Hello all,
My first post here. I’ve gleaned great information from this site on many occasions but I’m unable to find what I’m looking for. After recently receiving a TS10 I’m in love with the high CRI. I have always leaned toward warmer tints and the high CRI is really impressing me.
Regardless of battery size (maybe?) I’m thinking something like a 2-4 hour run time at around 300 lumens. It wouldn’t have to be a “thrower” per se but just not be all flood. Now obviously even longer run times with higher lumens I would like but I’m also realistic. Physical size isn’t a concern as I mostly will use it around the house. Price maybe under $100. I know that may not fit everyone’s idea of a budget light but I don’t mind spending that if it keeps me from spending five times that trying several until finding something I’m happy with.
Thanks for the site and thank you for every reply. I’ll give each suggestion a through look. Hopefully I’ve included enough information to help you guide me in the right direction.
M3-c with extension tube and 26800 / 6800 mAh battery, with GT FC40. It is a combo thrower/flooder. Price about $55. That should last over a day at 300lm, right? Convoy is closed for two weeks so I don’t even know if they offer it in anything other than 4000-4500K. When you say “warm” did you mean under 4000k?
The 21700 D4K and the 26650/26800 D4SV2 from Hank and adding on the boost driver would get you what you want and then some. The boost driver adds $12 to the light and he has a lot of emitters to choose from. You’re looking at a range from about $65 to $85 plus the cost of cells if you need those. The boost driver scrubs a little from the top end but either of these lights will put out more lumens than you want and they maintain really really well. The lower drain/higher capacity 21700 cells like 5000mAh or so will do just fine and the boost driver will help them get their max. It’d be a bigger investment to go 26800 on the other light, but you can get the good QB cells at Aloft Hobbies, and you’ll need a way to charge them (the Xtar version is cheap…saw it on sale for $8 recently but usually $10-$14, amazon has it), and the cost of the tube which I think was $14. But that combo, if you don’t mind the girth and weight, will run for hours and hours…those cells typically have 6500mAh and can deliver real current….26650 cells are ok if you hunt down the best ones but those are bested by good 21700 and the 26800 blows them out of the water.
I love the Convoy M3C (and it has built-in charging, which is handy if you need it, like for the 26800), and it can do what you’re asking with ease. It’s a larger light still than these other two, but it does reach out farther. On 26650 it can carry over 1000 lumens for at least a couple hours…even longer on the QB 26800 cells (I don’t own any of the cells that Simon sells but reports suggest that they are pretty much the same, possibly actually the same cells). Running at lower outputs like 300 you’ll be able to far exceed your requirement. I’d recommend that you get the stainless steel bezel for it as well. I don’t love it as much for general use as I do those two lights from Hank. It’s an excellent light, though, not sorry one bit that I bought it. Makes a great power-outage emergency item to have on hand, too.
These lights are using boost/constant current drivers, but to be fair about things, at such a low lumen output like 300 there are lots of lights that can do this pretty well. I have/have had a lot of lights and truthfully when I got the D4K with the boost, that was the first time in a long time that I felt I was holding something close to perfect for my general needs (it’s not a do-all, of course…throws a lot of light but it doesn’t reach out as far as reflectors or any sort of thrower). Topping 2-3 hours will limit the field somewhat.
After looking at all of these options I’m really liking the D4SV2 with the 26800. I was expecting to need larger/multiple cells so I’m happy with that.
However I have no idea which emitter to choose. It looks like a choice between the SST-20, LH351D and the 519A of which if that’s the case then de-dome or dome? Is that to have more or less throw? I would prefer more throw. Also is the boost driver flattening the output over time and is there any battery considerations to be aware of if so?
This light is still not large by any means and will be a “do it all” light for me except EDC I believe. I’m kind of a fan of throw but that will be easier to find I think. High output with short run times is more available than medium output with long run times.
After digging a little further into the selections mentioned I realize that many lights do most of what I want but I’m just looking for that one go to light for me. If I can choose the right emitter I’m ready to order I think. It looks almost exactly what I’m wanting.
Dark Hater, here’s a pic with the TS10 for comparison alongside the D4K 21700 and the D4SV2 with the 26800 tube. (With the 26650 tube it’s more or less the same length as the D4K.) The Convoy M3C is taller still…you could add about 2/3 of the TS10 length to the D4SV2 26800 and be about the same.
As for emitters, it just depends. Good time to be a flashlight enthusiast with all these great choices! The 519A is a really nice emitter. You said you like warm….like do you know about what temp you prefer? The TS10 comes in 6000 and 4000, pretty stark contrast. The 519A can match the warm or go even warmer (albeit with a little less lumens and reach as you pile on phosphors to achieve the warmer colors). Hank doesn’t seem to list the 4500K or 5700K on his page right now or else I’d probably recommend the 4500K unless you wanted warm-warm. He could be out of stock of those emitters or perhaps just saving them for other light models - if you want one of those just message him beforehand and see if he can put them in. The SST20 4000K high cri is fairly nice, does look a little “muddy” in reflectors but behind these plastic optics it looks better. My KR4 has those and I’m not displeased with them at all…they do look better with higher power, though. I don’t know what he’s got in the LH351D but for lower lumens on this emitter, with many bins, the cri is very good but the tint can be a little off (much better at higher power, like with the SST20). Personally I wouldn’t bother with dedoming emitters behind a plastic optic. Generally, in a reflector and using the same one, removing the dispersing dome from an emitter will yield a tighter beam that throws farther. With these multi-emitter lights in an optic, personally I’d choose a different light rather than dedoming and hoping for a big change. If you get the 519A and have a wild hair someday, that emitter is super easy to dedome yourself without any fuss or tools and you can even do it in the light (that said, they are also more fragile so take care not to bump them hard if you ever remove the optic from the light).
When you say throw…what does that mean to you exactly? Other than the obvious. lol. Like what distance-ish are you wanting to see things clearly? I ask because of the limits of these optics. As delivered, all of the emitters in these lights give a somewhat floody beam - smoother than most reflector beams - but they aren’t super flood without some reach (or like a “mule”, which is bare emitters without any reflector/optic to collect and shape the beam). Personally I think these are on the floodier side of a “balanced” beam which is just about ideal for most uses up close and at a reasonable distance outdoors…and they can pump out enough light that you can reach out a little farther for awhile on higher modes.
As long as you don’t mind the size of the D4SV2 and the extra cost of the tube and cells/charger, it will definitely give you all you want and a lot more. The D4K delivers a lot, however, and the 21700 cells these days are excellent, often cheaper, easier to find, and no special charger needs (most now will accommodate their length). But with either, for your long run times, pay for the optional boost driver.
Also in that photo, you can kind of see the different switch options Hank offers. The D4K has the “raised ring” stainless trim ring…it sits up above the rubber boot to protect against pocket activation and also makes it very easy to locate in the dark. I got a lighted switch on that one…those come with the translucent boot. The D4SV2 has the standard trim ring…still protects the switch from too-easy activation but not quite as much…plan black rubber boot, unlit. Looking at my photo online now, that cyan looks pretty true to life although it will vary from batch to batch (three of mine all look remarkably similar, one is just a hair lighter). The D4K is dark grey, but that batch turned out a touch on the blue side of grey, which I actually like a lot (got the cyan bezel for a few extra bucks just for kicks).
Thank you Correllux for your detailed reply. Now I’m a little more confident in choosing the 519A I had read that the others have some tint shift sometimes. Not that the 519A doesn’t but I don’t see complaints about it as much. My preference is the 4500K. The 4000K is about as near warm as I can tolerate. On the other end 5000K is cool enough for me.
This particular light would not be expected to throw but I would like it to have a little reach. Maybe 100-200 meters which I’m sure it will. A dedicated throw light for me would be on the warm end. Possibly less than 4000K. I do not like the blue in a concentrated beam near me at all. So a little warmer in a throw light is better for me which is a handicap I know.
Anyway back to the D4SV2 I did find it with a 4500K 519A but unless the description is incorrect it doesn’t have a black side switch it has the white one of which I’ve seen is lighted on the dual channel? IDK. The size of the D4SV2 is not an issue at all as it will go in a jacket pocket, glove box, nightstand etc. My preference for EDC lights is very small because I don’t like having bulky items in my pockets or on a belt.
If you want to EDC the light, might go with a smaller D4V2. I tested mine @ ~347 lumens a few weeks ago and had a 182 min runtime using a Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500 mah battery. My sample is a 2700 K Luminus emitter with the booster, so I expect longer runtimes using a 4000 K emitter.
I was reading the thread and I was going to wait till I got to the end of the post and second that suggestion.
Nice to see you ended up going with the D4SV2.
I have a green first version. I really love it. A friend flashed it with what was the latest version of Androol about a year and a half or so. Maybe two years. Hard to remember. I took the optic out and put a piece of defuser from a broken LED monitor. It does nothing but give a really nice smooth floody beam. Works great around the house.
Anyway, hope you enjoy your new light. I am pretty sure you will.
Thank you all for contributing to my search.
I have had the D4VS2 now for a while. I haven’t tested the runtimes but it is everything I wanted. Almost. It’s warmer than I wanted but it’s my own fault. In order to have a little more reach I got the dedomed emitters. That in itself was not the problem. I’m glad I did that but should have started with 5000k instead of 4000k because now I’m guessing the color temp is around 2500-3000k and is pretty rosy.
Regardless this is a great light and even with the 26800 tube is still not as big as I thought it would be.
In short I love it! Thank you for a great suggestion that I would have not been able to put together on my own with my limited knowledge.
Hey, Dark Hater…glad you’re enjoying the light! Sorry I missed your last posts, just now saw them. Yeah, dedoming the 519A has a bigger effect on temp than some other emitters. I think the 5700 drops down to 4500 or less from what people have said, and you just saw the effect on the 4500. I think since the 4500 has been discontinued maybe the replacement 5000 will be a happy place for a lot of folks as long as it still has good tint. If you ever order another, Hank will put whatever switch you like into the light…so if you want an unlit black switch just ask for that. It wasn’t too long ago that he made the lighted switches standard and doesn’t list an unlit option on the pages. You might also try picking up some of the narrower spot optics…changes the look a little but will reach out a tad farther. Good light, one of my favorites.
Interesting. I wish I had ran across this information sooner. I definitely would have started with a temp of around 5700k. Even though it is warmer than I prefer I can more easily tolerate 1500k warmer rather than 1500k cooler than my preference.
My next light will probably not be absolutely perfect either though. If so we could stop buying lights. Haha
As the original poster for the 519A data copied here, I wanted to add a little more information. I originally tested two 5700k 519A emitters. They both tested about the same in duv and CCT (the data shared in joechina’s post).
Other emitters from this batch tested 300 to 400k higher CCT. I was after 5000k, so with this emitter I shaved it down to 1.2mm to get that result. I would expect that emitter to be ~4300k when dedomed (the duv changed the same as previously tested emitters). These emitters are SM573 R9080 from Clemence so they are about as tightly binned as you can get.
Just thought I would use this to remind everyone that emitters do vary significantly.
