Tesco 3w cree

dsmiff

If anyone is interested I took some shots last night compared to my Cateye hl530 Opticube.


Cateye el-hl530


Tesco 3w Cree (2AA)


2x Tesco 3w Cree(2AA)

I'm sure the fenix is better, but the difference between this and my Cateye (which cost £50) is night and day!!! Noticed this morning that cars where dipping their lights (normally ignore me!) and one even stopped in a lay-by on a narrow lane to let me past, I think he thought a car was coming!!

Edit added new shots of P7 (exposure different to first shots to try to stop the P7 washing out too much)

1x tesco cree


3x Tesco cree


1x SSC P7

Turrican

hey cool lights, its def brighter than the cat eyes, i need to invest in some lights. How much are they from tescos? and whats it look like etc .

Mikelyons

Hi

were these from an Tesco branch or online ?

Any idea on pricing please ?

Thanks Mike

Anonymous

£10 from Tesco branch i believe.

beancounter

That's great to see, as I just bought one (it's mounted on the coomuting bike but I haven't had a chance to use it - the torch - yet).

Mine uses 2 x C batteries though, wonder why the difference?

bc

AyrshireBacon

Can anyone confirm what batteries this torch takes? People one here are saying AA & C. Website says D.

Also, any ideas about how to mount these on a bike/helmet?

beancounter

AyrshireBacon wrote:

Can anyone confirm what batteries this torch takes? People one here are saying AA & C. Website says D.

Also, any ideas about how to mount these on a bike/helmet?

Mount to bars using a Twofish Lockblock.

bc

AyrshireBacon

beancounter wrote:

Mount to bars using a Twofish Lockblock.

bc

Thanks, I've seen those recommended for Fenix torches and was wondering if this would be the same.

dsmiff

This is the 2AA version £10 in-store - be warned though, I had to file the inside to allow it to take high capacity nimh

n000bZ!LL4

Have these got a wider spread of light than the Fenix L2D?

I've read the Fenix has a very focussed beam so I'm thinking maybe one of each would be just the job.

Anonymous

And is the Tesco cree light waterproof?

Dazzza

There are several versions of this light all using different batteries, the d size light might be using a 4w led instead of the 3w.

I was half tempted to get me a small one for a helmet light.

biggstevie

Can someone post a link please i cant find them. :oops:

AyrshireBacon

Ok, been to Tesco on the way home and picked up one of these. Had 3W models that take 2xC batteries for £12 and 4W that take 2xD batteries for £18 .

Initial results seem good. I'll nip out later to do a test with my CatEye 530 (same as OP) to see if my garden lights up like that.

Would the Twofish Lockblock still fit this torch? It is much wider than other models I have seen using this mount. Anyone have a C-cell torch on this?

stumpyjon

Are we talking about these?

http://direct.tesco.com/search/default. ... arch=torch

apparently waterproof as well :shock:

Dazzza

AyrshireBacon wrote:

Ok, been to Tesco on the way home and picked up one of these. Had 3W models that take 2xC batteries for £12 and 4W that take 2xD batteries for £18 .

Initial results seem good. I'll nip out later to do a test with my CatEye 530 (same as OP) to see if my garden lights up like that.

Would the Twofish Lockblock still fit this torch? It is much wider than other models I have seen using this mount. Anyone have a C-cell torch on this?

You will need this, it's like a lockblock only larger.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12000

beancounter

AyrshireBacon wrote:

Would the Twofish Lockblock still fit this torch? It is much wider than other models I have seen using this mount. Anyone have a C-cell torch on this?

Yes, it fits fine.

bc

dsmiff

M.Cole wrote:

And is the Tesco cree light waterproof?

Seemed to be this morning!! I'm not though.

Will try them on a "long" nightride (Llandegla) soon to get some idea of battery run-time and what they are like on a trail.

apreading

Bought 3 on the way home yesterday (AA version). Left one on with Eneloops in and it started to dim around the 2 hour mark. Not 100% sure if the batteries had a full charge as I just got them out of the cupboard and it must have been a few months ago they were charged - they may even have had temporary use in something. I would guess the 2 hour mark is about right though.

BorisSpencer

Bought two of the AA ones last night, compares very favourably with my 5w halogen(mr11 bulb) home made light. Better throw, not quite so much spill,, but a much 'crisper', whiter light. Will compare with my 10w halogen tomorrow, and also get a figure for runtime with ordinary alkaline AAs.
Seems very well constructed with o rings at all joints, so should be plenty water proof.

Surf-Matt

Hmm - makes my rather flashy Ring Cyba-lite torch look rather pricey (£40!)!!

apreading

dsmiff wrote:

If anyone is interested I took some shots last night compared to my Cateye hl530 Opticube.

Not that it invalidates the comparison but I notice now that the exposure of the different pictures is not consistent. Notice in the Tesco shots you can see some light in the sky whereas the Cateye shots there is none. This makes the cateye shot look darker than it actually should be in comparison.

There is clearly a big difference anyway, but perhaps slightly less than suggested by these photos.

You can also clearly see in the cateye shot that the beam is much more focussed with less spill - in the bottom left and even more right hand corners you can see the circle of the beam. This is what I dont like about the EL530 I have - it lights up stuff in the distance but I cant see anything a couple of inches outside the beam, including the road just in front of me, well enough.

The Cateye does have a 90 hour runtime though, so I will have this on the bike too so that I can ensure I am OK if I mess up charging my batts.

I now want a comparison with the Fenix if anyone has both - cant decide if this is worth the extra. I think the Tesco torch will do for what I want though.[/img]

dsmiff

apreading wrote:

dsmiff wrote:

If anyone is interested I took some shots last night compared to my Cateye hl530 Opticube.

Not that it invalidates the comparison but I notice now that the exposure of the different pictures is not consistent. Notice in the Tesco shots you can see some light in the sky whereas the Cateye shots there is none. This makes the cateye shot look darker than it actually should be in comparison.

There is clearly a big difference anyway, but perhaps slightly less than suggested by these photos.

You can also clearly see in the cateye shot that the beam is much more focussed with less spill - in the bottom left and even more right hand corners you can see the circle of the beam. This is what I dont like about the EL530 I have - it lights up stuff in the distance but I cant see anything a couple of inches outside the beam, including the road just in front of me, well enough.

The Cateye does have a 90 hour runtime though, so I will have this on the bike too so that I can ensure I am OK if I mess up charging my batts.

I now want a comparison with the Fenix if anyone has both - cant decide if this is worth the extra. I think the Tesco torch will do for what I want though.[/img]

Go to this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98234388@N00/sets/72157607638956339/

All photo's taken on exactly the same exposure setting / asa in Manual mode, and if you can get 90 hours out of the cateye I'll buy it off you, I find it starts to dim significantly after a few hours use.

Camera: Sony DSLR-A200
Exposure: 1.6 sec (8/5)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 800

apreading

I can see now that looking at the Exif they are the same, and interestingly when looking at the full size images on Flickr the sky is exposed the same. The small versions that Flickr automatically resizes seem to loose any shadow detail on the EL530 version - presumably down to the compression algorithm.

Sorry for having doubted you but the point still stands that for some reason these smaller versions make the Cateye seem darker and the Tesco seem brighter - if only by a very small smidgen.

As I said it does not alter the fact that there is a BIG difference in the light output and the Tesco lights seem to offer what I have been looking for.

As for the 90hrs, I have probably only used my 530 for 20 hours or so and have never had to recharge the batteries so I cant attest to that but no signs of any letup yet. Certainly it will last longer than the Tesco lights which will only do a couple of rides in the winter.

NinjaBadger

i got a couple of these last night.

there are

3W Cree 2xAA ones for £10
3W Cree 2xC ones for £12
4W Cree 2xD ones for £18 (i think)

SO bright!

Just need to get the mounts now!

:twisted:

supersonic

Anybody know the output in lumens?

apreading

I too would like to know the lumens to see if it worth still getting a Fenix.

Is there any difference in the output from the 2xC version compared to the AA version? I am guessing not unless the bigger reflector gives a different beam shape. Other than that I cant see the point of the C version because you can get AAs with similar capacity...

NinjaBadger

nope, didn't specify.

I bought some cheapo halogens from argos :oops: the other day for £20 and went out with them last night, they're fine on your own but in a group with good lights they look weak and yellow, so I stopped at the 24hr tesco on my way home and bought a couple of these, they really did light up my garden!!!

Can't wait to get them mounted!

:idea:

apreading

If you can let us know of any difference in the beam pattern between the 2xC and 2xAA versions that would be really useful.

The C version isnt much bigger and if it had a wider beam I would go get one.

Thanks

NinjaBadger

only got the 2 X the 2xAA version.

apreading

ah sorry - I read your post to mean that you bought all 3 versions!