Is it worth it to upgrade to the X300 ultra from the regular X300?

[msstate56]

Both are just the same. IMO. little brighter wont give u any benefit.
200 already blind ur eye

People who have used the new 500 lumens lights for real, such as Pat Rogers, and many LE patrol officers, would disagree with you.

[ra2bach]

talking about lumens - most people think lumens means power but it makes sense to think of it as amount...

I use the analogy of light as a "substance" like water or sand. if I take a gallon bucket of water or sand, it will be compressed and dense but if I spread it over 10'x10' area it will thin out. so will light. a 100 lumen light will give bright illum if condensed into a small area and the distance is kept short. as you increase the spread it will appear to dim overall.

talking about lumens without including the design of the reflector is not helpful as it doesn't take into account the dispersion. obviously reflectors can be engineered to give a "spot" or a "flood" beam, and increasing the amount of light will give either a longer throw or brighter light within that pattern.

where the new higher lumen lights have appeal is that they can have reflectors that give very wide dispersion and still maintain good illum. simply saying 500 lumens is too much for indoors doesn't take into consideration that a wider beam needs more lumens to maintain intensity throughout the beam.

regarding the 300 Ultra, I haven't seen one but if it can fill a room with light I don't see how that can be a bad thing. it would help to know if it is a spot or flood beam...

[Steve S.]

talking about lumens - most people think lumens means power but it makes sense to think of it as amount...

I use the analogy of light as a "substance" like water or sand. if I take a gallon bucket of water or sand, it will be compressed and dense but if I spread it over 10'x10' area it will thin out. so will light. a 100 lumen light will give bright illum if condensed into a small area and the distance is kept short. as you increase the spread it will appear to dim overall.

talking about lumens without including the design of the reflector is not helpful as it doesn't take into account the dispersion. obviously reflectors can be engineered to give a "spot" or a "flood" beam, and increasing the amount of light will give either a longer throw or brighter light within that pattern.

where the new higher lumen lights have appeal is that they can have reflectors that give very wide dispersion and still maintain good illum. simply saying 500 lumens is too much for indoors doesn't take into consideration that a wider beam needs more lumens to maintain intensity throughout the beam.

regarding the 300 Ultra, I haven't seen one but if it can fill a room with light I don't see how that can be a bad thing. it would help to know if it is a spot or flood beam...

Very good post.

The Ultra has a tight spot like the standard, but the flood is larger and much brighter.

I have some video of me shooting an X300 at 25 yards on steel, and another student shooting an Ultra at 50 yards on steel. The target is illuminated about the same with the Ultra at twice the distance. The X300 standard wouldn't adequately illuminate a threat at this distance.

I haven't found it to be troublesome indoors. Just don't zap any mirrors.

That thing gets CRAZY hot though in a short amount of time though.

[jerrylo913]

I just bought the ultra for my G19 gen4 and I love it. Also the DG switch is a awesome combo to have.

[xjustintimex]

the ultra to me is a hands down big improvement. It is bigger though so if you have any holsters exc they will have to be switched out too. The light is not any more blinding because it really throws the light out in less of a beam than the 300

[SunTzu]

My opinion that you have been waiting patiently for would be to go for the ultra. I'm upgrading my pistol light from a tlr1 to the ultra. I was going to go x300 until I read the difference in output. No brainer, in my opinion.

[patriot_man]

Any of you guys run an X300 in the 9 o'clock position on a rifle?

I'm debating about picking up an X300 Ultra or M300A but the switchology of the X300 has me wondering if I will be able to easily turn on the light when mounted at the 9 o'clock position due to the toggle switch. Only experience I've had with an X300 on a carbine was running one on the 12 o clock position and I sold mine so no way of trying it out.