Review: Crelant 7G5 from intl-outdoor [pics heavy, outdoor beamshots updated!]

I must admit, that for a long time, I didn't wait with such anticipation for any flashlight...

It finally arrived. I guess I'm the first person outside Asia that owns this flashlight ...definitely the first person that shares some info and photos.

So lets start from the beginning. It comes in a blister. Accesories are very ascetic. Spare rubber boot and spare o-rings. That's all. No fancy cards, manuals, lanyards, etc. Just a few pieces of spare rubber and flashlight.

Crelant 7G5 didn't dissapointed in workmanship quality. It's very well made, no ano missing, no scratches. Overall, nothing to complain about. Surface is matte HAIII. All thrads are square cut and all, apart from threads that join LED/circuit with battery tube, are anodized allowing tailcap lock-out. Threads, as you'll see at the photos came generously lubed. Overall, I'm impressed The quality is just as I expected. On par with Fenix and Thrunite.

The flashlight has extender, that allows to run from 2x18650. Without it, you have a short monster, that can be fed by 2x18500. Nice move, frankly, I like the short version better. More "wow" factor due to smaller dimesions and the same potential.

Whatta heck I wrote earlier this part ...but it hasn't shown in the post. Ok I'll rewrite.. The circuit is not silent. It's not buzzing, but the sound is like whisper... or water flowing through the pipes. This is first time I hear that kind of noise from flashlight circuit. It's definitely not a high pitch whine from inductor, more like flowing water or wind in the trees ...or very silent jet engine (I'm not kidding). Interesting. Oh.. it's very silent only audible in a complete inaudible enviroment and flashlight close to ear so don't worry, it's totally undisturbing .

UI is unfortunatelly crappy. At least for me. Seeing bare threads, I was hoping for mode changing by twisting the head (just like in Olight M31 Triton or Fenix TK30). Modes are changed by tailcap and since it's using forward clicky, you have to select your desired mode prior to "click". Otherwise, you have to make full turn-on/turn-off cycle to change mode. Luckily, there are only three modes - low, high and strobo and the light has memory. So cycling through the modes will be reduced - since it's pure thrower and should work mainly on high mode. Pity, we're losing momentary function... Oh, well, you can't have all.

Yes, this light is pure thrower. It has wide, deep and smooth reflector. In fact, it's the biggest reflector, I've seen in a regular flashlight with XM-L LED. Of course, I had to compare it to my "modded" Catapult V2.

...And it won . The difference is not significant, but it's visible. The hotspot size is the same in both cases, but a little more intense in Crelant 7G5. I had no time (and I won't have in next days) to do a proper measurements, but I did a few quick tests, that can tell something about 7G5's potential.

The ceiling bounce is almost equal in both cases, with slight advanage to 7G5.

Cat V2 scored ~19.6 lux,

7G5 scored ~19.8 lux

Tailcap current draw looks following:

Cat V2 - 1.95A

7G5 - 1.90A

Yep folks... your conclusion is correct. The LED in 7G5 is driven at 3.5A (or very close) ....Not some wimpy 2.8A or 3.0A as seen from other well known manufacturers. And by the way, my Cat uses XM-L T6 from authorized CREE dealer, so the bin is certified. And the LED is sitting on a pure copper MCPCB with Arctic Silver 5 underneath. So it's tuned to the max.

Overall, from the first look, I'm impressed by this light. It's very well made, the workmanship is superb and the price is right. It can be fully disassembled, so it allows for future upgrades. The reflector is awesome. Deep as well and wide enough to turn XM-L into pure throwing machine.

When I have a time, probably next week, I'll do lux measurements and take some outdoor beamshots. This is all for now. Below some photos (sorry, not in order, I'm in hurry).


















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Update 6th Nov.

OK, as promised, some outdoor beamshots. The camera settings were following:

t=3.2s

f=4.5

iso=200

wb=daylight

I made photos in two locations. I made also some crops from original files, for better see the illuminated target. Enjoy !










The photos above are little underexposed. In reality, the lights were brighter. Also, take into account, that BD-4, while the weakest in throw here, is a dedicated thrower with over 35K lux/1m. It has far more throw than other popular flashlights, that are considered to throw quite well (Fenix TK35, Jetbeam BC40). If anyone wants to do animated gif, feel free .



Beautiful photos!

Thank coolperl, always a pleasure to see your reviews.

I see this can sure take all kind of battery combinations : 3 x CR123A 4 x CR123A 3 x 16340 2 x 18650 2 x 18500

Let me understand correctly, your Catapult V2 is modded by you? It's not stock?

Thanks for kind words :)

My Catapult is modded by me. It left factory as a standard Catapult V2 with SST-50 LED. I removed original LED and replaced it with XM-L T6 1C. This is more or less similiar to factory Catapult V2 XM-L, that were released in a small batch, prior to Catapult V3 ...but I feel better with certified T6 bin and thick copper MCPCB.

As for battery configurations, yes, this is all possible, but for 3xCR123A or 3x16340 the current draw is rather high (would exceed 2C for 16340). Personally, I'd stick to 2x18500 in short version. I have some old AW's 17500, that I use in Fenix TA30. When time allows, I'll make a runtime test on these.

According to Selfbuilt, Catapult V2 with the XM-L led does 46K compared to Catapult V3 also with the X-ML led that does 40K . His Catapult V2 with the SST-50 led does 26k. So it seems you have a great moded light.

I am under the impression that you have received this flashlight under 2 weeks, am I right?

Thanks for all of this. Nice pictures and great info. I guess I'm going to have to take the plunge.

I didn't made measurements before/after mod, but it has gained definitely more throw. My readings are little less than Selfbuilt's for lights we both have ...so according to his light meter, my Catapult would be in 50K range... At least, I hope so

As for the shipping, I placed the order on 22nd Oct (Saturday). I got shipping message on 24th or 25th Oct ...so yes, it was below two weeks. But it's nothing unusual, registered parcels sent from HK or China arrive to me within 6-10 calendar days. Rarely, I have to wait longer. Our post is quick, unless the parcel go to custom office. In this case, it's additional ~5 days. On the other hand, standard post without registering/tracking can take up to 1 month.

Your pictures look really professional.

Here is a link to the shop an dthe light:

http://www.intl-outdoor.com/crelant-7g5-xml-u2-3-mode-860-lm-flashlight-p-217.html

That's cool. Sealed Surprised that the current draw is high (good!), can you do a confirming test against your Balder BD-4 with the same DMM and batteries?

Like this : (1) Measure Crelant 7G5 current and (2) Measure BD-4 with same batteries / DMM immediately. This takes out any DMM/batteries/charge level variables

Wow! Absolutely beautiful light! :)

It could do with some extra design on the tailcap and head. The tailcap looks the same as some generic budgetlight and the head is like STL-V2/V6. But well, it's not bad looking per se.... and the price is right. (I mean you pay $20 less for no HA for the Sky Ray and PWM).

I guess this one has much better PWM? At least 1kHz? (very nearly invisible even on ultra fast moving objects)

Look at the 7G2. This is like WOW!

asd

Hey cool, if you don't mind me asking; do you use studio lights or what? I want to take pictures like that and since I moved, I'm having a hard time finding good lighting like I had before. Even my best pics are not as good as yours.

jealousFoy

2100, I'll take measurements, you ask for at the end of the day. Right now, I'm at work and don't have the stuff with me.

Foy, yes I use external flash (or two sometimes). It's not "studio" quality equipment, but it does the job. However, it's not a must for taking good photos. This guy makes also wonderful photos using a simple compact camera.

Where do you get this for $61? Because you can get Sky Ray for $41 :bigsmile:

Well..MF is selling the Sky Ray i believe for $54, James got it at that price. I got the FandyFire version from DX, $46. $41 is the group deal from DX?

You can get it now for $41.19 from DD.

i like the catapult better...

my catapult v3 will arrive sooon...

You obviously have an unlimited budget. :) When will your TM11 arrive?

i have postponed buying tm11 after reading reviews on cpf.... i can assume 7 out of 10 tm11 owners are having some issues with their unit.

Instead, i just ordered sunwayman v60c, thrunite scorpion v2 and ultrafire wf-504B they will probably arrive by end of this month.

My catapult should arrive on monday..

Coolperl, could you also do a ceiling bounce test of the 7G5 and the Balder BD-4? This way i'll have all the info i'll need before ordering. :)

I wonder how much is the Catapult V3 after discount. It has NW too, but NW is a bit redundant for pure throwers.

BLASPHEMY! NW is never redundant!

Anyway, thats one serious reflector setup there! look at the size of the image of the die, must be one tight hotspot!