"WALK LIGHT": Convoy M21B, E, and F w/ GT-FC40 4500k: High CRI 300 m throwers w/ Nichia-like tint = 3 home runs but has tint lottery. ALERT: Now OUTSHINED by both Firefly E04 and X1L w/ beautiful FFL505 & 707 Rosy LED

Took 12 days but both lights are here. Busy time so not much I could do except taking a couple pictures. Both are beautiful with exceptional construction, fit, finish, etc… Should be fun and very interesting.

If you are interested in the Firefly X1L Elite, BLF’er @Sirstinky has an excellent review here. In fact I bought it because of his 4.5 star rating. The E04 Surge is just released so not much info.

Imgur

2 Thanks

4 new lights from my favorite brands all made here in time for some holidays fun. I chose them because of my interest in the LEDs, so all should have beautiful beam.

The Firefly E04 is the one that got my attention. “Someone” from Firefly leaked its existence to me a while ago and am finally glad to have it here. It’s a VERY beautiful light with exceptional fit, finish, and attention to details. More importantly it has a laundry list of features that should please all hobbyists:

  • Lume1 Buck + FET Driver, Constant Current Regulated (up to 95% efficiency)
  • Green reflection AR lens
  • High mid-level thrower with top-notch tint - unique measurement numbers coming
  • Be-Cu Silver-Plated Springs

Imgur

4 Thanks

I don’t think E04 has been reviewed by a pro yet, so these might just be first measurements from third party available. Please keep in mind I use amateur-grade equipments, including the enigmatic Opple Lightmaster 4 lol. But with LM3 and Texas Ace Lumen Tube, I should be close enough. Battery used was Molicel P45B and measurements were done in between multiple rounds of food on Christmas days, definitely subjected to change.

Output: 3200 lm Turbo (claimed 3200)
Ra=97 R9=92 (claimed CRI 95)
CCT 4200k (claimed 3500-4000k)
Duv= minus 0.0090 @ Turbo
Throw 500m (claimed 480m)

I bold face the specs that make E04 such a unicorn, IMvHO. Up until now, for me Convoy M21E w/ GT-FC40 4500k is unmatched and comes closest to the definition of a “tint-snob pocket mid-thrower” with 300 m throw and great tint. E04 has an equally beautiful beam (if anything makes GT-FC40 look a little green) and goes to town with throw, output, and Duv. It gets my vote for 2024 light of the year.

Imgur

3 Thanks

All the numbers mean nothing until I have a chance to compare with real life use, so tonight I took my treasured M21E with GT-FC40 4500k on my walk, versus the new Firefly E04 Surge with FFL505A 4200k Rosy Tint.

I didn’t expect the GT-FC40 4500k so soundly “bettered” in so many aspects: outshined, outhrown, and subjectively, "out-tinted."Don’t get me wrong, M21E GT-FC40 still has a very beautiful tint, and maybe I should emphasize that Firefly FFL is different, not necessarily better. GT-FC40 is more creamy yellow, FFL505 is more rosy. Just like the Firefly E07X with FFL351A Rosy Tint, FFL505 makes red bougainvilla pop like no other LED in my collection

For the tint snobs among us, the tint-lottery issue of GT-FC40 is no longer a problem. I’d say don’t bother, the FFL505 is a no brainer replacement and a must-try. The version I have is “3500k-4000k CRI 95 (Rosy)”, which measures 4200k w/ both of my Opple LM3’s. I can’t vouch for the other versions of FFL505.

4 Thanks

Tale of the tape of these 2 fantastic lights. For me, these are the only two lights that meet the criteria of a pocketable walk light with great tint. Decent output and throw are what separating them from my quad Nichia lights such as S21D, M21H, and Emisar D4V2.

This is also the first time I see a LED with Duv in the minus 0.0090 range that is not a Nichia. Great job Firefly. Very distinct and beautiful color rendition tha make the hobby so much more fun.

Convoy M21E w/ GT-FC40 4500k
CCT 4395k Ra 98.2
Duv Turbo = –0.0030
Output: 2140 lm Turbo
Throw: 324 m

2 Thanks

Fireflylite latest releaase, the X04 Surge , has a “new” feature in the tail cap. It now has two parts/chambers, with the captive clip between those two parts. And the magnet is inside the top of the 2 chambers. The result is that magnet is easily removeable, and more importantly, position of tail clip doesn’t move when you remove tail cap. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense; I’ll take it apart and post pics later.

Some comments on the host of these Fireflies after more use.

  1. I really like the flared head design. It makes holding the short light easier for me. And functionally I think it’s better for heat management. Any little thing helps in these little lights.
  2. Button is simply, the very best in the business. Great feel and great travel. Love my Convoys of course but I’ve suffered throughenough horrible Convoy side buttons (to me) that this is such a refreshing change.
  3. Fit and finish also among best in the business. The blue color is very pretty in person. I’d highly recommend it.
  4. The captive clip is best among all the lights I have.

More costly but what you get is great attention to details everywhere I look, not just cosmetically but functionally as well, such as the Lume driver.

Imgur

2 Thanks

I find my Convoy T3 Ti Cu 519a 3000k to be an excellent walking light with good tint. It came with glass that has no AR coating and I can’t wait to receive green AR coated glass for it. It still much thinner than S2+ and very portable. I like it’s tint very much with mo AR coating already. 5A driver and op reflector makes it just about perfect for me.

3 Thanks

Sure - strictly personal preference and “use-case,” no right or wrong! As much as I talk about low power Nichia 219b lights, I actually have 4 groups of totally different lights:

  1. “Tint snob” lights: low power floody lights with Nichias like M21H, Emisar D4V2, and now, the Firefly 351A Rosy.
  2. Walk lights: medium lumen medium throw like M21E w/ GT-FC40, and now, the Fireflies E04 and X1L game changers.
  3. Super Thrower: Wurkkos TS30S as an example
  4. “Monster Output” 15000 lumen Lights: Wurkkos TS32, Haikelite, JKK, Nightwatch

The only lights I take on my walk are #2 and #3. One and four are purely for fun: off-the-chart brightness that lights up the block, and endless white-wall tint comparison. My other hobby is photography where I shoot travel pictures in RAW and spend hours adjusting temperature and tint.

3 Thanks

Sure, for everyone’s their own. My preference is a little different, no 1 and 4 for me. But I care about light design. Love Ti flashlights which are least practical but look great. So probably two groups for me:

  1. flood/general use where I try to find best looking lights with best emitters and perfect mix of flood/throw/tint/efficiency for light to be most useful. Not an easy task :slight_smile:

  2. throwers, again the most efficient ones I can find.

3 Thanks

I know I’m in the middle of talking about the E04, but… 2 days ago I started to measure and “real life” test the X1L FFL707-5000k vs Convoy M21E with GT-FC40 5000k, its closest competitor for tint and throw that I have. Yesterday I ordered a second X1L this time with FFL707-4000k. It’s on sale for a very nice 30% off and I don’t want to miss out.

X1L with the Gaggione LLC59NF TIR optic has fantastic beam shape: throwy (~500m, about same as E04 Surge) with one of the largest hotspot I’ve experienced in a small light. Personally, I dislike very much throwy light with tiny hotspot like Sofirn IF22a with SFT40 because of the narrow field of vision, and X1L beam is a revelation. X1L also has the most beautiful tint (Turbo Duv a cool -0.0095) that I’ve experienced for a 5400k CCT light. And has among highest sustained output after 45 minute walk at Turbo-1 level: 1350 lumen, and relatively cool running. It seems to be just easily cruising.

IMvHO, what Firefly people are doing with both host and LED is borderline revolutionary. GT-FC40 was for me also somewhat of a game changer for highish output with great tint LED, but NOT nearly to the level of these guys.

2 Thanks

Just, yep. I was going to mention the 707 might be my favorite. Been kinda busy but they also made a very rare 6500k with high CRI and negative duv. In short FFL has beat everything for me lately. Good hosts, great tints.

JL Hawaii also did a FFL tint mix that was exceptional tint. Fireflies did a tint mix also that is just as rosy as you could want.

2 Thanks

Don’t get me wrong I am not selling my treasured Convoy M21E w/ GT-FC40 5000k, but for parameters that are important to me, it gets out-shined, out-thrown, and “out-tinted” by Firefly X1L FFL 707A 5000k). And there is just no comparison whatsoever when it comes to build quality of the host, starting with the horrible Convoy’s side button. (Still love my Convoys though, can’t beat the price and LED variety).

The big question is… how does Firefly X1L with FFL-707compare with the brand new E04 Surge with FFL-505? Beam shape: X1L has unusually large hotspot, 4x the area of IF22a for example, which results in great illumination for safety (coyotes, “some” people, etc.). E04 Surge equally throwy around 500m and equally great distant illumination, with better spill for close view.

X1L has the highest sustained output after 45 minutes at Turbo-1. Don’t know whether this is due to the great Lume driver, but at 1350 lm no other light in my small colletion comes close (most end up around 700-1000 lm). It also runs cool, like it’s just easily cruising at T-1 level. E04 Surge has the now famous Firefly rosy tint, makes trees and plants more 3D, more pleasant, more beautiful to look at, especially the red. Surge also has smaller-size advantage. Conclusion: not better, just DIFFERENT.

Imgur

FC40 still looking the most neutral-tinted here. I have dedomed 519As of various CCTs and none of them appeal to me because of excessive rosiness, and that’s only at around -0.004 duv. SFT40 3000K really made me appreciate a good neutral tint.

BTW the X1L w/ FFL707 5000k I have is exactly same as the one reviewed on 1lumen and given 4 1/2 stars by BLF’er Sirstinky. Some of the reasons for the high rating I very much agree and have mentioned: high output, high CRI & beautiful tint, Lume1 driver, high quality, premium materials, etc. The full review is here if you like to see the extremely well done runtime and measurements.

But back to the E04 Surge. As mentioned the rear cap of latest gen of Firefly has two “chambers” with the captive clip in between the 2 chambers. The magnet goes into the outside chamber and is now easily removeable. What’s so nice about this cap is now when you remove the rear cap, the captive clip stays in the same place and doesn’t become loose (like how I set mine at 11:00 so that it doesn’t interfere with my hand). Sorry if I don’t explain this clearly, hopefully the picture will do.

For owners of E04 Surge, rear cap feels too tight to turn for me and I just replace o-ring with something smaller. I use the one from my D4V2. Lastly I find the dark blue finish VERY beautiful IRL and highly recommend it.

Imgur

1 Thank

I would also point out don’t bother with the 3000-3200k GT fc40 from Hank. It’s a hideous yellow with clearly positive DUV. I’m considering trying the 4500k based on this thread but I’m also tired of financing Simon’s shit bins and I certainly don’t want to pay Emisar pricing after my 3000-3200k experience.

First Chinese LED with Nichia-class tint, first Chinese LED with Nichia-class tint AND highish output, and now unfortunately this tint problem.

The sad part is we don’t know whether it is just one batch, or all the batches of GT-FC40 LED that look so nauseatingly green. And primarily because it is not AMAZON we’re buying from, I am not taking any chance, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

This is another reason why I’m collecting FFL lights so quickly. IMHO presently it is the only LED with Nichia-class tint and high output on the market for hobbyists, thank goodness. Full disclosure: I ordered a second X1L with FFL-707A 4000k, to add to my 5000k. I really really like the light, and I like even more the 30% discount. :+1:

1 Thank

Well I’ve already got virtually every light available in FFL rosy bins. I’ve got every Hanklight JLHawaii puts them in and everything FFL puts them in. If I were to risk the GT fc40 the Convoy site now has them listed as 5000k, 4000k,3000k and 2000k. So which of those would be most likely to be the rosy 4500k? 5000k or 4000k ? As I mentioned , the 3000k is next level ugly mustard yellow. I’m guessing it’s the 4000k since Hank has it listed as 4000-4500k. I

1 Thank

Agreed - it would be the GT-FC40 4000k (used to be called 4000-4500k, and they measure 4400k) that has any chance. IMHO most definitely not the GT-FC 5000k (used to be called 5000-5500k, and measure 5300k). 5000k is pretty good but starting to get into the slightly harsh and sterile blue range.

Nothing is going to have the rosy look of either 219b 4500k or these FFL with Rosy designation. These LEDs have Duv in the 90-100 range, meaning -0.0090 to -0.0100.

GT-FC40 4000-4500k, the old one with good tint, comes as close as possible to 219b 4500k, but more creamy yellow than rosy. It lands in between the yellow tint of 519a and the rosy tint of 219b. Of course the last 4000k one I ordered was an unmitigated disaster, nauseatingly green-yellow.

Imgur

2 Thanks

Is there any place other than FFL official website to order their emitters?

I might finally get some of those emitters afterall.

The problem is FFL themselves have different tints. AFAIK some people have ordered LED for DIY and got the second batch below. Not sure but I think it MIGHT be safer to order from Firefly? Maybe first get in touch with them (JLHawaii or reddit?) to ask specifically for the Rosy bin. Firefly appears to be run by hobbyists and hopefully would understand what on earth we’re talking about.

4 Thanks