# Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots *UPDATE SEPT 2010* - now 34 lights!



## selfbuilt (Jul 20, 2010)

*Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots Roundup 2010 - now 49 lights!*

_*This review has been replaced with a new comparison, sumarizing all my 2011 beamshots:

Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshot Compendium 2011

Please refer to that thread for all new images and commentary. This older thread will be left up for historical purposes (i.e. comparisons of older lights no longer available).*_ :wave:

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_UPDATES: As Jan 20, 2011, I have added five series of updated beamshots to this review, bringing the total number of unique lights to 49. Each additional series includes comparison shots of some of the previous lights. For animated GIFs showing key comparisons, please check out the individual reviews of the lights. _ 

I generally leave it to others to post outside beamshots – simply because I have too much other work to do to get my reviews done! :sweat:

External beamshots are also tricky to do well – the shots will never match what you see by eye due to limitations of the camera (plus varying lighting conditions, topographical features, camera settings, etc.). Directly comparing lights is thus fraught with potential confounds that may invalidate the comparisons (especially for those shots taken at different times).

But due to popular demand – and with these caveats in mind - I’ve decided to do a limited run of 100-yard beamshots for a number of my lights. I may choose to update this round-up with additional lights in the future, but no guarantees! 

It has taken me awhile to find what I consider to be a suitable location near where I live. Bear with me while I describe the location, so you can better interpret what you are seeing in the shots.

I’ve found a closed and deserted service road, located near a ravine. Here is an aerial view taken from Google maps:







As you can see, there is a straight line from my position (pictogram) along the road, to a copse of tree located 100 yards away. There is a dead birch tree right at the red arrow-head that is a convenient marker for the photos.

I’ve also highlighted a point 30 yards from my position (blue arrow). The reason for this is shown on the side schematic for this area:






As I mentioned, this road goes along a ravine, and there is a significant elevation drop beginning about 30 yards along the road. The road makes a right turn as it winds down the ravine, but you can’t tell from the indicated pictogram position – beyond 30 yards, all you see is the 100-yard trees in the distance. Here is a control shot in daylight to show you what I mean:






This shot is taken at eye level, and I have centered the camera on the copse of trees at 100 yards (specifically, right in the middle of the dead birch tree – red arrow). The blue arrow indicates the point at 30 yards beyond which the road “falls out of view.”

For all flashlight pictures, I have angled the light directly above the camera, focused on the center of that dead birch tree. Because of the angle, this means that a good amount of the hotspot’s corona should light up the road around that 30 yard mark. You will thus be able to see not only the center beam throw at 100 yards, but the corona spill at 30 yards, and the wider spillbeam in the foreground in front of the camera. 

I didn’t take a control shot in the dark, but here’s the closest thing – a maximally focused Mag 3D incan on 3xD cell alkalines. 






You can’t see much because I’ve set the camera settings to what works well for the high-output LED shots (you may be able to faintly see the 100-yard away trees in the center of the beam, plus some of the road markings near the 30 yard mark). 

Something else you will see are a couple of red dots in the background – these come from the aerial warning lights on a series of communication towers located in a clearing about 650 yards away (you can't see them in the daylight shot, they are too small and far away). There's also a photo-reflective sign along the bottom portion of the road that you may notice in some of the shots (left-over from when the road was in use, warning of the steep curve)

For the sake of this round-up, all lights were run on Max, on the highest rechargeable battery option the light would take. 

The camera has been set to 4sec exposure, f2.7, ISO 80 and automatic white balance. This last point is to insure the incans and LEDs don't look exceedingly warm or cool - the goal here is to compare the beam profiles, not tints.

_*PLEASE NOTE: the pics typically look under-exposed relative to what I subjectively saw during shooting!* Most of the lights could easily light up 100 yards, but it may not look that way in the pics (e.g. the Mag incan was at least serviceable, but you can't see much in the photos). Again, this is just the difficulty of finding a good exposure that shows you everything - it doesn't match what the eye sees. You also need to realize that your monitor and graphics card setup may look very different from mine - I know from experience that this can vary widely in terms of brightness and contrast. Again, the goal is only to provide relative throw comparison, not absolute representations of what I saw._
*
A COMMENT ON COMPARING THE IMAGES:* To make this more manageable, I have reduced the images to 50% for this page – but each image is a link to a higher resolution scan. The best way to directly compare the lights is to open them in separate tabs. If this doesn't happen automatically when you click on them, *right-click on an image, and choose "Open Link in a New Tab". Then repeat this process for a second light, and so on.* This way, you will then be able to switch between your browser's tabs to see the matching higher resolution images taken at exactly the same position (i.e. the images should look stationary, with only the lighting conditions changing). You may need to zoom in, depending on your browser display settings :thumbsup: 

And now for the main show ... 

*HID/Incan/SST-90 Lights:*

















*High-Output or Multi-Emitter – 2x18650 - Lights:*

























_*Second Batch – September 2010*_

_I've retaken the Eagletac M2C4 & M2XC4, to allow you to directly compare to the new M3C4 series lights (M3C4 3x XP-G R5 Cool White, and M3C4 SST-50 Cool White). SUNWAYLED M40A also added, compared to the M40C._






















_*Third Batch – November 2010*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the new Eagletac M3C4 SST-50 (revised Deep-SMO reflector), Olight M31 (SST-50), SUNWAYMAN M60R (SST-50). Note that the time of year means that there is little foliage on the trees now, so more of those transmission tower red lights are showing up!_




















_*Fourth Batch – December 2010*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the Catapult V2 XM-L (Cree XM-L) and Eagletac M3C4 XM-L (Cree XM-L). Those "streaks" you may notice in the foreground of the beam paths are from a light snowfall that was blowing through the exposures. _















_*Fifth Batch – January 2011*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the Lumintop TD15X. Note that the snowfall combined with moonlight and nearby city lights causes a lot of ambient light reflection (i.e. background brightness is much higher than on other comparisons). The snow also causes a lot more diffusion of the hotspots and spillbeams, again due to reflections. _

For the TD15X, “2X” refers to 2x18650 (with two extender tubes), and “1X” refers 1x18650. All lights on Max.












*Single Emitter – 2xRCR – Lights:*





























_
*Second Batch – September 2010*_

_I've retaken the Tiablo A9-Q5 & A10 shots, to compare to the new A9-R5 (also added the DBS R2 for comparison). Aspheric head shots included for both A9 versions. I've also retaken the 4Sevens Maelstrom G5 now that the shipping sample has arrived. Other lights added include the Eagletac T20C2-II R5, Fenix TK12._






























_*Third Batch – November 2010*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the Jian Wei W1 (XR-E R2), Ray Tactical X60 (XP-G R5) and Lumintop TD-15 (XP-G R5). Note that the time of year means that there is little foliage on the trees now, so more of those transmission tower red lights are showing up!_


















_*Fourth Batch – December 2010*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the ArmyTek Predator (XP-G R5) and ITP R01 (XP-E Q5). _

Note that I wasn’t entirely consistent in my aiming of the lights, so please take that into account when comparing the hotspots and coronas.















_*Fifth Batch – January 2011*_

_I've added to this class of the round-up the Xtar D01 (XP-G R5), and a replacement ArmyTek Predator (XP-G R5). Note that the snowfall combined with moonlight and nearby city lights causes a lot of ambient light reflection (i.e. background brightness is much higher than on other comparisons). The snow also causes a lot more diffusion of the hotspots and spillbeams, again due to reflections. _

Note that I wasn’t entirely consistent in my aiming of the lights, so please take that into account when comparing the hotspots and coronas.

















*Single Emitter – 1xRCR – Lights:*















Again, as with all beamshot comparisons, some of the pics can be misleading. 

*I will be posting animated GIFs of the full resolution pics in some of my recent reviews, to show the most relevant comparisons.* 

:wave:


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## sledhead (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

What's not to like? Beautiful job!! Great photos and excellent distance to pick . Just wish you had a WiseLed 2000 in the bunch.:thumbsup:

Thanks for all your reviews!


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## ninemm (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thanks so much for putting this together Selfbuilt! Excellent pics and organization.


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## Midnight Oil (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thanks for all your hard work! :thumbsup:

Downside is I'm now totally disillusioned.

I've been thinking about getting the DBS with a R2 in a SMO, hoping it will have no problem throwing around 200 yards, which is subjective. Now, based on your beamshots of the Tiablo A9 and A10, I don't think it will throw as much as I hoped.

Got to hand it to 4Sevens for being able to get a XPG in an OP to throw this far!


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## Roger Sully (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Great Job SB!! Thanks for taking the time to do these.


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## Captain Spaulding (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Wow Selfbuilt, I cant imagine all the time and energy you put in to this whole project. You do such a great service to this site and all of us flashaholics.

Thanks for all of your effort!
lovecpf


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## selfbuilt (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thanks for the support guys. :grouphug:



Midnight Oil said:


> I've been thinking about getting the DBS with a R2 in a SMO, hoping it will have no problem throwing around 200 yards, which is subjective. Now, based on your beamshots of the Tiablo A9 and A10, I don't think it will throw as much as I hoped.


Don't worry - the pics here are actually underexposed relative to what I subjectively saw (especially at the 100 yard mark). 

All these lights - and expecially the A9/A10 - had no difficulty at 100 yards. It is just the limitations of these specific exposure settings. Part of the reason I haven't done these shots before now - it's impossible to get it to match what you see by eye. :sigh:

The goal here is simply to get a *relative* feel for how the lights perform.


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## Midnight Oil (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thanks. You've turned my frown upside down.


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## Burgess (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thank you So Much for this, Self-Built !


:goodjob::goodjob::goodjob:


'cuz i really wondered how the Maelstrom G5 compares to my Olight M20 Warrior R2

_


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## don.gwapo (Jul 20, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

:wow: Good job selfbuilt. Thanks. Love that small and very bright D-mini vx ultra. Wish the DD & regulated moddoo triple and M2-50 is included.


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## ASheep (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Amazing beamshots as always Selfbuilt! The performance of some of those lights is truly astounding, especially the SR-90, it always blows me away. The A6 polestar seems to be able to hold its own in that class, despite the lower price and shallow reflector. All the 1x RCR lights did surprisingly well too  Keep up the great work!


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## Burgess (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

note to SelfBuilt --


Would you consider testing the Maelstrom G5 at HIGH level ?


Methinks this would be Very helpful and "enlightening".


Just a Suggestion.


_


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## candle lamp (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Great Job and thanks for your laborious task. :goodjob:


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## selfbuilt (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thanks for the support guys! :wave:



ASheep said:


> Amazing beamshots as always Selfbuilt! The performance of some of those lights is truly astounding, especially the SR-90, it always blows me away. The A6 polestar seems to be able to hold its own in that class, despite the lower price and shallow reflector. All the 1x RCR lights did surprisingly well too  Keep up the great work!


It's funny you say that about the A6 - I tested it immediately after the TK45, and subjectively felt it was quite low in comparison. But yes, it does do alright overall (depends a bit what you compare it to, of course). Basically, the shots show that it is what it is - a slightly less heavily-driven Olight M30.

The only one that really surprises me is the M2C4 (i.e. seems lower in the pics). I think the problem is the dimmer spill and dimmer centre-beam hotspot - most of the light goes to the corona, which is not well captured in these beamshots. Tint probably isn't helping either (i.e. a bit warmer than the others, so looks less white). I dunno, it may also have slipped into medium mode during handling, although I was careful to switch just below strobe for the shot.



Burgess said:


> Would you consider testing the Maelstrom G5 at HIGH level ?_


Hmmm, interesting idea - but I'm afraid its too late now. I don't plan to do one-offs, since there's no way I can ensure the conditions will be exactly the same (i.e. precise location, angles, etc.). However, I may consider this if and when I do another batch of lights ...


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## Darvis (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Outstanding beamshots!!! Your reviews have almost been a single source of light buying info for me over these past few years, and once again, you've presented 2 lights I'm mulling over; The SR90 and the Titanium Innivations HID. I've been dying to break into the world of HID and the Titanium is the one light that keeps popping up as a great value for the money... but, ohhhhh that SR90!!!!

Thanks again for all of your hard work and great reviews!

Darvis


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## Midnight Oil (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



Burgess said:


> note to SelfBuilt --
> 
> 
> Would you consider testing the Maelstrom G5 at HIGH level ?
> ...



:thinking: heh? The Maelstrom was not on High? Where does it say that? 

If so, WOW!, that means it could throw even more! 

Its reflector is no where near the size of the D36 right, but maybe much deeper? Shows how well a custom designed reflector can be made to throw. Makes me wonder why D36 and D26 reflectors that are optimized for throw are not more commonplace.


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## selfbuilt (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



Midnight Oil said:


> :thinking: heh? The Maelstrom was not on High? Where does it say that?
> If so, WOW!, that means it could throw even more!


No, no - the G5 was on Max for the beamshots. "Hi" in this context (according to 4sevens terminology) is a level down - basically, the highest level of the Regular mode for the light.

To keep things simple, I've kept every light at its maximum setting.


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## Midnight Oil (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Ah, thanks again.


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## bigchelis (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Really well done:wave:


I like the 100yard shootouts the best. The 200yards are good too, but it excludes the little guys.


You need a Lambdlights VARA2000 with 700 more OTF lumens then the SR90


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## Igor Porto (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Selfbuilt, your reviews are perfect, except they lack outdoor beamshots so we can "feel" the light at some distance.

Thanks for these outdoor beamshots. What do you think about adding those pics to their respective reviews?


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## selfbuilt (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



Igor Porto said:


> Selfbuilt, your reviews are perfect, except they lack outdoor beamshots so we can "feel" the light at some distance.
> 
> Thanks for these outdoor beamshots. What do you think about adding those pics to their respective reviews?


Working on it ... the Sunway lights and the Maelstrom G5 reviews have already been updated with animated GIFs. The SR90, Catapult V2, TK45, ITP A6, and L35 HID reviews will done soon. After that, I may go back and edit a few more ... we'll see.

But just as a reminder again - outdoor beamshots are really only useful if you are comparing a number of lights under identical conditions. Depending on the camera setting, a penlight could illuminate the world, or a thrower seem like a minimag.  

This is why I haven't done them until now - you really need to do all the lights at one time. But I will likely do a second batch later this summer, as I get more lights in (plus add a few that I forgot this time).


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## kramer5150 (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Excellent work as always!!!

Yeah the M2C4-P7... looks like its in medium mode. On high its spot and flood should both be visibly brighter than the A6 Polestar. The A6 polestar doesn't drive its LED as hard as the other lights in this class.

Nice (!!) beam out of that Sunway M40C and TK45.


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## selfbuilt (Jul 21, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



kramer5150 said:


> Yeah the M2C4-P7... looks like its in medium mode. On high its spot and flood should both be visibly brighter than the A6 Polestar. The A6 polestar doesn't drive its LED as hard as the other lights in this class.


I'm thinking the same thing - although I was careful to just slip past strobe, it's possible it moved during handling. That's the problem with lights without clear detents. 

In any case, I'll toss it into the second batch of lights that I test out there - likely in a month or so, once I have a few more high-power specimens on hand to test.


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## selfbuilt (Jul 22, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Formatting adjusted, for those you in wide-screen mode. Should only be two beamshots wide, making it easier to scroll down.


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## Sharpy_swe (Jul 23, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Many :thanks:


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## king2penn (Jul 24, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Great comparison of all the latest lights!lovecpf


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## Geoffrey (Jul 24, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Thank you for your hard work.

Your reviews are most appreciated and I always look for your review before buying a light. 

Thanks for these outdoor pictures.


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## selfbuilt (Jul 24, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Glad you are enjoying them everyone. 

I've tried to find what I think are reasonable exposure settings for the "heavy guns" (i.e. not over-exposed, which tends to wash out the hotspots at a distance). This doesn't lend itself well to the general purpose lights, but I figured its really the throwers than people wanted to distinguish between.

But of course, all of this depends heavily on your monitor setup - on my color- and contrast-calibrated desktop monitor, everything comes out darker than I would like. But on the default settings of most commercial monitors and laptops, I find these should look roughly as I intended.

It was a fun project - although Mrs Selfbuilt spent the evening waiting for a call from the cops, expecting me to be picked up as a suspicious character in the woods ("bring ID" were here last words to me out the door :laughing. Of course, I figured any LEOs I did happen across would be more interested in playing with the lights ... 

I'll definitely do this again before the end of the summer, once a few more heavy hitters land on my desk (e.g. Sunway M40A, shipping 4Sevens G5 Maelstrom, Olight SR91, Olight M20-R5, etc.). And of course, I'll the add the XP-G R5 ones I forgot this time around (e.g. Eagletac T20C2-II, Fenix Tk12).


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## HeyGuysWatchThis (Jul 25, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Do you have the tele-force kit for the D-mini? I'd love to see that setup. Wait, you have the the SST-50 version, don't you. They're probably not compatible, huh?


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## brightnorm (Jul 25, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Selfbuilt,

I've always felt that your reviews set a unique standard and constitute one of the most valuable resources on CPF. My one reservation was the lack of long-throw beam shots. Despite your explanation of the challenge to obtaining truly "objective" comparisons, your inclusion of these shots is tremendously valuable and has removed my only "criticism". 

Trekking to that special beam-shot location is probably inconvenient but I would encourage you to continue doing it; it makes your already marvelous reviews complete.

Assuming that manufacturers don't pay for your batteries I have just made a modest contribution to the Selbuilt "Energy fund"

(BTW, you have the Catapult V2 with its single SST50 listed under Multi-emitters.)

Keep up the great work!

Brightnorm


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## specimen (Jul 26, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

This is the one I wait for.

The real life using.

It make me easily choose the most suitable for myself.


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## recDNA (Jul 27, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

SR90 vs SR91 would be great.


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## kdaq (Jul 28, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



HeyGuysWatchThis said:


> Do you have the tele-force kit for the D-mini? I'd love to see that setup. Wait, you have the the SST-50 version, don't you. They're probably not compatible, huh?


D-mini VX Teleforce is not compatible with the SST-50, but Turboforce is


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## selfbuilt (Jul 28, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*



HeyGuysWatchThis said:


> Do you have the tele-force kit for the D-mini? I'd love to see that setup.





kdaq said:


> D-mini VX Teleforce is not compatible with the SST-50, but Turboforce is


Sorry, don't have either. I can only test what I've got ... but there's always more on the way ... 



recDNA said:


> SR90 vs SR91 would be great.


... and that is one of them.  Not sure on an ETA, but I should have it for the next batch of beamshots. 



brightnorm said:


> Assuming that manufacturers don't pay for your batteries I have just made a modest contribution to the Selbuilt "Energy fund"


:thanks: Appreciate the support. While Battery Junction does currently supply my primary CR123As, I'm on the hook for everything else.



specimen said:


> It make me easily choose the most suitable for myself.


Glad it helps ... although I would re-iterate that its only one set of lighting conditions. I recommend you check out other beamshots (and reviews) to make a fully informed decision.


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## recDNA (Jul 29, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

I'd love to see a Tactical HID smooth 26 watt and a Stanley HID.


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## 07gttom (Jul 29, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

make sure when you do the review on the sr91 you get some beam shots in the same setting, gonna be another winner


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## run4jc (Aug 1, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

As one who has done a few beam shot tests (but NOTHING as awesome as this one), I know a bit of the effort required. Locating the spot, setting up, hauling your gear out there in darkness, getting the camera settings correct, taking the photos, packing up the gear, editing the photos (making the collages, adding text, etc.) Plus the expense of buying lights or the effort in securing loaner lights.

It can literally take hours.

Wow. Selfbuilt, you set the standard!! Outstanding!

Thank you for all the thought and effort you put into your reviews!

:twothumbs:twothumbs:twothumbs:twothumbs


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## donn_ (Aug 1, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

Great shots! Thanks for the effort. :twothumbs

One of these days I'm going to attemt something similar, over water.

I'm a block and a half away from a town dock at the mouth of a river, with targets ranging from 100 yards to 300 yards. The targets are reflective navigation aids in the river and in the bay.

I always take at least one of my throwers when the dog and I go walking at night, and these reflective buoys are perfect targets. I've just never taken the cam and tripod and other stuff to do it right.

Maybe this fall. I'd have to do it before November, because a lot of the NavAids are taken in for the winter.


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## Golfer2000 (Aug 17, 2010)

*Re: Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010*

another great thread, thank you!


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## selfbuilt (Sep 19, 2010)

Just updated the main thread - added 9 new lights, and re-did another 6 lights for direct comparisons. Here what's new:

_*Second Batch of High-Output or Multi-Emitter – 2x18650 - Lights*_

_I've retaken the Eagletac M2C4 & M2XC4, to allow you to directly compare to the new M3C4 series lights. SUNWAYLED M40A also added, compared to the M40C._























_*Second Batch of Single Emitter – 2xRCR/1x18650 – Lights*_

_I've retaken the Tiablo A9-Q5 & A10 shots, to compare to the new A9-R5 (also added the DBS R2 for comparison). Aspheric head shots included for both A9 versions. I've also retaken the 4Sevens Maelstrom G5 now that the shipping sample has arrived. Other lights added include the Eagletac T20C2-II R5, Fenix TK12._






























*Click on the thumbnails above to open full size images.*

The aspheric shots now show a lot better, and I've corrected that unusually low M2XC4 shot from the first batch (must have been on Hi, not Turbo).

Some animated GIFs will soon find there way into the reviews of those lights ....

Enjoy!


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## MannyDLights (Sep 19, 2010)

Dammit now I have to get a new light, Thanks for the post ..... :naughty:


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## Dioni (Sep 20, 2010)

Selfbuilt's outdoor beamshots?  
Before I open this thread to see it I thought: 'It should be as nice as in his reviews'..... and.. hell yeah, it is! 

Very nice!!!


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## frosty (Sep 20, 2010)

Even more great info. Thanks for all your efforts.


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## selfbuilt (Sep 21, 2010)

Thanks for the support everyone. :grouphug:

Tough to find good evenings to do updates (i.e. when I'm free and it's not raining, too windy, too overcast, full moon, etc. ). 

And as Mrs Selfbuilt likes to remind me, "brind ID" (i.e. in case someone reports me parking at the end of a residential zone and walking off on deserted access roads in the dark carrying a backpack and tripod). :laughing:


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## diver9005 (Sep 22, 2010)

Very nice as usual. Thanks for all of your effort!


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## Toughguy (Sep 23, 2010)

I've learn so much about flashlights from your reviews. Those beamshots are very informative, thank you for all the efforts.


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## Midnight Oil (Sep 24, 2010)

Thanks for the inclusion of the DBS.

Once again, the Maelstrom shows what a well designed reflector can do. Too bad reflector manufacturers don't do the same for D26 reflectors.

Any chance you can procure the Lumapower D-Mini VX with a R2 in a Turbo Force Head (the biggest turbo head)?


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## luis0321 (Sep 25, 2010)

Which one has a farther throw between the rrt-2 and the jetbeam III M?


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## Steve in SoCal (Sep 26, 2010)

Awesome beamshots!!

You need to get an FM Megalennium with a 1909 bulb and see how that looks in comparison.


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## emu124 (Sep 26, 2010)

Nice Pics, thanks!:wave:


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## RandomFlyer (Sep 26, 2010)

Selfbuilt, great review. Thanks again for your efforts. 

Good advice from the Mrs. on the id. Once an inquisitive officer figured out what you are up to, he might soon become more interested in how his flashlight stacked up in the comparison. You might have a "guest" light photo to add to the shots.


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## selfbuilt (Sep 28, 2010)

Midnight Oil said:


> Any chance you can procure the Lumapower D-Mini VX with a R2 in a Turbo Force Head (the biggest turbo head)?


I typically leave it up to manufacturer's to suggest what lights they would to send me for review. So I suppose that would be up to Lumapower.



luis0321 said:


> Which one has a farther throw between the rrt-2 and the jetbeam III M?


You might want to check out the detailed individual reviews I've done of those lights (see my sig for the master review list). But to put it simply, the RRT-2 (R2) will out-throw a Jet-IIIM (R2), due to the deeper focused reflector on the RRT-2.



RandomFlyer said:


> Good advice from the Mrs. on the id. Once an inquisitive officer figured out what you are up to, he might soon become more interested in how his flashlight stacked up in the comparison. You might have a "guest" light photo to add to the shots.


Yeah, I figure if anyone did show up, they'd probably be more interested in comparing the lights than anything else. :laughing:


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## 4D223 (Sep 29, 2010)

Excellent job selfbuilt, your reviews really are the "gold standard" by which we can all view the pros and cons of each torch and now that you have added the outdoor "real world use" beamshots they are even better. Your reveiws are simply superb!:twothumbs:twothumbs
Peter.


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## Oztorchfreak (Sep 30, 2010)

To selfbuilt,


Your outdoor beam comparisons are the most useful that I have ever found. 

Keep up the good job.

The reviews on induividual torches done on CPF are very useful to get the runtimes, specifications and battery configurations.

We need both beamshot comparisons and the individual reviews to make a decision about which torch would suit our needs.

If it was not for your beam shootouts I don't know how I would be able to be able to make a good decision on any future torch purchases.

It is just that your photos are a great tool to show us what the torches would look like in the real world.

They are the icing on the cake for me. :thumbsup: :twothumbs


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## selfbuilt (Oct 1, 2010)

4D223 said:


> Excellent job selfbuilt, your reviews really are the "gold standard" by which we can all view the pros and cons of each torch and now that you have added the outdoor "real world use" beamshots they are even better.





Oztorchfreak said:


> It is just that your photos are a great tool to show us what the torches would look like in the real world.


Thanks for the support guys. 

But I would like to reiterate that these beamshots don't really capture what I see by eye in "the real world". They are really just intended to provide a standardized reference for side-by-side comparisons.

It's not really possible to capture everything with a digital camera, given that it has a lower dynamic range than the human eyeball/nervous system. So I specifically chose camera settings to try and best show off the hotspot differences for a "typical" monitor/graphics card setup. In real life, all the lights were quite serviceable for seeing 100 yards, and most lit up the surrounding side of the road quite well. 

But hopefully these pics give you a "flavor" of how they differ from one another. :wave:


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *AGO* on 11-03-2010 02:18 PM GMT
> 
> Great pic. for comparison
> 
> Thanks





> Written by *B0wz3r* on 11-17-2010 10:00 AM GMT
> 
> Selfbuilt, thank you SO MUCH for this!!! Fantastic work!!!
> 
> ...





> Written by *selfbuilt* on 11-30-2010 08:28 PM GMT
> 
> I've just updated the review with 7 new lights.
> 
> ...





> Written by *Gary123* on 12-20-2010 07:27 AM GMT
> 
> Very very useful. For those of us looking for lights like these, there is really no where else we can see comparisons like this.
> 
> I think Malkoff's Hound Dog should be included in this round up. I am always searching for good throwers and IMO that is one of the best so far. I can loan you mine for picture taking, if you would like.





> Written by *Neo9710* on 12-20-2010 08:37 PM GMT
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

_Written by *selfbuilt* on 12-23-2010 09:04 AM GMT_



Gary123 said:


> I think Malkoff's Hound Dog should be included in this round up. I am always searching for good throwers and IMO that is one of the best so far. I can loan you mine for picture taking, if you would like.


Appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I don't have time to test any loaner lights. I'm just too swamped with all the lights manufacturer's keep sending me (i.e. I have to turn down review requests!). Appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I don't have time to test any loaner lights. I'm just too swamped with all the lights manufacturer's keep sending me (i.e. I have to turn down review requests!).



jstntym said:


> Selfbuilt, I'm new here and have so far limited reading, however, it's probably been discussed before but I have to say, some great photos! If you don't mind me asking, what camera and glass are you shooting with? Amazing work!


All the photos in my reviews are taken with a Canon PowerShot S5 IS (12x zoom, 8 MPixel). It's a couple of years old now, and has been replaced in the market by a few newer versions with better zoom, HD, higher defn, etc (S10, SD20). But it's still a great camera base for its range of manual settings (and image stabilization). All the photos in my reviews are taken with a Canon PowerShot S5 IS (12x zoom, 8 MPixel). It's a couple of years old now, and has been replaced in the market by a few newer versions with better zoom, HD, higher defn, etc (S10, SD20). But it's still a great camera base for its range of manual settings (and image stabilization).

Although to be honest, my older PowerShot A620 (which I used for my early reviews, up to 2008) was better for simple point-and-shoot. The S5 (and S10 that followed it) both have greater issues with noise, chromatic aberrations, color fringing, etc.

FYI, I've got a couple of new "thrower" lights to test, so will be updating this comparison over the holidays.



> Written by *brandocommando* on 01-02-2011 10:24 PM GMT
> 
> Those aspherical lens shots areawesome. I think I have to have one, time to start shopping....again.....  THANKS!


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

_Written by *selfbuilt* on 01-03-2011 12:28 PM GMT_

I've just updated the review with an additional 4 lights. Here are the details:

*High-Output or Multi-Emitter – 2x18650 - Lights:*

_I've added to this class of the round-up the Catapult V2 XM-L (Cree XM-L) and Eagletac M3C4 XM-L (Cree XM-L). Where appropriate, I've re-done some of the other lights to facilitate direct comparisons. Those "streaks" you may notice in the foreground of the beam paths are from a light snowfall that was blowing through the exposures. _















*Single Emitter – 2xRCR – Lights:*

I'm going to re-do these, as the focus was not optimal in a couple of cases. Should have them back up in a few days ...


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

_Written by *selfbuilt* on 01-16-2011 11:50 AM GMT_



186kmps said:


> Thanks Selfbuilt! The quality of your reviews are always great. I hope you know how much we appreciate all the time you put into these reviews.


Always nice to hear. Always nice to hear.  The beamshots do require some extra work, both for actually getting them as well as all the croping/GIFing/etc. - but I know how useful people find the actual photographs. 

I plan to head out in the next few days for some additional shots of new lights, but not sure how it will look (there's a foot or two of snow on the ground now ).


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *EV_007* on 01-22-2011 11:30 AM GMT
> 
> Nicely done. I love these types of reviews.





> Written by *rcantor* on 01-26-2011 02:59 PM GMT
> 
> Thanks, Selfbuilt! These are awesome! It really helps those of us who are new.





> Written by *Mike Painter* on 01-27-2011 11:49 AM GMT
> 
> I'm interested in seeing how the cheaper mas produced lights stand up against the ones you show.
> 
> ...


_Written by *selfbuilt* on 01-27-2011 01:10 PM GMT_

I can only test what I have, but my experience of budget XR-E throwers tells me that there's not likely to be a big different in output or throw of "budget" XM-L lights versus the brand names here. It all comes down to size and shape of the reflector, and how heavily driven the light is. I can only test what I have, but my experience of budget XR-E throwers tells me that there's not likely to be a big different in output or throw of "budget" XM-L lights versus the brand names here. It all comes down to size and shape of the reflector, and how heavily driven the light is. :shrug: The difference in price reflects build quality, circuit features, warranty/service costs, dealer networks, etc. of brand names. Beyond that, I suggest any further discussion of relative cost/value be taken to the Cafe or another appropriate forum.


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *tights24* on 01-27-2011 06:12 PM GMT
> 
> Awesome reviews. I am probably a level below rookie if possible with these types of lights. All I ever knew was that Surefire lights were expensive and the best. After a decent amount of research, I have found that at least the second part of that statement is true....I'm in the market for a light and its main purpose will be for search and rescue. While high power and throw is important per se, I need it to last at a decent level. I understand that the last thing you plan on doing is listening to a request from a new guy, but it sure would be interesting to see the testing you are doing on "med" mode for each of these as well as the "turbo/high" mode I think you are using. Right now the Olight M20S has my attention because it offers a supposed 12 hours at 100+ lumens. That to me is very respectable compared to others. I'm also trying to stay with anything that uses 2 cr123's max. I'm not into the rechargeables and probably never will be really. Again, thanks for the reviews and the time you put into this hobby


_Written by *selfbuilt* on 01-28-2011 08:11 AM GMT_

:welcome:

The performance of lights on Med modes is of course critical, even for throwers. However, Med-level beamshots get quite difficult to compare, since the precise Med level will vary greatly. I suggest you head over to my detailed reviews of any light you see here and are interested in. There, you will find the runtimes and relative outputs on Med-modes, on various batteries (although not always CR123A).


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *tights24* on 01-28-2011 11:46 AM GMT
> 
> 
> 
> ...





> Written by *hoebawt* on 01-28-2011 10:38 PM GMT
> 
> great pics really helpful thanks





> Written by *Riverwind* on 02-03-2011 07:53 PM GMT
> 
> Thank you selfbuilt for the great work of art you're doing with all these pictures and data sheets.
> 
> ...





> Written by *billywilly02341* on 02-06-2011 05:56 PM GMT
> 
> wow that is one powerful flashlight.



_Written by *selfbuilt* on 02-08-2011 07:33 AM GMT_



Riverwind said:


> If you could add the Tk-35 to the Outdoor Beamshots would be fantastic.


Glad you are enjoying the comparisons. I have no immediate plans to test the TK-35. I typically leave it up to manufacturers to suggest and supply lights for review, and I have not been contacted about the TK-35. Glad you are enjoying the comparisons. I have no immediate plans to test the TK-35. I typically leave it up to manufacturers to suggest and supply lights for review, and I have not been contacted about the TK-35.


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *HeyGuysWatchThis* on 02-08-2011 08:09 PM GMT
> 
> 
> 
> ...


_Written by *selfbuilt* on 02-09-2011 07:18 AM GMT_

Yes. As a general rule, I have a hard time saying no Yes. As a general rule, I have a hard time saying no , but I do turn down lights that don't seem to be worth my reviewing time. I also turn down requests for multiple lights in a family (i.e. I ask they just send one or two, not every possible battery configuration). The reviews take a lot of time, and I frequently get swamped with too many samples on hand for testing.


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

> Written by *tre* on 02-09-2011 07:51 AM GMT
> 
> Thanks for the all the updates. I really enjoy the comparisons. I'm sure it takes a lot of work to do these and the reviews. They are all very appreciated.


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## selfbuilt (Mar 11, 2011)

The main review post has been updated with the final review text.

The thread discussions for the last few months have been _fully restored_ from the search engine cache data (thank you tandem!). 

Please carry on!


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## Edog006 (Mar 15, 2011)

Love it. Great work as always. I have an XM-L light and they are impressive LEDs. Amazing color temperature and flawless beam. They are a bit floody, but the massive output is worth it.


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