# Review of the Lupine Tesla TL 1200 flashlight.



## AlecGold (May 11, 2010)

Last year, when I heard that Lupine was designing and testing a handheld flashlight, I was seriously interested.
I’m not paid by Lupine, I always had to pay (a lot) for their products, but time and again I found it money well spend. And if I wanted to upgrade, the resale value of these lights might not be into the regions of Tom Mayo or Rolex, but it certainly isn’t as bad as a new car. 
A long time ago I started using one of their Babylu lights. It was really something special and I used it with great pleasure. That was at a time when Surefire was making the big dog, the M6, 500 lumens, waterproof, big strong fella. But the Babylu wasn't cheesy either, 300 lumens was as much as 5 Surefire 6P’s. And it had a big advantage over the M6: it was rechargeable! Then was a time when I needed to go to a photo store to buy CR123's with a price of 8 Euro's each (ouch), so the M6 wasn't a useable option for me.

After the Babylu came an Edison and the latest was a Wilma. All these lights were totally different: halogen, arc and LED. But all of them shared the same basic design, same principle of operation and the same unbelievable build quality. I'm not sure how to put it, but I often think the build quality of the Lupine lights might be a tiny bit better than that of Surefire. But both are in such high quality that it is difficult to find flaws. And it is hard to compare them as they come from different worlds: Surefires are tactical lights and Lupines are bike lights.
Before I get sucked in a discussion about this, let me say that I've always liked Surefire a lot and I admire their ethos, since I bought my first 6P (the one with Laser Products on the back ring) they always stayed true to the principle of building sound tactical lights of the highest quality they can achieve. 

So, now a flashlight from Lupine is a bit like Surefire making a headlamp. You know it will be build magnificent but will it really work? Will it all come together and be more than the sum of the parts? Let's take a look at the parts first.

Unwrapping the box, you open a second cardboard black box. Inside it is another box, but this is a boxy kind of bag and is made of Cordura and has semi-rigid outside and foam padding inside. Packaging isn’t everything, but this kind of packaging is really nice and useful for storing and protecting your light. Inside are dividers with Velcro that you can change around. Also inside is your new light. The head, two Li-ion batteries, a charger, adapter and some manuals. There also was a note stating that the holster would be delivered (free of charge) when it came available. 

First things first, the head. It’s made from aluminium, shot peened and very thick black anodizing. This gives it a smooth/rough surface that is pretty grippy without knurling. The reflector has a bit odd pattern, it’s a hexagonal surfaced reflector that I hadn’t seen before (I know they used it before on the Tesla Headlamp). It’s a rather wide reflector: the business end is 50mm (2”) wide on the outside. The battery side of the head is 39mm wide (about 1,5”). There is a led inside, I think it is a SST-90 led, but I haven’t found anywhere the specifics. Lupine states on their site that they buy the Leds and sort them out into specific bins and use what ever they like best. 
Then there is the switch. It’s not a tactical light, it doesn’t have a tactical switch on the back, it has their propriety PVS-switch just behind the head. To make it easier to locate, they made the opposite side behind the head flat. It works. You are meant to use it with your thumb, but if it happens to get at your index finger, it still works great. Just above the rubber sealed switch, there are some leds. Blue, green, yellow and red. They serve all kinds of functions and I know most of them from the headlamps I’ve used. These LEDs are simple in function, but they can tell you a lot. On of the useful features is how much power there is in the battery. It goes like this: if you put the battery on, there is first some self testing. Then the blue led will start blinking. Each blip gives 1V in the battery. After the blue ones, the green start blinking for 0,1 Volt. So if you have a partial depleted battery you will get 6 green blips, and then 3 blue and you know you still have 6,3V out of 7,2V. It doesn’t tell everything, but it gives you a good idea how much juice is left in your battery. There is also a function to switch off these leds, (stealth mode) but I find them handy. There are more functions displayed by these leds, but I won’t repeat the whole manual. It works, surprisingly easily, but you better not be a complete digital clumsy person. I tested in on my wife who isn’t very handy with these things and most of all not very interested. She got the idea within a few minutes, played around with it and ended with the remark: “Well, it makes light. Sometimes a lot, and if it blinks again like that in my face it is going to die”. That last remark is for the strobe function it has. There is a 12,5Hz disorienting flash on it. She activated that, while looking into it. I tried it later on myself and it isn’t funny to get 1200 lumen flashes. It does disorient, but I wouldn’t use it against a guy holding a gun/knife. It tends to annoy the hell out of my co-workers . But I guess it is really, really good at getting attention when in dire need. 

The two batteries that come with the head are made in the same materials & quality on the outside. It has a PCB on the connecting part with some gold plated parts. On the outside is a short list of functions, on the bottom it says: Lupine Tesla, Made in Germany. Not much special. 
Inside are some very high quality batteries; they give 7.2V nominal and 2.5A. When hot after charging them they give around 8,3V but that is normal for Li-ions

Then there is the charger. This is something nice. On high, the batteries last about 60 minutes. (not tested them myself yet, but Lupine has been modest in the past about their performances). The Charger One is their top of the line model and can charge the battery in 1,5 hours. This means you can always have continual light as long as you have power in an outlet and don’t use it all the time on high. When you use 4 Watt of light, you get 4,5 hours of light. And believe me when I say that 4 Watt of light is too much for most close up and enough for walking and riding a bike at normal speeds. You can also charge in the car, but I’m not sure if the outlet in the car has enough power to charge that fast. 
The charger is housed in a nice aluminium house, CNC made like the flashlight parts, same shot peen treatment with the same anodizing. There is one button and a two lines display that gives a cool blue light. The charger is highly sophisticated, able to charge Li-ions, Ni-MH and Ni-Cd. You can also discharge the Ni-Cd’s. It tells you how much mAh it did charge yet and all kind of other stuff if you want that. But the most important thing is: you plug it in and it will charge your battery perfect right out of the box. 
And, this is the beauty of the Lupine systems: my (?) 10 years old battery from the Babylu works also on the Charger One. And if I buy a new battery for my Babylu, I get a new, highly sophisticated Li-ion. But it still works on the 10 years old Babylu. Now how’s that for long term compatibility? 

Then there is the holster, it didn’t came with the light yet, but they send it free of charge a week orso later. You can wear it on your belt, and the size of the belt doesn’t matter it has a kind of PALS webbing on the back, making it pretty adaptable. The holster fits the light nicely. Closing is done with a magnetic button that easily latches on and opening is only while drawing the flap up (no noisy Velcro here). The whole is made from nice genuine leather with a smooth surface. It’s a nice extra which makes the non-pocket size of the flashlight (although cargo pockets shouldn’t have any problem) a bit less of an issue. 

All in all if you hold the light, but also the charger, it all oozes quality. No corners cut here, no cheap feeling plastic rings or cheap clickies. Even the adapter that comes with the charger is apparently a higher quality, more efficient one. 
But now where it get’s important. How does it work. 
I tried it on against an G2L, and M6 HOLA and the H7 lamps of my car. 
The G2L is nowhere to be found. 

The M6 HOLA with a fresh bulb and a fresh batteries has a very different beam pattern, so you can clearly see it inside the hotspot of the Tesla. E.g. if I light up a tree with the Tesla about 100meters away, I light up the whole of the tree. The M6 lights up part of the crown. I would say about ¼ of what the Tesla lights up. And the light from the M6 is much more yellow. So if you want a pure search light, the M6 is still pretty good. But the Tesla is so much more useful for all applications. From walking a dog to searching a field. That might seem like a contradiction, but if you want to light out a single item or really long distances, the M6 is your friend. But if you want to look at what is happening at a field, the Tesla gives you a much more natural viewing angle. You don’t have to hunt through the field, with a rather small beam. 
If you are walking the dog, the Tesla lights up the path in front of your feet, but also 20m away. And that is on the lowest setting, 10%. It also lights it evenly so that you can just hold the light and let your eyes see. Doing the same with a M6 is much more tiring because you have to wave the light up and down, combine with the fact that the M6 at close it is much, much to bright. 
And another thing I noticed is that the Tesla’s button on the side is much easier to use. Almost all my flashlights (Fenix, Surefire, McGizmo) have tactical buttons at the end. This almost always forces you to push it with the thumb while holding the light almost at face height, or you need to clamp it between two fingers and push with the thumb. Now you hand just hangs down, you can still push it with the thumb but you don’t have to keep your hand up. When walking that same old dog again, it’s much less tiring to keep your hand down and hold the light than to have your arm at eye level or keep it protruding forward when doing a cigar-grip. 

So up until now I have always felt that the Surefire M6 was more useful than any high powered multi led light when it came to searching/long distances. The tungsten gives around 3500K light IIRC and leds usually give around 6500K. The difference? With the yellowish light of tungsten you can see more differences in colours. And the colours look more natural to our eyes. The 6500K is much more blueish light, less contrast and easier to blind you. So even several 700 or 900 lumens led-lights didn’t make me put the M6 away. They might have been 900 lumens in an integrated sphere, but when using the 500 lumens of the M6 was worth more to me. 
However, the spread of the beam of the Tesla is really useful. And the colour is less blueish, but also not some awful yellow like some earlier leds. It’s a bit like my McGizmo Sundrop, which has a much better colour rendering than any other led I know off. 
The better colour, better spread of the light and coupled with an enormous output of 1200 lumens, makes the Tesla outperform the M6. 
And then there are multiple levels of light, which makes it much more efficient to use, coupled with two rechargeable batteries. 
But, I have to say, if my boss was paying CR123’s and I was working in a swat team, I would still take the M6. For tactical use it is much better. 
For EDCing, I now have the Tesla in my bag. I use it daily for lighting up dark attics, power outs, pester annoying kids in the street, when camping for two weeks in Scotland etc. It’s not the only light, I also have a McGizmo Haiku and a UV Sundrop with me. But the combination of the Haiku and a Tesla is pretty much perfect. Haiku for all the smaller jobs and the Tesla for the big jobs often outside. 

So, this is one sturdy build light, it’s not overly heavy, well dimensioned, it uses propriety Li-ions batteries, has a superb charger and it does what it was designed for: give light and a whole lot of it and in a useful EDC manner. On paper it looks good and in real life it worked for me even better. Walking the dog, checking oil in the dark, training with S&R it can look good distances and wide over water and meadows and when inside, you light up a room completely with a simple ceiling bounce. 

There are just two drawbacks that I could find. First is the lowest setting. The lowest that it goes is 10% and that is way to much light for reading a map or book, writing some notes when you’re in your tent/shelter etc. I guess it is around 100 lumens orso and for reading and writing 10 lumens is a bit much, so 100 lumens is completely blinding. If not for me, than for my wife sleeping next to me when I’m reading my book/planning the next day. 
The second thing I regret is not really a flaw. It’s just that I can’t find any 50mm/2” red filters that fit the head. I like to use red filters when reading a map/walking outdoors to preserve my night vision. Certainly in combination with the 100lumens you don’t see an inch in front of you without using the light after you have consulted a map. 

These are IMHO minor points and I would like to conclude that for a SWAT team, police officers in rural areas and the likes, I guess there is nothing like a M6. 
But for most people the Tesla 1200 “Taschenleuchte” could be very well a new holy grail.


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## jcw122 (May 11, 2010)

I've never heard of this company, where can they be found?

I'm stunned that such a small light claims 1200 lumens.


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## smokelaw1 (May 11, 2010)

Look nice, would love to try one out some time.....tough they aren't cheap lights. Then again, I don't play with many cheap lights these days....

http://www.lupine.de/web/en/products/flashlights/tesla/1200set


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## AlecGold (May 11, 2010)

Stupid of me. 
http://www.lupine.de/web/en/

http://www.luminus.com/stuff/conten...3_sst_90_w_product_datasheet_illumination.pdf
This is a site of the SST-90. 
Now the 1200 lumens is a bit of a problem for me as well, because the leds give out 1200 lumen max. 
IIRC these leds are quite new and new leds usually have outperformers. So if they indeed search the bins and use the overachievers it would be possible to get some 1200 lumens out of the glass. 
If I compared the M6 (which will put out 500lumens at least, but Surefire can be conservative in it's figures) to the Tesla, it gave a bit more light on 1/4 of the area. 
A bit more light is usually about twice as much lumens because my MkI eyes just don't do better and in a quarter of the area means the Tesla is giving twice as much light overall. So much for the science....

But, what counts more is the beam pattern and the usability in EDC. 
Wall bouncing is nice with 100 lumens, but with 500-1000 lumen lights it's useless, you just don't see anything for at least several minutes :nana:


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## Henk_Lu (May 11, 2010)

Interesting light, unfortunately somewhat expensive.

The Maelstrom S1200 should be the counterpart from 4Sevens, I'm curious about its price, should be less than half of the Tesla I suppose, but that depends on the euro, if it continues its way down, the difference will be less.

AlecGold, your review is unfortunately pretty unreadable. Too much compressed text, we're not used to that anymore, we need pictures in between! I read each second line...


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## AlecGold (May 11, 2010)

I'll promise I improve it tomorrow evening with some nice pictures. 
I'm a bit old fashioned, I guess, I like reviews to have some text, not just pictures 
Until my improvement, the Lupine site has some pictures. 

Lupine lights are expensive, there is no other way around. 
But it's high quality as well. 
Is the light worth the price? I don't know. 
That's as always for everyone to decide for his own. 
It's just like HiFi equipment, to get the last bit of perfection usually lets the price explode. 
But on the other hand, Lupine is relative close to me, they have always been superb with
customer service and I now have a collection of interchange-able lights, batteries,
chargers etc.


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## Henk_Lu (May 11, 2010)

I'm a small lights collector, which means 2 x 123 maximum, but I'm looking for a bigger light with an integrated battery pack >1.000 Lumen, so the Tesla could qualify.

The SR90 doesn't qualify, as I don't want a Panzerfaust... 

I'm also curious how the Tesla and the S1200 will compare in size, but I fear we won't read much more about the Tesla here. :candle:


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## CR123_CR123_CR123 (May 11, 2010)

Hi AlecGold:

whoa, that seems like a well specified small/handheld flashlight. Is lupine a very popular brand in europe? i noticed they have one dealer in the US. 

oh man, another light to add to the wish list. :sigh:


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## 276 (May 11, 2010)

I had completely forgotten about this light until now. thanks


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## pee10755 (May 11, 2010)

I have a question for you. I read the manual for this light on the lupine website and it stated you need to hold the button down for two seconds to turn the light off. Does the light stay on for these two seconds?

I want to purchase this light for law enforcement work and I need to be able to turn the light off on command for building searches and other activities. This would be an important issue for me.

I also read in the manual that the light will reduce it's output if there is not enough airflow to cool the head. Have you noticed and dimming of the light due to heat build up and if so how quickly? Thank you for your review.


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## stallion2 (May 12, 2010)

very cool, their whole product line seems pretty solid. i may have to give this Tesla some serious thought. too bad for me, i've entered a self-imposed purchase restriction cause of other lights. i may come back to this one later this year. never heard of Lupine before, thanks for posting this.


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## Juggernaut (May 12, 2010)

How is it going to run 1 hour off of a 2.5 ah battery? Common sense dictates here, it says 20 watts 1 hour run time, well assuming 2.5 ah x 7.2 volts = 26.64 watts, with no loss in efficiency. Full out put of an SST-90 = 9+ amps, I could only see this sort of working with a SST-50:shrug:.


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## paulr (May 12, 2010)

Thanks for the very thoughtful review, and the TL1200 sounds like a very nice light. I've been intrigued by Lupine for a while and I'm looking forward to seeing pics. The main negative I see to this light is the proprietary battery system. I'd be much much happier if the light used generic batteries (even RC packs like Matthewm's Gili lights will apparently use) so I didn't have to depend on the manufacturer for batteries. Plus, it's a big pain to have to deal with separate charging systems for each different device.


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## monkeyboy (May 12, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> 2.5 ah x 7.2 volts = 26.64 watts



2.5 Ah x 7.2 V = 18 "watt hours" actually.

According to the german lupine forum (translated), as far as I can make out, there is some sort of thermal throttling going on to stop it overheating when the head reaches 60C. This would explain the slightly longer than expected runtime but the numbers would suggest that there is only a very minimal amount of thermal throttling. The forum also says they chose not to drive the led at it's maximum rating. 

The SST-90 driven at that level would be significantly more efficient than an SST-50 driven to the max. At the expense of throw that is.


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## toby_pra (May 12, 2010)

Nice review, cant wait for some pics and perhaps beamshots! :twothumbs

Lupine has the best build quality you can find...:naughty:


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## Juggernaut (May 13, 2010)

monkeyboy said:


> 2.5 Ah x 7.2 V = 18 "watt hours" actually.


 
HA HA Ha, how could I goof that up! I was in the middle of doing some other flashlight related math and I must have simply copied and pasted what I had in the calculator for something else! Thanks for fixing that.


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## AlecGold (May 13, 2010)

CR123_CR123_CR123 said:


> Hi AlecGold:
> 
> whoa, that seems like a well specified small/handheld flashlight. Is lupine a very popular brand in europe? i noticed they have one dealer in the US.
> 
> oh man, another light to add to the wish list. :sigh:



AFAIK Lupine isn't big in Europe either. Some hard-core professional 24h mountain bike racers use them, some cavers, and other people in need for a big bad headlamp. 




pee10755 said:


> I have a question for you. I read the manual for this light on the lupine website and it stated you need to hold the button down for two seconds to turn the light off. Does the light stay on for these two seconds?
> 
> I want to purchase this light for law enforcement work and I need to be able to turn the light off on command for building searches and other activities. This would be an important issue for me.
> 
> I also read in the manual that the light will reduce it's output if there is not enough airflow to cool the head. Have you noticed and dimming of the light due to heat build up and if so how quickly? Thank you for your review.



It doesn't turn of in these 2 seconds, it stays on. But I read on the website that for LEO's etc. there is a special programming possible. Drop them a line by mail, they are kind enough and very fast in responses. 



paulr said:


> Thanks for the very thoughtful review, and the TL1200 sounds like a very nice light. I've been intrigued by Lupine for a while and I'm looking forward to seeing pics. The main negative I see to this light is the proprietary battery system. I'd be much much happier if the light used generic batteries (even RC packs like Matthewm's Gili lights will apparently use) so I didn't have to depend on the manufacturer for batteries. Plus, it's a big pain to have to deal with separate charging systems for each different device.



yeah, I know what you mean, and these batteries from Lupine aren't cheap either. But, all the batteries I've used have been very, very good, they pack a lot of energy and are made quite nice. And they have been making the same battery-connection for ages. 



monkeyboy said:


> 2.5 Ah x 7.2 V = 18 "watt hours" actually.
> 
> According to the german lupine forum (translated), as far as I can make out, there is some sort of thermal throttling going on to stop it overheating when the head reaches 60C. This would explain the slightly longer than expected runtime but the numbers would suggest that there is only a very minimal amount of thermal throttling. The forum also says they chose not to drive the led at it's maximum rating.
> 
> The SST-90 driven at that level would be significantly more efficient than an SST-50 driven to the max. At the expense of throw that is.



I haven't seen it throtteling down, but then again, I haven't had the need for using the light one full hour. I could test it in a jar with cold water to see if it gets to the hour mark. It's just that I'm so busy with work at the moment that it will take some time. 
I have noticed it using it at room temperature that it gets warm if I leave it on at high. 
But my wife was painting a room and it got dark (happens sometimes, evenings and all that). Because she was painting the ceiling as well, she removed the ceiling light, so I used my TL 1200 at 40% standing on it's tail for several hours. It gave more than enough light in wall/ceiling bounce mode to let her paint the opposite wall and it never got warm. 
Personally I think the 100% output is more useful for brag rights than for useable light in almost all situations.


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## AlecGold (May 13, 2010)

toby_pra said:


> Nice review, cant wait for some pics and perhaps beamshots! :twothumbs
> 
> Lupine has the best build quality you can find...:naughty:




I'll do my best to make them.


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## pee10755 (May 13, 2010)

Thank you for taking your time to answer our questions. I am on the edge of purchasing this light. The beam shape is important for my use of the light so any beamshots that you give us would be great.


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## AlecGold (May 13, 2010)

pee10755 said:


> Thank you for taking your time to answer our questions. I am on the edge of purchasing this light. The beam shape is important for my use of the light so any beamshots that you give us would be great.




http://www.lupine.de/web/content/en/products/headlights/tesla/xpro/images/beams/Tesla_12W.jpg
Here is a beam shot of the headlamp Tesla. 
I have that same headlamp as well, and when compared to the TL 1200, it looks a tad stronger. 
When wall-bouncing the headlamp has a smaller hotspot that is less intense, the TL 1200 has a wider AND stronger hotspot and a brighter corona. 
I'm sorry I can't do more for you at this moment, but I'll do my best!

The Tesla X pro (as the headlight is called) has some beamshots. 
If you keep in mind the Tesla 1200 is stronger and a bit wider spot that is still brighter, then you'll know what to expect. 
http://www.lupine.de/web/en/products/headlights/tesla/xpro/


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## pee10755 (May 17, 2010)

any updates on the light? I am close to placing the order. :twothumbs


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## Noctis (May 17, 2010)

AlecGold said:


> http://www.lupine.de/web/content/en/products/headlights/tesla/xpro/images/beams/Tesla_12W.jpg
> Here is a beam shot of the headlamp Tesla.
> I have that same headlamp as well, and when compared to the TL 1200, it looks a tad stronger.
> When wall-bouncing the headlamp has a smaller hotspot that is less intense, the TL 1200 has a wider AND stronger hotspot and a brighter corona.
> ...


First shot looks more than a little overexposed. This is why control shots or side-by-side comparisons with another light is a necessity for me. A single lone beamshot simply doesn't do it justice.


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## artec540 (May 17, 2010)

Henk_Lu said:


> Interesting light, unfortunately somewhat expensive.
> 
> The Maelstrom S1200 should be the counterpart from 4Sevens, I'm curious about its price, should be less than half of the Tesla I suppose, but that depends on the euro, if it continues its way down, the difference will be less.
> 
> AlecGold, your review is unfortunately pretty unreadable. Too much compressed text, we're not used to that anymore, we need pictures in between! I read each second line...




I just did a search for "Maelstrom S 1200" on 4Sevens' site and got a "no such product" response. Is there something else to go with that name to find the product?

Thanks.


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## Bimmerboy (May 19, 2010)

Very good writeup, AG. :thumbsup:

Nice freakin' flashlight!

I also got a kick out of the names of their headlamp lines, Betty and Wilma.


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## flashfiend (May 19, 2010)

Great write-up and it does give a great option for the 4Sevens S12 waiting game.


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## pee10755 (May 22, 2010)

I just ordered the light from Gretna Bikes. I spoke with Bill on the phone and he provided great customer service. I will add some photos and comments when the light arrives.


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## AlecGold (May 22, 2010)

Thanks, do post the pics I'm just not able to get enough time free to make some decent pictures.
I'm really curious how you think of the light!


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## JB (May 23, 2010)

How much is the TL1200?


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## AlecGold (May 23, 2010)

A lot. 
I dunno how much it will be with shipping and customs to malaysia, but the Euro price is 520 and then you'll have the light, charger One, two batteries and a nice leather holster, manuals and a nice cordura box/bag to store everything in. Ow and of course the light head


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## AardvarkSagus (May 23, 2010)

artec540 said:


> I just did a search for "Maelstrom S 1200" on 4Sevens' site and got a "no such product" response. Is there something else to go with that name to find the product?
> 
> Thanks.


That's because the Maelstrom series as a whole hasn't been introduced as of yet, and the S1200 (Now pared down to the S12 I believe) is going to be the third model in the series. Not a whole lot is known about it beyond THIS PHOTO and the fact that it will be running a SST-90 LED. 

Back on topic, this light seems pretty amazing to me. I like the fact that they seem to really take the whole user experience into mind when they designed it. I don't need to necessarily see the squirrel at 400 yards, but I might want to see a whole area right in front of me.


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## Frenchyled (May 28, 2010)

Your fault..it's all your fault :nana:
I receive today my TL 1200 from Lupine 

What a wonderful product :twothumbs

I will post some pictures as soon as I will test it :wave:


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## Bimmerboy (May 29, 2010)

Frenchyled said:


> Your fault..it's all your fault :nana:


:laughing:

Still blaming your _'problem'_ with high end lights on others, Frenchy? :nana:

Looking forward to your pics (and hopefully your own comments)! :thumbsup:


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## Frenchyled (May 30, 2010)

Bimmerboy said:


> :laughing:
> Still blaming your _'problem'_ with high end lights on others, Frenchy? :nana:
> Looking forward to your pics (and hopefully your own comments)! :thumbsup:


Héhé..Lol Bimmerboy :devil:

So, some pictures and my own comments for my first impressions.
The Lupine TL 1200 is an European product...so I wanted to try it 

I bought the whole package of the Lupine TL 1200...yes it cost a little but you have all you need for years...(2 years warranty )
- Lupine TL 1200
- Spare battery
- Quality Charger
- 12v car adaptor
- Leather Holster
- Carrying pouch











Led used in this flashlight seems a luminux SST-90, but Lupine didn't advertised that. On the next pictures, you can see the led and the nice hexagon reflector :










For Flashaholics likes me, you have not only one LEd, but a total of 6 leds in this flashlight  Yep, 4 leds (Blue, Green, Yellow and Red) are used to inform you about the status of your light, battery charge remaining, consumed capacity and some others informations. Another led is used to light on the switch in blue.


















I take some pictures to compare the size between TL 1200 and wiseled Adapt(another european product  ) and Surefire M6. The Lupine fits comfortably in my hand and its size is another advantage compared to the two others.


















I played with my Lupine and tried all the programs modes. But it is another story...please be patient...I need to take some rest now


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## sledhead (May 30, 2010)

Nice! Looks like a well built and packaged light> Thanks for taking the plunge for us Frenchyled! 

Great photos and nice choice of lights for the comparison on size. Very interested on hearing your thoughts on the beam.


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## monkeyboy (May 30, 2010)

Great pictures! That thing is way smaller than I was expecting. They've basically packed 2 x 18650 (or equivalent), a side switch and electronics into a package much smaller than an M6. Looks like some quality German engineering and I'd expect noting less from Lupine.


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## AlecGold (May 31, 2010)

Frenchy, nice pictures!
Any chance on some outside beamshots between the M6 and the Tesla?? 
I haven't come that far yet, I really need some time off from work.


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## Frenchyled (Jun 1, 2010)

Thx all for your comments :twothumbs

Alec, to use my M6..I need 6xCR123 as you know...:sick2: 
I hope to try a beamshot comparison next week but I am really busy too...

The only think I could tell again is that this light is one of the brightest for its size compared to all the flashlights I have in my collection.
And it's really a pleasure to play with this rubber soft switch 

For your information, this light use a softstart when you choose the good option which provide a very low level when powered on and then ramp up to reach the standard low level..really amazing :thumbsup:


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## AlecGold (Jun 1, 2010)

I don't promise anything, but I'll try to post some pics tonight if it get's dark enough. I think it is worth 6xCR123 for a nice show off.


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## Henk_Lu (Jun 1, 2010)

I begin to love this little powerlight... 

Worse, I just realized, that the Maelstrom S12 may be less expensive (when it finally comes out), but the Tesla is surely smaller and I loke the smooth finish. The built quality of the Tesla really looks top!

That's bad, very, very bad..........


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## Ti²C (Jun 1, 2010)

Thank you AlecGold & Frenchyled for the reviews and pics, 

It's nice to see that we europeans are also able to build some fascinating lighting toys :twothumbs


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## Pandorum (Jun 2, 2010)

Amazing light, but being so small I am wondering how the Tesla doesn't overheat with 1200 lumens.


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## headophile (Jun 2, 2010)

beamshots please


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## flashfiend (Jun 2, 2010)

Henk_Lu said:


> I begin to love this little powerlight...
> 
> Worse, I just realized, that the Maelstrom S12 may be less expensive (*when it finally comes out*), but the Tesla is surely smaller and I loke the smooth finish. The built quality of the Tesla really looks top!
> 
> That's bad, very, very bad..........



Waiting for the Maelstrom is worse than waiting for PC vaporware. By the time the Maelstroms come out, lights with the Cree XM will be built.

If it wasn't for the price this light would kill the S12. Of course it does come with some nice goodies and the battery and charger seem really sweet.

Can't wait to see beamshots. I wish I could afford this light.

Btw, anyone mention how hot this light gets after 3-5 minutes of use?


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## AlecGold (Jun 2, 2010)

flashfiend said:


> Btw, anyone mention how hot this light gets after 3-5 minutes of use?



It would get really hot if it wouldn't throttle down. Even with throttling down it gets quite warm.


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## Syntax Error (Jun 2, 2010)

Interesting light.
here is an other review from a photographer point of view.
http://www.diglloyd.com/articles/Recommended/Flashlights-LupineT1200.html


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## pee10755 (Jun 2, 2010)

I just got mine yesterday. Excellent build, design and workmanship. I don't think you could get more power in a smaller lighter design. Everything about the light and accessories screams quality.

I did a test last night to test for heat. I was concerned that it would throttle down quickly to protect the LED and not give more than 2-3 min on high. I placed the light standing on it's tail on full power with no air circulation. The light head only began to get hot at 4 mins. At 8 min and 30 seconds the light still was on high. I was impressed, as I would rarely go beyond that without bumping it down to low or powering off. The head was too hot to hold but the light could still be held by the battery compartment which was warm. If you throw in the hand acting as a radiator, movement and using high as burst mode I think it will handle the heat of high for most tasks.

I will have some time this weekend to hopefully do some beam shots. It has a very wide hotspot. I can see how it would be perfect for cycling. I plan on using it for law enforcement so I really appreciated the beam width. It really has a great spill to allow you to take in the whole environment. It still has good throw out to about 40-50 yards. Beyond that the beam is really opened up. I did a test with searching a structure and simulating traffic stops. The beam is excellent for those activities. I hope to post more in 3-4 days.


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## csshih (Jun 2, 2010)

flashfiend said:


> Waiting for the Maelstrom is worse than waiting for PC vaporware. By the time the Maelstroms come out, lights with the Cree XM will be built.



Then, 4sevens will sell his stock of last-gen emitters and upgrade to the new ones.  He did this with the MC-E.


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## Frenchyled (Jun 3, 2010)

AlecGold said:


> I don't promise anything, but I'll try to post some pics tonight if it get's dark enough. I think it is worth 6xCR123 for a nice show off.





Ti²C said:


> Thank you AlecGold & Frenchyled for the reviews and pics,
> 
> It's nice to see that we europeans are also able to build some fascinating lighting toys :twothumbs


:bow: Yep...Lupine is really a good maker, not really cheap, but quality in europe is at this price :wave:


Pandorum said:


> Amazing light, but being so small I am wondering how the Tesla doesn't overheat with 1200 lumens.


Very very very hot..so I don't use it too much at max 


flashfiend said:


> Waiting for the Maelstrom is worse than waiting for PC vaporware. By the time the Maelstroms come out, lights with the Cree XM will be built.
> If it wasn't for the price this light would kill the S12. Of course it does come with some nice goodies and the battery and charger seem really sweet.
> Can't wait to see beamshots. I wish I could afford this light.
> Btw, anyone mention how hot this light gets after 3-5 minutes of use?


Realy this lamp is worth its price


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## AardvarkSagus (Jun 22, 2010)

Wow, mine just came in the mail yesterday and it is fantastic! I can't wait to spend more time with it so I can give it a thorough writeup. I was even hoping the power would die last night during the potential tornado inducing storms.


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## Frenchyled (Jun 22, 2010)

Congrats....Let us known what you think about it...and maybe you'll be the first to post some beam shots


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## AardvarkSagus (Jun 22, 2010)

Frenchyled said:


> Congrats....Let us known what you think about it...and maybe you'll be the first to post some beam shots


It might happen, but it's not terribly likely since I am not very adept at beamshots.


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## Lightsup (Sep 1, 2010)

Still no beamshots....


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## AardvarkSagus (Sep 1, 2010)

Lightsup said:


> Still no beamshots....


I've got one up on my site HERE. It's not great since I am not very good at them, but it's still a beamshot.


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## Lightsup (Sep 3, 2010)

Thanks for that.


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## Arcoholic (Sep 3, 2010)

dang prolly gonna have to pull the trigger on that one now


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## AardvarkSagus (Sep 3, 2010)

Lightsup said:


> Thanks for that.


No problem. Yeah, this one puts out an enormous flood of light. Absolutely huge! One of my favorite lights overall.


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## Arcoholic (Sep 15, 2010)

Guys
I just got mine from Gretnabike today and boy do I love this light. It just oozes quality and innovation. They will get a lot more of my money. 
It does gives the Tactical 1500 a good run but it certainly can't beat it but it is so small and light.


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## Frenchyled (Oct 3, 2010)

Congrats :devil:

And now..some pictures or maybe beam shots ?


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## fenriswolf (Oct 13, 2010)

Here you can compare beamshots. 

http://www.lupine.de/web/de/produkte/leuchtvergleich/


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## cue003 (May 17, 2011)

If there is anyone willing to sell their Tesla 1200 TL set please PM me the info. Thanks.


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## cue003 (May 20, 2011)

No takers?  

Oh well. I guess I am going to have to resort to picking up the Wilma TL.  

If anyone changes their mind and wants to let the Tesla TL 1200 go to a new home (mine) please shoot me a PM.


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## AardvarkSagus (May 20, 2011)

Even though I have a Wilma TL on the way, I don't think that I am really willing to part with my Tesla TL 1200. It's just a fantastic light all the way around. Such a gorgeous floody beam. It's an excellent camping light.


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## tonkem (May 21, 2011)

AardvarkSagus said:


> Even though I have a Wilma TL on the way, I don't think that I am really willing to part with my Tesla TL 1200. It's just a fantastic light all the way around. Such a gorgeous floody beam. It's an excellent camping light.


 
Aardvark, are you going to do a comparo between the Wilma TL and the Tesla TL 1200? I am interested to see how these lights compare to a normal light. I own the Sunway M30r, and m40a, and really like them. I am intrigued by the flood of the Wilma TL, and have looked at as much info as there is about this light. I was very close to ordering one, but am also interested to see if Lupine will be moving to the XML soon, as I would prefer to wait for them, as they output would be higher and runtime likely longer. 

Thanks 

Tony


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## AardvarkSagus (May 21, 2011)

While I won't be doing a specific comparison thread or review, there will be inevitable comparisons made during the review proper. I'm not sure how easily I will be able to get any decent beamshots for a while, but if I do I'll try to get them in the same location and with the same settings as the TL 1200. Either that or I'll just take both of them to a new location.


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## tonkem (May 22, 2011)

AardvarkSagus said:


> While I won't be doing a specific comparison thread or review, there will be inevitable comparisons made during the review proper. I'm not sure how easily I will be able to get any decent beamshots for a while, but if I do I'll try to get them in the same location and with the same settings as the TL 1200. Either that or I'll just take both of them to a new location.


 
Sounds good. I look forward to any information about the Wilma TL  

Thanks 

Tony


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## cue003 (May 22, 2011)

I too look forward to your findings Aardvark. 

Thanks.


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## tonkem (May 26, 2011)

AardvarkSagus said:


> While I won't be doing a specific comparison thread or review, there will be inevitable comparisons made during the review proper. I'm not sure how easily I will be able to get any decent beamshots for a while, but if I do I'll try to get them in the same location and with the same settings as the TL 1200. Either that or I'll just take both of them to a new location.


 
Aardvark, I am interested to see how long the wilma tl will stay on high(max) mode before stepping down. I have read in this review of the Tesla 1200 that after 8mins and 30 secs it had not stepped down but was getting very hot. I hesitate to purchase the Wilma TL until I know how long I can expect it to run on max/650 lumen/440 lumen, etc before stepping down to protect the electronics. Does it only step down on the max, as the lower brightnesses do not produce as much heat? I really need to hear the answer to this one, before dropping over $700 on a light package  I have almost talked myself out of this(actually my wife has been trying to talk me out of it)  I have several lights for sale, to make room, but want to be sure this one would meet my uses. I use the m40a sunway light for around the house on low, and outdoors the 150 lumen medium is my go to setting. The 500 lumen high on the m40a is rarely used, but in burst, because of the draw on the batteries, and 1 hr runtime on high, so the wilma TL could be used the same way, but again want to be sure that the lower brightness levels don't also step down 

Thanks again for your help. 

Tony


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## AardvarkSagus (May 26, 2011)

I'll do what I can to discover that, but if I remember correctly, the TL 1200 is really just thermally controlled. It is probably just the high brightness that steps down (and it might not even be noticeably considering the gradual ramp-up when you turn the light on) as the temperature goes up. I believe it isn't a set time, but rather a set temperature that causes the step back. Hence (again, if memory serves) if you were using the light on a bike the airflow would serve to cool it well enough that it likely wouldn't step down at all.

I would expect that on a warmer evening running on high you would have it step down for you over the course of the first 20 minutes or so in order to preserve the LED, but cool nights or well ventilated uses might never cause the throttling.


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## Frenchyled (Feb 4, 2012)

After the TL1200, Lupine do it again with this very small 750 lumens Piko TL MAX...

A review will be made after my first experiences with it 












LAter :wave:


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## AardvarkSagus (Feb 6, 2012)

Cool. I can't wait to see the info on the Max. I reviewed the Mini. Excellent little light.


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