# Niteye MS Series (mock-up test samples) Review



## candle lamp (Aug 18, 2012)

According to Greta, my original review of Niteye MS Series was lost because the database had to be restored from a backup. :shrug: 
I'm sorry to have lost the original review, and too sorry to have same experience before. :thinking:

So I had to rewrite the review tracing back in memory, but couldn't recover your replies or thoughts for the review samples in spite of my googling the restored data. (They have already disappeared. Maybe gone with the wind.) Anyway, I post Niteye MS series review again as follows  :


The prototype Niteye MS series were lent for review by C&P Corporation. Please note that these MS series for review are, properly speaking, *mock-up test samples *rather than prototype. The most distinctive aspect of the MS series is the tailcap control switch interface (i.e., magnetic control ring & PD switch). This review will briefly look at all members of the Niteye MS series - MSC10 (1xCR123A), MSA10 (1xAA), MSC20 (2xCR123A or 1x18650), and MSA20 (2xAA). I will show you the general overview for the rest except MSA20 (2xAA), as all lights have a number of things in common. 

*Manufacturer Specification* from C&P Corporation website :
*






*I received the lights only without a packing case, manual, accessories, and so on. So I have no idea what final packaging and physical appearance of the MS series will look like.
.
.
*




















*The anodizing which seems hard(type III) is a matte black. There is no label on the light body, due to the test sample. The knurling is present over most of the battery tube except two sleeky flat sides. The tailcap is covered by a band of knurling. Note that only MSC10 has no sleeky flat sides and it is just pure cylindrical design concept.
The stainless steel clip-on pocket clip is basic, but seems to hold on well. The clip is tail-facing, and not reversible for MSC10 only. But the clip is head-facing, and reversible for other members. All clips seems to be sturdy and good quality. 
.
.
*





*From left to right : Surefire CR123A, Eneloop AA, VicLite 18650 (2600mAh), MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20. (You will see the rest of the review in the same order as above.)
.
.*









*.
.
*





*The light has 3 parts (i.e. head, battery tube, and tailcap). 
The stainless steel clip works as a good anti-roll device as well. As you can see, the MS series are among the most cylindrical of all the lights, The head & tail diameters are same, and the battery tube is only slightly thinner. Note that the heads, tailcaps and battery tubes are physically interchangeable among the four models. But I don't know which models use a same circuit from the rest. 
.
.*




















*The light has a flat and somewhat deep stainless steel bezel. There are three thin & deep cooling fins for heat dissipation on the head. The positive battery contact has a circular raised lip (or bump) which works as a mechanical (or physical) reverse polarity protection. But the SMC20 has no circular raised lip. - It probably seems to have a reverse polarity protection in its circuit. The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it.
The aluminum reflectors have a medium orange peel pattern, and are identical for all four members. They are well polished with no noticeable finishing flaws, and well-centered XM-L U2 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cut. 
.
.*










*Knurling on the battery tube is not aggressive, so overall grip is not reasonably good (i.e., less aggressive than most). 
.
.*





*- View from the head 
*





*- View from the tailcap

The MSC10 has the most thickest wall of the battery tube, but the MSC20 is just the opposite. Battery tube of the SMC20 is wide enough to accommodate protected cells (i.e., it can take my wide & long high-capacity protected 18650 cells), and works fine.
.
.*





*Both front and back threads on the battery tube is symmetric, and look like trapezoidal-cut but nearly square-cut. Tail threads are anodized at the battery tube and tailcap region, allowing for tailcap lock-out. They are smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking on my samples.
.
.*

























*The most distinctive part of MS series is the tailcap. It appears to be a bit similar to the Thrunite Scorpion V1, but the exterior views & the interface are not identical to those of the Scorpion V1. Tailcap exterior is composed of two parts - a black part (knurled region) and a grey magnetic control ring & PD switch which is recessed within the tail end. The magnetic control ring has a good feel to turn, and the PD switch has very short travel with moderate tension. It seems that the PD switch is not mechanical but electronic switch. The total traverse of the control ring is around 1/2.57 circumference (i.e. 140 degrees) of the light. There is a battery power indicator on the PD switch which shows the current battery state. If the battery power is sufficient, the LED turns green. The red LED means you need recharge or change the batteries. (Note the battery power indicator turns green or red when the PD switch is "Off" position only.)
.
.*















*The clip has no grip ring bundled with light. The clip is just the same in MSA10, MSC20, MSA20 except MSC10.
.
.*










*The clip is reversible for MSA10, MSC20, and MSA20 except MSC10. (i.e., it can be positioned for bezel-up or bezel-down carry. But with this kind of the clip, there is a risk the light might catch on something and be pulled off.) All lights can tailstand stably. The *overall build quality *seems very high.
.
.*





*From left to right : Panasonic CR123A, Eagletac D25C, Sunwayman M11R, Niteye MSC10, Thrunite 1C.
.
.*





*From left to right : Eneloop AA, 4Sevens Quark AA, Fenix LD10, Niteye MSA10, Thrunite 1A.
.
.*





*From left to right : VicLite 18650, Xeno S3A, Eagletac D25LC2, Niteye MSC20, Spark SL6S-740NW.
.
.*





*From left to right : Eneloop AA, 4Sevens Quark 2AA, Olight T25, Niteye MSA20, Fenix E21.
.
.
*Measured dimension & weight**





*.
.
*




*.
.
*





*You may use both your thumb and forefinger on either side of the control ring while holding the rest of the light with other fingers & palm to adjust the control ring. The gripability & twisting the control ring are reasonably good.
*.
*.
*User Interface

*On-Off & ramping are controlled by the PD switch – press and release to turn the light on or activate each output level. Turn the light off by pressing and releasing the PD switch again.
Mode switching is controlled by the magnetic control ring.

The control ring has 4 mode positions (or 4 detents). i.e., there are [Strobe] - [Off] - [Preset] - [High], arranged clockwise. 
*[*_Correction 08.19.12_*]* [Off] ---> [Firefly] *[*_Correction 08.19.12_*]* 
The Preset mode is a memorized custom output level, selected by the user. This mode has memory, and retains the last setting used. If you press and hold the PD switch when the control ring is at Preset position, the light will ramp up from the current set level to high. (Note the light does not ramp back down to low. It just stays at high level.) If you release, press and hold the PD switch again, the light will ramp back down to low. Also the light stays at low level. This ramping up or down continues until you let go of the PD switch, at which point the current output level is set and memorized unless you do start a new ramp. 

*





*My MS samples all suffer from a brief "pre-flash" of momentary higher output when making initial contact of the battery with the tailcap and a second pre-flash when loosening the tailcap. It's not severe, but may be annoying for some users. I think this per-flash is not mostly unrelated to the PD switch.
.
.*





*Ramping time is just 4 seconds for each ramping up or down, and all samples are the same. The low output level of the ramp is brighter than firefly as expected.
The ramping time is too quick to select the output level, so I'd like to suggest Niteye to increase the ramping time to 8~12 seconds on the production version. 
.
.
*Standby Current Drain
**
*Due to the magnetic control ring interface, the MSA20 is drawing a small current when the light is fully connected. I measured this current as 0.33mA. Since the cells are arranged in 2S, for 2xEneloop AA (2000mAh) cells, that would translate into around 8 months before they would be fully drained. This is not bad, not a concern. But I would recommend you to store the light locked-out when not in use. 
.
.
*PWM
**





*I can see flickering at the rest except Firefly & High output, but can't see it visually in practical use. I notice that there is no buzzing sound on any ouput levels. 
.
.
*Runtime

**





*I think the performance on 2xAA Eneloop seems good and reasonable as I expected. The runtime for 50% output of high & med. is appr. 90 mins and 172 mins respectively in my test. The runtime for 10% output of high & med. is appr. 92 mins and 179 mins respectively. 
.
.
*Beamshot* 
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the door)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/100sec, Auto white balance 






- High
.
.*





*- Low
.
.
*




*.
.
2. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/2sec, Auto white balance 

*




*- High
.
.
*





*- Low
.
.
*




*.
.
3. Firefly beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/3sec, Auto white balance 
*





*It doesn't seem like a firefly mode, looks like very low to my eye.


----------



## cyclesport (Aug 18, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

I guess all of the comments made after you originally posted this excellent review were lost with the lastest CPF site crash, candle lamp. Too bad since I was really interested in seeing what others were saying about this series of new lights. So I'll say again that it's too bad the PWM is present, but it seems like it may be a high enough frequency and hopefully won't be too bad in actual use, and probably has to be utilized instead of CC due to the sophisticated UI. I also agree that the ramping up/down time of 4sec seems too short...maybe the production versions will be longer allowing more precise setting of the preset mode. I *really* like that the red/green light in the tailcap tells you if the battery is low and could presumably be used as a locator beacon in the dark...if it remains lit the _entire time_ while off, and doesn't go out several seconds after indicating battery status?

All in all, I really like this new series of Niteye lights and cool UI and would probably buy the AA version and maybe the 18650 light if (A) it doesn't drain batteries too fast with such a unique UI and (B) the pre-flash is _ONLY_ when changing cells, and not arbitrary as some lights are. Niteye is really introducing a plethora of interesting new production lights lately, _design rip-offs not withstanding_.


----------



## candle lamp (Aug 19, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Thanks for your detailed comments. cyclesport!


----------



## dirtech (Aug 21, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Any idea how easy an emitter swap would be?


----------



## candle lamp (Aug 22, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

I don't know what emitter you want to swap for, it seems you can do it by opening the bezel ring & circuit in the head without great difficulty.

However, I'm not sure if the emitter-swap is available for a shipping version.




dirtech said:


> Any idea how easy an emitter swap would be?


----------



## cyclesport (Aug 22, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

candle lamp: Does the red/green indicator light in the tailcap remain ON the _entire time_ after the light is turned off? I'm trying to determine if this could also act as a locating beacon in the dark.


----------



## dirtech (Aug 22, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

I was thinking along the lines of a DIY swap. Thanks for the review, interesting light. I would like to see two presets and the strobe ditched.



candle lamp said:


> I don't know what emitter you want to swap for, it seems you can do it by opening the bezel ring & circuit in the head without great difficulty.
> 
> However, I'm not sure if the emitter-swap is available for a shipping version.


----------



## candle lamp (Aug 22, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Oops! I forgot to write a comment on your #2 reply. Sorry for that! 
Exactly, the power indicator remains on after the light is turned off.



cyclesport said:


> candle lamp: Does the red/green indicator light in the tailcap remain ON the _entire time_ after the light is turned off? I'm trying to determine if this could also act as a locating beacon in the dark.


----------



## cyclesport (Aug 27, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

candle lamp: Not sure who your source for the reviewed Niteye MSA, MSC "mock-ups" _C & P Corp_. is, but did they give you any info regarding...

If they have been green-lighted for production?
If so, when is the estimated release date to dealers...U.S., China or anywhere?

I know they're just mock-ups at this point, but they look close to production ready and I can find no other information about these lights anywhere. Am hoping they'll be available for purchase soon?


----------



## candle lamp (Aug 28, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



cyclesport said:


> candle lamp: Not sure who your source for the reviewed Niteye MSA, MSC "mock-ups" _C & P Corp_. is, but did they give you any info regarding...
> 
> If they have been green-lighted for production?
> If so, when is the estimated release date to dealers...U.S., China or anywhere?
> ...



The dealer has told me the production version will be released in the near future and will let me know the approximate date soon.


----------



## Erzengel (Aug 28, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

German FlashLightShop announced them for September 7.


----------



## cyclesport (Aug 28, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



Erzengel said:


> German FlashLightShop announced them for September 7.



That's great news...thanks for the update Erzengel!


----------



## Bwolcott (Sep 4, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

I believe the specs on the single AA version is supposed to be 160 lumens


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 4, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



Bwolcott said:


> I believe the specs on the single AA version is supposed to be 160 lumens



Too bad...260 lumens (and the UI) had a lot to do with my interest in buying the MSA10. 260 lumens seemed too unrealistic when I first saw the review, but since Niteye has yet to show this series on their website I couldn't confirm. Where did you hear this?


----------



## hakyru (Sep 7, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Great review :thumbsup:
My compliments.

A question please:
You can lock the firefly mode on the MSC10?

On my MSC10 only works for a few seconds 
I have not found any information about this,not even in the user manual.

Thank You for your answer.


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 7, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



hakyru said:


> Great review :thumbsup:
> My compliments.
> 
> A question please:
> ...



Hi hakyru...

You apparently already own a Niteye MS series light. I presume you bought it from a European or perhaps China based dealer? May I ask where you bought it, and how long you've had it? 

Iv'e been waiting for US or global dealers selling to US markets to start showing stock on this series of lights, but have found none selling this light yet, nor does it even exist it on Niteye's website?

Any information would be appreciated...Thanks!


----------



## hakyru (Sep 8, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



cyclesport said:


> Hi hakyru...
> 
> You apparently already own a Niteye MS series light. I presume you bought it from a European or perhaps China based dealer? May I ask where you bought it, and how long you've had it?
> 
> ...



Hi

I bought the MSC10 in Italy and I was delivered 24 hours ago.
Now also in germany there is some seller which has some available.
This series of Niteye has arrived without warning, was a big surprise for me.
I do not even understand why in the Niteye site is not available any information about this series.


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 8, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



hakyru said:


> Hi
> 
> I bought the MSC10 in Italy and I was delivered 24 hours ago.
> Now also in germany there is some seller which has some available.
> ...



Thanks for the info! Yeah...I'm thinking that the lack of data and spotty release of this product line may have something to do with JetBeam/Niteye's recent legal problems? Anyway, I'm sure I'll see them for sale at US dealers soon...thanks again.


----------



## candle lamp (Sep 8, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



hakyru said:


> Great review :thumbsup:
> My compliments.
> 
> A question please:
> ...



Thanks. hakyru! 

I was told MS series were stocked in local dealer's shop.
I know the production version is different from the test version in UI. The dealer says it seems there is no firefly mode on the production version.
I will check how MSC10 works, and let you know on next Monday.


----------



## hakyru (Sep 8, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



candle lamp said:


> Thanks. hakyru!
> 
> I was told MS series were stocked in local dealer's shop.
> I know the production version is different from the test version in UI. The dealer says it seems there is no firefly mode on the production version.
> I will check how MSC10 works, and let you know on next Monday.



Thank You for your answer :thumbsup:

It would have been useful to have the firefly mode on this light.

Thanks again


----------



## candle lamp (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



hakyru said:


> Thank You for your answer :thumbsup:
> 
> It would have been useful to have the firefly mode on this light.
> 
> Thanks again



Thanks hakyru! 

I agree with everything you said. The firefly mode is quite a useful output, but there is no firefly on MS series production version. :shrug:
It seems the manufacturer initially didn't plan to make firefly mode available to the lights.

As you mentioned above, MSC10 works about 2~3 seconds when the control ring is at Off position (i.e., XM-L U2 emittet on the head & battery indicator on the tailcap work just few seconds when you turn the light off by using the control ring). So "*Firefly*" should be modified to "*Off*" in UI of my above review.


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



candle lamp said:


> Thanks hakyru!
> 
> I agree with everything you said. The firefly mode is quite a useful output, but there is no firefly on MS series production version. :shrug:
> It seems the manufacturer initially didn't plan to make firefly mode available to the lights.
> ...



I'm confused candle lamp...in the last picture in your review, you show the head & emitter captioned: _"It doesn't seem like a firefly mode, looks like very low to my eye"._

Yet in post #21 you seem to be refering the the emitter/led that shows battery status as the firefly mode? Are you stating that the battery status light goes off after turning the light off...or do you mean there is no true sub-lumen low capable at the head eg (moonlight mode)?...or both?

In post #8 you replied that the indicator light remained on after the light is turned off (and could be used as a locator beacon), but as I now understand it, the production version does not? Is this correct?


----------



## candle lamp (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

_



It doesn't seem like a firefly mode, looks like very low to my eye".

Click to expand...

_It means a firefly mode is not a real firefly but lower low mode to me in brightness. 



> Yet in post #21 you seem to be refering the the emitter/led that shows battery status as the firefly mode? Are you stating that the battery status light goes off after turning the light off...or do you mean there is no true sub-lumen low capable at the head eg (moonlight mode)?...or both?



When turning the light off, LED on the head & battery indicator on the tailcap are turned on at the same time, but go off in 2 seconds at the same time. 
(There is very low lumen at the head for 2 seconds only. Also battery indicator has very low brightenss at the tailcap for 2 seconds.) 



> In post #8 you replied that the indicator light remained on after the light is turned off (and could be used as a locator beacon), but as I now understand it, the production version does not? Is this correct?



Yes, that's correct. The indicator light doesn't remian on the production version. (It does remain for 2 seconds.)


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



candle lamp said:


> It means a firefly mode is not a real firefly but lower low mode to me in brightness.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks.


----------



## Glenn7 (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Goinggear


----------



## cyclesport (Sep 10, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



Glenn7 said:


> Goinggear



Thanks for the heads-up Glenn7...I too noticed they were now @ GG. 

My interest has faded however since I've discovered that the red/green battery status indicator on the PD switch goes out (wanted to use as a locater beacon), and the 1XAA MSC10's max output dropped 100 lumens in the production lights, contrary to what was posted in the reviewed (pre-production/mock-up) tested lights.


----------



## Glenn7 (Sep 11, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

Yes it would have been good to have lights in the rear for a locator but that's what trits are for no battery drain :thumbsup: 
I like the magnetic ring on the end as in the past any magnetic ring lights I've had are enjoying to have to click tailcap button to turn on (over hand or two handed) then change hand position to control the output and take 10% cpf discount off makes it a good deal.


----------



## rickypanecatyl (Sep 20, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



dirtech said:


> I would like to see two presets and the strobe ditched.



Candle lamp,

Great review - Thank you!

+1 on ditching the strobe and adding another preset mode. I don't like nay-saying lights that weren't made for me, but this one was so close to what I was looking for I wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

From the Thrunite scorpion I've really come to love control rings on the tail - hold it with one hand and flip the ring with your thumb for some of the fastest, simplest and POTENTIALLY logical /intuitive mode changes.

However like the Thrunite this seems to place the strobe in an illogical place where it can easily be accidentally stumbled upon like a land mine while trying to keep your night vision.

With control ring lights like the TN31 and scorpion it really is hard to NOT accidentally hit the strobe mode while carefully turning on the light in the dark and TRYING/HOPING you are in the lowest mode. 

Firefly/Low Preset/Mid Preset/Turbo seems so logical compared to Firefly/"Obnoxious useless strobe"/Low/Turbo...


----------



## candle lamp (Sep 21, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



rickypanecatyl said:


> With control ring lights like the TN31 and scorpion it really is hard to NOT accidentally hit the strobe mode while carefully turning on the light in the dark and TRYING/HOPING you are in the lowest mode.
> 
> Firefly/Low Preset/Mid Preset/Turbo seems so logical compared to Firefly/"Obnoxious useless strobe"/Low/Turbo...



Strobe may have an advantage for those who need it. Personally, I rarely use that mode. 

I think the light can hit the unwanted strobe mode as you said, because all modes are controlled by the control ring on the production version.
The light has no firefly mode any longer on the shipping version. i.e., there are [Strobe] - *[ Off ]* - [Preset] - [High], arranged clockwise.
The PD switch is now a secondary switch for turning off Strobe or Preset or High. It's still used for preset ramping up-down.

Note that the production version's preset output is low to high, but the "preset high" is not the same brightness as [High]. See below.







So the preset output is useful to those who need the lower output than High mode.


----------



## Danielsan (Oct 1, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*

thats a shame that the indicator light is not alwayws on, i would have bought it since i dont buy trit, dont trust them and they are also on the dimmer side. When you have a power out then a trit wont help you much, only if you stay right in front of it, a blinking LED is much better visible to locate the flashlight in the dark like the nitecore explorer series.


----------



## candle lamp (Oct 2, 2012)

*Re: Niteye MS Series (MSC10, MSA10, MSC20, MSA20) Review*



Danielsan said:


> thats a shame that the indicator light is not alwayws on, i would have bought it since i dont buy trit, dont trust them and they are also on the dimmer side. When you have a power out then a trit wont help you much, only if you stay right in front of it, a blinking LED is much better visible to locate the flashlight in the dark like the nitecore explorer series.



Agreed! Let's hope they release the next version has the indicator is always on or blink.


----------



## New-XMLight (Jun 30, 2013)

I didn't understand the indicator function in total...

Please correct me if i am wrong:
- no indication: control ring and also button are off
- indication: control ring off and button on
- no indication: control ring and also button are on

Is this correct?


----------



## candle lamp (Jul 1, 2013)

New-XMLight said:


> I didn't understand the indicator function in total...
> 
> Please correct me if i am wrong:
> - no indication: control ring and also button are off
> ...



The indicator shows constant green for about 9~10 seconds and will be turned off, only when the control ring is switched to "Off" position from "the other postions (i.e., Strobe or user defined mode or High)".

Welcome to CPF! New-XMLight. :welcome:


----------



## New-XMLight (Jul 1, 2013)

Thank's a lot.

Today i received my MSC20 and the 18650 Enerpower Black 2600mAh.

 The batteries are too fat. I had to stuff it into the casing...

Then i removed the plastic sticker and this helped. Now it could be pushed out back by shaking.
I will post somes pictures here or in an own thread later on.

greetz


----------

