Some tools do their jobs so well they're a little boring to write about. The E75 provides everything most of us could want in a midsize flashlight, and very little we wouldn't.
I’d be interested to know if you can change the brightness levels by replacing sense resistors on the board. Also if you are still into testing, I wonder if you could try the low mode after the high mode has already mostly exhausted the battery.
@solrize They're not sense resistors; they're just resistors. There are no active electronics in this light. Changing a resistor should change the output.
Looks like a typo caused excluded the graphs, which I've now fixed. I think they answer the other question: output depends on battery voltage in both modes.
3000 K BraTS10 and 4500 K DD MT21C lighting up the inside of a van while loading up the theater set and equipment.
The van was otherwise not lit at all on the inside. @flashlight#flashlight#theater
@flashlight for those asking why I'm not on the pictures, working with the others, I was going back and forth from the stage with equipment, because the stage and backstage are 1,10m above the floor, and van, with no elevator or stairs nearby :D
Arbitrary List of Popular Lights - Winter Solstice 2023 Edition
In honor of Winter Solstice, I've made an updated list of popular lights. Today is the day you're most likely to need a flashlight in the northern hemisphere; if you're shopping for one, I hope this will help.
I would tend to agree. It’s smaller than an 18650 light, for sure, but as far as 16340’s go it’s pretty thick. I feel the same about the SP10 Pro as a 14500 light.
Review: Sofirn SP10 Pro - a high-CRI AA/14500 light running Anduril 2
The Sofirn SP10 Pro is the only flashlight running Anduril 2 and supporting both AA and 14500 batteries. It offers high CRI and a low price. I've reviewed it here:
Hey I have that as my every day carry flashlight, it’s surprisingly powerful at the highest setting and the battery seems to last forever. I’m not a huge flashlight guy so I really can’t comment on all the technical aspects but the 2 things I said are the most important ones to me so take that as you will, I love their products.
$16 flashlights make flat runtime graphs now. I am impressed.
This is a Convoy S21E with Nichia 719A in 3000K. It's not setting any brightness records at ~850lm, but that's top-tier regulation. It's CRI is in the 90s, and it's kind of throwy too.
Today I swapped the awful and greenish factory Cree XP-L HD V6 6500K of a Nitecore MT21C for a Nichia 519A 4500K (MCPCB swap). I may try to install a floodier TIR optic. Click the fedi logo for more! #Flashlight@flashlight
Then, since I purchased the LED already soldered on a MCPCB, I desoldered the stock one, ground a bit the new one to fit, soldered the wires back on the new MCPCB and voilà. Changed the thermal paste too.
Arbitrary List of Popular Lights - Fall Equinox 2023 Edition
In honor of Fall Equinox, I've made an updated list of popular lights. Days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer - it might be time for a new flashlight.
Today, i got my third light from this list. All solid recommendations by Zak. Wowtac a2s, a right angle 18650, a few years ago. Great for jobs in dark corners of the house or car, but not my favourite for outdoor walks. FC11 was next, great for dog walks. Now I added a TS10, much lower moonlight than the FC11, good around house/hotel at night. Bright but small so good backup if the FC11 ever dies while I’m out. And of course anduril to play with. Big thanks to Zak.
Here's Nitecore's new bespoke round LED as found in the MH12 Pro. It looks a lot like a Yinding L50 20W, but not identical so my guess is Nitecore requested changes to something Yinding was working on.
Comparing the 3D beam shapes (and not a side projection on a wall) of the 1 LED + SMO Nitecore MT21C vs the 3 LED + TIR optics of Wurkkos TS10s (4000 K and 3000 K). Using soapy water in a white tub. @flashlight#flashlight
Not wrong, but “a few millimeters” means a lot more for a 14500 light than for an 18650/21700 light. While many may think the ~8mm difference in length between the D4V2 and D4K isn’t much, it’s enough for some folks (myself included) to sacrifice the runtime.
More importantly, it’s harder to accommodate a wider range of lengths without getting some rattle on shorter cells. Not an insurmountable problem, but definitely a consideration. The range required to take protected/USB-charging cells is a bit wider; >10% of the cell length, and a much larger percentage of the travel length of the spring. Dual-spring helps by splitting that across two springs, but has limits.
I don’t think I’ve seen a protected 14500 over 52mm, unlike some of those 21700 abominations (78mm for the Acebeam 21700+powerbank).
2mm seems worth it to me for broad compatibility in 14500 size lights, and some popular 14500 lights like the M150 are already pretty omnivorous with batteries. The m150 accepts 52mm protected cells, protected 14430s, and flat-top 14500s.
Hank Wang: You can always request us to modify the driver a bit (remove the spring), so that D2 can work with the unprotected, button top 14500 battery only
Thanks. Someday technology may advance enough to make flashlights that can use both flat and button tops. Good to know that for now we at least have a choice. :)
For clarity, there’s no risk of the light (battery) exploding itself. The current shuts off immediately when shorted.
The scenario where there could be risk is if a metal shaving arcs the pad and there is a combustible gas or liquid in the immediate vicinity of the light. I would be way more worried about sparks from other sources (metal on metal, static electricity) in that environment than I would be about this flashlight.
Not really an issue for the vast majority of users but worth the disclaimer and the one star hit IMHO.
Emisar DW4 - a headlamp is required, and I love the light the dedomed 5700K 519As produce (it's about 4200K and a little rosy)
Zebralight SC64c LE - this remains my favorite EDC light, though I suspect its days are numbered by the impending release of the SC65c HI
Acebeam L16 - need something throwy
Skilhunt M150 - I almost didn't bring this because I can't charge 14500s in my Xtar PB2S, but it has magnetic charging and I have some USB-C 14500s from Acebeam. I've actually used this the most.
In short, it's a 2x21700 flooder with great performance, active cooling and an unusual rectangular shape. Sadly, there are also a few small caveats that you have to keep in mind before purchasing.
@Grzybek Thanks for the update. I just read it and I must admit that I'm intrigued, especially as my use case would be belt carry using the holster. Appreciate the review.
This is not my entire collection of flashlights, just the ones that made the short list for my upcoming trip to Colorado and Arizona, which will involve some time outdoors.
Thanks. Stepdowns on a flashlight are somewhat understandable but on a bike light they are silly. Sounds like the light is made to impress people when you first turn it on. I think a car headlamp is usually around 500 lumens so I wouldn't want a bike light to be any brighter than that. A motorcycle headlamp is probably dimmer than a car's, so the Wuben's 365lm sustained medium output sounds reasonable. I'd want the CCT to be a lot lower though, like a tungsten bulb. I've never liked blue-cast LED headlamps on cars.
I'd be interested to know if there are bike lights you particularly recommend. This one doesn't seem to be it ;).
It would be great if Sofirn / Wurkkos would make a torch with the HS10 right angle body, 16340 battery, triple emitters, aux LEDs, Anduril 2, and a deep-carry pocket clip.
