New Led Lenser headlamp - 2000 Lumens

Anyone seen the new headlamp that is coming from Led Lenser? The Xeo - I saw it on the Australian distributors website.

Dual emitters, independent focus, independent output control. 2000 lumens.

Looks interesting, but it's probably $$$

http://zenimports.com.au/news/introducing-xeo-the-next-evolution-in-headlamps.aspx

That looks awesome!

I totally do not need 2000 lumens on my head, but wow, that thing looks great. Maybe a little on the heavy side though. For biking at night though, wow, that would be aaawweesome.

Whatever they do - and LL is well known for boosting lumen's for 60 seconds only, this headlamp will not have 2000 lumens for more than 3 minutes because it will simply overheat itself. Real values for 2x Cree XM-L2 U2 leds for similar size bike / headlamps at longer runtimes are closer to 900 lumens...

Ugh... That "turbo boost" or whatever the particular manufacturer calls it, is simply a way to mislead prospective buyers IMO. I already have a dual lamp 1500lm burst/ 800lm continuous setup.

revilo951 said:

Anyone seen the new headlamp that is coming from Led Lenser? The Xeo - I saw it on the Australian distributors website.

Dual emitters, independent focus, independent output control. 2000 lumens.

Looks interesting, but it's probably $$$

http://zenimports.com.au/news/introducing-xeo-the-next-evolution-in-headlamps.aspx

Click to expand...

The design looks nice and i like this part:

GoPro® Mount Compatible - The headlamp and battery packs are compatible with the GoPro® range of mounting systems. Wear the XEO on your head or chest, mount it to a car, bike or boat - the possibilities are almost endless

The publicity for this light so far gives little information on output settings beyond the 2000lm max, other than talking about having 3 levels, some auto-dimming feature and some programmability.

The 'Air Intake - Air enters the headlamp from the front as you move, cooling the LEDs and allowing the XEO to maintain peak performance and brightness' does seem to suggest that not only will no airflow result in dimming, but that a sufficient airflow should result in maximum brightness , but possibly it is not carefully-written.

And the 'Any low-visibility job, night-time operation, or after-dark activity is safer and easier when lit by 2000 powerful lumens.' would be a little naughty if 2000lm was only briefly available.

More generally, I think explicit boost/turbo modes or features on lights (or lights with thermally unsustainable peak outputs) are fine as long as the documentation makes clear what the continuous output is (or in the case of thermally-limited designs, what it could be expected to be,).

This light (the XEO 19R) was featured pretty prominently in their display at SHOT. I didn't ask any questions about it but I did snap a photo or two. It uses a D-pad with center button to handle programming, mode selection, and activation. The lenses offer independent adjustment using fairly large levers on each side of the light. It's fairly heavy, weighing in at over one pound (click image for full size version).


I just assumed there would be some sort of step down in output and I didn't even ask about it. Here is a shot of the catalog page showing a few more specs. It is available in three colors - black, white, and green (Click image for full size version)

It does look interesting, but not for $350



For $350, from a 2000 lumen peak light, I would want 5 modes instead of 3:
Low: <25 lumens
Medium Low: 75 - 150 lumens
Medium High: 300 - 500 lumens
High: 800 - 1200 lumens
Turbo: 2000 lumens

As well a finned design for added heat dissipation area, because turbo mode is going to heat up VERY quickly if you're just walking around & not getting enough airflow through that vent.... ESPECAILLY after 2 minutes.

Way too big and way too expensive, for me.

Well, if they're claiming 2000lm/2hr and 50lm/40h, then the '2000lm' setting isn't likely to be a constant one for 2hrs.

Also, it's interesting that for [presumably] the same focus setting, they're suggesting '2000lm' gives a 200m beam, and 50lm gives a 100m beam.

Is it that the '2000lm' mode ends up giving 200m reach after 2 hrs (making it more like 200lm)?

kj2 said:

Way too big and way too expensive, for me.

Click to expand...

Im with you, $350 and a full pound with only a burst mode for the high output. No thanks!

It will be interesting to see how well the airflow cooling works, or if it is just marketing waffle.

What a beast. More than three times as heavy as my Nitecore HC90! Yes, the forward weight is somewhat balanced by the battery pack in the rear, but still . . . I can't imagine this headlamp being particularly comfortable, especially if worn without a helmet of some sort. Who are their target buyers---cavers, search and rescue, industrial? Maybe they're counting on us flashaholics!

If I ignore the funny claims - it will probably still be a great light. I'd love to have a play with one.

As for the weight and size - twenty years ago I was wearing headlamps almost that heavy all the time and they were barely 5% as powerful. The usability will all be down to how comfortable and balanced it is. Again I'd love to play with one!

I'd like to play with one too, however, for half the price you could buy a ZL H600 and H600F. Mount them together and you'd have many more customizable levels of combined flood and semi-spot..... along with the redundancy of having two separate lights, rather than one system light.

Still, it's an interesting light, and I'll look forward to a review.

Derek Dean said:

I'd like to play with one too, however, for half the price you could buy a ZL H600 and H600F. Mount them together and you'd have many more customizable levels of combined flood and semi-spot..... along with the redundancy of having two separate lights, rather than one system light.

Still, it's an interesting light, and I'll look forward to a review.

Click to expand...

I often wear my H602w AND H600w when I go night-hiking. Usually keep the H602w on full blast and the H600w on the 300 lumen mode. It's nice because they can be independently aimed as well.

uk_caver said:

Well, if they're claiming 2000lm/2hr and 50lm/40h, then the '2000lm' setting isn't likely to be a constant one for 2hrs.

Also, it's interesting that for [presumably] the same focus setting, they're suggesting '2000lm' gives a 200m beam, and 50lm gives a 100m beam.

Is it that the '2000lm' mode ends up giving 200m reach after 2 hrs (making it more like 200lm)?

Click to expand...

At full power, at full flood, They claim 2000 lumens. I would guess that after 5 minutes it will ramp down to 900 lumens.

At full power, at full throw, the optics are less efficient. So I would anticipate that 'Boost' will get 1200 lumens for a bit, then drop down to 600 lumens. I suspect they are running "High" in flood configuration and "Low" in a more-throwy setup.

The 7" Truck Lites Phase 7 LED headlight on my Harley puts out around 1400 lumens when the high beam are turned on. It is probably the brightest LED headlight that you can buy for a motorcycle. I can't imagine what you would be doing that you would need 2000 lumens from a headlamp, not to mention the drain on whatever battery is powering it.

I have a Black Diamond Icon headlamp. It puts out 200 lumens at max power. It is plenty of light to do practically anything on the darkest night. I think that a 2000 lumen headlamp might be a solution looking for a problem.

One of the complaints that I have had with extremely bright headlamps and flashlights is when someone wearing or using one flashes accidentally flashes one in your eyes at night. It can take a while for your eyes to recover so that you can see anything more than blinding yellow spots. Being flashed by a 2k lumen headlamp might not be all that pleasant an experience.

Pete