BTW, my opinion of either Convoy M21F or M21E remains same. I have 20 plus recent-vintage lights but M21E would be one of a trio of flashlights that I would start a collection with were I to start anew.
Convoy S21D w/ Nichia 219b 4500k: Bought it for the legendary 219b’s world class CRI and R9, and that famous magenta tint. Also to find out why there are so many obsessed owners with this LED (grin). Convoy M21E or M21F w/ GT-FC40 4500k: An all around EDC with great CRI and R9, good throw and good flood. The perfect walk light or all-purpose around-house light because it allows you to see distinct/beautiful colors of plants, flowers, subjects, without blinding other people like for example a SFT40 6500k would. Comes closest to that famous magenta Nichia tint and color rendition of any throwers on market presently IMHO. Wurkkos TS30S w/ SBT90.2: Super bright and super thrower with great spill, all in a small form that would fit jacket’s pocket. It lights up everything like it’s a lighthouse. I imagine it would be great for search and security but for me it is THE fun light. I love it even though personally I haven’t found a practical use for it, yet ;-). It blinds people even in lower setting so I can’t use it for my evening walk.
The beauty of this trio is together all 3 cost around 130 bucks on sale, about the same as what I paid for one of my Olight M2R Pro LE’s. Same cost, significantly more interesting and “better” IMHO.
Absolutely agree, I would add the Thrunite TC20 V2 to that list, it’s more expensive relative to the others, but the sheer sustained brightness and amazingly compact size are really outstanding. I’ve also been enjoying my WK30, the LH351D isn’t quite as pleasing as the 219b, and its hard for me to adjust to click and hold to turn off, but the 3 different emitters for under $30 is just too much fun.
In AB comparison of batteries using the ceiling bounce test, I’ve observed NO difference in brightness of highest mode between Samsung 40T and the LiitoKala 5000 mAh battery. So for these GT-FC40 lights it would seem the advantage goes to LiitoKala because of its higher capacity. The high current capacity of Samsung 40T is not needed.
This is different from situation with Wurkkos SBT90.2, where Samsung 40T has a significant gain over the Wurkkos battery.
Just sharing the latest strange thing this hobby causes me to do . Convoy (aka Simon) told me the lenses in my flashlights are the latest generation with green tint so I take some pictures using light bulb test. This test involves looking at reflection of ceiling lights on the lens, basically using the flashlight’s lens as a mirror. In my case, I just put the flashlight on the dinner table and look at reflection of the chandelier’s light bulbs above it. The M21E lens is shown here, with a green reflection.
Out of curiosity, I also checked my AR coated eyeglasses and got the same green reflection.
I have some AR coated lenses from other brands that reflect blue and purple, but for my 2022 Convoys (M21E, M21F, M21B, S21D), all lenses reflect green.
I had been on the fence about getting a Sofirn IF22A, but I just don’t like the cold temp of that SFT40 emitter. The GT-FC40 in the M21E looks much better on the temp… but is there a notable difference in throw? Also, on AliExpress I see the M21F offered with SFT40, CULPM1.TG, and XHP 70.2 in several temps. No GT-FC40. Is that just temporary?
Sofirn IF22a is a very very throwy light (around 660 m), whereas M21F/GT-FC40’s throw is around 300 m, so yes there is a big difference in throw. And yes the IF22a has very harsh blue light, whereas GT-FC40 is of course among the very best, if not the best, with respect to CRI, especially for one with 300 m throw.
Simon orders a lot of LED’s (I believe in the thousand - anyone corrects me as needed) when he releases a light so yes I think GT-FC40 shortage is temporary. He probably underestimates demand for this great light.
I love the IF22a because it has such good throw for such a small light (the big head just a little unwieldy), but for me, it has a very “unbalanced” beam with a very narrow field of vision (narrowest of all my lights) and no spill. If you don’t mind the blue light and a little bigger size, the Wurkkos TS30S with SBT90.2 LED is in every aspect a much better light: even more throw (950 m), more brightness, and a significant wider field of vision. I compared their beam shots in the Wurkkos thread. Pictures shot in raw with manual WB and identical expo setting.
Thanks, cannga. I was thinking about the usefulness of a thrower with such a narrow hotspot, as on the IF22A… and that it seems workable only with a good set of binoculars to help make out the target. Otherwise… not a lot of help at long range. For the unaided eye, 300~400m is about tops. So for general mid-throw use, I’m feeling like the GT-FC40 below 5500k is the way to go for a more agreeable temp. However, would applying some DC-fix to a Wurkkos TS30S w/SBT90.2 end up doing better?
Btw, I noticed this:
table(table#posts).
|Model|Head|Body|Length|Weight|
|M21E|45.4mm|27.3mm|146.5mm|166g|
|M21F|40mm|27.5mm|143.8mm|145g|
Not a huge difference in head diameter or length, but a good 20g in weight. I’m guessing this is due to a thicker wall of the M21F M21E head for better heat dissipation?
Just remember that the FL1 standard (the basis of all these throw numbers) is computed around the distance required for the intensity of the light to reach 0.25 lux at its brightest point, “about the level of light produced by a full moon”. This is very little light, and is not a realistic level of illumination to be able to see much at extended range. This is particularly true if there is ambient light or significant spill near you from the light. If you really need to see 300-400m, realistically you are looking at a light rated at least 2-3x this depending on the ambient conditions and beam shape.
“Funny” you mentioned the head diameter difference between M21E and F. That 5 mm difference seems small but results in a much bigger head. So much so that when I first got the 2 lights I had to re-measure. I think partly because M21E doesn’t taper off like F, M21E comes off in use as much bigger. Still fits in pocket of loose pants or jacket though.
Last sentence you meant M21E right? I don’t know if M21E is thicker, it’s definitely bigger and hence heavier.
If this helps to decide between the 2, M21E has a brighter but slightly smaller and more defined hotspot and is more throwy, M21F has a slightly wider hotspot and is less throwy, more floody vs E, hence a touch more useful with near field. The difference is NOT that significant, but it’s there. M21F as mentioned easily pant-pocketabke. Both great great light and incredible value.
Personally/imho I use throw numbers more as an indication of how bright the lights are at any given distance, not so much how far they could shine vs how far I could see.
For example, Wurkkos TS30S w/ SBT90.2’s HUGE throw of 950 m tells me it’s going to be a lot, a lot , brighter at all distances, including 50-100 m, distances that are useful to me, than both IF22a and M21F.
Also YMMV but for me, for these super throwers, brightness and what I could see (security) are more important and color rendering less so. I won’t be looking at flowers at 100 m for example and not just sharpness but also colors become less “noticeable” at long distance. The green tint doesn’t show up as much at that distance, for me anyway, and at CCT 6500 bright blue light dominates. So not sure if DC Fix is that important with this Wurrkos. Imho.
Yes, sorry I did mean M21E, concerning head wall thickness, as possibly accounting for that weight difference, but I understand that 5mm diameter increase can contribute a lot to that.
Aesthetically, I like the more traditional design of the M21F. Given performance is very comparable and the M21F having more usable spill, I just might consider that one.
Good point about color rendering at a long distance—yeah, won’t matter much.
I had thought the Wurkkos TS30 had a basic UI, but discovered that it was upgraded with Anduril last year. Looks very impressive for its form factor. Pricing has come down a bit more. $70 with 21700 battery looks to be an excellent value.
Since I/we don’t have high CRI super throwers this is only speculation on my part but I think, all else being equal, they would have some of the same advantages as high CRI flooders - better ability to easily separate subject from background. 10 or so years ago, what really got me to appreciate these emitters was needing to clean up after my dogs during walks in the fall. Trying to find their “contributions” among the fallen leaves can be much less frustrating when all browns don’t look the same. I think this could carry over to long range lights, but this is just speculation.
As you might have noticed, I just got the Opple Lightmaster Series 3 and have had so much fun with it. I very highly recommend it because it has shown great consistency between runs. Actually I think remarkably so considering the $40 cost.
I have four Convoy GT-FC40’s (long story short - control problem with toys): M21B, M21F x 2, and M21E, and below are some numbers from my first trial runs. I tested each at two brightness levels but to keep simple will list only one here. Looking at the big-time negative Duv’s, I now understand why the GT-FC40 looked SO much like 219b when I used them during my evening walks. A true Nichia imitator and IMHO the only thrower with world class tint on the market at present time (recommended without reservation as an all around EDC or gift light).
I should really add a word of caution though: these numbers are NOT REPLACEMENT for actual observation. For example, with 519a and GT-FC40 4500k, my preliminary trials appear to show Opple reading Duv to be more negative and Ra around 4 points higher than what Simon measured. With 219b 4500k, my Opple numbers are closer to Simon’s specs. Lastly, CCT with Opple appear to be accurate.
M21B at 20% brightness
CCT 4548 Ra 98.1
Duv –0.0059
M21F at 40% brightness
CCT 4382 Ra 97.5
Duv –0.0147 (this is really dipping into 219b 4500k’s territory)
M21F (second one) at 40% brightness
CCT 4504 Ra 98.6
Duv –0.0050
M21E at 40% brightness
CCT 4400 Ra 98.1
Duv -.0064
Sorry not sure I understand the question. Do you mean my S21D (w/ Nichia LED) that I replaced the stock Convoy 60 Degree TIR with the more throwy Sofirn IF25a TIR?
If so the S21D has less throw but is more floody and is useful around/inside house. Whereas the GT-FC40 Convoy triplets has better throw and more useful as an all-around, “everything” walk light, safety light, etc. Basically 2 different lights so no preference, but personally for example if I have to give someone a gift light, it would be the GT-FC40 lights. Better reach and convenient USB-C charging with M21E and M21F.
Can’t say anything definitive until I actually use it but fwiw S21D w/ Nichia and the more throwy Sofirn lens still does not come close (at all) to M21B w/ GT-FC40 LED wrt overall brightness perception and throw.
In addition when you “squeeze” all output into the hotspot (for better throw) with a narrow angle TIR lens, the spill/ flood might decrease to a degree that you may not like. IOW there is a price to pay. I think this kind of beam is “unbalanced” (small bright hotspot, very little spill) but if that’s what you are looking for then it’s perfect (personal preference).
I like my thrower to have a balanced beam - some hotspot some spill, and that’s what the GT-FC lights have. It is a unique throwy LED with high CRI and great tint.
. Convoy (aka Simon) told me the lenses in my flashlights are the latest generation with green tint so I take some pictures using light bulb test. This test involves looking at reflection of ceiling lights on the lens, basically using the flashlight’s lens as a mirror. In my case, I just put the flashlight on the dinner table and look at reflection of the chandelier’s light bulbs above it. The M21E lens is shown here, with a green reflection.
, brighter at all distances, including 50-100 m, distances that are useful to me, than both IF22a and M21F.