New CPF Member

[XPLRN]

What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
Thanks very much!

To be honest with you I don't do the ceiling bounce/try to hurt My eyes with the HID's........I already have enough eye "challenged"-ness without wiping out more rods and cones!!

There is a plan formulating with My friend Paul/Patriot36 to go out on one of the darkest upcoming weekends and get some definitive beamshots with markers to provide distance reference numbers in the pictures. Hopefully that will answer some of ours and your questions. We'll have some "big dogs"....all the previously mentioned HID's, the Maxabeam and some Polarions. The goal is to get some quantitative distance numbers with pictures to support the findings.

 

[BlueBeam22]

To be honest with you I don't do the ceiling bounce/try to hurt My eyes with the HID's........I already have enough eye "challenged"-ness without wiping out more rods and cones!!

There is a plan formulating with My friend Paul/Patriot36 to go out on one of the darkest upcoming weekends and get some definitive beamshots with markers to provide distance reference numbers in the pictures. Hopefully that will answer some of ours and your questions. We'll have some "big dogs"....all the previously mentioned HID's, the Maxabeam and some Polarions. The goal is to get some quantitative distance numbers with pictures to support the findings.

Thanks for your quick reply!:thumbsup:
Great plan to go and do a shoot-out with the HIDs! I will be interested to know how the POB HID does against the Maxabeam and Polarions

Does your HF HID feel much heavier than your POB HID when you pick them up? Which is your favorite out of all your lights and why?

 

[XPLRN]

The HF does feel notably heavier and much bulkier than the POB. It's a fun/inexpensive throw toy and that's about it. It's not a first response tool when I hear the barking dogs in the middle of the night that are fighting outside My neighbors fence. Dang incompetent people that do not keep their animals restrained!!! Anyways the POB has broken up numerous fights in the middle of the night and I've "chased" them with the light out into the field at least a 1/4 mile away. With the exception of the on-off switch the ergos on the POB are quite good........nice balance and easy to carry(as easy as that big of a light can be) and A LOT of light output/throw !!

Also you can NOT beat the price.......if you were able to score them for under $20!! I did and gifted the neighbors with POB's to use against the roaming dogs. We have a hill about a mile and 1/4 away that I hike and take My dogs on walks to. I've carried my POB up there and we were shining the lights back and forth from the hill to the neighbors houses. Up on the hill where it is truly dark there was enough light from the POB a mile and 1/4 away that I could have continued hiking up to the top of the hill from the trail where I was standing. It was truly amazing.........also when I was down at My place and the neighbors 4x4'ed up to the top of the hill and shined their light(s) down where I was standing at the neighbors the POB's were casting a shadow behind me and lighting up the field behind us.

Since you ask about My light preferences.......around the house or in a vehicle the POB is the best bang for the buck. For ease of carry, runtime, throw/fill and not having to worry about trashing an expensive light if you fall while out hiking a rocky trail at night My M@g with a Malkoff LED drop-in is probably My favorite light. For a general purpose easy to carry light with a lot of features at an inexpensive price I like the Olight T20-Q5. It carries real easy and is more than adaquate for lower light needs.........plus the strobe is really a nice feature.....IMHO.

Thanks for your quick reply!:thumbsup:
Great plan to go and do a shoot-out with the HIDs! I will be interested to know how the POB HID does against the Maxabeam and Polarions

Does your HF HID feel much heavier than your POB HID when you pick them up? Which is your favorite out of all your lights and why?

 

[BlueBeam22]

The HF does feel notably heavier and much bulkier than the POB. It's a fun/inexpensive throw toy and that's about it. It's not a first response tool when I hear the barking dogs in the middle of the night that are fighting outside My neighbors fence. Dang incompetent people that do not keep their animals restrained!!! Anyways the POB has broken up numerous fights in the middle of the night and I've "chased" them with the light out into the field at least a 1/4 mile away. With the exception of the on-off switch the ergos on the POB are quite good........nice balance and easy to carry(as easy as that big of a light can be) and A LOT of light output/throw !!

Also you can NOT beat the price.......if you were able to score them for under $20!! I did and gifted the neighbors with POB's to use against the roaming dogs. We have a hill about a mile and 1/4 away that I hike and take My dogs on walks to. I've carried my POB up there and we were shining the lights back and forth from the hill to the neighbors houses. Up on the hill where it is truly dark there was enough light from the POB a mile and 1/4 away that I could have continued hiking up to the top of the hill from the trail where I was standing. It was truly amazing.........also when I was down at My place and the neighbors 4x4'ed up to the top of the hill and shined their light(s) down where I was standing at the neighbors the POB's were casting a shadow behind me and lighting up the field behind us.

Since you ask about My light preferences.......around the house or in a vehicle the POB is the best bang for the buck. For ease of carry, runtime, throw/fill and not having to worry about trashing an expensive light if you fall while out hiking a rocky trail at night My M@g with a Malkoff LED drop-in is probably My favorite light. For a general purpose easy to carry light with a lot of features at an inexpensive price I like the Olight T20-Q5. It carries real easy and is more than adaquate for lower light needs.........plus the strobe is really a nice feature.....IMHO.

The POB HID really is a useful light, I put mine on my driveway and had it ON pointing up into the sky, and when I walked out into the street I could see the giant bright blue beam going all the way up into the clouds and illuminating them! My Thor 15mcp is to me what your HF HID is to you; IMO it is brighter and throws farther than my POB HID, but because of its enormous size (the same size as your HF HID) it's impractical for most situations. I just play with it when I want an absurdly powerful spotlight to throw for a mile or light up a whole 1/3 mile field at night

 

[Patriot]

What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
Thanks very much!

Blue, there are many questions in this thread but I'll try to zero in on a couple. As you probably already know, the Maxabeam is a short-arc light and isn't a good comparison to HID's. They produce fewer overall lumens than HIDs but throw further. You were wondering about the POB and MB at 1000-2000 yards.....realistically the MB is the only light of the two that will be seen at that distance. The POB isn't even in the same ball park. To give a general answer though, the POB throws about 25% if the distance of the MB.

With regards to the ceiling bounce test the POB might appear brighter because of overall output.


My "15 million cp" Cyclops barely out throws my tightest POB. They're really close actually. The problem with the 15 million cp incans is that they start dimming immediately when turned on. After 5 minutes the POB probably does out throw the Cyclops. The Costco HID beats the Cyclops fairly easily in the throw department too but that's based upon my example lights.


As XPLRN mentioned, we will soon get to compare a few odd ball lights and I'd also like to compare some different POB lights. They don't all throw the same, some are better than others. Maybe I can take a few pics for you tonight.

 

[BlueBeam22]

Thanks Patriot36!

That would be great if you could take a few pictures for me. Since the Maxabeam only outputs 1000 lumens vs. my POB HID at 3500 lumens, how useful is it to to actually identify a far away target being illuminated compared to the the POB HID? My 5mw green laser might out-throw the Maxabeam but in no way is it a better or more useful light.

Thank you!

 

[Patriot]

Thanks Patriot36!

That would be great if you could take a few pictures for me. Since the Maxabeam only outputs 1000 lumens vs. my POB HID at 3500 lumens, how useful is it to to actually identify a far away target being illuminated compared to the the POB HID? My 5mw green laser might out-throw the Maxabeam but in no way is it a better or more useful light.

Thank you!

You're welcome Blue22

XPLRN is the one with the maxabeam so maybe he can take a couple of pics for you. I was going to compare the Cyclops with my best of 3 POBs.

The MB is very useful for id'ing far away targets though! I understand where you are going with the laser example but the difference is that the MB focuses to 1 degree, the POB focuses to maybe 8-10 degrees. So the MB is about 9 times more focused than the POB. When comparing the laser at say.....one minute of angle, it's about 60 times more focused than the MB. The the difference is far greater. At about a 100 yards the MB will focus it's light within about a 60 inch circle...theoretically Compare that to your POB at 100 yards an it gives meaning to the MB's nickname, the light saber!

 

[BlueBeam22]

You're welcome Blue22

XPLRN is the one with the maxabeam so maybe he can take a couple of pics for you. I was going to compare the Cyclops with my best of 3 POBs.

The MB is very useful for id'ing far away targets though! I understand where you are going with the laser example but the difference is that the MB focuses to 1 degree, the POB focuses to maybe 8-10 degrees. So the MB is about 9 times more focused than the POB. When comparing the laser at say.....one minute of angle, it's about 60 times more focused than the MB. The the difference is far greater. At about a 100 yards the MB will focus it's light within about a 60 inch circle...theoretically Compare that to your POB at 100 yards an it gives meaning to the MB's nickname, the light saber!

Thanks for enlightening me about the Maxabeam Patriot36:twothumbs
I have seen some beamshots of the maxabeam, it is like a laser! But I had no context about how far it really throws since it was not being compared to the POB HID. If you shine your Cyclops Thor 15mcp and your Costco HID on the same surface like a ceiling or a wall at the same time, which one has a brighter hotspot? I am wondering because my Thor 15mcp looks brighter than my POB HID.

 

[Patriot]

Thanks for enlightening me about the Maxabeam Patriot36:twothumbs
I have seen some beamshots of the maxabeam, it is like a laser! But I had no context about how far it really throws since it was not being compared to the POB HID. If you shine your Cyclops Thor 15mcp and your Costco HID on the same surface like a ceiling or a wall at the same time, which one has a brighter hotspot? I am wondering because my Thor 15mcp looks brighter than my POB HID.

The Costco is brighter by an easily noticeable amount. It's much more difficult to look at than the 15mcp.

 

[Patriot]

Here is a very brief and unscientific comparison from about 20 feet. The cyclops battery tests well above 13V. Both light's have been collimated to give the best throw.

The Lights:

The beams F4 at 1/40th

F5.6 at 1/500th

F5.6 at 1/1000th

They're not very close to my eye.


P.S. Please let me know if these are displaying larger that 800 x 600. Although they are not oversized in Photobucket, they are on my CPF page, which I haven't run into before.

Thanks.

 

[kavvika]

kavvika,

I just stopped at my Lowe's Hardware and got my 3-cell D bulb for my 4D Maglite. I put the new bulb in and it is at least 2 times brighter than it was before! My 4D Maglite is black, and my 2D Maglite is silver, so I swapped heads and tailcaps of them, so now I have a really neat looking hotwire Mag with a black body and silver ends

I can't wait to try it outside tonight:naughty:

Glad to hear! That mod is a great first step. How'd it perform in the real world? Swap the window retaining bezels and it'll look even better. I bet your next step will be stuffing 3x CR123A's in a 2C Mag running a 5-cell bulb. It's even more impressive, at least until you step up to the 20w or greater hotwire mods.:naughty: All I can say is, the FM 700L ruined my lumen perception for good. Good luck!

 

[BlueBeam22]

Thank you so much for the great pictures Patriot36!
That was so nice of you to do this for me, I really appreciate it!:twothumbs

I could tell the Thor 15mcp and the Costco HID are equally bright:kewlpics:

Your Costco HID is very similar to my Professional's Favorite 17.5 mcp spotlight in size and shape. The 17.5mcp Also has a very similar if not the same beam pattern as the Costco HID.

Your pictures did not look over 800 x 600, they fit well within the page and are wonderful quality.

Thanks again!:wave:

 

[BlueBeam22]

Glad to hear! That mod is a great first step. How'd it perform in the real world? Swap the window retaining bezels and it'll look even better. I bet your next step will be stuffing 3x CR123A's in a 2C Mag running a 5-cell bulb. It's even more impressive, at least until you step up to the 20w or greater hotwire mods.:naughty: All I can say is, the FM 700L ruined my lumen perception for good. Good luck!

Hi kavvika

I was able to light up my whole backyard with my hotwire Maglite when I would twist the head to flood mode:naughty: It throws for about 200 yards, which is quite amazing for a Maglite!

I am going to swap the lens retaining bezel like you said, so it will have a silver head and a black bezel

 

[Patriot]

Thank you so much for the great pictures Patriot36!
I could tell the Thor 15mcp and the Costco HID are equally bright:kewlpics:

You're welcome BB22,

And just to clarify, the Cyclops/Thor 15mcp (Incandescent) is on the left, Costco (HID) on the right.

Do you really think they look equal in brightness though?

To me the Costo is producing quite a bit more overall light and the hotspot is far more intense.

 

[Stereodude]

FWIW, my POB (Sam's) HID is quite a bit brighter and a better thrower than my 10MCP Thor-X.

 

[BlueBeam22]

You're welcome BB22,

And just to clarify, the Cyclops/Thor 15mcp (Incandescent) is on the left, Costco (HID) on the right.

Do you really think they look equal in brightness though?

To me the Costo is producing quite a bit more overall light and the hotspot is far more intense.

I see what you mean now, the Thor 15mcp has a tighter beam, but the Costco HID has a brighter hotspot with a larger spill for a broader area illumination. I plan on getting a Costco HID soon

How does your Costco HID do vs. the Thor 15mcp and the POB HID in a ceiling bounce? My Vector 3mcp beats the POB HID, the 17.5mcp, and the Thor 15mcp in a ceiling bounce test.


Congratulations on your new Polarion PH50! It would easily beat my Vector 3mcp:candle:
If your Polarion PH40 is a 40 watt HID and it puts out 4000 lumens, the same as the Vector, then they would do about the same in a ceiling bounce or lighting up a field except for the Vector being a lower yellowish white color temp around 3800k and your Polarion being more blue white at 4300k.
Thanks!:wave:

 

[LuxLuthor]

What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
Thanks very much!

It is the only light I have that has beam spot clearly visible shining at back fence at high noon on sunny day.

 

[Patriot]

I see what you mean now, the Thor 15mcp has a tighter beam, but the Costco HID has a brighter hotspot with a larger spill for a broader area illumination. I plan on getting a Costco HID soon

How does your Costco HID do vs. the Thor 15mcp and the POB HID in a ceiling bounce? My Vector 3mcp beats the POB HID, the 17.5mcp, and the Thor 15mcp in a ceiling bounce test.


Congratulations on your new Polarion PH50! It would easily beat my Vector 3mcp:candle:
If your Polarion PH40 is a 40 watt HID and it puts out 4000 lumens, the same as the Vector, then they would do about the same in a ceiling bounce or lighting up a field except for the Vector being a lower yellowish white color temp around 3800k and your Polarion being more blue white at 4300k.
Thanks!:wave:

Right Blue! When you look at the brightest point for each light, that's what's producing the throw. As you can see the Costco is still slightly over exposed in the image whereas the 15mcp beam is not over exposed at all.

The Costco and POB are very close in a ceiling bounce, then the 15mcp, then my 3mcp Target Vector.

The 3mcp Vector isn't 4000 lumens though Blue. With battery sag and resistance in that light, it's more like 1600 on a perfect battery and then goes down very quickly from there. For example a run of the mill mag85 (1050 bulb lumens) is a little brighter than the single beam on the Vector. When you fire both bulbs there is even more sag from the SLA battery. You can see how my 1300 bulb lumen mag85 performs in the Polarion PH50 thread. The PH-40 is about 250% brighter than a freshly charged vector in a ceiling bounce test.

I hope that makes some sense. The Beamshots of course show the true story though...

 

[BlueBeam22]

Hello Patriot36,
I just did a ceiling bounce test and a focused candlepower test of my most powerful lights and the results are very interesting. After this test my opinion on how they compare has changed!

NOTE: I shined the lights on my white ceiling to get the results for both of these tests.

From the top down are how the lights performed in the ceiling bounce test:

1st Professional's Favorite 17.mcp
2nd Power On Board HID/Thor 15mcp same brightness
3rd Vector 3mcp
4th Sharper Image 10mcp (10mcp Thor with extra features)

It was quite surprising that the 17.5mcp put out more light than the POB HID and the 15mcp Thor.

What is also interesting is that the 10mcp did the worst in this test because it only has one 100 H4 watt halogen bulb, as all the others have over 100 watts.

Now for the results of the focused candlepower test:

The Thor 15mcp looks the brightest because it has the most focused candlepower in the hotspot. The POB HID and the 17.5mcp appear to have the same intensity hotspots, the 10mcp has a noticeably less intense hotspot than the top 3, and the Vector 3mcp has a very dim hotspot because of its small reflector so it appears very dim when shined at the same time on the same surface as any of the other lights.

Hope you found this interesting!

PS. thanks for enlightening me about the Vector 3mcp, I was mistaken about the output, and now I can tell it's not as bright as I thought it was. I noticed it had the most yellow beam of all, is this because the bulbs are being under driven by the twin 6 volt SLA batteries? The bulbs are sopposed to be "ultra white hiper halogen".

 

[Patriot]

Sure, that's about how mine line up also.

Costco
POB
15mcp Cyclops (very close but a little less light in the room)
Vector 3mcp

(don't have a 10mcp Thor anymore)



I guess I'm not surprised that the "Pro's Favorite put out more light than the POB or 15mcp Thor. If not not mistaken, the Professionals Favorite 17.mcp is a version of the Costco/HarborFreight. Is that correct? I think I've only heard it by "Pro's Favorite" once before a long time ago.

I'd be curious to see some under exposed images of your "Pro's Favorite" vs. your 15mcp light. If the Pro Favorite is what I think it is, I'm surprised that the 15mcp Thor has a brighter hot spot. I would expect it to appear like my pictures above. But yeah, you're there looking at it and I'm not.

Those 3mcp vector bulbs will take a lot more voltage than what two two little SLA's are feeding them. You've probably witness how lighting both bulbs on that light isn't much brighter that only lighting one side. Like you said, they're under driven. When hooked up to a larger capacity battery they do a little bit better but even then they're still underdriven by about a volt. Nickel Metal batteries would change the character of that light a lot.