Been away for a while and and a bit disappointed ....

[Perfectionist]

OK, so I managed to get a handle on my addiction ..... but now Christmas is coming and I gotta buy me some cool poop !!

However despite it being almost a year since I went on my last Torch Buying Orgy ..... there doesn't seem to be any new truly must-have lights out there ..... ones that are "exceptionally" better than the those I bought so long ago !! ??

Granted, kickass firms like Nitecore have arrived ..... but as far as the technology is concerned, it seems the rate of progress has slowed to a crawl !!

I mean for example my old Fenix AAA LOD has been replaced by the LD01 ..... which (sadly!) only puts out 5 more lumens and has (for some reason?) had the Strobe/SOS modes removed ?? :sick2:

How long will I have to wait to see really significant improvements in Output and Runtime (and price!) etc ?? :thinking:

I honestly don't see anything worth getting excited over right now ..... somebody please tell me I'm wrong !!

 

[yellow]

remember what kind of "innovation" there has been the last 100 years - till 3 years ago
(when the led tech exploded)

right, there seem only minor improvements (Q4, Q5, R2)
but the world seems to "need" multiemitter led - and gets them

 

[Hitthespot]

When I think of all the lights I purchased in the last year..............Lets just say I think there have been a lot of nice lights in the last year.

How about the R2 Olight M20 or New Titanium R2 Light from them.

How about a Nitecore Extreme @ 200 Lumens on 1 CR123.

The SureFire E2DL I bought this year is just a Marvel of engineering and mechanical excellence..........and a vast improvement in LED brightness over previous models.

Have you checked out the new beam profile on the Fenix PD20, PD30, etc... lines. Wow.

I could go on and on but I'm not sure what your criteria is for "exceptionally better". Let me say that I am just amazed by the leaps in lighting I've seen, but to be fair I am fairly new as of the last 18 months to the LED portable lighting.

Happy Holidays

Bill

 

[Enzo Morocioli]

Hm.. Well lets see..

If you have any compatible Surefire/Mag lights you can always pickup a Malkoff dropin.. You can investigate some of the custom builds like Electrolumens EDC-P7 for some serious output from a somewhat small package... You might be interested in checking out Lummi's line up of warm white, nearly incandecent, tiny LED pocket rockets.. Also, you may find zebralight's headlamps quite interesting.. Perhaps you may find a liking for HDS/Ra Lights newest creation the Ra Clicky, and the previous Ra Twisty..

Though technology hasn't taken a leap, where we can shoot thousands of lumens out for hours from the palm of our hand, there are our custom builders who would be happy to take your call for a torch that might quench your thirst for something new and cutting edge.

Welcome back, but don't be disappointed. You can find something you like if you're willing to pay for it!

 

[Wattnot]

Just hang on a little longer. I sense some new stuff coming. The R2 and P7 are already old news. There are some new emitters I've been catching bits and pieces about lately (the MC-E and 5A? did I get that right?).

Then of course if SF ever decides to get the Optimus and Invictus on the street that could be a nice welcome back for you!

 

[matrixshaman]

Have you looked at an LF3XT? Check the fairly long thread on it. Many innovations IMO - super smooth beam from a Cree, highly programmable with 2 UI's and dozens if not hundreds of options. A very unique switch very silent and smooth. Nitecore Smart PD's are also innovative and both these lights have full ramping of brightness. I think a year ago full ramping was fairly rare. Did you have 9000+ Lux in a small single cell light a year ago? (Jetbeam Pro II) IMO there have been such huge improvements in the last year that I'm worried about the safety of my wallet :laughing:

 

[Sgt. LED]

If you have stayed away for awhile I suggest staying away longer!

If you come back in 2 years you might be more impressed. :nana:

If you came back just for a good fix then look for a P7 or an MC-E light to hold you over.

 

[WadeF]

I'm looking forward to the new Cree XP-E. Especially if they can mass produce ones that generate 170+ lumens at 350mA!

These should allow for a smoother beam (no XR-E rings). It sounds like their max current is 700mA, so we'll have to see if they are brighter than a XR-E R2 driven at 1A.

Even if they don't make out as much, getting 170+ emitter lumens at only 350mA would make for some bright lights with even longer run times. Right now the Cree XR-E R2 bins are around 114-121 emitter lumens at 350ma. So the XP-E will hopefully give us a nice jump, if they can repoduce what they achieved in their lab. The other cool thing is the XP-E generating 173 lumens at 350mA was doing that at around 4300 degrees color temp or so. Something around 4,000, I'd have to pull up the article to get the specifics.

Hopefully we'll see these XP-E's sooner than later. The sad part is all our XR-E's maybe a thing of the past when it comes to flashlights, the XP-E appears to be a superior emitter for flashlight applications!

 

[Sgt. LED]

I can not wait to see what Milky will come up with once he gets a good supply of these new tiny emitters!

 

[Lighthouse one]

Check out the EagleTac T10C2. It's the most impressive light I've bought in a long while.

 

[kramer5150]

I'm looking forward to the new Cree XP-E. Especially if they can mass produce ones that generate 170+ lumens at 350mA!

These should allow for a smoother beam (no XR-E rings). It sounds like their max current is 700mA, so we'll have to see if they are brighter than a XR-E R2 driven at 1A.

Even if they don't make out as much, getting 170+ emitter lumens at only 350mA would make for some bright lights with even longer run times. Right now the Cree XR-E R2 bins are around 114-121 emitter lumens at 350ma. So the XP-E will hopefully give us a nice jump, if they can repoduce what they achieved in their lab. The other cool thing is the XP-E generating 173 lumens at 350mA was doing that at around 4300 degrees color temp or so. Something around 4,000, I'd have to pull up the article to get the specifics.

Hopefully we'll see these XP-E's sooner than later. The sad part is all our XR-E's maybe a thing of the past when it comes to flashlights, the XP-E appears to be a superior emitter for flashlight applications!

x2... I wasn't sure how to say it all but this sums up my thoughts exactly.

 

[applevision]

Well, I've only been a flashaholic for about a year but I feel that even in this short time things continue to change and get better and better!

However, perhaps you have to look past the most basic elements of the light, namely: lumens.

Analagous to what is happening with digital cameras and their megapixels, we are reaching a (relative) peak of lumens.* So, folks are now focusing on other aspects of lighting such as size, beam color/tint, efficiency and features. The NiteCore D10 is one of the lights that brought me into this crazy hobby/habit, and it's a pretty innovative torch. A really unique piston drive with excellent efficiency, gorgeous beam and hundreds of levels of ramping. It's really brilliant! What about the Fenix TK11? Strong, beautiful and really bright, it is such a fantastic light! And the LD01 from Fenix--granted, not a huge leap from the L0D, but refined and honed to perfection with the magnificient stainless steel version offering that next level of incentive to upgrade!

What about in the world of custom lights? The Muyshondt Aeon is really gorgeous and a masterpiece of form and function. And what about McGizmo? I've become fascinated by a recent thread about his Sun Drop light that, indeed, puts beam quality and color over the lumen wars... For a much more affordable price, Lummi (a fantastic company) now has warm emitters available in the Wee and the Raw--remarkable!!

So, I hope that you will agree that there is at least some movement for now... and I echo the sentiment that great things are coming still! So welcome back and stay with us!

-Applevision

*N.B. I'm a lumenophile and luxwhore so don't anybody think I am satisfied with the current brightness--I WANT MORE TOO!!

 

[richardcpf]

Significant improve on runtime/brightness? Maybe in few more years, when LED makers indroduces new techology to reduce the consumption of these emitters and makes them more effective.

As batteries are being upgraded with new technologies such as lithium and the new one called Zinc-Air, i believe someday we will get a flashlight that can provide maximum brightness and a runtime of at least an entire night.

I still remember when few years ago the 5mm leds were the greatest innovation in the lighting industries, and now we have those big LED emitters which can be compared to high-comsumption xenons. It is only matter of time.

 

[pipspeak]

Innovations in the last year IMO seem to fall into two camps:
a) laggard manufacturers catching up with the leaders, lumens-wise;
b) an explosion in complex user interfaces, from Jet's IBS to Nitecore's PD to the liteflux uber-complexity.

 

[LukeA]

Tints are getting better.

 

[D-Dog]

I was in the same boat too not long ago after not having been active for a few months. It seemed like last year I couldn't even keep up with the LED advances. I forget how long but the jump from a "Premium" P4 to a Q2 to a Q4 and finally to a Q5 seemed to take place in a matter of days. Even R2's were making appearances... Then everything seemed to drop off, at least as far as new single-die emitters.

Take the Fenix P Series... they upgraded those things so fast many of the older buyers are still not sure if they got a P4 or Q2... and Q4's sure didn't last long once the Q5 was out. Everyone seemed to need the best and the brightest, however, the Q5 is old news now. I remember another active thread concerning why the P3D is not more mentioned nowadays... Instead, as mentioned before, I have noticed a significant number of interface improvements in the past year. Beofer this year nothing matched the Flupic interface... at least not for me. It gave you almost infinite customization from ordering output levels to setting user-defined ones. Now infinite brightness is a big hit... I'm only left wondering what will be next.

 

[Yoda4561]

Maybe take a look back to the incan side of things, the new IMR batteries + lumens factory bulbs, 500 incan lumens in a 6p, yay!!. Actually now that I think of it they should be really good for direct drive E2e P7/mce mods as well. 700+ lumens out of an e2e rechargable doesn't get you excited?? When the 170 l/w emitters come out it's gonna be a field day for brightness, 400 lumens should be easy out of a single die, and the multi-emitters may push over 1000 OTF.

 

[saabluster]

I'm looking forward to the new Cree XP-E. Especially if they can mass produce ones that generate 170+ lumens at 350mA!

These should allow for a smoother beam (no XR-E rings). It sounds like their max current is 700mA, so we'll have to see if they are brighter than a XR-E R2 driven at 1A.

Even if they don't make out as much, getting 170+ emitter lumens at only 350mA would make for some bright lights with even longer run times. Right now the Cree XR-E R2 bins are around 114-121 emitter lumens at 350ma. So the XP-E will hopefully give us a nice jump, if they can repoduce what they achieved in their lab. The other cool thing is the XP-E generating 173 lumens at 350mA was doing that at around 4300 degrees color temp or so. Something around 4,000, I'd have to pull up the article to get the specifics.

Hopefully we'll see these XP-E's sooner than later. The sad part is all our XR-E's maybe a thing of the past when it comes to flashlights, the XP-E appears to be a superior emitter for flashlight applications!

:thinking: I have 10 of XP-Es in front of me right now. They have been out awhile and definitely do not have the specs you quote. I think you are mixing up the facts on this one.

 

[Yoda4561]

I think he's quoting specs for the latest lab rat cree emitters, and hoping the XP-e will actually hit the market at that T4 flux bin.

 

[saabluster]

I think he's quoting specs for the latest lab rat cree emitters, and hoping the XP-e will actually hit the market at that T4 flux bin.

I thought that at first but the more I looked at his wording the more it seems he thinks the XP-E is the "lab rat".