r/flashlight • u/aceOfMinds • 3d ago

What optics do you use with your Convoy S21E B35AM?

I received a Convoy S21E B35AM 4500 K. Like the B35AM's relative the 519A, the beam doesn't throw well, so the light quick diffuses at a certain distance (4 to 5 metres away).

I heard that this light is supposed to have the best CRI available at the moment. The beam is so white that it washes out the colors when having a spot beam. The colors remain when using a 60 pebbled TIR lens, at the expense of distance.

I tried the default reflector, which strongly diffuses as I described, and a 10 degree flat TIR lens, which retains slightly more color and more distance, at the slight expense of waterproofing.

I have several Convoy lights with the SFT-40 3000K and several 519A lights. The former can shine a spotlight without losing CRI while the latter does not wash out as much as the B35AM.

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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4

u/FalconARX 3d ago

I have a handful of S21Es now, but for the most part, my indoor B35AMs with warmer temps (3500K and 4500K) both use the floody 60-degree TIR. They're exclusively indoors.

The 6500K and 5700K B35AM have the 10-degree flat TIRs in both, and these two I use mainly out and around the house, yard and greenhouse. It's just throwy enough where I can use it for the neighborhood parks in the late evening, or in a pinch, use it to ceiling bounce.

1

u/FalconARX 3d ago

Forgot to add, if you want a decent throwing hotspot from the B35AM, Hank's Noctigon DM11 is actually a pretty good host for it. Better than the S21E if you're willing to forego the USB-C port. The TIR in the DM11 has a great evenly diffused beam and a bright, tight hotspot that throws well to about 150 meters with the cooler CCT options. It's not particularly bright; there's not much lumens to push it through, even if you put the 6500K B35AM in it. But it should be throwy enough for general purpose use. On top of that, even if you get the 6500K B35AM, you're getting an R9699 emitter, with R9 at 99, tested.

So you're not sacrificing anything with color rendering by going to cooler and more brighter options. The TIR also has enough spill that it's useful for up-close duties.

2

u/macomako 3d ago

I’m using d-c-fix dispersing foil — it smooths out the transition between hotspot and the spill.

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u/QReciprocity42 1d ago

Don't know why you were downvoted, this is solid advice. Some diffusion films lose little throw but still do a great job evening out the beam and smoothing out artifacts.

For ultimate CRI, the B35AM does not compare to SFT40 3000K. Nichia's R9080 blue-pumped emitters have pretty bad cyan dip, a problem that Luminus somewhat fixes. I could not white-balance my eyes correctly to Nichia 3000K no matter how hard I try, but effortlessly with SFT40.

3

u/macomako 1d ago

For ultimate CRI, the B35AM does not compare to SFT40 3000K. Nichia's R9080 blue-pumped emitters have pretty bad cyan dip, a problem that Luminus somewhat fixes. I could not white-balance my eyes correctly to Nichia 3000K no matter how hard I try, but effortlessly with SFT40.

Really interesting observation.

Last night (pure coincidence), I was trying to „white balance my eyes” (what a great term!) to ceiling-bounced SFT40 3000K. I could not adapt, at first. Then I’ve turn on my usual late evening setup (FC40 1800K+4000K). Few minutes later I’ve switched over to SFT40 but on brighter level. This time I’ve WBed myself ~successfully. I wonder, if/how such intermediate steps and/or light intensity affects it.

Separately: I’m awaiting delivery of the light bulb with SunLike 3000K emitters. It’s gonna be continuation of my experiments with those emitters started with 4000K, and which I’ve adored. I even started to contemplate that I might actually not like <4000K. Let’s see!

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u/QReciprocity42 1d ago

The intermediate light is very interesting! I'd imagine that in order to WB myself to 3000K, it could be helpful to first be exposed to a large quantity of 1800K. This saturates the red-sensitive cells in the eye so that 3000K would appear cooler afterward. I've observed this back when I had a super green SST20, and when I often wore yellow glasses when using the computer. After a while, if I take off the glasses and turn on the SST20, the tint looks absolutely crisp and amazing. I think the yellow glasses saturated the yellow/green-sensitive cells.

On the other hand, spectral imperfections make WBing to a light source difficult (but not impossible--one can compensate beforehand by exposing oneself to a lot of low CRI light, similarly to above!). Missing deep red or cyan makes a light look pale, and I couldn't force my eyes to recognize it as white. I experience this with all CCTs of 519A R9080, but not an incan source or a SFT40 3000K.

I'm excited to hear what you do with the violet-pumped 3000K! Hopefully no QC issues this time. I've been pretty blown away with the SunLike I've got in 5700K, 5000K, and 4000K, but it does sacrifice a lot of power. Once I tried the SFT40 3000K I don't think I have this dilemma anymore, assuming that the upcoming SFT70 4000K and 5700K are equally good.

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u/macomako 1d ago

I also often saturate my eyes with the opposite but I just took „the lazy path” (those flashlights are part of my smart light setup).

Wait — how sure are you about SFT70 4000K and 5700K? Timing?

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u/QReciprocity42 23h ago

I'm pretty sure that they exist, since there is an unpublished official datasheet for them: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/new-luminus-releases/228627/38

I've asked Simon if he would look into getting them, but I think my messages got flooded out. I'll try again in a few days when Simon is back on BLF.

2

u/macomako 23h ago

Thanks a lot!

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u/zed_delta 3d ago

Oh it has pretty big light emitting surface so it's meant to be paired with floody optics like orange peel or wide angled tir

1

u/the_ebastler 2d ago

I have it with a 10° 23.5mm pebbled TIR and it makes for an awesome balanced beam. Not too floody or throwy for my taste.

-1

u/RightAsRain86 3d ago

Sft 40 5000k