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CARCLO OPTICS PAGE 2
#10025 : This is the PREMIER optic of the Carclo line, and will pretty much revolutionize the way you think about LED flashlights if you aren't already familiar with its properties. It turns a Luxeon based flashlight into a real "thrower". I'm talking; TACTICAL light here folks. I'm talking; if you are at a concert or a Broadway play, and the key light or the follow spot burns out, you can take over even if you are in the last row.... or even the lobby ;-) This optic is actually a mirror lens like they use in short but powerful astronomical telescopes or compact but extreme telephoto lenses for photography. It puts out a 2° beam that reaches out 100 yards and more with ease. 50mm (1.9655 in.) in diameter, it fits perfectly into a C or D cell M@glight head. With a Luxeon III (TXOK bin) behind it you get a light that puts out over 11,500 LUX at one meter, and blows away 4 & 5 cell M@gs Yeah, the 4D or 5D with a M@gStar HO bulb can be adjusted to beat the 1 meter LUX reading, but in all practical applications, this lens makes them look pitiful. The closest direct comparison between my 3C Luxeon III / Carclo 2° modded light amongst the other lights I have is the Surefire 6P with a P60 Bulb. My 5D with a Luxeon V / Carclo 2° beats the 6P with the P61 bulb! (and that's not even factoring in runtime, reliability or cost effectiveness)
In all the beamshots above, the regular M@glights were adjusted to the tightest, brightest beam spot at target range. They can be adjusted to give a wider coverage.... If you don't mind that gaping "hole" of darkness in the center of the beam. While these lenses will work with Luxeon 1s, IIIs and Vs, they are really optimized for use with the IIIs. Because of the wider area taken up by the 4 LED dies in the V, the beam isn't quite so concentrated. Thus, the lower LUX reading on the V, and the "throw" isn't quite what one would hope for. On the other hand, the area covered by the beam of the V is significantly larger than that of the III at any given distance. (Actually this is quite the parallel with the Surefire P60 vs the P61 bulbs.... A lot of people, myself included, expected greater "throw" and greater brightness out of the P61, especially since it burns up batteries twice as fast. But as it turns out, you get twice the area coverage with an 7 -10% reduction in peak intensity when you use the P61..... Each individual user will have to decide which is the optimum application for their purpose, whether with the Surefire bulbs or with the 2 degree lens and a Luxeon V or III.)
It is not all roses and champagne with these particular optics though: Besides the relatively high price and needing about 2 inches diameter to hold them, nearly all of them have one particular manufacturing defect, and about half of them have another. I don't feel that ether really affects the performance, but might make you feel like for the price, they should be perfect. Here is the more common defect: And the other is that about half of them have a sort of floating cloud (I can't really describe it better) on the mirror coating... I repeat: I don't believe that it affects performance significantly, or that you would even notice it in use. It is more of an aesthetics thing IMHO. Nonetheless, If you buy one from me, and decide that you can't accept it with the defect, Send it back, and I'll refund your money. Just be super careful if you assemble and test it. If you scratch it or chip the mirror coating, you get to keep it, or perhaps have to accept a partial refund. (And if you do return it pack it really well so it doesn't get damaged in shipping.) #10040 these are an interesting, if perhaps somewhat redundant optic. What they do, is convert a regular lambertian lensed Luxeon Star into a side emitting device: Instead of pushing out all the photons directly in front of the LED, this thing projects it out in a narrow circle 360 degrees AROUND the LED, perpendicular to the orientation of the LEDs own lens. The reason that I called this "perhaps somewhat redundant" is because Lumileds already makes Side Emitting LED devices. The main advantage to this optic is that it is more efficient than the regular S.E. Luxeon.... and that it would give you more flexibility... you can swap optics for different uses of the same device. If you have the room for it, it will be better than the side emitting Luxeon, but it does increase the space you need for actually using it. My feeble imagination can't think of a really useful purpose for these in a normal flashlight application... only about 3% of the light is projected forward. In a (fairly large) reflector, you can use these to provide a focusable, adjustable, really bright spot, like you can with a regular side emitter LED. Without the reflector system, I see the only practical , portable outdoor use of these as a locator beacon.... They DO produce an extremely bright, narrow beam (I'd guess about 1° spread) all around the LED. But I see the most likely use for these as in decorative, artistic or "mood" interior lighting. Carclo actually developed them for LCD screen backlighting: I'm only carrying them in the SHOP because they might be fun to experiment with. They might be pretty cool in computer case mods, especially with colored LEDs, and they are inexpensive enough that if they don't do anything you really need, it will still be no big loss. This model is for the 3 & 5 watt Luxeon Star boards (IIIs are the most efficient due to die size as I mentioned in the 2° optic above. For design purposes, you can see the device dimensions in the caliper's display in the photos below.
Unlike the other optics, you don't need to buy or build a separate holder.... These fit directly to the Luxeon Star board. (You could also use these with a bare emitter with a little "Dremel tool" modification of the optic, or with a little extra machining on your heat sink) #10048, Next to the 10025 optic, these will give you the brightest spot and longest throw. In a 26.5mm diameter and just a bit over half inch height, this optic projects a 4° beam a long way for a LED. Somewhat smaller than a 30mm Fraen optic, it also gives a more concentrated beam.... Therefore you will get more "throw" in a more compact package, and at a lower price... Making it a better choice for modding with a wider variety of devices than the Fraen 30mm optics.
#10049 Just below the 2° optic, this is my second favorite lens from the Carclo line.... Similar to the 10003-L25 20mm optic, this 26.5mm diameter unit throws a bright, flat, but wide beam. With a "twist of the wrist", a rotation of the light, you can adapt the light for a wide variety of "real world" needs. With a 4° X 25° linear beam you can get "the best of both worlds". Decent "throw" yet a wide or tall field of view. Try it, you'll like it!
#10071 These are the same as the 10040 side emitter optics, except for use with the 1 watt Luxeon Star boards. You can assume similar properties, just lower total "photonic" output with the 1 watters. Sorry, no beamshots available at this time.
That is it for the Carclo optics at this time. I have some more beamshots that I'll add as soon as I get them processed and have time to post them. And I also intend to take some at about 100 ~ meters / yards for those that will "throw" that far, and do 1 meter shots for all of them. But it will be a while..... So check back occasionally. BACK TO PAGE 1 of Carclo Optics You will probably want to get a holder for these optics unless you are REALLY into fabricating. Click here to view the available holders. |
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