Rad006 Consumer WatchDog LIGHT SHOOTOUT 1

[bradjackson]

OK so I did this crazy test the other day after Plasti Dipping my battery.

 

It may or may not be a good idea to share this with you all, but if nothing else it should certainly generate some interesting discussion.

 

 

 

I just want to make it clear that I am in no way suggesting that the MJ808 is waterproof. The particular light used in this video was my own one which I have been using for many months now and I was prepared to sacrifice it if that turned out to be the end result of my experiment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a waterproof submersion test of the Magicshine MJ808 bike light.

 

The battery has been specially treated with Plasti Dip and is fully watertight.

 

The light head is standard with no modifications.

 

 

 

The purpose of the excercise was to test the Plasti Dip treatment of the battery and to test whether the light head is in fact waterproof.

 

While the battery didn't show any signs of leakage, the light head did in fact allow a small amount of water to enter. This was evident when opening the light to inspect it afterwards.

 

 

 

The good news is that after drying it out, the light is still functioning perfectly with no noticeable side effects (its been about 2 weeks now and I have used it for several rides since then).

 

 

 

Under normal riding conditions, the light would not be subjected to being fully immersed in water.

 

 

 

I will leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions about this affordable little bike light.

 

 

 

Disclaimer:

 

Do not try this yourself. It is potentially dangerous and you will void your warranty by attempting this.

 

The MJ808 bike light was not designed to be waterproof and I make no claims whatsoever that the light would be able to survive being submerged in water.

[Thug]

Nice video Brad.

 

 

 

Glad to see that the battery pack survived the dunk test.

[bradjackson]

No need for a group order. Shipping is free whether you order one or twenty.

 

 

 

The only hassle is the wait' date=' which can be looooong.

 

 

 

If you're impatient and want your light now, buy Brad's. [/quote']

 

 

 

Dealextreme is cheap, but beware the wait!!

 

I have ordered from them before several times and the fastest delivery I had was about 2 months, with other orders taking up to 4 months to arrive.

 

 

 

I found myself constantly checking on the status of the order, and then getting my hopes up every time it changes, only to be disappointed over and over again.

 

And then when the stuff does eventually arrive you have all but forgotten about it already.

 

 

 

Don't say I didn't warn you.

 

Check out the discussions on their forum first if you are considering ordering from them.

 

http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx

 

 

 

Order my lights and you will have them in your hands the next day and if anything is wrong, I'll sort it out just as quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Weight Weenie]

Ill just use my fenix TK11 tactical light with a bike mount, 225 lumens on turbo for about 3hrs

[Brighter-Lights]

This test is misleading because you didn't use the same camera settings to begin with PLUS, you didn't aim the Solo 620's beam at the same mark you aimed the Magicshines beam at.

 

 

To the untrained eye, the Magicshine appears brighter because it's aimed at the center on the driveway floor, with light bouncing off the floor to the building. The Solo 620 is aimed at the 'sky' so to speak. I immediately noticed that something was not right. (to see the effects of light bouncing... take any light and aim it at a ceiling and see which part of the room is lit more. Effects are even more noticeable when the background is white.)

 

The Solo has a narrover hotspot, but throws MUCH further than the Magicshine, which cant be seen in these photos because the driveway is only about 30m long. The Solo reaches 80m+.   

 

If you've aimed the lights at the EXACT same spot, the photos would've been very different, and if you don't believe me, take your bike light and shine it against any object and learn about light bouncing - I learned about it in photography. 

 

The camera was also not held at the same area in photo 2.

 

Good initiative from your side to do a comparison.

 

But it you want to do this kind of testing, especially if you plan on making the results public, you got to use the same parameters for accurate results.

 

1) Lights center spot aimed at exact same area (use PVC tape and mark a X)

2) Camera on tripod

3) Manual mode, ISO 100, F4.0, 6 seconds, daylight white-balance.

 

Pics up when I get more Magicshines. The MS is by no means brighter than the Solo 620 you got to be kidding me! I've had a couple through my hands!  

 

The Magicshines I've tested in an integrating sphere (measures all light emitted from the reflector) were actually the same and some even dimmer than the Solo 620.  

[Andyr249]

This is getting interesting. Both Magiclight and Brighter-Lights are in the discussion!

[Showtime]

I've seen enough. Time for me to order a magiclight.

[rad006]

Both Lights were mounted on the exact space on the bars...

The camera stayed on AUTO

 

I stick with what I said in the review

[Brighter-Lights]

Both Lights were mounted on the exact space on the bars...

The camera stayed on AUTO

 

I stick with what I said in the review

 

Yes, mounted on the same place but not aimed at the same place.

 

 

Even a blind person can see that the 2 light's hotspots were not aimed nearly in the same direction or area.

 

Makes a huge difference in where the light goes, and how the camera's AUTO program will decide which apperture and shutterspeed to use...

 

Just hover your mouse over the original pics in the folder where they are saved and windows will show the apperture shutter combination.

 

If your camera's AUTO program use centerweighted average metering, it will underexpose the whole scene to expose for the bright center section. And the SOLO 620 has a much brighter center section than the MS, can easily see in the above animation of your 2 photos.  

 

Take them to a section of trail and you'll see the difference in brightness at 60m... the Solo 620 kills the MS when it comes to throw, and if the beam is set up correctly it gives very even light from right near your front wheel to past 60m...

 

AUTO can't be used unfortunately to take beam comparison shots, the camera Automatically under expose to tone down highlights.

 

 

[rad006]

Personally I like the throw of a MS it lights up the trail lower if that makes sense... Each to thier own I guess...

[Dirty Twin]

B-L makes a lot of sense. I never thought about it when taking pic's on auto that the camera would change the aperture and shutter speed thus making each photo very different from the next. hmmmmm.........   

[rad006]

So maybe the camera lies but the eyes dont, I can tell you that from the 4 of us that were there, we will stick to my review....

[bradjackson]

Guys, you need to remember that each of these lights play in different spaces in the market.

 

 

 

The Magiclight is an affordable, high power bike light, which offers several differences over lights from Brighter-Lights.

 

Some of these really just boil down to personal preference.

 

 

 

Personally, I like a light which has a nice wide spread, with a little bit of a centre spot to see into the distance. I don't ride fast enough (and I don't think many people do) at night to have to worry about what's 60m ahead of me. I'd rather have more of that light spread on the ground just ahead of me, and maybe on the bushes and branches on the edge of the trail where I will be in the next second or 2.

 

 

 

While it is true that using the camera on AUTO is not the most accurate way of comparing the lights for the reasons mentioned by BL, most people don't really care much for these technicalities.

 

Just turn on the light out on your favorite piece of trail and then decide if you like what you see (or don't see). For those not fortunate enough to see the lights in person, then beamshots are the next best option. But as can be seen here, these too can be misleading (even if done unintentionally).

 

 

 

At the end of the day (literally, LOL), it should be about getting more people out on their bikes trying a whole new aspect of our sport, and hopefully falling in love with night riding.

 

 

 

If you've got a deep pocket, and you're the kind of person who wants the best lights money can buy, and if you like the features that BL lights offer, then get one of those.

 

 

 

If you are more cost-conscious and want a good light which can't be beaten in terms of value for money, then the Magiclight is for you.

 

 

 

Happy night riding!!!

 

 

 

 

[rad006]

Well said...