Stippled Reflector Beamshots

Thanks to litho123 (Greg) we were able to take part on the now-completed Stippled Reflector Passound. Some folks already have these, but for those that don't, here are some night beamshots taken outdoors.

All photos on manual exposure, Canon Rebel XT, kit lens on wide angle, 6 seconds at F5.6. The corner of the fence is about 110 feet from the camera.

Here is an A2 to set the mood and calibrate the exposure:



SF M6 with LOLA (about 300 lumens out the front):



Custom 1D, 4xCBP1650, WA1319 (about 250 bulb lumens), glass lens, MOP reflector:



Custom 1D, 4xCBP1650, WA1319 (about 250 bulb lumens), glass lens, Light Stippled Reflector:



Custom 1D, 4xCBP1650, WA1319 (about 250 bulb lumens), glass lens,Medium Stippled Reflector:



Custom 1D, 4xCBP1650, WA1319 (about 250 bulb lumens), glass lens, Heavy Stippled Reflector:




These last two photos I increased the exposure from 6 seconds to 8 seconds to show more of the sidebeam:

SF M6 with LOLA (about 300 lumens out the front):



Custom 1D, 4xCBP1650, WA1319 (about 250 bulb lumens), glass lens, Heavy Stippled Reflector:



I took them yesterday with me while my neighbor and I went Geocaching at night (which was my first ever Geocaching experience, by the way - now I am hooked!). We were on a very nice zise park, almost pitch black, with car-size trails where you would need a light to guide you up to 100 yards at times. I also took my VB-16 as a close range light and my A2 (ECD - always with me!), but primarily I took the two lights shown above: the little gun (1D) and my big gun (SF M6!).

I first tried my trusty A2, but it was quickly put away. Way too underpowered for trail use, just good enough to point just directly ahead of you, but not to the 50-100 yards away that we had to light from time to time. The VB-16 had more trow (IMS 27mm reflector) and was the "small" light that we used to read the map and GPS (since it can be dimmed!).

I started with the MOP that I have used several times on my nightly walks in my neighborhood. On the dark trails, it gave very nice trow, but even the MOP had limited spill. For the trails it was still too much "pencil width", but still usable.

The light stippled was about the same to me and my neighbor as the MOP. The medium stippled was perhaps the best compromise between trow and a nice hotspot (for trow). Still, when we finally tried the heavy stippled, we fell in love with it! - it is the most beautiful and perfect beam either one has seen coming out of the "lowly" M*g platform - simply awesome. The hotspot was wide enough to ligth the whole wide tread, but still powerfull enough to show what's coming ahead of us. Of course this comes with the loss of trow, which to both of us it was more than an acceptable compromise. After all, we still had the SF M6 if we "really" had to see something

We also (of course) tried the SF M6. It was hands down the best light in terms of sidebeam, trow, coverage, etc.. It was simply "perfect". It was also quite a bit brighter than my 1D, so it was not a "fair" comparison, but a clear reminder why we like the SF M6 so much, even with just the LOLA

Well, that is enough rambling from me. I hope these shots are helpful. Thanks again Greg :bow:

Will

IMO the HS is the best reflector I have seen for the Mag85 and similar lights. If you must have throw, then you won't be happy with it. For me the 85 is so bright that I can get sufficient throw from just about anything and since that's the case I might as well go for the most flawless beam I have ever seen from a flashlight. Enter the HS! Smooth, creamy beam with no artifacts that I can find.

Great beam shots! In case you can't tell, I concur with your opinions.

Nice review Will and always a BIG "thanks" for doing these and for all your hard work. I concur completely with you and Ronnie's assessment of the heavy stipple. I'm using it in a FM 1D, (3x168S), 700L Mag with WA1318. Great big artifact-free beam. By far the best beam of all the stippled reflectors. You have to see it in person to really appreciate the beam.

The other day I had to replace the brakelight switch in my wife's car. The dang thing is buried way up high under the dash blocked by dozens of cables, wires and brackets. Even in daylight, you could hardly see anything up under there. I first tried a worklight with a 100W bulb in it. Worked okay but still wasn't enough light. I grabbed the 700L with the HS, propped it up under the dash and WOW! Instant sunlight and made the job a thousand times easier.

Thanks Gene for your kind words

Will

Nice review and picture shots to go with the write-up! I like the #6 and #7 stippled reflectors since this is "just right" for my uses.

—Enjoy!

Thanks. Yes, the #7 is incredibly practical, even after counting a small loss in trow

Will

Irony geocaching at night got me hooked on lights… lights got you hooked on geocaching at night. My sn name is the same on geocaching.com my favoret trail light for wide open areas is my M@G74. but in hevey woods my E2L as the 74 is way overkill.