I would highly recommend the Convoy C8 XML 4C tint for photography. Has a beautiful sunlight quality to it without major tint shifts and beam artefacts.
Welcome to BLF!
The Convoy C8 popped into my head too as compact thrower.
Thanks!! I have looked at them but the store website specifications seems to rate the C8 at 200m range.
Is the C8 a huge step up and difference from the more compact heads P12GT / P35 / TC12? They are all rated at 200m also.
If the difference is little, I consider the C8 big enough to choose the smaller diameter heads to fit my already full bag, and with USB charger included.
If the the difference is really noticeable, then I should really consider the best C8 possible + a Jaxman E2 or only a C8 with 4C tint…
A Convoy BD something with integrated charging function and a big reflector maybe ?
Ah yes post recycling
just took a piece of paper I have been doodling on for the Q8 tail pcb and put it on my notebook, took some pics with my phone, it gives an idea I hope.
All Convoy
S2+ S2 BD06 C8 BD01
BD06 C8 BD01
BD06 C8
As a photographer myself I really don’t recommend the Cree XM or XP class emitters for this. The big MT-G2 makes fabulous light and will have a fat hot spot much more suited to light painting. The C8 will have a small hot spot that will make light painting iffy at best.
Nichia 219B puts out a nice tint, but is usually on the weak side unless you use a small triple, which would then have a wide spot and the high CRI abilities.
Pairing up internal USB charging AND throw with a good color profile is somewhat tough, especially trying to keep it small. How do I know this? It’s because I started with flashlights as a supplemental lighting source to shoot macro images at venue’s, like ring shots at a wedding for example. I now have 160+ flashlights and still can’t say there’s one particular light that works best for photography. The closest I have probably is one I built myself.
A Convoy L6, converted to MT-G2, is a very nice light to use in a photographic sense, but it’s not small. I have a BTU Shocker with 3 of the 9V MT-G2 emitters I like to use, it makes a whopping 10,000 lumens if desired, with 7 levels to choose from, but again, it’s a large heavy bulky light.
Good luck! And welcome to the insanity…
Edit: RMM (Richard) has shown a dual MT-G2 that he is selling cheap, $105 I think for a $150 flashlight, that one is pretty small, makes a whopping about of light (in the 5000 lumens range) and would be really ideal for your set-up, not sure if it has built in charging or not. (I’ll go find his post and link to it here… brb)
Edit II: It’s the Niwalker Nova, pretty unique light, only has he one, better give it a look and act fast if it’s for you…
Edit III: Richard also is selling a 2x18650 MT-G2 light that he put together himself, should be a good choice but might be on the warm side at 4000K, you can work with it though and it’s $55, his driver as well. You should really talk to Richard… he knows a good bit about photography too. 
Astrulux S2 without a doubt. It will easily out-throw the lights listed here and it can be had for under $25. Select 3B for a beautiful tint. No USB charging, but you should get great results with a 3500mah like the LG MJ1.
Thanks, this seems a good compromise! I found BD06 and BD01 and The Miller pictures showed the difference between them to me. But I still think the C8 may be too big to fit my bag. I wonder how does the range compare to the Nitecore P12GT?
Thanks for the pics, they helped a lot! I don’t considering my question as post recycling since all other posts are just asking for a small thrower and I have far more requirements than that (maybe more than a single flashlight can handle).
Thanks a lot for the inputs! I’ll send him a PM and see what he says. Maybe the MT-G2 is more than I would need… Light painting and throw are on opposite sides like you said, that’s why I considered 2 lights instead of only one. One small nichia 219B plus a small “thrower” instead like P12GT?
This looks considerably small also than a C8? If yes, it is a serious candidate for me. I did not find the P12GT / C8 / Astrolux S2 size comparison, but I am using a hand as a reference:
P12GT still claims 320m of throw. Is it real?
The little X5 will outdo the P12GT by a long shot. It won’t throw as far as a C8, but it’s already got the FET+1 driver so it’s better than a stock C8 and considerably smaller, taking a 14500 cell (AA size, but it won’t run on a AA battery)
Ah no sorry I was post recycling, it is a post from another topic I just quoted and copy pasted here
And yeah the X5 or Astrolux counterpart is packing some serious punch
Very nice little light with big output.
Throw is virtually always diameter dependent, you just can’t expect a 20mm diameter tube light to be able to produce a beam with range to it.
Remember that throw numbers are taken at a level of about 1/4 lux, or the equivalent of a full moon, so if a light just barely makes your expectation of distance, according to the numbers, you’re not likely to be taking nice pictures with that light at that distance. Go for excess, turn it down if necessary. But shooting at 102,400 ISO probably isn’t a good idea.
Sorry about my confusion, Miller! =)
Both BLF X5 and Astrolux S2 seem like the same product (just rebranded). They look great. Why don’t they make a 18650 (with wider battery body only) version? The X6 body with X5 reflector for keeping size down… it would be nice. 14500 would be a trouble because I would have to buy a charger for it and another charger for Jaxman 18650 with Nichia… instead of having no chager at all with TC12 as I desired, I would end up with 2! And X6 looks like the same size of a C8.
Seems like the Thrunite TC12 is discarded then? I really like the small diameter / USB port / 18650 battery… but if is outperformed easily I may consider maybe a BD06 + Jaxman? The BD06 seems still a bit larger than I would mind to carry…
Astrolux S2 is the equivalent of the BLF X6 in size. Both are 18650, which I recommend.
Astrolux S3 is the equivalent of the BLF X5 in size. Both are 14500, which I do not recommend.
The X6 is smaller than the C8, 35mm to 43mm? something like that. The X6 is originally an Eagle Eye product. When Kronological did the group buy for X6/X5 Banggood sourced Manker to do the lights, and then that got rebranded to Astrolux which is the Banggood house brand. As I understand it, Manker is no longer producing lights for Banggood so the Astrolux quality may be questionable. I was on the original testing team for the Eagle Eye X6 group buy and can attest to that brands awesome anodization, the copies aren’t up to the same standard. The X6 is my favorite flashlight body, the X5 is a miniature version and I really like it as well except for it’s somewhat lesser quality. The original Eagle Eye X6 is a great light, love em. I’ve made triples and quads as well as MT-G2 and SBT-70 variants and XHP-70’s as well. Yes, the 6V emitters require the use of a pair of half cells (18350) so run times are atrocious at Turbo levels, but I still love em and have too many. lol
One charger will charge both the 14500 cell and the 18650 cell, they are usually a spring loaded negative contact, allowing for multiple sizes to be charged on the one charger case. (the LittoKala 100 is available at GearBest for $3.96 on a flash sale, single cell, USB supply)
Built in USB chargers are usually very puny and take forever to charge a high capacity cell.
Thanks! I have searched for a picture comparing all the sizes and did not find one, so I have put this together trying to keep the correct sizes:
I also found this very interesting picture:
Hard to decide. These Convoy M1 / Niteye looks like the X5 reflector ina 18650 body. Are they comparable to Astrolux S2?
Nitecore MH20 is too small for being in the same league, right?
S2 will drastically out-throw all of these lights.
While bugsy is enthusiastic, he’s not exactly correct. The C8 will have the most throw potential of the lights in those 2 pictures. The X6 is viable, yes, and it does come with a more powerful driver, but given the same driver the C8 puts the X6 in it’s place. The X6 has an advantage with a pocket clip and slightly smaller diameter head when it comes to ease of carry. The X6 measures 40.3mm at the head, the C8 measures 43.9mm at the head. The C8 has a lanyard, no pocket clip.
While the Astrolux S2 is essentially the same light as the X6, I’d buy an Eagle Eye X6 instead, it’s just a better build quality and finish. I’ve built over 30 of these. I have 10 X6’s at present, and 5 C8’s on hand. I’ve seen 103Kcd from an X6 with XP-G2 de-domed, while I’ve managed over 150Kcd from a C8 set up the same way.
C8 has more throw potential if you mod it. He says he’s not modding. Stock S2 will dramatically out-throw a stock C8.
C8 has an available clip:
Depends on where the so-called stock C8 is purchased.
Ok, so now I have to actually test a stock X6 vs a “stock” C8 for throw, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the C8 actually nudged out the more powerful X6 due to it’s larger reflector. If it loses to the X6, it won’t be by much, and that’s at 3.04A vs. over 5A, so run time would be another big factor even given similar down range output.
I can build him a C8 from a host with an FET+1 driver for the price of an S2, wont’ be any comparison.
Edit: Ultimately though, this isn’t about throw. He specified a photography friendly tint to reach out over 300 yds. That’s not really where the X6 excells, XP-L HI or no. Tint has too wide a variance throughout the beam with some ugly in it that isn’t nice to the camera. A better beam profile would be required for what has been asked.
Great! Just knowing that S2 / X6 are at least comparable the smaller size would fit better for my needs, even if the C8 is a little better. I have looked into these Eagle Eye X6 and found a USB rechargeable X6R! (warm or cold white, not neutral…)
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Eagle-Eyes-X6R-CREE-XM-L2-U2-1000LM-USB-Rechargeable-LED-Flashlight-self-defense-camping-light/1735126_32301365158.html
Does they come with the XP-L also?