Flashlight Review: Noctigon KR1 (SFT-42R 6500K)
- Stephen Knight
- 20 hours ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
Tbe Noctigon KR1 is a pocket thrower flashlight from Intl Outdoor / Hank Wang that has been around for many years. The light is regularly updated with new LED emitters. This review is of the high brightness, and "throwy" Luminus SFT-42R 6500K LED. The review takes a look at how this light performs for general purpose use and light painting photography.
Disclaimer
The Noctigon KR1 was purchased with my own funds. Product links are non-affiliate.
Design and Construction
The Noctigon KR1 is produced by Intl Outdoor, who also produce flashlights under the Emisar brand. Both Noctigon and Emisar brands are aimed at flashlight enthusiasts. The Noctigon KR1 is a compact thrower, i.e. it will fit in a pocket, and can throw light a long way with a tight hotspot. It is 110mm long, with a 24mm diameter battery tube, and a 35mm diameter head. The KR1 has a single tail e-switch, which allows for easy access when in light painting connectors. The KR1 is relatively heavy for its size at 120g (without batteries), but more thermal mass can be a good thing when it comes to performance!
As the KR1 has a tail e-switch, there is an inner signal tube, and extra springs for it to connect to the head. Both the head and tail can be unscrewed for cleaning, maintenance, or battery insertion. The threads have to be screwed tightly for the light to operate. The black O-ring on the tail section screw was problematic, and the tail section was easier to screw on tightly after it self-destructed,
As per most lights aimed at flashlight enthusiasts, the Noctigon KR1 requires rechargeable flat top unprotected rechargeable Li-ion 18650 batteries. With a maximum current draw of 12A, I recommend the Sony/Murata US18650VTC6, Samsung INR18650-30Q, LG INR18650-HG2, or Molicel P30B batteries. There is no USB charging, so you will need to use a dedicated Li-ion charger, which I always recommend anyway - I use the XTAR VX4.
For light painting photographers, the KR1 will fit the Light Painting Brushes Universal Connector and Light Painting Paradise Round Adapters. It is too large for use with T8 tubes. The Noctigon KR4 is recommended instead for use with T8 tubes (tested with Luminosify Choobs).
User Interface
The Noctigon KR1 uses the Anduril 2 user interface (UI). The main feature for light painting photographers is two strobe modes with adjustable strobe frequency:
Party strobe - 2ms(?) on-time "motion freezing" - 4Hz to 90Hz.
Tactical strobe - 33% on-time - 2.5Hz to 80Hz.
These, or any continuous brightness mode, can be put into momentary mode to allow for fine control of on/off when the single stage tail switch is depressed/released. Other features include a pulsating bike flash mode, and lightning effect mode. For continuous (non-strobe) output, this light can use ramped brightness or stepped brightness. I recommend using stepped brightness for consistency, which has 7 brightness levels 1/7 to 7/7, plus an even brighter Turbo mode. Strobe appears to be at Turbo brightness level, and unlike the Ryu's V2, Strobe brightness is fixed. As anything other than basic use it not entirely intuitive in Anduril, I have written a detailed article on how to use Anduril for light painting photography.
Below are the basics:
Enter Advanced UI from Basic UI - 10 clicks, last one hold for 0.5 sec (10H). You should only need to do this once unless you accidentally do a factory reset or click too much! This sample arrived in Advanced UI.
On/Off (last mode memory for steps 1/7 to 7/7) - 1 click (1C).
Toggle ramped/stepped - 3 clicks from on (3C).
Change brightness levels (1/7 to 7/7) - hold, release at desired brightness level.
Turbo mode - double click from on (2C).
Enter strobe mode - click, click, hold 0.5s (3H) from off.
Cycle through strobe modes - double click (2C) ...party strobe>tactical strobe>police strobe (blank on KR1)>lightning>candle>bike flash>...
Increase strobe frequency/speed - hold, release at desired strobe speed.
Decrease strobe frequency/speed - click, hold, release at desired strobe speed.
Save last used setting into momentary (to "save" strobe) - 5 clicks (5C).
Momentary - hold only when you need light.
Exit momentary - unscrew and re-screw tail cap (to break the electrical connection).
As the KR1 doesn't have any auxiliary LEDs (unlike the KR4), there are quite a few configuration steps that are thankfully not required.
There is a fairly new Tactical mode, entered or exited with 6 clicks (6C). It is then possible to configure 3 different settings (including strobe) to be accessed by 1H, 2H, or 3H. (See diagram). This is useful if you need to access more than one setting with momentary mode. It took me around a minute to configure 1H to Turbo, and 2H to a roughly 20Hz Tactical Strobe. The resulting photo is shown later on in this review.
The light has a "soft start" functionality, which creates a short fade during on/off/brightness change. This can be turned off in configuration.
I often use Anduril UI flashlights for light painting. However, the user interface is complex, and I have had reports from many light painters who struggle to use Anduril UI lights. Persistence with learning to use Anduril UI pays dividends in creativity.
It should be noted that there are many versions of Anduril 2 in use. The tested light had a fairly recent version as it has a new LED option, but some other Anduril lights may use older versions with different functionality and default configuration.
Beam and Output
The Noctigon KR1 uses the same reflector size as the side switch Emisar D1. At the time of writing there are nearly 30 different LED options. I purchased the Luminus SFT-42R version mainly out of interest to see if the very high peak beam intensity/throw was useful for saber like light painting tools. This LED with a circular emitter surface, is placed in a deep smooth reflector to maximise throw. The LEDs are driven by a 12A linear no-FET driver. I am assuming this is using "KR4 nofet" firmware.
Testing was performed with an Opple LIght Master Pro 3. My sample appears to overestimate lux/candela readings by 25%. Comparisons in this review are using the same light meter, though measurement distances may vary (corrected using inverse square law). The KR1 was tested with a fully charged Samsung 30Q 18650 battery.
Peak beam intensity comparison at 100% / Turbo output (unless otherwise stated):
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 6500K: 141,048cd (751m).
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 6500K (7/7): 131,016cd (723m).
Noctigon KR1 SST-40 6500K: 67,840cd (520m).
Noctigon KR4 4xSFT-25R 6500K: 38,061cd (390m).
Noctigon KR4 4x519A 5700K: 6,487cd (161m).
Light Painting Paradise LightPainter Ryu's LIghtworks V2 SST-40 6500K: 36,103cd (380m).
Sofirn SP31 V3 SST-40 6500K: 24,445cd (312m).
Sofirn SP31 V2 XPL HI 5700K: 18,100cd (269m).
The KR1 SFT-42R has very impressive throw, far in excess of any other compact 18650 flashlight I've tested. The tightly focussed hotspot makes this light excellent for security/searchlight use. For activities such as walking a dog, or night hikes, the floodier KR4 may be a better option. The KR1 SFT-42R works very well with long and narrow saber like light painting tools, with less of a light gradient along the length of the tool compared to most flashlights. It is too throwy for use with light blades and fiber optic brushes. Again, the KR4 is a better option for the latter use cases.
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Hotspot correlated colour temperature (CCT), colour rendering index (CRI), and Tint:
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R Turbo: CCT 6207K; CRI 69.3 Ra; Tint +0.0046 DUV.
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 7/7: CCT 6233K; CRI 68.4 Ra; Tint +0.0055 DUV.
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 5/7: CCT 6347K; CRI 68.6 Ra; Tint +0.0051 DUV.
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 3/7: CCT 6174K, CRI 67.8 Ra,; Tint +0.0067 DUV.
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 1/7: CCT 6093K; CRI 69.2 Ra; Tint +0.0065 DUV.
As expected for a cool white, low CRI LED, the CCT is in the 6000-6400K range, with a CRI slightly below 70 CRI. This means that illuminated colours may appear rather washed out compared to less efficient high CRI lights (which I recommend for the illumination genre of light painting/night photography). The tint is slightly green at all output levels, but thankfully doesn't experience a significant increase in green tint at lower output levels observed on the SST-40 and SFT-25R LEDs,
Lumen output was tested as:
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R Turbo: 3,228 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 7/7: 3,054 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 6/7: 2,078 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 5/7: 1,110 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 4/7: 482 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 3/7: 165 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 2/7: 39 lm
Noctigon KR1 SFT-42R 1/7: 4 lm
The KR1 SFT-42R is not just a thrower, but also a compact lumen monster. The brightness was also very well sustained, even with default Anduril thermal settings. From a 3,228lm start, there was a gradual decline in brightness until a step-down from 2,517lm at 90secs, to 968lm at 120secs. The brightness was then sustained in the 872lm to 1,017lm range for at least the next 30 minutes. The light started to step-down in brightness between 65mins and 85mins, by which time the light was close to moonlight brightness. The relatively short runtime is a side effect of the high sustained brightness. Maybe a 21700 version of the KR1 (a KR1K) would better suit some of the higher power emitters now being used? It should be noted that the light did run very hot even on default settings, though not excessively. Testing was performed in 27C heat, and I would expect even better thermal handling in cooler and windier conditions.
Conclusion
Positives:
Impressive brightness and throw for the light's size.
Flexible Anduril 2 UI.
Excellent sustained brightness for the light's size (but resulting short runtime).
Adjustable strobe frequency,
Compatible with some light painting systems.
Good value for money.
Negatives:
Some users may find Anduril 2 too complex.
Not much difference between 7/7 and Turbo mode.
Strobe brightness is fixed.
No on-board charging.
The Noctigon KR1 and SFT-42R LED combination work well to produce high lumen output and throw in a pocketable EDC flashlight. This light is highly recommended for flashlight enthusiasts requiring a pocket thrower. The Anduril 2 UI may be too much for anyone wanting an easy to use flashlight.
For tech-savvy light painting photographers, the Noctigon KR1 with SFT-42R is an excellent choice for use with saber like tools. If you require compatibility with T8 tubes, or a floodier beam for use with light blades or fiber optic brushes, then consider the KR4 with SFT-25R or 519A (domed) LEDs respectively.