There was some interest in real world photos of the GT FC40 1800-2000K, so here we go. Just some random shots around the place, but I also tried to add some colourful things in there. Winter doesn’t exactly offer much bright colours, so hopefully this will add some usefulness. And I took the same photo again with an E21A 2000K so there’s something to compare against.
Camera set to daylight white balance, but it seems to have done auto exposure and I can’t seem to get both set at the same time for some reason. Photos are scaled to 25% to fit side by side. Right click to open full size.
Convoy M21B with GT FC40 on 100% (left) vs Noctigon D4v2 E21A on turbo (right).
Not my cup of tea, for sure. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess when it comes to these uber-warm emitters. My K36 has a 3000K XHP70.2, and that’s about as far down the color spectrum as I could tolerate from a flashlight. Indoors, light background, it’s not so bad, but outdoors it just sucks the life out of everything. It could very well be my first “mod”.
It looks better in reality than the photos, once you only see that and you adjust to it walking around, but still remains an acquired taste.
Verodin, do you know the output current on the Convoy M21B with the FC40?
In the last photo with the blanket I see more colors with the E21, but being a photo some of the nuances are lost anyway.
The water where the duck bathes looks more blue with the E21 while with the FC40 is green on my monitor, which may differ on another display surely.
It definitely looks better in real life, eyes adjust very quickly. I’m using the same set white balance for all flashlight photos so I have a reference point when comparing. 2000K or 6500K are the extremes, so this also make them look extreme when sharing photos like this.
I’ve noticed the same blue water difference. And yes it differs from screen to screen (laptop vs display vs phone all look slightly different). I think it has mainly to do with the FC40 being more yellow and yellow + blue equals green. The beam itself is absolutely not green. But the blanket has turned out to be very useful for these kind of shots, it’s a keeper. It’s one of those baby play mats that has gotten a 2nd life now.
Only if you can, pretty hard to measure output current unless on of your leads is long and use a clamp meter. I thought there is an official claim for the output current.
Nice to see the baby play mat, now that I see it, I realize that the E21 was giving me a better info, as far the photo and my display offered.
In person it looks WAY better than in photos. The photos make it look like monotonous sodium vapor lamp but in reality colors POP. The first time I turned on a E21A 2000k flashlight in the day time, I was like yuck. I set it aside for months if not a year. Then one night I used it after my eyes were adjusted to m 2700k and 3000k room lighting. It didn’t look bad at all. After a few minutes of using it, my eyes adjusted and it was beautiful and so cozy. I then fell in love with these ultra warm colors for nightime/bedtime use.
My compliments SKV89 on describing it way better than I ever could. Using 2700K indoor lightning here as well btw (except kitchen and bathroom). Small difference for your eyes to adjust to.
I got my M21B with 2000k GT FC40 and I’m personally disappointed with the CCT, the issue is brightness or rather the perceived brightness.
the S2+ with 3000k 219b gives the impression that it is brighter, even though it isn’t, using nearly 4 times less power.
Even though the warmer temp will be less efficient the GT FC40 was still significantly more efficient than 219b emitters for same CCT according to user tests, so I would guess it would be even worse for apples to apples comparison (e21a 2000k vs 3000k).
The lack of blue light seems to have a huge impact on the perceived brightness, I dont hate the CCT but don’t feel it’s really offers anything over 3000k.
I got a Wurrkos WK02 in 4000k aswell and have came to conclusion that for me 3000k is the perfect CCT, warm enough to never be harsh but cool enough to use any time, and also that a rosy tint is probably more important than the exact CCT or the highest CRI.
the rosy 219b looks nicer than a real halogen bulb to me.
Maybe rosy tint also makes stuff things pop more and gives a sense of increased brightness?
Rosy tint also makes things look whiter for warm CCT. The issue with the GT FC40 1800k is that it is a good amount over the BBL per the test posted by Simon. It will make things look very yellowish. However, it can very easily be fixed by cutting a piece of minus green LEE filter and putting it under the glass lens. I plan to test it when I receive mine.
If you used a E21A 2000k vs E21A 3000k at night time, you will see a huge difference. The E21A is so nice and cozy compared to the 3000k which actually looks harsh once your eyes are accustomed to the 2000k. I can never go back to 3000k for night time use. I will see how the GT FC compares when I get it and post my impression.
That’s what I was expected but it doesnt happen for me. At night using 3000k for a while and switch to 4000k it always looks harsh at first. 3000k on the other hand has never felt harsh after using 2000k for a while. Cool yes but not harsh, 3000k is actually more like a relief of being able to see more clearly.
I have mild issues with visual snow, floaters, that kind of thing, I think it might be related.
Interested to hear if you feel the same about GT FC40
It’s a little cheaper to buy a completed light but there’s so many models to choose from.
I decided to go with M21F because I want see what the deal is with convoys e-switch firmware. I was going to go with M26C but I have XinTD X3 and it looks very similar.
I have moderate visual snow. At best, it is annoying. At worst, it is a free pass to a soul-crushing headache. Besides enjoying the aesthetic value of warmer tints, harsh cool white lighting can exacerbate the condition for me. The combination of fluorescent overhead lighting and flat unbroken wall space in institutional colors at offices, medical facilities, etc. is difficult, to say the least.
I usually like the high-CRI 2700-3200K range for flashlights. I’ve also enjoyed amber or red in different contexts. My evening lighting around the house has often been 25W red incandescents. The high level of visual comfort is often worth the trade-off in illumination. It gives me a good spatial layout and object identification with zero negative impact. It’s not that soft warm lighting at that level is bad. It’s just that full red is zero. I’ve been intrigued by the idea of “deep red”, which supposedly has benefits to eye health. My Sofirn C01R is awesome and I’d love to get a more powerful version of that.
Anyway, all this has also driven my interest in exploring the 1800-2000K range. I have a couple of these lights en route from Convoy and I’m certainly curious. Does anyone know if emitting in this spectrum also has benefits with respect to not attracting as many insects on summer nights?
That’s an awesome review. Thank you for writing this up. I’ve also just received my GT-FC 1800-1900K today and I’ve only got 1/8 minus green. I wonder why it still looks so yellow even if I put it on right away. And now I know why. I might have to put 4 layers of 1/8 minus green filters on it haha.
[edit] I found out I ran out of my 1/8 minus green filter so I can only put 2 layers of 1/8 on my M21F which equals to 1/4 minus green. It looks a bit better. I also add a thick layer of of DC-fix filter on top of it because I like my extra warm light to my floody. Looks much better now. Thank you.
Nice to see more comparisons and opinions popping up!
@puglife2 That’s a big difference between the E21A and the FC40. Is it like that in reality as well or did the camera amplify the difference?
Received a D4v2 with the E17 1850K today, so 1st thing I did was put them together for a group photo. WB set to daylight. Much smaller difference. Or maybe a lower WB would work better when photographing such low CCTs.
E17A 1850K vs FC40 1800-2000K vs E21A 2000K
Edit:
Taken with WB set to tungsten this time, makes it much easier to see the difference. Similar to your photo puglife2.
I’ve read your measurements with great interest, especially concerning the low Rg value “RG is the worst I’ve ever seen for a HiCRI emitter at only 85. This means colors are not saturated.”. I guess this is somewhat reflected in the photo of the play mat. Since I want to use that one for future ‘observations’ I’m trying to determine the value of using that and how to interpret the results (e.g. recognizing differences in CRI and Rg).
