I wanted to know the lux readings of the lights below to further understand the throw capabilities of these XM-L 1x18650 throwers.
1. Ultrafire 980L
2. KD C8/ other C8
3. Keygos KE05
4. Trustfire X9 w/ stock driver
5. Trustfire X9 w/ kd driver
6. Other 1x18650 XM-L throwers you think deserves to be in the list.
I know multiple 18650 makes it brighter and XRE and aspherics gives you more throw but only interested in 1x18650 XM-L lights.
Thanks a lot in advance, appreciate it.
My 980L is a neutral with a 8x7135 driver AND I epoxied the emitter a bit off center, so it it wouldn't be an accurate representation of a typical one. I'll try to get some readings (5m hopefully) off my modded X9 tomorrow.
Thanks Mitro,
So far here's what I got reading other threads.
Hopefully we could compile readings to help those looking for this type of throwers including myself.
Thanks in advance for doing the test.
1. Ultrafire 980L - 19k lux
2. KD C8 - 14k lux ???
3. Keygos KE05 - N/A
4. Trustfire X9 w/ stock driver - 36k lux
5. Trustfire X9 w/ kd driver - 41k lux
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
If you rank them by head diameter and driver current you will have your answer as well.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe 2100 has a 980L and a meter.
Ian, I will retest my X9's lux once I get my Xtar 2600 cells from Serena. Let's see if a decent 18650 will kick it up a notch.
I get just under 30.000lux with my KD C8 (smooth reflector, 2,8A) at 1m
Don't have any of those, but you'll find all of my measurements from the link in my sigline.
The EastwardYJ J06 is worth a look - it is a nicely made light.
Pls do not measure at 1m bro. If you do that, then my TK70 is not that much brighter than your KD C8 at 58-59k. :D
Ian, my 980L stock is 19k max from what i get from my cells.
Fandyfire STL-V6 is 50k. Stock glass cuts 7%, but there is no UCL or UCLp available for that size, else it could have been 53.5k.
Hi 2100, Is the 1m test the standard done to measure lux for the lights, lets say the TK41 @45k lux? If not please enlighten me on proper testing done. tnx.
My meter might read relatively high but seems unfair doesn't it 
I mean I can get my Dereelight DBS aspheric to do nearly 200k, i mean that's how high the meter reads. 
When it came from the supplier from HK, that is how it was.... So it outthrows the SR90?
Ian, there is no hard or fast rule. Usually for thrower lights we try to make it spread so that the real hotspot is easily measurable. You don't move 2cm and the figures jump like crazy. Also some may not believe this, but the readings are not that accurate at the higher levels for the cheap meters we are using. But if you want a figure, at least 10 metres, as far as possible is good. This is not the faulty of the meter, but the way how the reflector is designed to achieve focus. Some with donuts have that small little ring which is brightest at the edge, it is just 5cm thick even at a good 12 metres away.
You are talking about thrower lights, the ability to cast light on a distant object. You measure the light on the object and then back-calculate to 1m for a meaningful figure that you can compare across the board, not measure at 1-5m and extrapolate that to 500m to get an idea on how much lux is hitting the object. :) Of coz i am not asking you to go run to 400m and measure, but rather "best effort".
At close distances, the STL-V6 gets me twice the lux reading, yes make no mistake twice the lux reading than that of the Solarforce MPP-1. But on a 400m target, the MPP-1 casts a brighter spot than the STL-V6. If you are going to bring a STL-V6 to tell your friends with MPP-1 how good a thrower your light is, you may not like the outcome. :)
There is a good thread by gcbryan here regarding lux measurements, lots of info there, just do a search.
Thanks 2100 for taking your time explaining this to me, now I understand how to test lights. But now I don't have a lux meter to test light as I have shortage in flashlight funds, only got funds for one or two more lights for months to come as my funds got diverted.
For now I just have to rely test done by members here who have greater knowledge and are more better equipped to do so. Learned a lot reading post/threads here.
No problem, but do note you have to select the results carefully. Some do test lights at 1m or 3m range. For some lights i do take the trouble to do 45m or 50m measurements. I measured the Polarion CSWL Night Reaper that way. 500k from a 3" precision reflector and just 50 watts is no joke. I think the precision reflector alone costs more than all my budget LED lights. LOL!
I only use my eye-meter and comparissons between my own flashlights.
I see now from your explanations 2100, it is not that easy to compare throwers, but it would be nice to be able to apply the same rule for all of them to be fair with all of them.
Yavi, problem is it is technically impossible to apply the same rule to all flashlights, quite impossible. The issue does not lie in the meter or distance but the light itself. There is some good info on CPF HID and spotlights section on how they do their measurements there for the throwers.
Not sure if you'd reckon it to be correct to report the TK70 to be 60k lux @ 1m?
Can you see the last 2 HID lights, where they only reach focus / highest intensity? In fact they are not even optimised for best focus (too lazy to optimise anyway LOL!) The first 2 are BD-4 and STL-V6, then the DRY triple XM-L CW in direct drive.
I understand what you mean more or less 2100, but it is a pity we cannot measure it with an equal measurement, we will not be able in this case to make a fair comparrison with any thrower, with flooders it would be easier I guess, we could do an average measuring at 1-5-10m for example.
Yeah, and with different light meters, all the different guys don't start off with the same footing anyway. This is with 2-cells current regulated lights. It gets way more messy with the unregulated lights and different batteries. Even within the same T6 bin, 5% is still well within the production variance. Then there's this thing about temperature. A light performs very different when you are measuring outside with guts of the light are at sub-zero compared to mine in tropical. My DRY triple XM-L showed as big a difference as 15% just by cooling the head with 2 ice cubes.
The good news is that you don't really notice a difference in the real world until the difference is pretty big, like at least 20%. Unless you are comparing the lights side by side directly. :)
I also measured the Fandyfire STL-V6 and i got 38500lux@1m.
With modded version(1x18650) i get:
1m = 49500 lux
2m = 14500 lux
3m = 6500 lux
4m = 3500 lux
4,5m=2800 lux
Maybe a little bit brighter as Olight M3X now, but i can´t believe, that orig. STL-V6 has ~50k lux....never. ;)
The thing is me and I guess many people here would love to have an accurate reading to be able to compare flashlights we do not own yet.
It is true, there are too many variables such as driver, Led Vf, real bin (I don't believe I always get the bin I have paid for), ambient temperature, led alignment inside the reflector or behind the lens etc etc.
But, having at least 3 readings of each flashlights by different users, and doing as we had more or less an average again at different distances, we could get a table with each model that would be pretty approximative to the average of each flashlight.
If we are able to agree to take a certain procedure I would be pleased to measure my own flashlights, and the most users can do it the better!
Today i got a orig. KD C8....(now with GID switch and o-ring).
KD C8 OP reflector:
-3,47A
-13900 lux @ 1m
Modded C8 OP reflector:
-3,9A
-22700 lux @ 1m