would a gasoline de-domed emitter work well for this application?
Yep that’s actually why I bought it. I had store credit from a partial refund of another light and I remembered your thread. I figured the L2 at 4amps would rock and it does. I can’t say for sure how many amps but it’s got to be more than 3. I keep stepping outside to shine it on a bunch of trees a few hundred meters away and comparing it with other lights I have. I have three that will beat it but they are all in a different class. The moon is incredibly bright tonight so that makes it hard to tell if you don’t have another light to compare it with. Twice tonight I spotted deer with it and it lit them up really nice.
I’m not going to mess with this one, I’m afraid I will jinx it. I have de-domed a few light and only messed one of them up. But I honestly like it the way it is. I like the “biggness” of the light. I think that if I did dedome I might be able to get results similar to the ZY-T08 but well I already have that. I’ve got some L2’s on the way so I will probably de-dome a couple of them I think one is going in the ZY if I can get to it.
Thanks 18sixfifty for the very valuable information and Flomotion for the clarification. It sounds exactly like what I need!
Is this the one: http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-c12-1-cree-xm-l2-5-modes-led-flashlight-1-18650-battery#review-form
How do you think it compares to the C8 with the same LED (http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-c8-cree-xm-l2-5-mode-led-flashlight-torch-1x18650)? I read on another thread that the C8 was better than the C12 when tested with the XM-L U3 LED so I wonder if it means anything for the XM-L2 version?
eran where are you based? I’m guessing soutg Africa if your out on safari but I dont know for sure.
Anyway, there are more than a few members who would probably be able to build you a suitable light, maybe not for $50 US to meet your requirements, and I’m guessing you’d need cells too.
I’m thinking of a convoy l2 built to run one cell, sinkpad, hi cri xp-g2 or at least a 3d tint. You could run it on one 18650 or 26650 depending on what you want to spend, at 3a it would be very throwy, still give a good run time and in shorty mode is not overly heavy, it does have a huge (60mm reflector, but thats how you get throw) head but I do find it easy to carry about.
The host is $42, say $4 for a driver and $6 - $8 for emitter and sinkpad, you’d then need cells and a charger say $20 to get good cells and a cheap charger. I understand this is well over your budget, but it would produce something in the region of what you want in throw and portability. I can also look at how hard it’d be to drop an xp-g2 in a zy-t08 for a slightly cheaper option.
I think I’ll start with the C12 and if it doesn’t meet me needs I’ll try the small sun, both of them together should fit within my budget so I think I should be OK.
Thank you guys for all your help and recommendations, I’ve learned a lot.
You’re welcome and have fun. The C12 is a great light.
I do that sometimes... This one is done with a light I made but any good Nichia 219 light will about do it. Get one of OL's mods... 
about anything he makes will get it done. This was shot with a zoom lens at about 20 feet... We don't have any elephants... can't find any that are bigger than our normal cattle here in Texas! Dan.
Edit... sorry... forgot to size the image!!
Man, I really want to move to Texas... I'm a southerner at heart - love hot sauce, hotter the better, love blue grass, and love the open spaces... This NY suburb life is getting me down..... These thrower's I've built just don't cut it shooting down the street, 5 houses down...
I dunno eran, but the C8 builds I've done do 45-50 kcd and sound about perfect. Basically you double those numbers de-domed and you get a nice neutral tint out of it which guys into photography say is much preferred. Now with XM-L2 SinkPAD's, you need low resistance batteries and even so, you'll get max output only for 10-15 mins, but sounds like that's all you'll need, and carrying an extra battery or 2 really isn't so bad, if needed, they are pretty easy to pack.
So, with mods you will have a C8 sized light with like 100 kcd capability in a nice neutral tint and weaker spill, short runtime for full brightness (it will last long but reducing brightness the longer the battery is drained) - sounds about perfect for your needs if I understand it, Just say'n.
A camera does not care that much about the color temperature. You can adjust the white balance for that. When taking pictures in RAW (file format with more info, simple explanation), you can even adjust the white balance after taking a picture. The camera (and eyes) cares about CRI. How well the colors are rendered in comparison to each others. This is also something many people on this forum cares about. Some are more willing than others to sacrifice brightness for better CRI, because it is visible to the eyes.
When looking at XM-L2.
CW are typically 65CRI
NW are typically 75CRI (4000K 80 CRI does exist though in T4 BIN , I want that badly btw!)
WW are typically 80CRI if not slightly better (some “special” lower BIN versions can be 85 and 90CRI)
De-doming a CW would as far as I know not improve CRI. It only makes the color temperature less cool.
When it comes to XP-G2, then a R5 3C (NW) does not have better CRI than a CW R5… Most CW and NW XP-G2s are usually 70-CRI. The WW XP-G2s sold are typically 80CRI. But they can range from 70-90 depending on the emitter and color temperature.
(someone correct me if I should be wrong in something here)
A C12 is probably a nice flashlight for the purpose. A higher CRI emitter would make colors slightly better though.
XM-L2 T6 3C (typically 75-CRI) would be my minimum choice.
So the neutral effect of a de-dome is not the same neutral effect of 1A to 3C? that's interesting - I never heard that before. Even OSTS tauted their neutral tinted throwers as a plus, it seems more like a negative from what you are saying - it's the apperance of a better color tint with no merit?
Define compact and lightweight, also how much light do you want down the range.
For photography? I would say something that shines like hell otherwise you’re screwed especially with 400mm which probably has high f-number. Unless you want to shoot 12800 ISO 
There is many lights, some are bigger some smaller, some have better light output in power some have better tint.
I doubt triple Nichia will throw much will build it soon. But you could try some huge reflector with single hard driven Nichia. Avoid anything with CRI below 85, Cree usually washes colors out no matter the tint, maybe the warm ones are better but neutrals suck almost as much as the cool tints.
Good throw and spill = big reflector /= compact.
I would consider it positive. I would prefer 5000K over 6500K. And also tighter hot-spot and more throw which is the main point of de-doming.
My technical knowledge of how emitters, phosphor, and all that stuff work are very limited/close to none.
But as far as I know, the little plastic dome does not remove CRI. So by taking it away you are not improving the ability to render colors better.
An emitters ability to renders color lies in the phosphor (and maybe more?).
If making a color warmer would improve the color rendering most would just add some warm plastic film over the lenses. No need for warm emitters. But its not that easy. Low-CRI light are low CRI light even if you warm it up by adding a filter, or make it less cool be removing a dome.
If de-doming added CRI, all tint and CRI snobs would already be all over it. De-domed Nichia 219. 92-CRI before, 95-CRI+ after… I doubt it…
Some versions of WW XP-G2 3700K can be as low as 70-CRI. Same as CRI as a CW 6500K XP-G2.
My point is. An emitter built for higher CRI, have higher CRI. If its not build for high-CRI, I dont see how removing a plastic dome would add CRI.
I would guess its more likely that de-doming will damage the phosphor and lower the CRI.
Again, my technical knowledge is limited… Im sure there are several people on this forum who are into this stuff, so would be nice to hear from them regarding CRI and de-doming.