Yes
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Very nice news
The M44 looks awesome.
I don’t think the quad optic in the round head looks bad at all. Don’t 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. It’s what makes the D18 so compelling to me.
I’m REALLY glad Hank didn’t 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 there’s 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 it’s 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 I’d guess this would be somewhere around ~650-700m, a bit less than a D18 with W2 (which I think is ~725m). I don’t 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 can’t 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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I’d rather take out 47 screws than try and get the lens out of that nitecore tho
You sure? That feels high.
Don’t worry, it isn’t. Luxwad tested the DT8 W2 at 597m (89,130cd).
Maybe it feels high to you since it’s at startup? At 30 seconds it’s going to be like 200 lumens and not much throw lol. All Hanks numbers are at startup afaik.
It’s not that crazy considering the D4/KR4 with W2 and 10621 optic is ~400-425m.
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Mister, what is Your point here? I propose a solution, give examples and You choose the worst of those examples in Your opinion just to be contrary. Do You really not like the idea of a squarish light (then say so), do You just like to go against the grain or are You such a yes-man for Hank? I don’t see where You’re headed with Your arguments
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With 3S cell, 2S LED configuration makes the most sense, current is what limits the power so it’s easier to make a 16A6V driver than 32A3V. With a minimum Vin of 8.4V and maximum Vout of ~6.5V full regulation can be achieved. Also the closer Vout is to Vin the higher the efficiency.
4A per LEDs is probably a good maximum current, that allows to use CSLNM1, but even for 519As 4A is IMO a more reasonable maximum than 5A.
4A per LEDs whould mean two 16A6V buck channels in 2S4P+2S4P configuration, about 100W per channel, 200W in ”200%” turbo. There are buck converters ICs up to 20A available at raisonable cost and two of them would fit in a 3x18650 driver size. It’s more the height of the inductors that would limit the maximum output current, a low profile driver (4mm inductor) would probably be limited to 12A (3A per LEDs), with 6 to10mm driver allowing 16A.
4A 16×519A is around 16000 LED lumens, 3A : 13000lm
So it’s definitely possible to match the direct drive output of the D18 with fully charged cells, even outmatch it if this is really wanted.
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That still seems so high to me. The dt8 w2 is so floody. Way floodier than the D4S. But maybe my perception of throw distance is just way off. And I’ve never tried using the dt8 at long distances really.
I grabbed a few lights and walked the dog to the nearest spot where I could test throw without shining lights at people’s houses, because who does that lol
All batteries were same voltage, all 4.0V in this case, was racing the sun a bit. So could’ve been brighter. But all brand new cells with <3 cycles on any of them. It was 5°C last night so thermal stepdown isn’t an issue, more keeping the batteries warm.
And ya…it kinda does actually throw as far as the d4sv2. At the very least it’s comparable. Maybe even better. I was expecting it wouldn’t even be half.
I made a little photo album. Not perfect comparisons, once dog started walking in front of light it all went downhill, but camera was locked to the exact same settings for every single photo. Idk if they’re good settings, but they are the same settings. Also a catapult pro because it alleges 1000m throw and that’s a nice round number, plus it doesn’t get much use. And a q8 plus so I can still see where I’m going without draining one of the test lights.
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It’s the way throw is measured. The rated distance != the actual distance that most people find it actually usable at.
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Ya, I thought I had a pretty good idea of throw just based on the hotspot intensity up close. You know what I mean I’m sure. You can kinda tell its going to throw when it’s a tiny hotspot but it’s burning your retinas just reflecting off the walls. But guess I don’t. I would’ve said for sure the dt8 had half the throw
A (linear+FET) W2 D4 has something like 400m throw by the standards of how it’s measured. It’s essentially the same (relatively floody even at the throwiest one) optic, and ultimately, pushing >2x the lumens is going to increase throw as it’s measured in terms of being a measurable increase in illumination (IDK the exact standard) at that distance. Obviously, the most efficient way to do that is a concentrated beam, but just firing more photons in every direction will increase the distance at which there is measurable illumination - it just doesn’t mean the intense hotspot goes that much further (although IMO it definitely does go further enough than a D4 to at least be noticeable with the naked eye).
A W2 D4S will still outthrow a DT8/K due to the optics. There’s some good data comparing different W2 lights here.
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Its real close. Both of them step down so quick that the one that throws the furthest is just the one that was turned on second. But the dt8 obviously much faster, so for all practical purposes and all real life scenarios the D4S throws further for sure. But it is closer than I thought.
There’s a 4 second window of straight to turbo with cold emitters where the dt8 noticeably outthrows the D4S with a 26800. Literally 4 seconds. Not even a thermal ceiling thing, still very noticeable on momentary turbo. Maybe with a dt8k you get a full 6 seconds. With a higher drain 26650 maybe it wouldn’t get those 4 seconds, idk, those are getting harder to find. Probably kind of pointless to discuss because it comes down to such tiny things you’d have different results just based on the temperature of the air and of your pocket
Maybe, I only have high drain 26650s for the D4S, no 26800s yet.
I think they are very similar in discharge but with 26800 D4S is more beautiful and has more range
Well, more beautiful is subjective, and it’s beautiful either way 
- but a 26650 will have more output. There are 40A peak/30A constant discharge 26650s, and 26800s only do 20A constant.
I wonder if anyone has tried an SFT40 version of the D4Sv2, it would need a custom PCB but it would have very good throw and output. Not sure if the stock aux board would fit, though.
I agree, beautiful is subjective.
Depends on battery. What battery have you try?
Imo, not worth it. Neat, very chonky, but not worth buying new tubes and a new charger/DIYing one just for them.
Everyone says the D4Sv2 with the 26800 tube has better ergonomics. I disagree. Maybe I have small hands lol, idk. When I buy nitrile gloves I buy L or XL ones. I can’t have the tiniest hands out there. Gotta be someone else that prefers the 26650 tube too
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Yeah 26800 is definitely overhyped, especially on reddit. Very much a niche battery inside a already niche hobby. In a couple of years they will find the next best thing to hype for 
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