Mine was delivered today after 8 days of the initial order being placed.
I have a comparable flashlight with a smooth reflector to do a side by side test.
the light isn't 1200, it never could be with that LED.
I'd estimate high to be around 400 lumen out the front, and low to be be around 250 out the front.
out the front means after losses from the reflector etc like BHP in engines before transmission losses.(this can be a 20-35% loss for most lights).
The beam is very tight due to the smooth reflector so not ideal for off road as the only light. A bit of scotch tape on the lens may help get rid of the hotspot and add some flood.
having said that ,it would be bloody good as a helmet light to compliment a nice bar mounted light.
£28 delivered is a great price for what is a usable light which is grunty enough to get you through the winter nights.(just don't expect to cook any wild life)
How's the connection between the light unit and battery? mines not the usual snug sleeve and will probably need holding together with a bit of tape for security each ride
it's plenty tight enough not require any modification.
I'll open up the light tomorrow and have a look at the build quality, soldering etc
Defiantly brighter than the "900" I have got and plenty bright enough for my bimble round Cannock chase on a Thursday night.
It will probably appear brighter due to the beam being more concentrated for throw .Unless the beam was a wide and as bright to the edge as the 900?
I would say it's a good bit more than 400-lumen.
I was out last night, and my mate had his 'NiteRider Pro 600'.
The dx 1200 was noticably brighter, i'd estimate it to be around the 800-900 mark.
I was using an old p7 torch on the bars and had the dx 1200 mounted to helmet(blown away I was).
The troutie liberator must be quite something being much more lumens than the new bastid(would like to see it in the flesh).
The troutie liberator must be quite something being much more lumens than the new bastid(would like to see it in the flesh).
It is mate. Just a stunning light.
Took mine out last night to replace the flagging Hope 2 and it is much much better. Plenty enough light when combined with a Chinese torch on the helmet - also running an XML. Ride finished at 10:15 last night and the battery coped an hour and half on full whack.
For the money you can't fault it, but I will reserve judgement for a proper wet night and see if it still holds out then!
Mine just arrived. Slightly annoying that the connectors aren't the same as the original Magic Shine Bastid, but I was prepared for that (post on dealextreme discussion).
Very very tight spot. Can't decide whether it will be a good balance with the old P7 on the bars or not - it might remove all shadows and give me no depth perception. I'll try it over the weekend.
Has anyone tried swapping the reflector with the old p7? Might give a go later on.
Super cheap, but I can't help thinking that I would have been better spending extra for the 4xXPG one.
Alex, looking at my P7 & XML (Smudge not DX unit), the reflector look exactly the same - they have the orange peel type reflectors.
Aren't yours?
I'm tempted to try playing with the lenses though, not becuase I think there an issue with the XML, but just cause I like playing with them & there cheap as chips..
Couple of options:
http://www.mtbl.robs-x.com/page15/page21/rapidcart/index.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300545626206&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
z1ppy...
Great links - thanks!
That selection of lenses will be rather handy....
Cheers
Reflectors....anyone know whether DX sell the orange peel reflectors for the MS and MS clones....I've looked but am probably blind.
see links above
A simple way to diffuse the hotspot is with a bit of this on the lens.
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My XML reflector is definitely shiny and smooth.
dx sku.82510
I haven't got my p7 to hand, but I'll investigate whether it can swap later.
They almost swap over.
The old P7 I've got has a lip around the lens-end which fits over the outside of the casing.
The new XML one doesn't have that lip, so when I put the old orange peel reflector into the new XML, the bezel doesn't screw fully in.
It's enough to test though and I have to say just changing the reflector over makes a HUGE difference to the spread of light. I'd really like to make it a permanent mod.
Thinking that I'll file it down to fit.
I've seen the P7 reflectors available separately at £10, but that seems very steep, does anyone know an alternative?
If you think it's only 400, how can it be brighter than the 900 (I presume P7) when those put out 500-700?
I have two fronts, one for each bike, one came in the exact same box as the ubiqitous magicshine 900 and looks identical in everyway to the macicshine, but it didn't have the magicshine logo on the light or box. Got it about 2 years ago from an ebay seller in HK for about £55 all in. It has been brilliant. No problems with battery (4400 Ah) or light. I got a D bin P7 900L light from torchythebatteryboy, a uk seller on Ebay a few weeks ago that has also been brilliant apart from the charger failing, though the seller sent me a replacement straight away! Still brilliant, in fact has a lovely thumbscrew aluminium bracket which is great (first version has the Lupine like O ring attachment that has been very good). This second light is also sold as a Sub66 Grenade elsewhere on Ebay.
I have a bunch of lights coming to me soon, a mixture of P7's and 3xQ5 (claimed 1200 lumens and 4 x Q5) to sell on ebay. Havent seen these designs elsewhere so hoping to make a few bob and keep one meself.
does anyone know an alternative?
'Sputtering' seems to be popular on that Candle Power Forum place.
'Sputtering' seems to be popular on that Candle Power Forum place.
Looking now...
mines not the usual snug sleeve and will probably need holding together with a bit of tape for security each ride
I thought that initially but if you press the male/female ends together with a bit of force then they click into place and make a solid connection.
I have now tested the 1200 lumen light on my road bike and it is great for on road use. The thrower aspect works very well in this context, for all you roadies out there. For £28 delivered it does a superb job.
thats good to know as I bought one to use on the urban road bits of my commute. Trouts liberator is more than enough for the proper dark bits.
Looks great for the money but not had time for a proper play with it.
Useful links there z1ppy. Might have to get one of those lenses that spreads the beam out wide as the £28 bastid does have a very concentrated hot spot.
I'd be a little worried using it on the road - every time I have a play, and the spot is soo focussed that I end up with a blind spot where I accidentally glanced for a split second.
I'd hate to think that drivers vision would be compromised as they come towards me.
Just tilt it down a bit.
Anyway just had a look at might, nice and bright and the medium looks fine for the road. One question though when its connected to the battery is the red light on the switch always on or does it go out after a bit? Bit of a pain if it needs disconnected at the connectors all the time.
I got my XML last week, really impressed so far. Bit whiter than the p7 with a slightly tighter, more concentrated beam, fair bit more throw. I ran the p7 closer to my wheel and the XML further out, this was the spots were similar in size and brightness.
Cables are different so I chopped up a MS extension and put on the XML and run them off one battery. I'd recommend disconnecting the light every time by the lead otherwise you'll possibly destroy the battery through deep discharge.
Mine's just arrived. I've got a bit of a newbie question i'm afraid: how long should i charge it for?
It doesn't say in the instructions and i remember reading a few horror stories last year about some chargers catching on fire 😯
A few [i]american[/i] horror stories... IIRC 2 maybe 3.. That's an amazing 2 ppl posted on the whole stupid MTBR forum 100page thread saying their charger had gone bad... and that ignore the fact that apple, sony, etc etc have all had issue like this in the past.
Light on charger, should be red when charging, and green when it's finished.
Cheers, z1ppy, that's reassuring. I didn't spot the light on the charger.
Just bodged a diffuser for mine by covering the inside reflector with tinfoil.
Certainly gets rid of the intense hotspot.
Will report back later if it's any good.
Might try that or the scotch tape bodge tonight myself
OK, silly question: _which_ 1200 lumen DX light? Had a quick search and there seem to be a few on there with different emitters.
Pierre there are two main options being talked about on here, either a single XM-L LED unit or a 3 XP-G LED unit, I believe most ppl are talking about the XM-L unit as it cheap.. the dealextreme XP-G is still cheaper than most 'branded' units though.
XM-L wise: You either have the dealextreme [url= http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-assault-crown-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82508 ]version 1[/url] (very very cheap) or a slightly more expensive [url= http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808e-ha-iii-cree-xm-lt60-3-mode-1000-lumen-led-bike-light-set-4x18650-57100 ]version 2[/url], what the differences are, I couldn't say, though reports are starting to suggest the cheaper one is cheap for a reason (quality). Otherwise you can buy an XM-L from the likes of [url= http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/4.html ]Smudge[/url] off here (I did) who at least gives it a more realistic lumen count (there all the same LED, the DX ones aren't any more powerful) or off [url= http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/products/Front-Bike-Light-Magicshine-MJ-808E ]Magicshine UK[/url], both will be delivered quicker than DX ever could and you get UK support.
The 3 XP-G units are available on eBay, magicshine UK or [url= http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-870-waterproof-3-cree-xp-g-4-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-80954 ]dealextreme[/url] & are supposedly a more floody light, again supposedly giving a better overall light (I've not seen one in real life, so can't comment). Though as you can see the price goes up for them, and if your heading that way you may as well go for the [url= http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-872-waterproof-4-cree-xp-g-4-mode-1600-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-80953 ]4 XP-G version[/url] IMO
I've seen XML's on ebay for around £35 from HK. I take it these are just the same generic light from a different seller? Thye look like they have the older style battery which IIRC had some issues with weather proofing?
Yes I imagine so, though calling it generic is not quite right. My unit from Smudge is unlike any of those I've seen on DX or eBay, so they are generic in that they use the same Cree XM-L LED, though the electronic's behind it, charger and battery could be completely different... I waiting to compare mine with the cheap DX one, but will post about it when I know more.
ah, cheers z1ppy, I was looking at torch-shaped lights... some of them are butt-ugly. Lots of very useful pointers, thanks!
****, sorry that a different story again, main pointer DO NOT buy a 3 mode one, get a 4/5 mode one as the medium mode on these is extremely useful to extend the light battery life but still have a usable light for say road & canal work (though the same is true for those 'bike lights' above). The low on the 3 mode version (high/low/flash) is rubbish and is only of use to let ppl know 'your' there. Oh and I found my original P7 torch to be quite heavy on my head and very very difficult to keep steady once your up to speed (lots of vibration on the bars/head).
Just ordered the http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-872-waterproof-4-cree-xp-g-4-mode-1600-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-80953
from Ebay £ 89 delivered from the UK dealer inc free helmet mounting, anyone used one yet???, looks fantastic value for money if its reliable and as bright as it claims !!
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/another-dx-light-option-a-mini-review-and-beamshots ]4 LED XP-G mini review[/url]
Z1ppy.
Here is the pill, board and heat sink.
Heat sinking is effective so the board should be ok on a long full power run.
the good thing about the light is that is las loads of scope to mod in the future when higher bin emitters are available - or driven harder with another board.
[img] 
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[img] 
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Zippy, cheers for the link to the review. Just wondering if my Hope One will be too heavy to be helmet mounted, will have to test it.
****, sorry that a different story again, main pointer DO NOT buy a 3 mode one, get a 4/5 mode one as the medium mode on these is extremely useful to extend the light battery life but still have a usable light for say road & canal work (though the same is true for those 'bike lights' above). The low on the 3 mode version (high/low/flash) is rubbish and is only of use to let ppl know 'your' there. Oh and I found my original P7 torch to be quite heavy on my head and very very difficult to keep steady once your up to speed (lots of vibration on the bars/head).
Fine, good. Alternatively or also get the 6Ah battery pack, then 3 modes is fine. Even on high you'll get 4-5 hours on high.
VCC is not just about battery life, you just need high for traipsing down the road between trails or up the canal, where a decent beam is still required - a medium setting. Also I find it's not polite to swamp the rider in front with a better light than he's using (on steady bits)..
There is another DX one without the assault crown, which seems pointless anyway. The battery pack looks a bit 'unwaterproof' though.
VCC is not just about battery life, you just need high for traipsing down the road between trails or up the canal, where a decent beam is still required - a medium setting. Also I find it's not polite to swamp the rider in front with a better light than he's using (on steady bits)..
I see what you are saying, but anyway my 2 lights are different. My torchythebatteryguy ebay sub66 type light has 5 modes (L M H H-Flashing Strobe) and a 6Ah battery pack . My Magicshine clone has 3 modes (L H and H-Flashing Strobe) and a 4.7Ah pack. I like to ride with either of my lights on pavements and on roads with the high flashing.. which is obnoxious for sure and often gets complaints, but I am not a big lover of my fellow man and so do it anyway.. likely someone will try and slap me one day, but I will be ready... ...and low or high (or medium with the torchy light) on trails and canal paths etc.
I used a combination of parts from the new DX XM-L light and the original bastid to create a pretty good light.
Every-so-slight rattle of the glass so a teeny bit of tape needed, but that's it.
It's a broad flood now of a good brightness. Definitely more light than the p7 and with no hotspot.
I couldn't get 2 working lights out of the combo though, so I may purchase a spare reflector at some point so that I've got a full backup.
So my setup is at the moment.
XML flood on bars.
XPG spot on helmet.
I haven't kept up.
I have two p7 lights. What is brightest this moment in time? Is a single XML brighter?
Fotunately DX are good with returning faulty items.
The 180 day warranty Magicshine give on the batteries and chargers tell you something about the quality.
LOL @ the TBB, s'not like you have any interest in running down DX, is there?
Van cough cough, for the money the XM-L is the brightest you can get cheaply, there are seemingly more powerful 3/4 XP-G light available too, but they start to double/tripe in price compared to the P7/XM-L - though no doubt well worth it (if required).
When twin/tripe XM-L light start appearing, hopefully cheaper, the XP-G will become redundant, IMO of course.
I have a Hope 4 on my bars and a Hope 2 on my Helmet, not the cheapest configuration but they work, don't need to be tampered with and have been faultless for two years until I damaged the connectors. Sent back to hope and returned within a couple of days fixed FOC.
Just don't get this obsession with buying cheap stuff from asia and fiddling with them, it gets nasty when I light fails whilst bombing down through some woods at night I presume, or do we all simply ride canals at night??
I wonder how many people try and make their own cheap tyres, brakes etc???
GM so you paid £300 for the Hope 4 and £175ish for the Hope 2? (aprox, ignoring discounts)
£500(ish) for lights that are no better than a couple of DX torchs for £100?
To some of us that makes no sense, and for the majority you just plug the DX lights in and go - no messing required.
Why is that so difficult is that to understand? 😈
I wonder how many people try and make their own cheap tyres, brakes etc???
People buy cheap tyres and brakes don't they? They change brake pads for better performance. They run tubeless conversions with tubed tyres.
But anyway, if you can buy a cheap light-set and with minimal modification make it work better and more reliably and save several hundred quid in the process, it doesn't seem like such an awful thing to do.
And if you run a two-light combo off road, like most people do, a failed light, expensive or cheap, isn't the end of the world really.
I've got a lab where I can measure these things.
The original DX P7 "900 Lumen" was measured to be ~500.
I've measured the Smudge XML to be ~800 lumen. This is similar to the DX "1200 lumen" light, same LED and a similar drive current.
As said, the beam is very tight, so the Lux (amount of light at the centre of the spot at a fixed distance) is much higher in the single XML lights due to the lens.
torchythebatteryboy - that's a really useful website you have, thanks!
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
chriswilk - MemberI've got a lab where I can measure these things.
chriswick. do you have a integrated sphere ? great toy 🙂
What else have you tested for lux? i've been a flashlight collector for years and i'm interested to know just how far out some of the claims are.
may sound a strange question but I have a 1200 lumen light on the way from DX and was wondering whether if it was used as a light to work by ( either as a head torch or fixed) would this be likely to cause overheating issues and therefore be inadvisable ?
on and on,
yep, got several integrating spheres in the lab.
So far I've only tested lights from Trout and Luminous, plus the Smudge single XML and the original Magicshine.
kaiser, so long as you don't use it on full then it will be fine to work by.
A few months ago I bought my daughter a reading light from Ikea (so she can read while her sister is asleep). It is a single LED, and I think that it is a P7, just with the current turned down a bit.
[b]geordiemick00[/b]
Some of us like hacking/modding things. That's part of the appeal of cheap stuff for me personally. I can buy a few bits and bobs and get hacking. End up with a light that's cheap, reliable, bright and the right spread for my tastes. And I enjoyed doing it.
Oh and as for the canals comment. That's just a cheap and pointless dig. Last week we were halfway across Cut Gate at 9:30pm. Similar stuff most weeks (although often closer to home/pub).
Sure some people's Magic Shine / DX lights fail, but then I've been riding with people when their Exposure/Hope lights fail too. Between the group of us, we've always got plenty of spare lights (because many of us run dual light setups) for when stuff like that happens. Crashes happen, bike stuff breaks. We also carry spare innertubes, mech hangers, chain links, etc, etc.
does using a matt tape to diffuse the hotspot not lose some of the overall brightness ? Also ...what's the best way to do it ..cover the whole glass ... or just a small central strip ? Or is there a better way?
thanks
Bill
Or is there a better way?
I bought the fleabay modded front glass which widens the beam
not tested out and about but looks good, arrived superquick as well
Bigndaft is that the one from the states ..single or triple pack ?
please report with conclusions!
kaiser - my experience with tape was that it was useless.
It didn't diffuse as far as I could tell, just dim. So I tried putting a bit in the middle to reduce the hot spot, but it just gave me an overall less bright light.
Talking of modding, does anyone know what's the maximum [i]voltage[/i] that the drivers in these lamp units will take?
big_n_daft - MemberI bought the fleabay modded front glass which widens the beam
Very interest in how it performs & which one you bought?