[Dominik]

CatEye TL-LD600
Born : 2002
Weight : 59g
Power source : 2AAA
Burn time : 15 Hours
Made in Japan


CatEye TL-LD610
Born : 2007
Weight : 49g
Power source : 2AAA
Burn time : 30 Hours
Made in China


Smart RL-317R
Born : 2006
Weight : 53g
Power source : 2AAA
Burn time : 30 Hours
Made in Taiwan


Who will be the winner ?

Pattern test - shot behind white paper.
Smart / 600 / 610


*. TL-LD1000 wasn't most powerfull CatEye blinkie ever.

It is still day here so you will have to wait for a night shoots...

Ok, first comparision shots...
Distance 0,6 m, white paper A4, 1/60 sec.
Smart / 600 / 610


So now first conclusions :
- they have very similar light output in constant mode
- there is no visible improvement in output between LD600 and LD610*
- LD600 have the best focused beam from these three**

* maybe they simply lowered the current to get longer burnt time 15 instead 15 hours and light output is the same.
** theoretically the smart should have the best focus (as a 1 led lamp) but after testing 4-5 of these they all have irregular beam pattern - probably there is some problem with optics positioning during production.

Some night photos... distance 50m, time 1sec.
HL-EL600

HL-EL610

RL-317R

These are 640x480 cuts from 10MP photos - no resizing or any additional edition.

And her are some head to head mov's :
RL-317R vs HL-EL610
RL-317R vs HL-EL600

Final Conclusion
Each of these lamps have highly directional light output - during ground test’s after moving about 5m side from direct line with lamp smart have the worst visibility.
I wasn’t able to decide which one is the best - despite of weker result in long distance photo test for EL600 it was the most aye-catching lamp in the test (higher frequency in flashing mode).
I think that they are very comparable and you can make a decision based on price and availability of these lamps in your location.

** UPDATE **
I’ve spend half an hour in darkroom with these three and luxmeter :

EL-610 => 141,5 Lux
EL-600 => 135,1 Lux
RL-317R => 134,8 lux

Distance : 100 cm, these are maximal measured values at this distance.