What is the expected release date of the M44?
I asked Hank about 3 weeks ago, and he said 2 months (at that time).
Iām seeing an M44 in my future.
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Itās shaping up to be epic. I hope it comes in red 
I hope it comes in cyan.
Should be able to take XHP50/XHP70, right? What would have more output, those or W2?
The led possibilities are endless! Of course, they depend on the mcpcbās. Currently Hank has 3535 and e21a.
On the subject of emitters, Iām still hoping to see 219C v2 80cri (flat/no dome), it sounded like something in between sst20 and w2 in terms of throw and cri, with CCT choices and excellent color uniformity. Someone pls correct me if Iām wrong about this so I can stop wishing.
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Wow so really in series series. This is going to be the hotrods of soda can lights
That would be cool until youāre trying to gently torque down 47 tiny screws in the correct sequence, praying you didnāt lose any of them, fast enough that the square-o-ring(gasket?) doesnāt pop out of place lol
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Red would be supremely awesome. Hank, please offer red, green, and cyan!!! Iāll buy at least one of each.
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The xhpās for sure assuming you have the same number of them, right? ~1200 lumens each vs >4000?
Did he say 5050s are gonna be able to fit in here though? Idk about that. Head diameter is same as d18. You canāt fit 5050s in thereā¦ can you? 18 emitters in there, this has what, 16? Q8 Plus only fits 6 x 5050s in a head with a diameter 5mm greater than the d18ās. JKK76 fits 7, head diameter is 18mm greater than d18ā¦
Would be a pretty tight fit.
Looks like the M44 will by my first soda can light.
Someone made a 5050 PCB for a D4, which uses the same optics. It could barely fit the traces, even if it technically did work. I think that even if the optics were compatible with 5050 LEDs, they physically wouldnāt fit.
It would be possible if it used D4S optics though, maybe someday we will see a 4x SFT40 D4S
Any light using 5050 emitters would need a special aux-led PCB though, so that they clear the holes.
Do you have a link to that d4? Tried to find it but no luck. I took the reflector out of mine just now to try and visualize it. The optics would workā¦I think. If it was a small emitting area like an sft40. Probably not an xhp50 hi. Definitely not an HD. Ya that aux pcb though. No matter what those holes need to be bigger or something.
D4s seems probable
It is on reddit, here is the link:
Main post
Beamshots
On a small-die 5050 the optic will absolutely work, something like an SFT40, Yinding L50, or dedomed XM-L2 (second revision) and maybe even some of the chinese mystery emitters, like the SFQ55 (6.5mmĀ²) but that might be just outside of what the optic will work on.
Largest domeless die LED I know of it working is the XPL-HI, though AFAIK the LH351D is slightly larger in optical behavior. It might also work on the XHP35HI but I havenāt seen it tested.
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M44 comes in dual channel by chance?
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I understand why itās easier being round :). Just saying it would look more interesting if it werenāt.
And there are other solutions for tightening a squarish bezel than on the DT8 with itās dozen of tiny screws - look at the Wuben X series, Lumintop Moonbox, Nitecore TMs or all the other rectangular lights 
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Yeah, confirmed by Hank.
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Yes
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Very nice news
The M44 looks awesome.
I donāt think the quad optic in the round head looks bad at all. Donāt really care either way though. I LOVE that the head size is kept the same as the D18, at 58mm. Looks like it might be a little longer than the D18 to fit the tailcap for batteries in series, but otherwise it should be similarly compact.
This could be an excellent adjustable-CCT photography/video light with 519A/DD/219B if the long term sustained output can get around ~1800-2500lm.
3x 18650 is such a nice form factor! Very compact and portable with still a ton of power and capacity on tap. Itās what makes the D18 so compelling to me.
Iām REALLY glad Hank didnāt go with 3x 21700. I know a lot of people request it, maybe he can make an M44K in the future, but 3x 21700 is a big increase in size and weight compared to 3x 18650 lights, making them far less portable and comfortable to use to me (though I do have a couple). Plus thereās already a ton of 4x18650/3x21700 lights out there, but very few truly compact soda can lights like the D18. The only other ones I can really think of are the Manker MK37, MK34, and Sofirn SP36.
Do we know how powerful the buck driver is? 28A? 32A? I assume itās somewhere around there.
Napkin math for those interested:
- Assuming all W2 LEDs and a 32A buck driver, minus ~15% for optic losses, should be about ~9380 lumens. With all 519A 4500k domed, ~8230 lumens.
- Assuming all W2 LEDs and a 28A buck driver, minus ~15% for optic losses, should be about ~8700 lumens. With all 519A 4500k domed, ~7480 lumens
- Throw is harder to guestimate. A DT8 with W2 is ~550m throw, so Iād guess this would be somewhere around ~650-700m, a bit less than a D18 with W2 (which I think is ~725m). I donāt know about 519A, maybe around ~350-380m
For reference, a D18 with all W2 is ~14000 lumens.
So, the M44 should still be capable of some pretty serious power, AND with that awesome full regulation! It should be brighter than the D18 on a lower battery.
I canāt wait to see the patterns people choose with different LED/CCT combinations. We saw cool swirl patterns with the D18, with the M44 you could do an X-shape, zig-zag, multi-colums, etc.
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Iād rather take out 47 screws than try and get the lens out of that nitecore tho