Surefire Maximus, Minimus AA, Minimus Tactical and Minimus Vision!

[Aperture]

Any tips where I can order the Surefire HS1 and HS2 Filter Set and have it shipped to Amsterdam?

B&H sells it for $18 but won't ship Surefire parts to the EU as does Amazon, one guy sells it on eBay for almost $50 including shipping and enforced sales tax which I don't have to pay. Other places I can find are small websites I'm not familiair with or don't have them in stock.

So, who knows a trusted shop which ships the filter set to the EU?

 

[P_A_S_1]

I believe PAS1 is talking about the artifact in the beam. All Minimus and Minimus Vision would have some artifact in the beam caused by the fresnel lens, or at least it looks like a fresnel lens inside.

No, not the artifacts or unevenness produced by the light's lens. The 'prism' effect is a band of light in four (on my light) close but distinct lines that project out and around the lens in a circle or semi circle at almost a 90 degree angle. The band of light has slight color to the ring like a rainbow, that's why some call it a 'prism' effect. I was familiar with it prior to getting my light after reading a thread here on CPF in regards, I'll try to link the thread below as it has pictures of this prism or halo like effect. Now, when I got my light and the effect wasn't there I assumed they fixed it through production however in time I noticed it more and more so either I initially missed it or it developed, hence my call to SF to see it there was anything I could do to correct it. Looking at the light it seems the tip of the fresnel lens is where the effect is produced.


http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?317170-Disappointed-in-Surefire

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?243696-Surefire-Saint-headlamp-(Part-2)/page2

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?268010-Surefire-Saint-Minimus

 

[pjandyho]

No, not the artifacts or unevenness produced by the light's lens. The 'prism' effect is a band of light in four (on my light) close but distinct lines that project out and around the lens in a circle or semi circle at almost a 90 degree angle. The band of light has slight color to the ring like a rainbow, that's why some call it a 'prism' effect. I was familiar with it prior to getting my light after reading a thread here on CPF in regards, I'll try to link the thread below as it has pictures of this prism or halo like effect. Now, when I got my light and the effect wasn't there I assumed they fixed it through production however in time I noticed it more and more so either I initially missed it or it developed, hence my call to SF to see it there was anything I could do to correct it. Looking at the light it seems the tip of the fresnel lens is where the effect is produced.


http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?317170-Disappointed-in-Surefire

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?243696-Surefire-Saint-headlamp-(Part-2)/page2

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?268010-Surefire-Saint-Minimus

Oh I see. I do notice that but maybe mine is the neutral tint Vision it is not so obvious and apparent.

 

[cland72]

Last night I had to water my wife's flower bed pretty late, so I grabbed a recently acquired Z2 Combatlight with a P60 in it. After realizing it probably wasn't the best tool for the job, I went back inside and grabbed my Minimus Vision. Perfect! I still love the rotary style UI, and while some people complain that the max output of 75 lumens is too low, I only needed about half that for the job at hand.

 

[Kestrel]

I know what you mean - it's fun to use the mega-output lights but I always keep my Minimus Vision handy for when I have work to do.
To tell the truth, it will probably get the most use during the fall hunting season.

 

[pjandyho]

After all these years I still like my Minimus Vision and still use it from time to time. I have a Zebralight H602w which is bright and great but the Minimus Vision still remains my favorite.

 

[P_A_S_1]

Used my Minimus last night in an unlit area, great flood for what I was doing but noticed that 'prism' effect as posted earlier in this thread more pronounced. Now the Minimus is not known for being throwy but I was looking at the way the light bounces back down into ones face/eyes and thought maybe the backscattering of light could effect ones vision just enough to lessen your sight distance, like how using fog lights when there is no fog diminishes how far out you can see in front of the vehicle. Being this is the only headlamp I have right now I don't know if other lights splash back in the same fashion but without the backscatter of light I think the Minimus effective range would be greater.

 

[Kestrel]

I know I'm never the first to find these sorts of things out, but it looks like the basic Minimus & Minimus Vision have been discontinued by SF.
Neither model is showing up on their website, and checking the model on Optics Planet and B&H both list it as discontinued. Pretty bummed - I really like mine and recently purchased one for Mrs. Kestrel as well.

 

[pulstar]

That's sad to hear... But on the other hand, maybe they're just setting the terrain for new, updated versions!

 

[cland72]

I know I'm never the first to find these sorts of things out, but it looks like the basic Minimus & Minimus Vision have been discontinued by SF.
Neither model is showing up on their website, and checking the model on Optics Planet and B&H both list it as discontinued. Pretty bummed - I really like mine and recently purchased one for Mrs. Kestrel as well.

Wow, that's too bad. I've really grown attached to my Minimus Vision and use it quite often.

That's sad to hear... But on the other hand, maybe they're just setting the terrain for new, updated versions!

I hope that's the case, but wouldn't they release the updated model before phasing out the legacy model (like they did with the E1B)?

 

[Kestrel]

From my experience, SF seems to upgrade a product via inline substitution & virtually no associated fanfare, and this doesn't appear to be like that.

IMO they can justify having only so many product lines running - the slow sellers getting unceremoniously dropped when new products get introduced. And we have gotten a number of new designs during 2015, perhaps finally using up the existing inventory of SF Minimus (Minimi? :thinking by the end of the year?

 

[Woods Walker]

Maybe they just didn't sell well. People who own them seem to like um though. A bit of a shame.

 

[marinemaster]

I was going to get one but it seems is already discontinued. Is funny SF takes forever with some products to be available but with headlamps they come and go so fast/discontinued that I can't even keep up.

 

[marinemaster]

Does anyone know if SF made a Minimus Vision AA ? I believe they made a Minimus Vision CR123 but not AA. Any input appreciated.

 

[Kestrel]

I found my most recent (CR123) Minimus at Light Junction; they had a few left when I made my recent purchase but it now looks like they are out of stock.

If anybody is interested in getting one, I would recommend looking now because it is only going to get more difficult to find them.

 

[Kestrel]

Small note; when I opened up this newest Minimus, it had a CR123 w/ an expiration date of 06-2025. I know that we will have very few data points for 2015 on this light since SF wound the model down last year, but I'm curious if we'll see any later-production cells in the last lights.

I know that SF's serial numbers aren't perfectly sequential either, but this one is A59796, FWIW.

 

[Kestrel]

Does anyone know if SF made a Minimus Vision AA ? I believe they made a Minimus Vision CR123 but not AA. Any input appreciated.

They made a 2xAA version (with the battery pack mounted just under the body), but it was a poor implementation IMO and is also recently-discontinued.

What they really should have done for an alternate version was to lengthen the existing body by a few mm to make it compatible with 1xAA for somewhat-reduced output. 1x14500 would have made that a /very/ interesting option. :devil:

 

[cland72]

Last night I was crawling around in my attic using my Minimus Vision. It's really a shame they discontinued it. I LOVE the ramping UI, and I know it's a bullet proof little headlamp. The beam profile is awesome and provided plenty of flood for me to see what was around me.

 

[pjandyho]

I wonder how is Surefire going to honor their lifetime warranty when parts are not being produced. It's not like there is a replacement unit that we can change for.

 

[dwong]

UI on my Vision can't be beat, hope for next version/model in 1xAA or 2xAA in thin/slim form.