Just got mine in from Manafont, and must say I’m quite happy with it! Nice compact build, solid feel, and with perfect anodizing.
One complaint is the reflector is not perfect - it is covered with very light “water marks” all over it … not spots, but like a thin uneven film. I made sure it was not the lens (cleaned it up perfectly), so its definitely the reflector. A bit disappointed with this because I specifically requested Manafont to check that everything was perfect, and they confirmed they’d apply “extra QC” for this order.
Its a little brighter than my International Outdoors XinTD C8 V3, but not by much. I like the tint much better on the 980L though!
Overall a _very _nice purchase … but if you already have the XinTD C8 V3 then getting one of these may not be as great an improvement as you’d think.
Leads make “THE” difference.
Another thing that makes the difference in the measured current draw is to press the battery so that the spring is compressed, then the current usually increases, but that depends on the spring and current, on these direct drive one might not make any difference.
Sure did mate! I’ve done more testing of the 980l and the XinTD, and … The 980l has a slightly brighter hotspot but the XinTD puts out more light overall (from a ceiling bounce test)! If I had to choose to buy one of these flashlights now, knowing what I know, I’d get the XinTD without hesitation … It’s build quality, price and performance (U2) are fantastic.
I gave mine today to my brother for tool-use and such. He needed a light, I think I could now get something new to replace it - which will be probably hard
What’s the best battery for this beast. I bought it on this recommendation after much deliberation. I have some dodgy ultrafire batteries, but I want to get better ones. Any links?
There are reviews on BLF with more hits, but not many. I think that, a lot of times it's not so much the review or the reviewer, as it is timing. If you happen to review a torch that is on the upswing in popularity, you're going to see a lot of action. If today, I just bought a 980L for the first time and wrote a review, it might hardly get noticed . . . which has happened to several lights I've wrote about. FlashPilot's KD C8 review currently has 197,909 views so, a lot of people care about that light.
As far as Foy's 980L . . .
It's been nearly two years since I wrote this review and it still belts out the lumens and still pulls upwards of 4.70 amps. Not a single malfunction or hiccup, my 980L has been torn apart countless times, ran it up so hot it couldn't be picked up, over and over again, used and abused until it was ugly . . . so I dunked it in Greased Lightning and it now spends its days in retirement as a shelf queen. It remains one of my brightest single emitter lights.
Good to hear. Mine died some months back. Began flickering and then bit it one day. Wouldn’t brighten beyond 10 or so lumens. Can you imagine if they released an XM-L2 edition?
my 980l is still rockin…it’s my most used light still as it my belt holster light for work…thinking about doing a xml U3 as well and about to order all the parts…also doing an AR lens finally…to think this light lasted this long being driven so hard…i’ve even accidentally engaged it in my holster several times and when I took it out I couldn’t even touch it…still no damage…remarkable…
nitecrawl where are you getting the bonded copper pill?
No pill, but I put in an XML2 U2 1A dedomed on a 20mm Noctigon, glued in with Arctic Silver. Works great, but its a little green now. Doesnt really matter as I rarely use it, its just for fun. Maybe I should have put an XPG2 in it. :D
ah cool man…I think i’m gonna just do the U3 and leave the dome…it has plenty of throw for what I use it for and lights up a good area as well…hopefully the new led stands up as well as the old one
