 x XM-L with 3A driver and Shadow TC6 5A3.

Nice! How do you like the NW tint?

The NW 5A3 is great, same as your regular Osram/Philips 840 tubes, a wee bit warmth in it. 5000k is also ok, i wouldn't mind both. But I am an easy person with tints, CW, WW, NW all suit me. But CW and WW greenies are out. (I have a 335 emitter based LED strip which is pretty green, skin tones all look wierd under that strip)

Where could I get a Neutral XM-L, love the beam.

Link: http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1177

Thanks, Really great and bright light, but I'm not into multiple Lithium Cell lights so I'll pass.

Are there any place to buy a NW XML emitter only?

I use LEDsupply or Cutter for most LEDs.

Ian, you can use 1 x 18650, 2 x 18650 or 3 x 18650, no issue. The cells are parallel in the holder. It fits 32650 6000mAh as well. But do note 3 x 18650 matched cells is cool as well as pretty safe, as that'd be 9.3Ah.

Good job and thanks a lot for the great beamshots. Chicago X! Laughing

I'm waiting my long run 1 XM-L neutral white.

I have a DRY warm white version 3 modes. Yours are same?

I just cant like warm tints, The DRY 3*XML looks awful to me. But the output is excellent, I just cant get past all the yellow.

I like the tint in the CNG 3x18650 has with its single XML.

Its all personal taste as i think more will like it than dislike the color, Maybe im just odd.

BTW, Welcome and nice first post! Everyone always love pics.

petebaby, you asked about the spacing of the 4-mode 3A neutral white. With 3 full charged XTAR 2600s, it is 2.06A, 0.78A and 0.17A. Reflected ceiling lux is 150 for this NW, compare this to the 130 of the Trustfire 3T6 CW and 160 of SkyRay SR3800 CW. The CCT difference of NW already gives it an approx 15% disadvantage as compared to CW (you do know about this right, WW is even less efficient). But seriously with such bright lights, the difference close-up is very difficult to differentiate due to how your pupils react by constricting.

In high - and in my tropical country where the nights are still a warm 30 deg C now, @ 2.0A 3 minutes run is somewhat warm, you can push further by trying to withstand the heat but i'd not try. This is to be on the extremely safe side. 0.78A @ 12V still gives you a heck lot of light.....as much as a fully driven single XM-L. You can run at this level for very long periods due to the heat mass as well as some 2X surface area compared to a single XM-L single 18650 light, 20 mins no issue. The single 18650 XM-L 40mm light like C8, it might get quite toasty.

If you really want bright, you'd have to go the DD 4A. But seriously this turns into a pocket rocket, ie very short runs only. If you are well below zero during winter, i supposed multi-minute runs are a piece of cake. BTW, 2A and 4A is not twice as bright, it does not scale linearly, unless i guess if you live in Antartica - 60 deg C with high winds.

Thanks for the beamshots , Chicago X .

Thanks to everyone for the nice words.

DasFriek, this is my first warm-tinted light, and probably the last. :) I am learning to appreciate the benefits of neutral (and warm) white in a woodland setting, but am a cool white guy, at heart.

I'd love to see the final finish of the light. Also, does anyone have a rough estimate of the low lumens on the four mode ?

Awesome beamshots! Thankyou very much for this.

A mildly off topic question, but there are some knowledgable people here on the DRY light. Does the 4-mode CW come with the 3A driver or are all of the CW's coming with the 4A driver?

Let's look:

TK40:

Longrun XM-L:

Looks like a good call !

Thanks very much, 2100. Your information is very helpful to me and others. I'm disappointed though in the performance of the NW 4-mode Dry light. I like the medium and low mode currents, but I had assumed that the high mode current would be around 3 A. Now I'm not sure if I want this light after all. The Dry uses 3 batteries while the Trustfire and Skyray use two, yet the Dry (4-mode) is about the same output as those. The Dry WW 3-mode produces the max. output I want, but lacks a low mode. :(

Yes I do know that NW is less efficient than CW, so I was expecting 3 A current on High, with a resulting small reduction in output compared to the CW because of the lower efficiency. I wasn't expecting lower drive current as well.

Ye I'm curious too how the NW 4-mode now compares to the skyray ...

It wouldn't be smart for me to go for a DD light + i really like the 4-mode

A quick look at the chart here on BLF looks like 686 lumen at 2A per emitter.

686 * 0.85 = ~583 lumen (15% loss for NW-seems a bit high)

583 * 3 = 1749 lumen. At a 10% loss, it becomes ~1852 lumen.

My 3-mode WW version pulling 3A:

881 * 0.85 = ~749 lumen per emitter with 15% loss for WW.

749 * 3 = 2247 lumen.

At a 20% loss, it looks like ~2114......