Well Thurday I plan to send the 7G5 back to Hank and he is going to send me another one. I showed him this thread here which I am sure he read. I guess we will know the rest of the story soon.
And I should apologize to 2100 and any others who I called out to be doubters on all of this. It's all good and any info we learn is only that.
Here are some more videos from goinggear for everyone's perusal.
This is one of the better M3X videos. You can plainly see when Marshall turns on the M3X how bad it beats the Catapult V3 even though he says in his tests that the M3X slightly beats the Catapult V3. It's more than slightly. Trust me I have both.
SLIGHTLY.....come on you can see clearly M3X stomps the Cat. He's probably saying that cause he sells both.
Hey ILF no problem at all, am sure we are all having fun here testing the stuff. It is through all these info that i'm finally going to get the M3X (Well the giftcard helps too). $22 more than a STL-V2/V6 and you get HA, slightly better threads, higher PWM (STL-V2 is ~ 200Hz i believe) and better throw and OTF, hopefully more reliable driver when switched on for longer periods, that's sounds good eh?
No way STL-V2 can put up a fight, though it still could be said as "close". It is definitely noticeable but only outdoors at > 100m targets. My copy of Crelant 7G5 is also appreciably brighter outdoors.
Indoors, the eye's irises spoils the show because it is overloaded and stops down. This is even so side by side, it's not easy. Good example, DRY triple XM-L in high and turbo mode, i have 2 cold-whites and seriously it's now very noticeable at all. But outside there is a good appreciable difference.
2100,
I'm glad you are getting a M3X. And please let us know how yours does against your 7G5. I sure want to know. I also wanted to tell you that I mentioned your username to Hank and told him what you said about my 7G5 being less driven than it should be for brightness and throw. Anyway Hank said no problem at all and I will see how this other 7G5 does against the M3X. Maybe the next one I get will do better. But thanks for all your help and I will let you know when I get it and what I think.
Brad
2100,
Are you saying that the 7G5 should beat the M3X? Or just even with it?
Thanks,
Rick
Not really sure, need to measure it. But do have a good idea because i measured the 7G5 quite a few times and it's pretty consistent.
Unfortunately now i wouldn't be able to do beamshots coz the Crelant 7G5 is swapped out with a regular budget light T6 which i think is under-performing even as a T6 coz it is getting me approx same bounce figures compared to my On The Road which only takes 1.3A at the tail. (and the Crelant 7G6 takes 1.65A fully charged good cells). When i have the budget i'll get a 16mm U2 soon which is like 12 bucks. :D
Or should i just get a T6 3C from cnqualitygoods.. hmm... hehe... Is there a use for a 5000k neutral white thrower?
It's good to get another sample, hopefully the whole batch is ok. We'll have a good sampling then.
The U2 XM-L stars at KD/DX are 12 bucks, that's a good 4 bucks more expensive than a T6. I'll presume that they are real U2s.
I bought my M3X from Shane who goes by protactical19 on ebay. But I bought from him individually. But it's been the best $115 I have spent.
The 7G5 was shipped back to Hank today. Hank ask me tosend him proof of shipment so I sent him 2 post office receipts. He said he will ship me another 7G5 ASAP. Thanks a lot Hank for your customer service. I will buy from you again. At least Hank stands behind what he sells. I will let you guys know how the other one does. I hope it beats my M3X. I really do.
I hope it doesn't beat my M3X. I would hate to have to buy another throw light. It's nice to have the best.
Thanks for replying my question on STL-V2 vs. M3X! :)
If you ask me, at this present moment in which i do not have the M3X, i think both 7G5 and M3X would be within 5% of each other. But really need to test it.
If you wan LED throw, just get the DBS aspheric with XR-E EZ900. Due to it being aspheric, actually the actual hotspot is putting out a lot of light. The 250 lumens vs nearly 1000 lumens for the XM-L is not as bad as it seem. In fact the 7G5 and DBS aspheric put up a hotspot that is only 20% bigger for the 7G5 while the DBS aspheric looks way brighter. Quite a fair bit of light goes to the corona and spill in reflector setups, and also some 25% is lost in the reflector. Aspheric lenses lose less than 10%.
That is very telling for far targets of 300-600m, now if you use a 150mm diameter objective telescope (light amplication) you probably would see the spill and corona, but with the naked eye you won't. But for 50-100m, the corona and even spill plays a part and people will say "Oh, the XM-L is so much more useful". Aspherics are extremely dedicated in application.
Where did you take such a good opinion about V60C from? I cannot find any comparision of this to other throwers. Will it beat M3X?
V60C, you can check out turbobb from CPF i think he did a good write-up and beamshots. It comes in just below the T40CS. I have the T40CS and i can relate to the 7G5. It will not beat the M3X. But there won't be a world of difference. Coz for me i have much better throwers, and remember in the real world you seriously need about comfortably over 4 times or even close to 6X more candlepower to appreciate a doubling in throw distance (on paper it is 4X). And for great distances you need to use lux @ 1m which is used by searchlights internationally as part of their specs, not those LED flashlight kinda 0.25 lux things.
That is why my 3.8m cd light can "only" push 2.2km....aided by 7x50 binoculars (there is some light amplification). But then you hear people saying that the SR90 can do nearly 1km. hehe...
At distance, atmospheric conditions greatly affect throw numbers. Smog, Vog, haze, moisture, dust, pollen, and the like all play a part in cutting throw.
The shape of the reflector thus affecting the focusing of the light really plays as big a role as the amps (and as you know if it's already driven ok, it makes a wee bit difference only). These lights are basically having the same reflector already.
Just a few more days before i receive the M3X, then i can write more about it. So far 2 folks said that the M3X is brighter visually. I am intriguied, because if you say that it is no-contest or without a doubt that a certain light is brighter, that means on the meter it would be quite a fair bit more, at least 15-20% more. It takes a lot for the eyes to register something to be confirmed/"without a doubt" brighter even at a distance and A-B side-by-side.
The Crelant 7G5 does not have a donut hole in the middle, actually the peak candlepower figures can be found in the middle. The STL-V6/V2 peak figures can be found at the edges. This is a contributing factor too, i guess.
If you want a dedicated thrower and don't mind the spill for your very specific usage, as of current moment the best is the Dereelight DBS aspheric with EZ900 1.5A 1SM or 3SM pill (ie 2 cell, you can use 2 x 18650 with extender or 2 x 18350/16340). Bestinone.net IMRs are the best cells giving you over 900mAh ea (1800mAh total "equivalent" to single 18650). So you'll have well over 1hr of runtime with the BIO IMRs. TF Flames 16340 gets you over 600mAh comfortably. I know some people avoid 2 x RCR123 or 18350 because 18650 does give you more juice, but it's not a lot more watt-hrs when you compare a TF Flames @ 2300mAh. This light gets you very near the 100k cd mark (over 90k).
Ok chidwack and ILF, raw figures are taken at the same distance of 8.2m.
Olight M3X - 703 lux on the meter
Crelant 7G5 - 734 lux for my copy
Cells are fully charged. I just measured and it's 1.29A for XTAR 2600 fully charged (actually 4.22V..hehe). I also used short probes on my UT-58E, so as not to artificually boost the readings.
That is very good performance for a T6. I changed the Crelant 7G5 out to a T6 (coz i blew my U2, remember) and it's 660 lux now.
STL-V6 - 630 lux
SWM T40CS - 680 lux
On The Road X5 - 455 lux
Balder BD-4 - umm...it has got OP.
My copy of M3X has absolutely no visible PWM on low mode. (haven't measured on the DMM though)
On the ceiling bounce, i get 75 lux for my copy of M3X. T40CS is 79 lux while 7G5 is 80 lux. This tests pure output (additional info to the tailcap current readings). So the reflector design of the M3X seems to be pretty good.