Interesting. Seems like so far the SupFire brand has had a good level, consistent quality, and is typically a nice platform for modding. I've seen or heard nothing of any degrading of quality or consistency, and they've been around for a while. Impressions below:
The C8 T6:
head style and basic size appears to match up well to the SupFire L6, and the L6 has a true standard C8 pill, though with a raised top. I'm thinking the C8 T6 will have the same pill as the L6, not sure though, but if it does, can be replaced with a brass one like I did with the L6 (Post #1: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/26046)
simple typical 5 mode (ugh) but should have a good mode memory like the L6
The A6:
looks like a nice quality 18650 EDC
I'd go by djozz's recommendation for sure - seems to be typical SupFire quality - nothing really special or outstanding, but solid value, quality parts and build, nice and moddable
So from the picture itās an aluminum pill ā the silvery metal part that has threads and screws into the head ā but I donāt see the two dimples (like you can see in the C8 picture) so how does it unscrew?
Got my 3 SupFires today (post #52), all in excellent condition, packed well, all are working well. The threads were dry, so lubed them up with Nyogel and that was it. The F3-L2 zoomie is pretty darn nice for $12, and with an XM-L2. I just modded up a UF T6-875, comparing side by side, the F3-L2 is much shorter, can tailstand, no mode memory but reset to high in like 1 sec, and has a flood width that match's the 875 which is pretty good because the 875 is the widest I have. Also, it appears to be perfectly focused when zoomed in for max distance - can see all the XM-L2 bumps clearly. It appears the optic match's the 875's in width too. The C8 is classic SupFire styling, overall quality looks good, and the A6 is a nice little light too, nice clean beam pattern. Not too crazy the A6 and C8 can't tailstand because of bumped out buttons, but I'll see if it's fixable.
Dang - now I'm look'n at these: dhgate-5-xml-u2-supfire-l1 and dhgate-supfire-x6 - Oh boy... The X6 is a classic 2 cell thrower and seems to match up to a STL-V6 well, but cheaper, and it's a SupFire.
Thanks Tom E. Iāve got a friend who really likes zoomies but doesnāt appreciate the aesthetics/size of any of the 18650 pocket zoomies on the market. The large [ineffectively finned] heads, the fluted bodies, etc really just donāt sit well with him (or me!). The only pocket sized 18650 zoomie that ever satisfied him was the EDI-T P4ā¦ which is pitifuly weak by todayās standards (and heās misplaced it anyway). Sounds like the F3-L2 is a good option in terms of aesthetics and power. The head is still much larger than his old EDI-T, but I think this is the closest thing to that light that Iāll see any time soon.
Ohh - is it the ED-T p14? I got two of those right here - size match's the F3-L2 exactly - scary close in fact. The P14 won't tailstand, and both of mine came all scratched up - I was disgusted with them, tell you the truth because of all the nicks/scratch's. In flood, the P14 has a tiny width area and the lens is much smaller than the F3-L2, even though th head diameter is the same - the F3-L2 has a much more narrower bezel - -the P14's is a total waste of lens space, because bigger lens, more throw. Comparing these, the F3-L2 should cost 5 times more - huge difference.
I'm not crazy about leaving it like this because there's no pressure holding down the MCPCB because they have grease under it. You could thermal epoxy it down, or tap in screws (my preference). What's wild is the measured light in the lightbox stays dead on from power up to 30 secs - perfectly stable.
The P14 is different from the P4 in a bad way - itās definitely a foolishly proportioned light. Take a look at this DX photo of an actual P4. As far as I know the P4 stands entirely alone on the market in terms of 18650 zoomie form factor. [The flood on the P4 is probably no better than the P14 unfortunately, I suspect that they use the same lens. Unlike the P14 though, the P4 has a good excuse due to itās diminutive size!]
Iām very surprised that removing the brown ring has an effect on your kcd figures, are you talking about throw or wide mode? If your numbers are for throw mode, are you measuring them from far enough away to allow for divergence?
Ohh - sorry, P4, yes - I see it at DX. For zoomies, I always measure lumens at full flood and throw at full zoomed out position. The P4 and P14's are XR-E while the SupFire is XM-L2, so very different properties of lumens vs. throw (XR-E's will out throw a XM-L2 easy in low amps). I measure throw at 5 meters, and it's enough to see the perfectly focused image of the phosphor, so I think it's a legit distance. For big reflector throwers, 15 meters is ideal and usually you get higher kcd calculations at 15 than 5.
That brown thingie was not tightly screwed down, maybe that's why, not sure. I always get rid of those things though on zoom light mods - I think the height is going to hinder some photons from escaping out the front, and seems like this is the case. Zoomies are not very efficent compared to reflector lights, so every photon counts .
I do realize those things about XR-E vs XM-L. Iām (much) more worried about the host than the emitter in this case.
It sounds like you have very sane setup for measurements, thanks for that. I still donāt understand the results though: if you draw a line from the edge of the emitterās dome to the edge of the lens, that should define the cone of light that matters for throw. Everything else should be simply spill / wasted. From the pictures I donāt see where the brown thing impinges on that lineā¦