Finally got my hands on the new DongDongHai F8B in MAO with Billy's new customized DayDream NBD7036 (aka DD7036) emitters, and it's absolutely fantastic.

My order originally came with 8 x DD7036 and actually measured fairly green, ranging from +0.002 on Low all the way up to +0.004 on Turbo, despite intiial reports pegging the emitter as slightly rosy when driven hard. I was quite disappointed initially. After chatting with the seller we figured a couple things out.

First of all, simply allowing the emitters to warm up substantially reduced the greenness to a reasonable +0.002. Secondly, it turns out the F8B doesn't drive the emitters quite hard enough, even on Turbo with a 46120, which is why the tint remains slightly green instead of slightly rosy. The seller recommended I swap just the center emitter out with a DD70 (DayDream NBD7016), which I already had on hand from a previous order. The results (pictured above) are fantastic.

As you can see in the emitter shots, the center emitter is different from the 7 around it (it also happens to be slightly brighter on lower currents). In this configuration, every single mode of the light measures just slightly rosy, ranging from -0.0003 to -0.0014. As far as I'm concerned this is as close to perfect as you can get. 10/10 would recommend this specific config if you're considering a high-CRI F8B.

Summary of TM-30 on Medium:

• 4250K -0.0001
• Ra 95 R9 86
• Rf 92 Rg 100

All measurements here: https://www.hcri.io/?compare=1503,1502,1501,1500,1499,1498,1497,1496,1442,1441,1440,1439

Special thanks to u/bbbbb_siu for the import!

Inspired by Acebeam UC25 mods : r/flashlight, I decided to pursue my own UC25 mod and I think it turned out pretty great! The goal was to have three different CCTs and three different beam patterns, all of them high-CRI and neutral and I think I largely succeeded.

Front channel: SFT-25R 5700K 90CRI (throwy)

UV channel: 219B 3000K (+DC-Fix, floody)

Side channel: Sunlike 4000K (Mule)

Color data

Channel	Mode	CCT	dUV	Rf	Rg
Side	Low	4321K	+0.0022	98	100
Side	High	4130K	+0.0001	98	101
Side	Turbo	4153K	-0.0002	98	101
Front	Low	5477K	+0.0033	93	101
Front	High	5618K	+0.0029	92	102
Front	Turbo	5907K	+0.0007	88	103
"UV"	Low	3136K	+0.0005	94	101
"UV"	High	3137K	+0.0004	94	102

Overall, this was an extremely satisfying mod. The light was pretty easy to take apart, moderately difficult to re-assemble, and most importantly, looks pretty much like-new once done! Unfortunately I dropped and shattered the side lens on my first try, so it took a really long time to get a (free!) replacement from Acebeam. Major shoutout to Acebeam customer service! Very happy how it turned out and will be adding this one to my EDC rotation!

DongDongHai F8B on the left equipped with 8 x NBD7016 in an OP reflector for flood powered by a 46120 battery

Starfish X85 on the right equipped with 7 x LHD713A in an SMO reflector for throw powered by a 46950 battery

Fairly different LEDs, so output and throw are not directly comparable.

Physical

In terms of differences, the biggest, obvious one is that the X85 comes in pink anodizing, which is pretty rare among flashlights, so of course I had to pick it up. It's also available in silver and black, but those are no fun! The F8B as far as I'm aware only comes in black.

The heads are almost the same diameter, but the F8B has more thermal mass (~27oz vs ~24oz). I'm not sure what weight MCPCB is installed, so that may make a significant difference.

The X85 has one fan installed laterally, while the F8B has two fans installed on either side both blowing in. At max speed, both are similar volume (pretty loud around 60 dB measured on a phone a foot away), but the F8B is much higher pitched and more annoying subjectively. The air around the X85 feels like it's hotter, so I suspect the cooling is a bit more efficient, but it's hard for me to confirm that in any way.

Both come with a pink backlit switch, with the X85 having a dot in the middle, while the F8B has a ring. The pink color matches the pink anodizing nicely. The switch on the F8B feels less mushy and is less loud.

Both lights can accept either 46950 or 46120, but the X85 uses an extension tube to accomodate the larger cell, while the F8B has separate tubes for the different sizes.

Finally, the X85 comes with a matching pink handle, while my F8B shipped without one, but there's a spot to install one.

P.S. Yes the tubes to lego! But the F8B tube is a bit longer, so the X85 tube doesn't work electrically with the F8B :(

Electronics

Both of my lights came with XBY drivers. The F8B has the latest v4.2, while I'm told that the X85 is using a customized version of v3.5. The X85 driver seems to have PWM on the lowest mode, while the F8B does not appear to have PWM on any mode.

LHD713A LED and Beam

I haven't seen any info on this LED anywhere before. The seller described it as a 7070-sized SFT42R, but upon closer inspection, it actually looks much more similar to the FFL707RD, except the LHD713A is low CRI. The LES is very small for a 7070 emitter, and as a result, the beam is quite throwy. There are definitely some noticable beam artifacts, but they're very symmetrical and pleasing. The throw sits somewhere between the pictured F8B and the 3x21D SBT90.2 (my throwiest non-LEP light). On turbo, the intensity seems to be a bit less (maybe 50-75% of the candela) than the SBT90.2 but with a much larger hotspot. Because of the much higher Vf compared to the NBD7016, the light is much less hot on FET Turbo compared to the F8B.

The light produced is cool-white and greenish to neutral.

Here are some spectro measurements for the emitter at a couple levels:

• Turbo:  CCT = 6507K (Duv -0.0014)
• High: CCT = 5926K (Duv 0.0036)
• Low:  CCT = 5694K (Duv 0.0072)

Finally managed to get my hand on some DongDongHai lights from China! I unfortunately don't have the requisite 46120 battery for the two larger lights yet, but the M4C I've been playing with is fantastic!

The NBD110 DayDream emitter is indeed pretty intensely pink. Here's the basic data:

• CCT = 4710K (Duv -0.0112)
• (Ra) = 91.4 [ R9 = 97.9 ]
• Rf = 84, Rg = 108

Beam on the M4C has significant artifacts from the emitter being so huge, but the pattern is pleasantly symmetric, so I don't mind at all!

Comparison photo with the Convoy M21H and 3x21D.

Excited to try the big boys when my batteries arrive!

TM-30: https://imgur.com/uIeuj8W

Also got a sample of the NBD7016 4500K 90CRI. Subjectively the light is way more pleasant and is just "moderately rosy"

Bonus TM-30 for the new NBD7016 4500K in a Convoy M26E: https://imgur.com/MkHZZfl

Finally worked up the courage to open up my LoopGear SK05 Pro II in case anyone was wondering what the MCPCBs/emitters look like. Still not 100% sure I'll be able to re-assemble it since the press-fit bezels are a bit thin and I'm not 100% sure the be able to replace the lenses I smashed.

Throw definitely looks like an SFT-42R; not sure what the emitters are on the flood side.

EDIT: evidently definitely not an SFT-42R!

Open to suggestions for what emitters to put in instead! Current plan is to keep the flood emitters and replace the TIR with a N203W, and swap the throw for an SFT42R 5700K

UPDATE: I just found out that D3AA lenses are literally a perfect fit: https://imgur.com/YzKlbxJ

Beam pattern with the N203W installed: https://imgur.com/a/f5XAcTq

old optics and lens on the flood channel measure 5962K +0.0037 on low
new optics and lens measure 5864K +0.0006 on low

That's a solid improvement for me! (Measured with a ColorMunki Display)

UPDATE 2: Have the flood channel all re-assembled, but completely failing to get the retaining ring back in; I'm leaning towards just silicone-ing the lens to the body unless someone has any tips on how to get the ring on.

Anyone seen this one before? Seems new to me.

This is the first production multi-emitter B35AM light I'm aware of existing

Following up on u/kotarak's excellent work, I thought I'd put my new ColorMunki to work measuring the various configurations of X1S + FFL707MD 4200K with regards to lenses, TIRs, and reflectors. The specific optics make a big difference in the dUV and CCT of the resulting beam! For bare emitter measurements, I put in a slip of white paper to try and minimize the effect of the anodizing on the light. I'm reading the hotspot for all measurements.

Here's the summary of the data:

Optics	w/ Lens	w/o Lens
Bare	4634K -0.0045 dUV	4652K -0.0045 dUV
Reflector (OP)	4062K -0.0011 dUV	4111K +0.0001 dUV
TIR (pebbled)	4053K -0.0029 dUV	4103K -0.0025 dUV

It seems like the lens makes a much bigger difference when combined with a reflector than with other types of optics. Hopefully you all find this data useful!