Foursevens Mini Mark II

[lampeDépêche]

Foursevens was one of the first main-stream manufacturers to even provide this option. To this day, many manufacturers – Fenix, Jetbeam, Nitecore – provide few, if any, high-CRI or warm-tint options.

David has explained repeatedly that this is an economic necessity — they invariably loose money on these runs. Some members clamor very loudly for the warm / high-CRI emitters, but few buy them.

Foursevens may not offer numerous emitters on every light, but this is far from a valid criticism.

I'm not trying to take cheap shots against David or his company. I know he has mentioned the low sales in the past, and I sympathize with anyone running a company and making payroll.

I don't think the problem is that members here request things and then don't buy them. I think the bigger problem is that even if every member of CPF bought something, it still would not add up to one day's sales for Surefire, or one minute's sales for Ray-0-Vac or Eveready or the big-box light merchants. Tint snobs are not a big market.

At the same time, some manufacturers--I mentioned ZL--are managing to break even while offering tint options with every model.

You mention some manufacturers that offer few if any tint options. So there we are: some companies do better, some do worse, and 4/7s is somewhere towards the worse side.

I hope they'll offer a NW option with this new light!

 

[wacbzz]

It is interesting that while folks are talking here about how FourSevens produced and then had difficulty selling NW and WW models, we are somehow failing to see just how niche a "1000 lumen" light no bigger than the average human thumb really is...no matter what the emitter actually may be.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

It is interesting that while folks are talking here about how FourSevens produced and then had difficulty selling NW and WW models, we are somehow failing to see just how niche a "1000 lumen" light no bigger than the average human thumb really is...no matter what the emitter actually may be.

Ya, I'm with you there -- if it lives up to specs, it's pretty incredible. That said, on every aficionado forum I've ever been on, well-educated aficionados care deeply about things that most normal people would consider minutiae. I must have a tiny bit of normal personal left in me, since I consider color temperature and CRI a footnote ... or maybe a footnote to a footnote. But, not to be captain obvious, for many guys here, that's a bar that has to be reached before they'll consider a light.

 

[kcasner]

If be afraid of losing something so small for EDC! Impressive specs though.

 

[bykfixer]

1000 lumens? Really? How long?

 

[bykfixer]

Oops, double post.

 

[Connor]

1000 lumens? Really? How long?

Literally seconds. Very few of them.

 

[lampeDépêche]

Literally seconds. Very few of them.

Yeah, that's probably right. It will be a burst mode, with fairly quick step-down. The body is too small to handle much heat except by throttling back the output.

Question: aren't ANSI lumen figures quoted at 30 seconds after turn on? And doesn't 4/7s always use ANSI numbers?

So when they quote 1000 lumens, they may have to keep it at 1000 lumens for at least 30 seconds, in order to report that as an ANSI number.

Or am I missing something?

30 seconds is actually pretty long for a burst-mode.

 

[bykfixer]

Edited.

Rant removed.

 

[Dan FO]

Might try one.

 

[Dan FO]

Very nice light.

 

[lampeDépêche]

Troubling imho. I had thought of foursevens being above that sort of hand is quicker than the eye trickery...

Not saying this light sucks, just saying "real numbers or bust", that's all.

Well, now I think you're being a bit *too* hard on them, bykfixer.

There is nothing deceptive or tricky about claiming numbers that are certified by ANSI standards (which has always been 4/7s practice).

That means you get to measure the output at 30 seconds after turn-on and call that your top output.

It's what every other manufacturer uses--except the *really* deceptive ones who quote ridiculous numbers.

But every light that you see on this forum that boasts 3000 lumens or 5000 lumens or whatever--those are all measured in the same way: that's the reading at the 30 second mark.

And nearly every light on this forum uses a step-down from turbo, either after a preset time (1 minutes, 5 minutes, 30 seconds, whatever), or after a built-in temperature regulator tells it that it's getting too hot.

The numbers for turbo outputs are just as much "real numbers" as the numbers for other levels.

Some people say, "I'd rather have a light that is guaranteed to do 200 lumens in a steady way for 2 hours than one that claims 1000 lumens but can only do it for minute!"

Well, why not have both? If you can have a light that does X output continuously, wouldn't it be nice to have it capable of doing 2X or 5X for brief bursts?

Fighter jets have a cruising speed, and they also have an after-burner speed. Fighter pilots don't scoff and say, "who wants after-burner if you can only use it for a few minutes?" Heck no--they want a fast cruising speed, *and* they want the option of afterburner for the few seconds when it can save their lives.

And they certainly do *not* say, "well, that's just the speed with afterburner--those are not "real numbers"!"

Afterburner speed is a real number, even if the jet cannot fly that continuously. Turbo mode on a flashlight is a real number, even if it has to throttle back after a while.

 

[Lucky Duck]

Spot on, lampeDepeche*!! ( See above, #52 ) *Sorry, no fancy keyboard. :shrug:

 

[bykfixer]

Edit:

Dis-tasteful rant deleted.

 

[Greta]

Eh, I see your point.

But I feel like there are companies using gimmick numbers disguised as game changers and imo this one borders on the edge of that.

And IMO, your posts border on "thread trashing" in a sorta/kinda way. As a dealer for a competitor, IMO it is very inappropriate for you to be making such unsubstantiated allegations. Please step it back... and remember your new status. It does change things. :tsk:

 

[mightysparrow]

Very interesting - I'll have to keep up with the news about this light as it comes out.

 

[kreisl]

is this light smaller/shorter than the Olight Smini ?

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Taken from an e mail from FourSevens:

Our team at FOURSEVENS has been designing the next generation Mini flashlight for over a year now.
By using higher grade electronics and military-grade optics we've been able to reduce the size of the Mini even more,
while increasing the output from 252 lumens in the Mini ML to 1000 lumens.

A new RECHARGEABLE RCR123A cell was developed that could handle this amount of power.
Most CR123A batteries max out at 750 lumens, but ours can go even higher.
The high grade electronics in the Mark II will auto-regulate to keep the unit from overheating.
After 15 seconds the light output will dim down to 300 lumens to keep the flashlight at a safe operating temperature.

The Mini Mark II features a TIR (total internal reflector) optic with a 99% light transmittance rate.
The TIR optic went through dozens of iterations to achieve a perfectly balanced spot-flood beam normally only found on reflectors.
This optic avoids the "tunnel vision" you often experience with less balanced beams.


~ Chance

 

[lampeDépêche]

Thanks, Chance! I was about to post that.

After 15 seconds the light output will dim down to 300 lumens to keep the flashlight at a safe operating temperature.

So: bad news first, it looks like the 1000 lumens number is *not* measured using ANSI standards (if that requires measuring at 30 seconds after turn-on).

Good news second: 4/7s is clearly trying to get the full information out there and not create false expectations.

Knowing what I know about RCR123s, I always knew that 1000 lumens would have to be a short burst with a step-down. The cell just doesn't have enough juice to produce that output for long. I still think 15 seconds of that output will be handy/useful/fun to have.

 

[kreisl]

i'd take one in Thundrey Grey or Titanium!! :kiss: