In retrospect my flashlight education has gone through 3 phases (sorry for the long first post and wow what a world cup final!!):
1. Newbie me’s Phase 1: Top class CRI & R9 Nichia flooders: Close range flooders with beautiful and accurate color rendition. These are my Convoy S21D’s & Emisar D4V2’s, discussed here .
2. Phase 2 High CRI all-around everyday light: Mid-range flood-and-throw combo’s with equally wonderful color rendition, perfect for hobbyists and muggles alike. These are my Convoy M21B-E-F with Getian GT-FC40, discussed here .
3. Phase 3 What-CRI-? Throwers: Pocketable 1-batttery lights such as Wurkkos TS30 and Sofirn IF22a. The lower CRI does NOT mean they’re not fun or helpful lights, in some aspect for example the 1 km throw of Wurkkos, quite the opposite. These lights are discussed here .
My phase 4 is the exploration into what I call “super-lights” which in my mind is any light with monster lumen output and/or killer throw. Two important caveats however: I prefer not to spend more than $100 for lights, and at this price, plus the law of physics, for these budget super-lights I’ve adjusted my expectations accordingly. I don’t mind 1 minute Turbo step-down, or “tier 2” construction quality, as long as the light has no fatal problem. My typical use would be lower light level during my walk, interrupted by brief OMG all-out blasts for fun or safety check. Sustained all-out brightness all the time is not what I expect. At any rate, if your priorities or expectations are different from above, I’m afraid these lights may not be for you.
I have a few more of these super-lights coming besides Wurkkos TS32 such as Haikelite HK05, JKK76, Mateminco PD90S, etc., and was planning to open the TS32 self-gift on Christmas day. But the Wurkkos is on sale with a huge discount that brings it to below $100, and I feel un-easy talking about it without at least some preliminary check. So yesterday I cracked the box, and turned this baby on. Hopefully the result would help you to not miss the sale.
Single SFT40 light is common, but the ingenuity of combining it with 14000 lumens of Nichia goodness (a collective BLF idea) makes the TS32 very much a unicorn and is the prime reason I bought it. What’s special about the light, besides the great decision of combining 12 Nichia 519a for flood and an SFT40 for throw, is it’s a result of Terry @ Wurkkos working with Budgetlightforum click here. So yes this is a “local” product, entirely BLF born and bred :+1: .
Looking at the Terry’s BLF thread quoted in paragraph above, there have been three different versions of the TS32: 1st XP-L2 x 12 emitters, then LH351D x 12, then fortunately, this incredibly unique version of 519a 5000k x 12. I have other flashlights with 519a 4500k, but the 4500k CCT in 519a is just a little too warm for me. This 5000k CCT version seems to hit the sweet spot, warm but not too yellow. BTW, there is a fantastic review of TS32 on 1lumen if you want to read about it click here .
I’m adding an index of the interesting or fun posts that I’ve wasted the most amount of time on :person_facepalming: . Hope it helps for anyone looking to waste time reading about Convoy.
* 4 Lights I would buy were I to start from beginning Click here
* Invasion of the High-Power Chinese LED’s Click here
* Info on mysterious Nealsgadgets Lishen Battery for the Chaos Click here
* Comparison of Effects of Convoy “Green Reflection AR Lens” (it’s a reflection not a tint) on Duv (it makes Duv about 20 points more negative) Here and white-wall beamshot Here