Sunwayman V10A XP-G vs XML

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
21

Just received a V10a.

Sweet little light! It has the XP-G, with a very nice beam… much nicer than the XM-L2 version

Im even impressed with the XP-G tint, imo much nicer than the XM-L2

The lowest mode is 0.01 lumens, which Im very happy about… I love firefly options. The maximum on an alkaline, on my meter, is just 68 lumens, but the hotspot is very tight so it actually reaches out quite nicely… I have no 14500, so cant report the LiIon output…

wish me luck, the V10a is destined for an e21a swap, as a gift to a good friend
will post beam pics after the mod, if all goes well

oh, btw, the lego works

a quick test gave 327 lumens from the V10a head and 445 lumens from the XM-L2 head… w fresh 16340. (these are momentary maximum output, not sustained, and the XM-L2 is in a V10r Ti, not a V10a, so I suspect there are also driver parts that differ, not just the LED)

and fwiw, the xml2 head of the V10r Ti, on the AA body makes a max of 75 lumens using an alkaline battery. A very small difference, at that voltage, from the 68 lumens produced by the V10a head.

22

Thanks for the info, jon_slider :+1:

I still have my V10A and V20A lights from years ago. I plan to mod them with nice SW45K R9080 Nichia 219Bs, so your experience is helpful to have :slight_smile:

23

The 219b will be a very good match for the XP-G reflector,

the XM-L reflector is not as focused at the hotspot, and the spill has a dark shadow
but it is still better to have High CRI than Low CRI… The stock beam on the XM-L reflector is not good either… I blame it on the extra large hole at the base of the reflector

I feel like I got really lucky with the beam from this XP-G, I almost dont want to change it… but then, my High CRI priority takes over

if you have the XM-L version, you will want to use a different MCPCB, I hope it matches the thickness of the original, so the base of the LED coming in, ends up at the same height as the LED being removed.

hope that makes sense

that issue came up for me when I did an E21a mod to an XM-L equipped Sunwayman

I much prefer the lights that come with the XP-G, no need to change mcpcb, and a much nicer beam from that reflector

good luck with your mod, share what you learn
let us know your thoughts on the beam quality before and after the LED swap, and which model you have… xml or xpg?

lmk if you need a 12mm x 1.5mm xp compatible mcpcb, to mount your sw45k, if your light is originally xml, I have a few spares

…
ps, thanks for mentioning your V20a, it made me click the buy it now on a V20c… I had not realized they are infinite rotary, for some reason I held back thinking it was one of the 4 mode magnetic rotaries, like the M10r…

I must admit I like the control ring on your V20a better than on the V20c… picky me… lol
first world problems

click pic for a v20c review

meanwhile, a preview of the 3500k e21a mod coming for the stock V10a xpg

24

I’m glad to say that both of my mod candidates are the XPG version, so I can just use the stock MCPCBs. My LEDs have just arrived, too, although it’ll be a long while before I have time to do the actual mod.

Thank you for the MCPCB offer, though - I do appreciate that :+1:

25

yay!

a friend just ordered me another V10a
from a source we have not worked with before

fingers crossed

26

WoW!

Sent you an email!

27

After finding a V10a control ring difficult to open with the Oveready Bezel Tools, I tried a different strategy:

I put the light in the sun to warm up:

went out to eat Carne Adovada:

and when I got home, the light opened easily:

wooohoo! One step closer to a High CRI Rotary.

28

Now you done it, you have opened Pandora’s Box. :open_mouth:
Glad you got it open jon_slider. :+1:

29

How are you liking the V10a jon_slider? :wink:

And…to me it seems that it wasn’t the heat but the meat that made the flashlight open :wink: Popeye style :sunglasses:

Hope you are well :+1:

30

> it wasn’t the heat but the meat

lol, yes :slight_smile:
spinach is overrated
I prefer Pork! lol

> How are you liking the V10a

I really like the control ring design and feel, very smooth. Also a very nice tight beam from the xpg, should be a great reflector for a 219b or e21a mod.

And I ordered some sapphire lenses, more info here:

31

I opened a Sunwayman V10a

and installed a E21a 4500k.
I then did some comparisons to a 219b 4500k sw45k

first impressions
the E21a 4500k is greener than the sw45k

no surprise there, the difference in duv predicted that (thanks to maukka for the charts)

The e21a seems to make colors pop more than the sw45k

even though the sw45k makes reds redder, and on the e21a reds are more orange

the e21a makes whites whiter, the sw45k makes them pinker

I need to spend some quality time with the light during the day tomorrow, to get a better idea of the tint of the E21a compared and contrasted to the sw45k, during daylight brain balance.

work in progress on the beam from the E21a, there is a ring in the outer spill, and a donut hole within 3” of target… need to lift the mcpcb by 0.5mm

and the centering ring needs to be clearanced over the solder joints on the mcpcb
The E21a board is smaller, which creates the contact of the solder joints to the centering ring.

An easier mod would be an sw45k reflow to the stock board, but I am curious to experience the E21a 4500k.

centering the LED is also a work in progress, again because the e21a mcpcb is smaller and not auto centering…

Im expecting some thermal epoxy, to experiment with, for centering and height control of the e21a mcpcb

Its been a long evening peering through a jewelers visor… time for some quality time online… LOL

I want to thank my mentors, coaches, and other supportive members of this community. I could not have gotten this far without you.

===

a few comparisons
fwiw, though the tint of the E21a 4500k seems a bit yellow/green, in actual use the color rendering is excellent. imo, People who find the sw45k too pink, will like the E21a 4500k.

32

That Maratac with sw45k is gorgeaus :heart_eyes:
The V10a, despite the “greenish”/”yellowish” look, seems to be nice, when not aiming at a white wall !

Hope you enjoy it :+1:

33

> That Maratac with sw45k is gorgeous

thanks!
that sw45k CuTool is my most used aaa light

tint is always relative
the sw45k will make anything look “greener”
but that is because the sw45k is “too” pink (farther below bbl)

in actual use during daylight brain white:
shining the sw45k at the palm of my hand, it is obviously oversaturated in red/pink
the e21a 4500k makes my hand look more “natural” color (closer to daylight tint)

the E21 4500k is very good at separating colors, and whites are “whiter” (closer to the bbl)…
here is a daylight comparison

duv reference points
Optisolis 6500k +0.0032
Daylight 5600k +0.0033
Incandescent 3000k duv 0.00
e21a 4500k –0.0038
sw45k –0.0055

daylight Tint is considerably greener than the two nichias, which makes the nichias “look” pink, during daylight brain balance.

In actual use, Im enjoying the e21a 4500k very much. It is definitely “whiter” (duv closer to 0.00) than the sw45k

{pangs of guilt for being disloyal to sw45k… lol}

34

Im just nit picking here but to me the two pics above, looks like the reds are darker with the E21a if focus on the right side of each pic. Maybe the sw45k is brighter in the pic and being white washed. Im no expert here, just from what it looks like to me. The yellows seem darker with the E21a and the blues also. Kind of depends on where you compare points in the pics.
.

.
If you look at the left side of both the pics, It looks like the darker colors shift to sw45k. Is this effect just a spill hotspot centering thing.
Curious as why they both look the same if you pic the right side of the pic for E21a and the left side of the pic for the sw45k.
Either one looks so close to me, It be hard for me to pic which one is what unless I did a side by side comparison like in your pic.
I do see that the E21a makes whites whiter but it appears mostly just in the center, wondering if that has to do with the smaller die of the E21a giving a more intense Hotspot.
Your pics are very helpful for comparisons, just trying to figure out what I see exactly.
They both look like excellent Led choices.

35

yes, the pics are a very inexact science
the sw45k has a larger hotspot, and it got that nice yellow part
the e21a has a smaller hotspot, and yes it does seem to wash out or overexpose, and missed the yellow sample

very hard to see much difference between the two red/white areas

bottom line, so far to me
the E21a is less extreme pink than the sw45k
and the E21a makes reds a bit less dark, and whites “noticeably” whiter (to a tint snob)

I had a similar feel that the E21a in 3500k has better color separation, than the 219b 3500k

I definitely like the E21a “better” than the N219b, but were making some very fine distinctions (that I happen to enjoy)

in actual use, I notice things that are hard to capture exactly, with my iPhone
Im glad to hear you find the pics somewhat informative… I have a lot of fun comparing LEDs

and Im growing to respect the ones that are not necessarily as over pink as the very unique sw45k

very grateful to you for holding my hand through the learning process to mod my own LEDs… I get a big thrill out of it… thanks for your help and encouragement :slight_smile:

36

That makes sense then. I guess you would have to have two identical setups to be able to see the exact difference.
The pics do help to see what one would expect to see if they used the led before even buying it. That’s a big help when led tint shopping.
These two appear to be so close each other, either one would be a excellent choice. Thanks for the comparison’s.
.
I do appreciate your gratitude. I feel that I only pushed you into trying. You already had a good knowledge of what you needed and how to do it.
It was just a matter of you jumping in with both feet and doing it. A few failures along the way is normal and you learned from it becoming a even better modder.
It’s a great feeling owning a light you have modded yourself making it the way you want it. I see the joy it has brought you and I’m just happy to have helped.
I feel that sharing and a eagerness to help among members is what seperates this forum from all the others. I’m grateful to be a small part of BLF.
.
Keep the pics coming jon_slider, they are a big help in visualizing what one would expect to see with a particular led.

37

I think you need to diffuse each if you want to do a fair comparison otherwise like you say one part of the beam is a different color . Diffuse both and see what the differences are . that takes out the coronas , hotspots /tint shifting, artifacts etc . Even beamshots at a different distance will change what you see .

38

it is very difficult to explain tint, even in pictures
it helps if the picture includes a light you have, so you can see what a light you may not have, looks like compared to the one you know…

Ive come to a new realization… that the tint I see, changes based on what Im comparing it to…

watch this LH351d change from pink to green

39

I can see that some of the pics have a different shade than others. Looking at the paper at the back of the flashlights and the wood.
Some seem white comparred to the others. So whats happening that causes this. Is the camera adjusting for what it thinks it needs to be for a good pic?
How do have a actual what you see pic or is it impossible. Maybe lining 10 flashlights up to compare would be more acurate but I do see how a pic can be persuaded towards a certain tint.
.
That’s the main reason I don’t post up many beam shot pics. Because I can never seem to nail exactly what I see.
I have learned from you, that what you see does depend on what light your eyes have adjusted to at that time.
.
However your pics do relate to what I do see sometimes and that really helps with led choices.

40

auto white balance

in the thread I created to discuss this, I have invited people with more sophisticated cameras to come up with their own example photos