Just how bright is the Infinity Ultra?

Raven

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Is it brighter than a 2 cell aa mini maglite? Is it brighter than a 2 cell aaa uk penlight?

Just curious

Raven
 

sunspot

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The Ultra is slighty brighter than an Arc-AAA. As to a Mini-Gaglite, it is not as bright when the Gag is on tight focus. I don't have the uk to compare to.
 

RonM

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I find the output of the Ultra to be more useable than that of the minimag. Maybe that's because it's so white and even. Of course the throw is less, especially since the beam is so wide.

Most everyone is happy with the Ultra. Get one and you will be too.
 

Sigman

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V8 - yep, that's what Brightguy has posted = UKAAA bulb is 10.7 lumen. Pretty good for a small package!
 

Raven

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Not to get too far off subject, but I have two ukaaa pen lights, and I rarely use them, as I find twisting the lamp on/off to be a chore, especially if I'm outside in the rain. That's one of the reasons, I like the ukaa so much, is because the bezel is made of rubber, and is easy to turn.

Raven
 

V8TOYTRUCK

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I have the ARC, Ultra and the UK 2AAA. The 2 led lights were pretty much the same. The Ultra is way bigger but you get longer run times. The UK 2AAA has a really tight beam, I've read that its around a 10 lumen bulb.
 

BackStage

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It's not brighter than a *ag but I find it much more useable. It fits well in the "lighter" pocket of my jeans too.
 

ledfanfromjuno

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I find that my ultra and arc aa and lightwave 2100 and opalec newbeam are really better suited to indoor lighting than outdoors. They really light up rooms when they can bounce their broad beams off of the white painted walls. But outside their wide arced beams rapidly fade into nothingness and just aren't that useful.

For nichia based lights I prefer the princeton impact 4AA single nichia ledlight with collimator or the ledcorp ourbest aluminum with 4AA and one nichia in an adjustable focusing flashlight.

For luxeon based AA lights which I prefer over the nichia based lighting the current best may be the madmax. I am not sure because I just orderred it tonight and am waiting for it. I got the madmax and a crystal saphire lens for it. The madmax has a better graph than the badboys when using nimh rechargeables. The madmax is fully adjustable so you can set the luxeon to the brightness and runtime combination that you're comfortable with. One guy on this forum said he set the trimpot on the madmax so he gets four hours of relatively bright luxeon lighting from his rechargeable AA's. I intend to use a little silicone caulking clear sealant to make my minimag madmaxes waterproof, except of course for the tailcap whose waterproofness is determined by the rubber conical washer and threading that maglite engineered into the minimag. Plus, my minimag's will have crystal saphire lenses. It doesn't get much better than this.

Look, I know that the advertising for the ultra claims the thing will run 23 hours on one AA. However, it appears they lied just like they did about their 2AA reactor. The runtime graphs Roy did seem to indicate that the ultra runs more like 11 hours.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003049#000000

When you consider that it only takes 100 minutes to charge 4 AA batteries in a maha c401fs charger in a wall outlet or hooked up to solar panels, the minimag with madmax seems to be a better deal than the ultra. The madmax can be set to run 4 hours according to the other guy in this forums and it will be much brighter than the ultra. AA batteries are very light and easy to carry and therefore having to carry 6 batteries to get through the night versus 1 is not a deal to me if I get a lot more useable light out of the flashlight. In 3 and a half hours you can charge 8 AA batteries which should last 16 hours in regulation if the trimpot is set correctly. If the trimpot is set to maximum brigtness then the 8 batteries will last 6 hours in full regulation.
 

ledfanfromjuno

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FOrgot to mention, my choices were based on outdoor uses. If just for everyday indoor, odds and ends stuff the ultra and others are great. I think the ultra is a great light and the arc as well. They just have limits to their useablility outdoors.

For outdoors I'd want a luxeon.
 

Gone Jeepin

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The Ultra G I have is easy to operate with one hand. The light size is good in the hand and I can turn the head with thumb and first finger. I have to agree that in some outdoor applications the light is just lost. That is a case where I would rely on the bigger lights. I still keep the Ultra G in the Jeep console and use it frequently. Nice light by any measure for only using 1 AA.
icon14.gif
 

Raven

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Originally posted by ledfanfromjuno:
I think the ultra is a great light and the arc as well. They just have limits to their useablility outdoors.

For outdoors I'd want a luxeon.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You find an ARC LS to be noticably better than an Infinity Ultra for outdoor use? Are there and non Luxeon LED lights that you find acceptable for outdoor use?

Raven
 

B@rt

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The Streamlight's 7 LED flashlights are supposeded to be close in a output...
rolleyes.gif

There has been a lot of talk about it, just do a search in the led forum.
 

Charles Bradshaw

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The Infinity Ultra is far more usable outdoors, than the regular Infinity. Like any Nichia LED based light without a reflector, the range is limited. Luxeon based lights are brighter than 10 nichia LED lights and have better range, due to the optics.

I have both type of Infinity lights, a Reactor, 2 Arc LSes, Lightwave 4000, 2 Rebels and a few others. The Infinities are billed as 'task lights'. I don't have anything that will light up the 'tail end' of a flea at 1000 yards.
 

Anarchocap

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The Ultra is about 1.5 times brighter than a Photon II, but it isn't going to compete with a spot on a 2AA Mini because its an LED without optics. I think it is better than the 2AA Mini because it is 1/3 its size and the flood is comparable.

The plus of the Ultra is the AA battery, the ability to take Lithiums, and its got a regulation circuit. Its also going to last you 3 - 5 times longer on battery life depending on the battery you use.

When I went camping, I used the Photon II to wander off to relieve myself and make sure I didn't get any on me. It did an adequate job illuminating the way, and I think the Ultra is going to be a bit better because of the consistent light over the life of the battery.

IMHO your question is comparing apples to oranges though. Single LEDs are great for simple, general, and emergency light needs because of their convenient packages, but unless you use Luxeons, or 10 LEDs, you aren't going to get the same light output of the incans.
 

Charles Bradshaw

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I have to agree with Gun Nut. One very nice thing about LED lights, is that they don't attract insects. I have noticed this during my summer outdoors 'testing'.
 

UnknownVT

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Originally posted by Charles Bradshaw:
One very nice thing about LED lights, is that they don't attract insects.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Very interesting.....

is this a function of the color spectrum
or one of simple intensity (or lack of)?

I note that the GE "Bug Lite" (anti-insect) bulbs are yellow and claim not to attract insects - which implies a lack of blue and/or UV.

Conversely the bug-zappers use fluorecent tubes that look white-blue/violet to attract insect - again seems to indicate a strong blue or UV content for attraction.

Most "white" LEDs are actually blue-white and I would have thought they would attract insects
- so do they have some discontinuity in their color spectrum that manages not to attract insects?
or are they just not a large/bright enough light source that insects do not confuse them with a source of "daylight"?

Back to Ultra brightness -
I have recently got the Ultra-G (if it makes any difference) and the brightness is what I'd call "bright enough" for almost all close usage.

It is certainly bright enough to walk in the dark by - indoors or outdoors.

It illuminates objects in a darken room very well due to its wide and useful/even beam.

It is bright enough to read a map or directions in a car - but not too bright that it would "burn" one's eyes.

To me - it's brighter than the Solitaire at any focus setting,
not as bright as a 2AA Mini-Mag when the beam is tightly focussed - but the light is whiter and much more useful due to its wider and more even beam.
It is just brighter than my 3 years old (but hardly used) white Photon II - and the Ultra-G has a wider more useful beam.

Overall the Ultra(-G) is a very useful close quarters task light - I have read it is as bright and some report brighter than the well-liked ArcAAA LE -

- and we all know that the ArcAAA is very likely to win the 2002 Lummies - so if the majority of the flashaholics here think the ArcAAA is "bright enough" - then it follows that the Ultra is also "bright enough" -

- just that the Ultra is larger due to the fact it uses a single AA cell - which also results in over double the runtime (tested at 11+hours) of the ArcAAA at full brightness.
 

Kirk

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Raven,
I like the Inova X5T for walking around outside. It will light up trees and such about 30-40 feet away. Batteries last 10-20 hours before dimming too much.
Kirk
 

BuddTX

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Raven,

I own an Infinity Ultra, and I think it is a really nice light! I like mine (I like all my LED Lights!)

As a true flashoholic, you have to own this light!

However, In this approximate size, I would recommend either the ARC AAA, or the Streamlight Clipmate as your "first" light.

Why?

The ARC AAA fits on your keychain. The Ultra, would fit, but is bigger and would be bulkier than the ARC.

The Clipmate can be used with or without the clip (it just pops in and out of the socket), and is a 3 LED light, that runs on 3 AAA batteries. Also, the Clipmate comes with a headband. When the clip is detatched, it is very small in size, and fits very nicely into the pocket.

Again, nothing against the Infinity Ultra, it is a very nice light.
 

UnknownVT

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2 light EDC solution....

How about this as an alternative suggestion:

On keyring - a colored LED Photon II -
I like the yellow purely because it's actually less bright - but the yellow has high definition, and it's a compromise color that still preserves night vision (I find red gives my eyes very poor definition, and if brighness is increased it will still reduce night vision - orange has the same problem of poorer definition) - or if you don't like colored lights, the white Photon II, or even the Inova white MicroLight? (normally cheaper).

In pocket with wrist loop - the CMG Infinity Ultra(-G?) -
because it is white, bright enough for most personal close tasks including outdoor walking - uses a single AA cell and has relatively good runtime of 11+ tested hours.

Overall the 2 lights would be much more compact than the ArcAAA and Streamlight LED ClipMate.
Perhaps the total candle power may be lower - but we're talking about enough light to use, that's also on one's person all the time.

Total price would also be cheaper.....
 
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