Zoomie, continuing from the TC20 thread, you indicated you’re after a beam profile that doesn’t have a hot spot, because a bright hot spot can “wash out” the details in the center of the subject.
In addition to the Jaxman I wanted to let you know about the “diffuser” type TIR optics. These are found on many of the angle lights (or head lamps)
here’s a photo of some popular ones that were in a comparison for a review of the Armytek Wizard Pro v3
.
……………………………………………….Olight H2R……….Armytek Wizard Pro v3…….Skilhunt H03
.
The angle lights can be used as a flashlight not only a headlight, I actually use an angle light myself on a daily basis and pretty much have it with me at all times, It’s the light I use the most and I’ve very rarely ever used it as a head light (maybe once)
For me a great feature is I clip it on the front of my pants/belt or jacket for hands free use. I do that a lot. With the diffuser type optic the hotspot is pretty much eliminated. They use these on the head lights for close up use and the same even beam profile you’re after.
.
Here’s some beamshots also from the wizard Pro review:
.
Not sure if there are any straight flashlights with the diffuser type lens but maybe someone else knows? However a diffuser type wide angle optic can be purchased readily to fit tube lights such as Convoy S2+ etc. LED-lens-for-CREE-XML-XML2-LED-60degree
.
For the TIR optics in general I think some are designed for throw and can have somewhat of a hotspot. Others are designed for flood and have no visible hot spot, I’m not a TIR expert though and hopefully someone who knows more will chime in.
My Jaxman Triple Nichia E2L has no hot spot at all, and it’s not even the frosted version, the entire beam is uniform and I cannot see any separate sections such as hot spot/corona/spill it’s just the same all the way through, so I can only imagine what the the frosted version would be like being even more smooth and diffused.
.