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Meet the Microfire K200R rechargeable HID. It is just
a touch larger than a common 2-D cell plastic light,
has output that will melt your retinas (ok, not really,
but it is VERY bright) and will run for almost 2 hours
on a single charge of it's Lithium-Ion battery pack.
It has a focusable beam and includes a 4 hour fast-charger.
A belt holster and UV filter were also included for
this review.
But first, let me entertain you with a little story
about the condition of the package it came in. The light
was shipped to us by PowerLEDs.de over in Germany. This
is what the shipping package looked like after drying
out for 2 days in our garage.
It was obviously the moral imperative
of the shipping agencies who handled this package to
attempt to utterly destroy the contents. This package
was received in the absolute worst condition I have
ever seen. It arrived wrapped in pallet wrap, which
is essentially very thick cellophane wrap, creating
a plastic bag of sorts. This was secured with tape imprinted
with "Rewrapped - Resealed In The USPS". Upon
opening the plastic my nostrils were assaulted with
the odor of wet cardboard enhanced with a slight bouquet
of growing mold. The box was utterly and completely
soaked. Either it fell off the loading dock and was
left unnoticed in the pouring rain for a few days or
it fell off the boat on the way across the Atlantic
Ocean and was recovered by passing tuna fishermen. Either
way, the layers of cardboard were peeling apart and
huge gaps and holes were to be found in various places.
Inside were 3 boxes surrounded by damp newspaper. Two
of the 3 boxes were deformed and crushed. These two
boxes contained naturally water-resistant and crush
resistant products, so no problem there. The third box
contained the HID light. Luckily, David over at PowerLEDs.de
had the good sense to seal the HID box in a wrapper
of plastic bubble wrap, tightly taped. Inside I found
a very slightly dampened box with dry contents. Whew!
Body: The body of the K500R consists of two
main parts - the battery module, which includes the
battery, switch, and housing; and the "head"
which includes the ballast, bulb, reflector, and housing.
The light body is made of Type III hard
anodized aluminum for durability and abrasion/corrosion
resistance. There are machined-in rings to improve grip,
3 flat panels around the boy, and 3 raised feet surrounding
the switch so it can stand on end. Around the back of
the head you will see 12 air holes to help keep the
front of the light cool.
Bezel/Head: The front of the light is where
all the "magic" happens. A metal textured
reflector surrounds the 10W HID bulb. Removing the bezel
(unnecessary unless you want to change the bulb) reveals
a solid aluminum reflector held very tightly in place
with an O-ring around its base. Removing the reflector
exposes the three Phillips screws that anchor the HID
bulb in place. Since the bulb has a 500-1000 hour lifespan,
it's unlikely you will need to do this very often.
The outer lens window is polymer; not glass. The fact
that it is not glass may put some people off, but I
did the full-burn runtime test with the light standing
straight up and the heat from the bulb had no effect
on the lens. True it may scratch easier than glass,
but it won't shatter, either.
Below the head, just above the body tube
is a gear-like locking ring. By loosening this ring
you can twist the head forward and backward to obtain
the optimal focus for your needs. Spin the locking ring
back in place an the focus is now set.
Output: The white light produced by the HID
is a high color temperature and produces fantastic color
rendition. The beam will have some tinted areas in it
due the the nature of HID lights. You may see an orange
tinted area surrounding the central spot and an aqua
tinted corona. Orienting the light in different vertical
angles will change the colors in the beam and it will
change colors as it cycles though its warm up period.
All HID lights have a warm-up period and this light
is no different. It takes 10-15 seconds for the light
to come up to full brightness when turned on.
When the light is focused into a tight beam (shown
below) you get a very bright, penetrating, slightly
triangular spot. The spillbeam is plentiful, so you'll
be able to see the area around you with no problem,
even on the tightest focus. By my readings, this light
with its 10W rated bulb is producing more light overall
than the 14W AE Powerlight, and its focusing reflector
allows it to produce throw numbers (distance illuminating
ability) approaching the 24W AE Powerlight.
Beam at one meter at target center and at target edge
to show spillbeam.
Runtime Plot: The plot is a little jagged, but
it maintains 75%-100% of it's highest output throughout
the life of the battery, which I measured at 106 minutes
- just 4 minutes short of the manufacturer's estimates.
Runtime
completed with internal rechargeable battery. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
A lot of people have been asking about the startup
of HID lights since I mentioned that it takes 10-15
seconds for the light to come up to full brightness,
so here is a graph of a the K500R on startup. This is
the plot from a COLD condition - meaning is it not warmed
up at all. Startup times are reduced when the light
has been warmed up through use.
Switch: It's a simple textured rubber clickie
switch. Click on, click off. The three "feet"
around the switch allow it to stand on end and you can
attach a lanyard through the holes in the feet if you
wish. It does have a momentary operation whereby the
light activates by pressing in the switch partially.
However, HID lights take 10-15 seconds to come up to
full brightness, so I'm not too sure how useful the
momentary option will be.
Seals / Water Resistance: The manufacturer rates
it as splashproof. This is a "safe" claim
on the part of the manufacturer, but I think this light
could probably endure much more than a little splashing.
It has tight seals all the way around and the rubber
tailcap switch cover seems to be seated very well.
The one point where someone may think that water can
get in is through those holes in the sides of the head.
However, where the reflector seats inside a collar around
the bulb, there is an O-ring around the base of the
reflector. The top of the reflector is protected by
a seal between it and the lens. I'm not going to try
it myself, but the seals seem to be tight enough and
plentiful enough that I honestly would not expect even
an accidental drop in a lake to affect this light at
all. That said, follow the manufacturer's recommendations
and try to keep it dry. If it gets wet inside, just
disassemble as much a possible without tools and let
it dry before using again.
Ergonomics: It's fairly large, but much smaller
than most HID lights. It's a little bigger than a plastic
2-D grocery-store flashlight. Really!
Size compared to a 2-D Eveready.
Size compared to a common 2AA aluminum light
Batteries: A Lithium-Ion battery assembly powers
the light. To recharge, simply unscrew the back end
of the light, removing the entire battery tube/switch
assembly. Place the whole thing in the charging stand
and click the rear switch to the "on" position.
The green LED in the stand will turn red while charging,
green when finished. When charging is complete, the
charger disconnects so you can leave the battery in
the charger after it has finished without damage to
the battery.
There was one little problem with the charger, but
it was not an operational problem, more a regional one.
Take a close look at the plug:
Oops! European plugs don't work here in
the US. The charging block adjusts depending on the
input voltage from 100-220V, so all I needed was an
adapter and I was able to plug it right in.
Accessories: Two accessories came with the light
for review. One is a black holster made of nylon. The
K500R fits loosely in the holster, but the flap is very
tight to close. It is held shut with Velcro and a snap.
It may take a little work to get the snap to close the
first few times. On the back is a wide belt loop also
held with Velcro and a snap.
The
belt sheath is solid black - I don't know why this picture
turned out a little brownish.
The other accessory was a UV filter. This
filter does not create UV light, but filters out all
other wavelengths. You can see a slight purple glow
when looking through the lens, but this isn't the UV.
UV is invisible to your eyes, and is quite bad for your
eyes as well. HID lights do produce some UV light in
addition to all the other wavelengths, so don't look
into this light with the filter on or off!
Below you can see a picture of the filter,
which is a lens in a rubber cover that fits on the bezel.
To the right is a picture of a halogen 300W work light
through the UV filter. The camera picks up some of the
UV and converts it to visible purple wavelengths.
 
Since the filter is stopping all the other
wavelengths of light from the K500R, all that energy
is being absorbed by the filter. This means that it
gets very hot very fast - be careful!
When you shine the light around you'll
see most things don't react, but fluorescent objects,
glow-in-the-dark, and white laundry will glow brightly
in the UV light. These objects are glowing when the
light is shined on them without the filter too, but
you can't distinguish it because of all the visible
light they are reflecting back at you without the filter.
What I Liked: Water resistant,
Tough finish, Fairly well-regulated output, Bright,
Rechargeable, Small for an HID, Stands up, Adjustable
and locking focus.
What I Didn't Like: None
Picky Little Things: The only gripe
I had was that when you go to change the focus, twist
the locking ring, or remove the battery, you have to
be careful what you grab on the light for leverage or
you may twist something else accidentally.
Conclusions: Kick butt light. Period.
Smallest HID I have worked with. Get a nice pluck-out-foam
lined Pelican case for transporting it and you're all
set.
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