Albinoni
Banned
I'd always thought the Led Lenser Hokus Focus was a 3w LED Luxeon but I've read its only a 1.25w LED but quite surprisingly it still gives out more throw and stronger beam than my friends 3watt LED torch.
Led Lenser I Thought
- Thread starter Albinoni
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Albinoni
Banned
Compare brightness with what ? Sadly my friends 3 watt torch was way cheaper than my LED Lenser and worse it turned out to be a lemon and worse off again a few days ago its LED fell off the solder. So really I dont know what your trying to compare here. Plus the build quality of my LL is far superior to his cheaper 3 watt torch.
On the other note I would call the LL a expensive crap as I've seen far worse torches out there let me rest assure that. It has so far served me well infact very well and the Eneloops in it still havent been charged yet.
TONY M
Flashlight Enthusiast
I assume you mean the 7438 Led Lenser 3xAAA? I have one and it is really super bright. After a few mins the brightness goes down A LOT! When fresh it will JUST out throw my L2D Q5 which is imressive but the beam is very tight with no sidespill due to the frog-eye lens.
The quality is pretty poor for the price, ie bad seals so not waterproof, no regulation, overdriven LED etc.
I do love the switch, it feels very nice and is great quality, and the whole light feels great in the hand too!
Believe it or not these I saw these things in store (UK) for £50 late last year (thats $100 US/CA)! Unbelievable rip-off.
If you want to improve yours there are threads on this site.
The quality is pretty poor for the price, ie bad seals so not waterproof, no regulation, overdriven LED etc.
I do love the switch, it feels very nice and is great quality, and the whole light feels great in the hand too!
Believe it or not these I saw these things in store (UK) for £50 late last year (thats $100 US/CA)! Unbelievable rip-off.
If you want to improve yours there are threads on this site.
TONY M
Flashlight Enthusiast
Have a look here; http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2146627#post2146627
It's a big improvement.
It's a big improvement.
Albinoni
Banned
Yes correct thats the one I'm referring to, but I havent tried the few mins test. Might leave mine on for bout 5 mins or so and see what happens.
What's your definition of quality, I find it the opposite and think its very good and find it to be quite a well built torch. Ok its not waterproof to IPX 8 standards like what you see on some other torches. Though I do believe it is an allweather torch i.e using it iin the rain etc will be ok but dunkable. I mean you can't go and buy a non waterproof watch, dunk it in water and expect it to work that way.
I totally agree here and I think this is one of its strong points.
If I were to re-design one of these torches this is what I would do.
1. Make it waterproof to IPX 8 standards.
2. Use probably the best CREE LED Out there. Crees are good throwers.
3. An improved and better digital circuitry
4. Make it so it can be fully modified. CPF Users here would love that
5. Might leave it to the 3xAAA's if not use 2x CR123A's.
6. Better and good quality seals.
Albinoni
Banned
Very interesting read indeed, but bit confused here is the LL with the Seoul P4 Emitter actually a mod or is it actually brand new and factory built. Also I thought the head of the LL was very hard to remove to allow for LED mods.
shouldnt this be "would not call the LL ..."
Somehow got the impression You might think I want to critic You: that is not the case! Its just the light /maker!
(If You happen to come across such a post, I do this with Mags led-Minimags also (because I also consider them not ideal))
Its bad enough that one has to study flashlights to receive an equal value and not to get his money stolen for something boosted by marketing.
To give You an info on my personal hatred of Lenser in general, please let me tell You, that I know them for quite some years now. The lights (the newer series!) are made mechanically very good, but the electronics suck heavily (if there are any, what is not the case with most of them. With a 3 AAA light I bet there is none)
(PS: I have searched a bit for the Hokus Focus and found a site that mentions "30-35 hours runtime". Just from this I am convinced that it is a crappy direct drive like all of their 3 AAAs, and every other 3,-- priced 3 AAA E-Bay light also. Latter ones are cheap but the Hokus costs € 60+ here!!)
fazit: mechanically good, technically stone-age
As I do not like to type such heavy critics just from feelings (like many other ppl that bash special makes) here is my prove:
Just happend to seoul a more-or-less similar light of a co-worker, a LL V² --> also 3 AAA.
instead of those "great regualtion chip", or whatever marketing boosts, that is what I found inside:
stone-age direct drive!
Modded it with a Seoul and now its a "WOW!!" bright - for the 1st minutes - like any direct drive light.
With those small 3 AAAs this brightness gows down very quickly.
This can be seen by monitoring the current draw:
AAA Ni-Mhs from chager: 1.2 A
after 2 mins: 0.95 A
- 5: 0.90 A
-10: 0.70 A
-15: 0.50 A
and so on
a good light (for less money) keeps its output at the starting brightness - but for shorter time of course.
a good light also does not kick the led with WAY too much current than is safe
(but a direct drive has to do so, because when any resistance is built in, then th elight will get more dim even quicker and wont be "bright" when the voltage is within acceptable specs.
TONY M
Flashlight Enthusiast
Totally agree Alb, that would make a great light!
Basically compared to my other flashlights I think that the quality (except the switch) is just not up to the same standard. It would not take much for instance to make it waterproof or to put a decent emitter etc. It's just a bit old fashioned - if thats a good way of putting it. I don't think it is a useless light by any means though. There are a lot of guys here that have many more lights than me that could tell you more and give good comparisons.
It might take slightly more than 5 mins to see it dim but it is very annoying to see it quickly go down when there are better and cheaper flashlights out there that would last a LOT longer and be just as bright.
There are a lot of guys here that have many more lights than me that could tell you more and give good comparisons
The head is tough to remove. I used bicycle innertube to get a good grip needed to twist it off. Good luck!
kts
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2007
- Messages
- 359
I have used a LL V2 for over a year on work, I work nightshift, so far it works perfect, it even outthrows my P2D Q5 :twothumbs
I run mine on eneloops and usually charge them once a week, no problems so far..Ive read that using alkalines would result in a drop in brightness after few minutes.
I havent noticed any dimming after 10min of use, sometimes used mine for 30min straight, but I dont own a lightmeter, so I cant tell you for sure, I only use mine to see in darkness
I run mine on eneloops and usually charge them once a week, no problems so far..Ive read that using alkalines would result in a drop in brightness after few minutes.
I havent noticed any dimming after 10min of use, sometimes used mine for 30min straight, but I dont own a lightmeter, so I cant tell you for sure, I only use mine to see in darkness
Gunner12
Flashaholic
The main reason it throws further is because of the optic. it focuses almost all of the light into the hotspot, so it will throw further then reflector light which allows a lot of the light to go into the spill.
Think laser pointer vs flashlight. The flashlight has more overall lumen, but the Laser has much more throw.
That Lenser seems to be one of their better lights. The newer ones(not the Lenser but newer models) are also supposed to be better(with actual runtime too, no more "100 hour" runtime). They also have some Cree LED lights now.
The Seoul is a mod, you'll have to do it yourself but it doesn't appear to be too hard. As long as you are decent at soldering and have thermal compound you should be able to do the mod.
LED themselves aren't the good throwers(any bare high power LED without an optic/reflector is floody), it's the optics or reflectors that make them throw.
NiMh batteries would give you better runtime to 50%.
Think laser pointer vs flashlight. The flashlight has more overall lumen, but the Laser has much more throw.
That Lenser seems to be one of their better lights. The newer ones(not the Lenser but newer models) are also supposed to be better(with actual runtime too, no more "100 hour" runtime). They also have some Cree LED lights now.
The Seoul is a mod, you'll have to do it yourself but it doesn't appear to be too hard. As long as you are decent at soldering and have thermal compound you should be able to do the mod.
LED themselves aren't the good throwers(any bare high power LED without an optic/reflector is floody), it's the optics or reflectors that make them throw.
NiMh batteries would give you better runtime to 50%.
2 possibilities:
1st: Your model features some kind of regulation circuit
2nd: that reduction in light is not an on/off kind, its a steady reduction.
Our eyes are not able to monitor such a thing and get used to the actual output, even if it is less bright than in the beginning.
Thats why there are only three ways to notice it:
1 - measure output (who has the equipment?)
2 - have 2 lights and compare them: Switch one off, have the other one run for some time, switch the other one off for short periods and compare the outputs, then switch light 2 off again.
This can be made with identical, or with different lights, with increasing time one easily sees the difference in the 1st lights output
3 - measure current draw (a more quick indicator of the possible output, and can be made with basic gadgets)
Albinoni
Banned
I have used a LL V2 for over a year on work, I work nightshift, so far it works perfect, it even outthrows my P2D Q5 :twothumbs
I run mine on eneloops and usually charge them once a week, no problems so far..Ive read that using alkalines would result in a drop in brightness after few minutes.
I havent noticed any dimming after 10min of use, sometimes used mine for 30min straight, but I dont own a lightmeter, so I cant tell you for sure, I only use mine to see in darkness
When you say V2 which model are you referring to? I've got the LL Hokus Focus (aka Tactical Focus) and I also think it's the version 2.
Albinoni
Banned
When you say that Lenser which model are you referring to. Also when you say the newer ones again which ones. Isn't Led Lenser actually a brand name just like what Surefire or Fenix is.
Gunner12
Flashaholic
Sorry for not being clear. I meant the Hokus Focus. Here is a review of one of the newer LED Lenser lights(Not the Hokus Focus sadly).
Yes, LED Lenser is just a name.
Yes, LED Lenser is just a name.
