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.
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.
That’s a little bigger but yes, should be just about what you’re asking for. I’d go with the XP-L over the XP-L HI for photography, keep a more constant beam profile with a broader hot spot. Forgot about that one, never got one as I didn’t like how it broke the lines of the original X6.
Might be worthy to note here, the XP-L and XM-L2 are the same die, different footprint. The only way there’s a gain is in the HI having no dome so it fits under triple optics and maintains the rated tint better than de-doming an XM-L2. Otherwise, they’re the same die.
FWIW, Store:Shenzhen jin lang electronics co., LTD is the actual manufacturer of the Eagle Eye series. Buying from that link at AliExpress would be buying from the manufacturer.
If you really felt the draw to the XP-L HI and the X6R format, you can get that from them HERE
You should know though, these are a 3.04A driver, not the BLF Special Edition FET+1 driver. Not sure one of those would go in this light with it’s e-switch.
Thanks!! They offer a 3A tint led that would be a great option. I was almost going to decide for it, but this driver difference made me rethink. How does the different driver would affect performance? I would buy the USB rechargeable version as an extra, but if it means less output then I should stick with BLF FET+1 or Astrolux S2 and buy an external charger anyway.
You might not need the charger if you have a USB charger light, simply swap batteries.
The 3.04A light will do around 1100 lumens, the FET+1 will do around 1400 lumens without spring bypasses, closer to 1500-1600 with bypasses.
~300 lumens up top isn’t as significant as you might think, the difference in run time might prove more crucial.
Edit: The FET+1 driver is a direct drive circuit, meaning that it pulls directly from the cell as much current as the cell/emitter combination can do. As such, while it’s intense on start-up it falls throughout the life of the cell, not maintaining brightness for long as the cell dies. It’s a constant variable. When taking pictures with bulb exposures this can mean your light is dimming over the course of the “painting”. The 3.04A driver is using regulation chips, 8 7135 chips with a 380mA value each. As such, the regulation is there for a period of time until the capability of the cell drops below the number of chips value, then it too will start to dim. So you’ll have to weigh your priorities.
Ok, you said you’re completely new to flashlights, so there’s this to consider…
The regulated driver will limit current to 3.04A, regardless of cell. This means it can use a wider range of cells and not be as dependent on the high discharge variety. It will allow 3.04A as long as the cell can give it, then start dimming. So a Panasonic BD will work well here, with 3200mAh capacity it should give 3A for a good while.
The direct driver, on the other hand, is only controlled by the forward voltage requirement of the emitter. An XP-L HI can run around 6A off this driver with a top cell, so the same 3200mAh cell will drain very quickly as it will be giving a 2C output or discharge rate as long as it can (which won’t be long, the constant variable effect will put it on a curve) But this style driver won’t make 6A on a BD cell, it likes the high discharge of a Samsung 30Q or Efest 35A which are 3000mAh and 2500mAh cells.
Effectively, for a long term project a regulated driver will have more benefits than the direct drive. Brighter longer, vs brighter initially and then dying. Say the DD hit’s a level of 10 on a scale of 1-10. And the regulated driver hits 7. There’s not as much difference to the eye (more so for the camera but you have adjustments) as you might think, and the dd will fall below that level 7 much quicker, so they sort of equalize given some run time with, quite possibly, the regulated driver giving more, longer.
Ok, the last option should not be as bright as the first ones it but will maintain a high output for a longer time, right? This should be a good thing considering one or more nights out in the field without any power input to recharge the batteries, and the eye would not see a big difference when in use. There’s no point for me a high brightness af the first minutes then dropping the brightness over the night. Did I sum up everything correctly?
You can run the Samsung 30Q with 3000mAh capacity in the S2 with FET+1, but it probably won’t do Turbo on a 3400mAh B or 3200mAh BD or 3600mAh EVVA, the high capacity cells will typically have issue with the high discharge of the FET+1 driver and the Astrolux variant of these drivers is notorious for rejecting Turbo and going back to moon, so between the possible driver issue and the high capacity cells not handling high drain well, it’s really looking like a 2 night hike out to the big woods isn’t a good thing for a direct drive light.
If you had a Solar Panel to recharge cells during the day would be helpful. I have a 3 bank 1A charger (3x1.1A actually for 3.3A total from a solar panel) from Cottonpickers chargers, but it wasn’t exactly a budget proposition.
Thanks! I prefer a constant and more durable output, definetely, so I guess the X6R would be the one to go for throw. Does it matter the tint? I think maybe 3A? 5A might be too warm.
Does Aliexpress / Gearbest and chinese alike websites have reliable vendors for batteries? High capacity would be prefereable.
Looks like a flooder, high output. But then there’s the problem of the compatibility of batteries between both lights. At the end of the day, do you think there will be much difference in photography with the XP-L neutral white (maybe 3A) and the Nichia 219B? Otherwise I’ll just stick with the X6R for a while.
I hope you don’t take offense here but I feel that:
1. You are too hung up on internal charging and carrying too many chargers/battery types. It restricts your choices of lights and there are quite a few issues with lights with internal charging not working properly, like overcharging. Like I said before, you only need to carry one charger that will do multiple chemistries and battery sizes, and is USB powered.
2. You are trying to get just one jack of all trade, master of none light that will not excel in everything you want it to do. Consider getting multiple lights that will each do one task well. And that brings me to the third point…
3. You are worried about the size and weight of the light you’re getting. For some reason, the C8 looks huge in pictures, probably because overzealous fans love to use wide angle lens to exaggerate how huge the head of the light is. But when I got it in my hand, it is quite puny. Certainly much smaller than my 24-105 or 70-200 f/2.8.
No offense at all, on the contrary, I am here to learn with all different opinions, and I’ll definetely think about it.
1. Can you recommend me a good choice for a charger and 18650 battery? Sorry, I am a completely newbie and spent all of my time looking into lights, but none time on chargers and batteries. This is more due a lack of my knowledge / avoiding mistakes buying the wrong ones beacuse I won’t have much time to research properly. Internal charging would be a convenience when in the field, car charging, but not mandatory.
2 and 3. What is the highest output C8 avaliable? If that is considerably higher than X6 I may think about it, sure. But if the difference is not too much, then maybe smaller would be more convenient. If there was a comparison between X6 and C8 outputs on the field would be easier to decide, but I have not found any of these yet, still looking.
For chargers, xtar seems well liked. You can try: https://www.xtardirect.com
They are US based so shipping will be fast. Chinese vendors may sell for less but can take weeks to arrive. There are models that will charge NiMH, and some don’t, so read the specs carefully. Some are USB powered, some require a brick wall adapter. Again, read the specs.
For 18650 cells, I would stick to brand new Panasonic/Sanyo, LG or Samsung. Most importantly, buy from reputable sources to avoid fakes. I bought from Mountain Electronics. No free shipping but you get it fast.
I have the C8 but I don’t know its specs. I’m not sure which has better numbers, C8 or X6. But I suspect they will be close, or at least not very noticeable. I’ll leave this question to the pros around here. I haven’t been into flashlights long, learning still.
