742 Torch Lumens! Most beautiful runtime curve. NEOFAB Legion II MC-E review added

[copperfox]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Lumens reading Updated.

L1 = 98 lumens, L2 = 157, L3 = 264, L4 = 456, L5 = 742.


Thank you all.

At the risk of being a back-seat driver, can I suggest a more reasonable separation of levels?

L1 = 7
L2 = 25
L3 = 80
L4 = 264
L5 = 742

This would more closely match "evenly spaced brightnesses" according to the human eye. Besides, a lowest mode of 98 is kinda high. L5 can stay the same. The previous L3 can be reused for L4 to cut down on the time it takes to re-engineer the circuit. I don't think a light this size needs any mode that is lower than 7ish lumens.

Edit: Yes I realize that this light is almost finished. I was suggesting a new set of levels for the next go around.

 

[GMoney]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

First of all great light design. But I would have to agree with Copperfox, if there is one thing holding me back from purchasing it would be a lower minimum setting. 98 lumens is a bright starting place.

 

[wbp]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

During my initial testing I suggested adding more levels. 7 lumens might be a tad low for a light this big, but perhaps not.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

During my initial testing I suggested adding more levels. 7 lumens might be a tad low for a light this big, but perhaps not.

A light can NEVER EVER get too low. We like loooooooong runtimes around here. I'd love to have a nice >1 Lumen setting. Just enough to make those phosphors glow so the light can be found.

 

[Jarl]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

IMO for levels, it's dead easy... start at 0.01 lumens, then 1, then 10 to 15, then 100 to 150, then max.

That said, I think the advantages of this light easily make the lack of a proper low a bit of a non-issue... just carry a photon pro with you

 

[9x23]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Just my two cents here.......I'm with many others here who would like to see a low of about 1/2 lumens since I would use this light as a nightstand light as well as for camping and night fishing, general purpose around the house, and for grins too. I find that a low light level such as on a Nitecore D20 or HDS EDC actually works very well for small tasks (checking on kids at night, trips to bathroom, baiting hooks while night fishing, etc.) at night once you adapt to the night vision. Anything brighter would blow out your eyes. For me if I were to put in my two cents for usable lighting levels from 1/2 to 750+ lumens my preference would be approximately these levels:

1/2 lumen (for low task lighting when you have night adapted vision)
25 lumens (for general indoor tasks where one might need a flashlight)
120 lumens (for general outdoor walking around at nights when more range is desired)
400 lumens (for extended runtimes when you want a very bright light)
742 lumens (for when you just need that full blast for short periods)

Of course, since you've already reserve serial #8 for me I'll take whatever you give me!

Just one question for now:

1. Can the driver be user replaced should you release a newer driver with revised levels?

It's time for me to go to your "buy" thread to select my configuration and pay. BTW....great job!

Thanks!

9x23

 

[wbp]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Just my two cents here.......I'm with many others here who would like to see a low of about 1/2 lumens since I would use this light as a nightstand light as well as for camping and night fishing, general purpose around the house, and for grins too.

I'm not objecting to having lower levels, but...

This is not a small flashlight. It's over 7" long and 2" in diameter at the head, and it weighs 1.2 pounds. It isn't going to fit in most people's pockets! Are you sure you would actually use it as you describe? Personally I will still be carrying something else, very small, probably AAA based or CR2, like the Arc Mania E3 that lives in my pocket at the moment, or a small CR123 light...

 

[guiri]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

wbp, think of it this way. IF You had to pick ONE light for any situation, be it the truck, on vacation or camping and you had a light that could do all this. Would than then make you feel better about the low output level?

I mean, half a lumen could keep you with light for years (assuming the batteries survive that long that is)

 

[wbp]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

wbp, think of it this way. IF You had to pick ONE light for any situation, be it the truck, on vacation or camping and you had a light that could do all this. Would than then make you feel better about the low output level?

Given the size, weight, and output of my Arc Mania E3, why would I NOT carry it, or an LF3 or some other small light? There aren't any trit slots in the L2 either and no real place to put any...

I don't need to feel better about having a lower output level - I'm not against it! One of the very first things I asked Neoseikan for was more levels.

I just think that given the size and heft of this light, asking it to do everything and be everything to all people is kinda silly. There is no way I'm going to walk around with a Legion 2 stuffed in my pocket, but I'd feel naked without the E3 in the watch pocket (flashlight pocket!) of my Diamond Gusset's!

 

[guiri]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

No but here's what I'm thinking. With that many batteries in it and a super low level, that thing has got to last forever. Yeah, I have other low level lights that are more practical but not as much battery power. That's what I was thinking

 

[Jarl]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

No but here's what I'm thinking. With that many batteries in it and a super low level, that thing has got to last forever. Yeah, I have other low level lights that are more practical but not as much battery power. That's what I was thinking

24 watt hours.... 50 lumens= 0.3 watts or thereabouts=80 hours.

A tenth of that should still be enough light to see by.... 800 hour runtimes, anyone?





p.s: I used 50 lumens because this is about max efficiency for a quad die LED. (~25ma/die). Efficiency gets a bit sticky below this value.... These figures may be a bit out, it's been a while since I last played with LED's at very low current.

 

[ace0001a]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

I'm a lumens whore, so part of me wouldn't mind if it was just a one-742-lumen-mode flashlight. To me, lumens fall into the notion of that you could never have too much of a good thing. With that said, I see no use in a super low mode like 1/2 lumens. No disrepect to those who seem to have a high sensativity to ultra low level lighting, but to me 1/2 lumens is useless (unless I knew I was going to be trapped in a cave for a month). To me, a Luxeon I level performance (30 to 40 lumens) would make for an excellent lowest level usage like night stand use and such. General indoor usage to me would be 100+ lumens...like I said, I'm a lumens whore. I'm with wpb that this isn't a small light and it's output curve should reflect that. Form factor is also a reason why I think a flashlight like a C or D Maglite would be a waste if it didn't have 150+ lumens output...there are MiniMags for lower output I think. The guys making this flashlight have a smaller Spartan II flashlight that would fit the size appropriate lower output curve I think. I guess to me when it comes to flashlights, size does matter! :thumbsup: That's just my take on things, but to each their own I guess. Flashlight on everyone!! :rock:

 

[Alan B]

Re: 742 Torch Lumens! NEOFAB Legion II UPDATED.

The power consumption of the electronics when "on" probably is greater than required to produce 1/2 lumen from the LEDs, so the runtime will not increase as much as expected.

One way to choose a low level is to reduce the output until the runtime stops increasing significantly - there is no energy reason to go much beyond that. So when about three quarters of the energy is powering the electronics, there is no runtime reason to go lower.

I have been experimenting with low light levels in my incan driver. If you need to carry a large bright flashlight such as this one, but your present needs for light are minimal it is not convenient to put this large flashlight away and get out a teeny light - how do you carry it? Your hand is available to carry the large light, but if you want to go to a low light level, where do you carry the large light? If the large light will do the low level, you are already carrying it, so use it. Leave the small light as a backup in your pocket. This large light occupies a hand, so it needs to meet all your lighting needs.

Good steps between levels should be about four times the lumens at each step.

By way of example I take the 11V 1500 lumen incan down to a couple of volts and produce a few lumens of light and it is quite useful.

My observation,

 

[MrGman]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Given the size, weight, and output of my Arc Mania E3, why would I NOT carry it, or an LF3 or some other small light? There aren't any trit slots in the L2 either and no real place to put any...

I don't need to feel better about having a lower output level - I'm not against it! One of the very first things I asked Neoseikan for was more levels.

I just think that given the size and heft of this light, asking it to do everything and be everything to all people is kinda silly. There is no way I'm going to walk around with a Legion 2 stuffed in my pocket, but I'd feel naked without the E3 in the watch pocket (flashlight pocket!) of my Diamond Gusset's!

Plus 10.

A 1/2 lumen red LED is all you need to preserve night vision. This light ain't it. Its ridiculous to try and make a megalight of this size also the tinsy weensy little night light also.

I would like to know what the current draw is at each of those stated lumen levels posted. Just curious.

 

[guiri]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Well, not necessarily half a lumen but something low for super long run time. I'm a lumens whore too but still, I'm talking emergency here. You know, the cave scenario.

With all that said, a light with too many options is a pain in the *** 'cause I"m personally too damn stupid to figure out how to use them

 

[wbp]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

With all that said, a light with too many options is a pain in the *** 'cause I"m personally too damn stupid to figure out how to use them

Now on THAT we are in complete agreement! about too many options, that is, not the other part - how would I know?

 

[guiri]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

not the other part - how would I know?

Yeah, well, that doesn't keep others from messin' with me anyway. I seem to attract them

 

[Alan B]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Well, not necessarily half a lumen but something low for super long run time. I'm a lumens whore too but still, I'm talking emergency here. You know, the cave scenario.

With all that said, a light with too many options is a pain in the *** ...

Long runtime is extremely valued in lights during emergencies. Super bright lights that last one hour become useless.

Having a number of levels doesn't have to be painful. My hotwire regulator has about 100 levels, and all you have to deal with is up and down, so you don't really care how many levels there actually are.

 

[guiri]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Yeah well, that's why I love the new nitecores with the piston but I meant the ones where you have to do all kinds of different things to make them change. Twist fast, twist slow, do this, do that. Nah, I can't do it. Love my Jetbeam and nitecore extreme but I can't figure out how to use them and since I use them seldom, I forget how to change the settings

 

[wbp]

Re: NEOFAB Legion II OP/runtime/more pics UPDATED.

Long runtime is extremely valued in lights during emergencies. Super bright lights that last one hour become useless.

Having a number of levels doesn't have to be painful. My hotwire regulator has about 100 levels, and all you have to deal with is up and down, so you don't really care how many levels there actually are.

First of all, with freshly charged cells this light draws around 800 ma from the battery, increasing to around 1300 mA as the cells deplete. It has a (reported) run time of nearly 2 hours on HIGH :wow:
(I will be measuring the run time myself when time permits, but I have no reason to doubt Neoseikan when he tells me this is what he got)

At level 1 (100 lumens) it starts out at around 85 mA from the battery, increasing to perhaps 120 mA as the voltage drops. If we assume 2200 mAH cells and an average of 100 mA, that's roughly 22 hours at 100 lumens...

I'd say that is pretty useful as it is configured now.

With the unique UI this light has, 100 levels would not be at all practical.