(Edit: post updated with information about the Ultrafire 3-mode after Update2)
I received today the 3-mode Sipik SK68 clone from eletrading on Ebay. The light appears to be on par with my other Sipik clones (UltraFire from Manafont and one from tomtop_w on Ebay) in terms of build quality. So far I've only tested it with Eneloops. It appears to be almost as bright as the UltraFire Sipik clone, approx. 10% less light output based on ceiling bounce.
I measured 1.11A on high with a fully charged Eneloop AA battery and 0.34A on low. Compared to the UltraFire Sipik clone, the 3-mode Sipik clone appears not to be driven as hard (the UltraFire was around 1.7A iirc on a fully charged Eneloop AA). With my lux meter I measured ~200 lux @ 1 meter (flood) on high and ~50 lux @ 1 meter on low.
Here is an image of the 3-mode Sipik clone, the Sipik clone from tomtop_w and the Ultrafire Sipik clone.
The 3-mode Sipik clone has a slightly larger lens/lens opening than the two other clones. The lens was removable from the head and I measured it to approx. 22 mm in diameter. The other two clones had about 2-3 mm smaller lens openings (the lenses of the other two lights were attached to the bezel and I didn't want to pry them loose just to measure them).
Here's a couple of pictures of the pill of the 3-mode Sipik clone.
The push/pull zoom mechanism on the 3-mode Sipik clone is much tighter that the other clones I have, i.e. it doesn't slide as easily as the other clones. Me like.
The switch is same as the other clones, with some minor differences.
When zoomed in, the 3-mode Sipik clone has the "clearest" projection of the LED, not as fuzzy as the other two.
The weather here atm is crap, so I might post some beamshots if the weather improves.
Update
The pill from the Ultrafire fits the new light. I've included a pic a bit further down of the 3-mode light with the Ultrafire pill.
Ultrafire and 3-mode pills side by side. The placement of the o-ring on the 3-mode pill is what makes the zoom "tighter", which I really like.
Because of the difference in length of the wide part of the pill, the 3-mode version can be zoomed a bit further.
Here is a picture of the Ultrafire and the 3-mode when zoomed in, notice that the 3-mode is slightly taller due to different pill which allows the 3-mode to be zoomed in further.
Here are the measurements of the Ultrafire compared to the 3-mode Sipik clone:
Flood | Zoom | Gap | |
Ultrafire | 92.26 mm | 98.29 mm | 6.00 mm |
3-mode | 92.03 mm | 99.60 mm | 7.65 mm |
Gap is the part between the head and the "fins" on the body when zoomed in
The Ultrafire when zoomed in with the original lens (mouse out) and with the lens from the 3-mode (mouse over).
The Ultrafire clone flood (mouse out) and zoomed in (mouse over)
The 3-mode Sipik clone flood (mouse out) and zoomed in (mouse over).
And finally the 3-mode Sipik clone with the Ultrafire pill, flood (mouse out) and zoomed in (mouse over)
The modes in terms of light output are: high 100%, low 25% (measured around 200 lux @ 1 meter on high and around 50 lux @ 1 meter on low). Also measured the tailcap current: 1.11A on high and 0.34A on low.
My 3-mode Sipik clone from eletrading has no text on it, while in the pictures on Ebay it has the text "Ultrafire" on it. My guess would be that the light that topicshop sells on Ebay is the same model as the one I received from eletrading. In fact, I suspect that both topicshop and eletrading might be the same seller as both registered Aug-29-06 and the text on both pages are identical (Payment, Shipping, Return policy etc.).
Update2 (12 January 2012)
Today I received another 3-mode Sipik SK68 clone from eletrading that I had ordered. However this time it had the Ultrafire brand printed on the side compared to the first light that had no text on it.
There are a few differences between the Ultrafire 3-mode Sipik SK68 clone (from now on UF 3-mode) and the no name 3-mode Sipik SK68 clone (from now on NN 3-mode).
Due to the different pills/lens opening the UF 3-mode isn't as "tight" as the NN 3-mode when zoomed in. I measured the NN 3-mode to have better throw than the UF 3-mode as it has a tighter beam when zoomed in.