Even the Fenix LD01 after the battery drops too low to maintain regulation gets dimmer.
But until then, it's consistent.
I am curious why regulation is so important? I am not being sarcastic, but want to learn more about the reason why. Thanks
Some people prefer to have a predictable level of output when they turn on a flashlight (especially on the high modes, I would guess). For instance, if they bought a "bright" (relative, of course) flashlight, then they want--and sometimes need--it to always be bright. In addition, while this implies shorter runtimes overall, they want/need longer runtime at a consistently bright level, and regulation is a more efficient method of accomplishing this than changing batteries more frequently--they want virtually all of the batteries' energy devoted to the level(s) of output they desire rather than arbitrarily lower levels, and changing batteries more frequently is wasteful.
I like it more when a flashlight starts to dim.
Is this just a personal preference, or is there a practical reason for it? While dimming is not quite as much of an issue today, given the efficiency of LEDs (and speaking in the broadest possible terms), the era when incandescent flashlights and alkaline (or worse) batteries dominated even the flashaholic world was not so long ago, and most of us weren't fond of how flashlights noticeably dimmed over short periods of time (even just a few minutes). This helps reinforce the usefulness of regulation for certain types of efficiencies (mentioned above), even if they're not quite as immediately apparent today, and it shouldn't be necessary to point out that most folks here wish to get the most out of their flashlights and want them to conform to their ideals (e.g. predictable output) as much as possible. So if a product of similar size, price, and other parameters has regulation while another does not, many folks here would have a reason to prefer it.
With a regulated light you are left in the dark once the light shuts off, or is there something I don't know.
A well-designed regulated flashlight will drop down to a lower level once it cannot maintain the intended level. Even some single-mode flashlights, such as the Fenix E01, have a "moonlight" mode that they drop to, by design, after a certain point. Some people insist that their regulated flashlights exhibit this behavior, particularly if the flashlights are intended for critical tasks, but for non-critical tasks it's not necessary, so cutting out with little or no warning could be viewed as a minor trade-off by some.
I don't think you need regulation for a 1.5v light.
Perhaps on "low" or "medium" modes, NiMH and lithium cells can inherently provide sufficient output stability to satisfy many people, but on "high" modes (i.e. 50+ lumens for 1xAAA flashlights) or when using alkaline cells, the output can decline fairly rapidly and noticeably just like in the old days.
It really isn't necessary.
Few things in the world are truly, profoundly
Necessary, but for some people regulation in flashlights is nice to have, and all else being equal, preferred.
