M3 arrived, here is what I think..

[heliyardsale]

Its constructed well, built like a tank. for me, its to big to be a EDC light, even with the 123a tube and small twisty switch. I think its less slippery than my L1T, larger diameter, feels good in the hand, but too bulky for the pocket, you will have to carry it in the holster that is provided. As far as brightness, its not a barn burner by any means, plenty bright for around the house, the beam is super clean, no rings, low setting is great for reading, not a lot of difference between medium and high settings, High on a single AA or even 2 AA's (I tried it with Enloops) is not that impressive I think my L1T thows as well, I would have to say the LxD-CEs will kick it's butt on high everytime. with 123A and 14500 output is pretty good, but again not overly impressive I was hoping for more. Nice flood, ok throw, but nothing like the Mini-D or M1. All in all It's worth the 78.00 because you get everything you need for 123A, AA, 2-AA, I just wish it was a bit (who am I kidding, ALOT) brighter. The thing is a beast, super heavy duty tubes, very thick, machining, fit, finish are all top notch. If your expecting a cute little EDC light forget it. this thing is not small by any means. If you want a rugged medium to larger sized AA light, and you have big hands this light is for you. Would I buy it again, no probably not, I think if I had to do it all over again I may have looked harder at the L2D-CE and waited for 123A tube production to take place. Although its built very well, I can tell you first hand that if you own a Mini-D or M1, when you open your M3 up and wait for darkness to fall, you might be mildly disappointed by the lights output, I was...
Heli

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks for posting your impressions. What's your opinion of the "focusing" feature?

 

[heliyardsale]

Thanks for posting your impressions. What's your opinion of the "focusing" feature?

Not worth using... If you un-screw the benzel to focus, my guess it will leak..
I couldn't get much of any difference in focus out of it. The beam is super smooth, with good throw so focusing is not an issue. I can't see risking a leak to mess with it. Don't get me wrong, I love the light, the best analogy I can think of is its the Hummer H1 of AA/123a lights, built like a brick poop house, Strong, cool features, just not a lot of punch when you hit the gas... It just needs to be brighter to impress me. My Mini-D spoiled me huge! I'm guessing Lumapower's flat run time is the reason the M3 not a barn burner... If I could only buy one light, it would be a Mini-D with both reflectors and the Hi-lo switch option.. The Mini-D really impressed me, the M1 too. I'm guessing many people have bought the M3 but not many are talking it up because they are trying to decide if it was a good deal, and where it fits in the lighting lineup considering the brightness factor, especially when feeding it non-14500 AA's.
Heli

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks, Heli.

 

[greenstuffs]

May be that is the reason there are so many for sale in the BST forum, now i have to keep waiting for the ULTIMATE CHINESE LIGHT this is not it. Probably the size of the M3's reflector has something to do with the lesser throw foudn in the D mini

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Thanks for the review, I was expecting it to be as bright as the Fenix if not brighter.

 

[heliyardsale]

Me too... Oh well, live and learn... The Mini-D makes up for it...

 

[JML]

May be that is the reason there are so many for sale in the BST forum

Two or three isn't many, esp. when compared to the many of "last month's hot lights" that are listed...

I wouldn't be surprised if Lumapower soon comes out with an option to retrofit the M3 with a brighter module having shorter runtime. After all, that ability to mod the light is fundamental to their design parameters. And I bet it would make many people happy.

 

[heliyardsale]

Two or three isn't many, esp. when compared to the many of "last month's hot lights" that are listed...

I wouldn't be surprised if Lumapower soon comes out with an option to retrofit the M3 with a brighter module having shorter runtime. After all, that ability to mod the light is fundamental to their design parameters. And I bet it would make many people happy.

That is exactly what this light needs... Ricky if you are out there reading this post, a high-powered module is what the M3 needs, I would have no problem paying for one, If this light could produce 135+ lumens, then it would rock. That would make it a true transformer light, a module with long runtimes like the current one and, a barn burner module for those really dark places like our back woods where large black bears roam. The M3 is already setup nicely, great reflector, good controls, it just plain needs an output boost. While long run times are nice, I would rather have the High output. I can always carry a spare battery in the nice Lumapower holster!

 

[Perfectionist]

Does it really need 2 modules ?? Why not just design a head and circuit that does both ??

A kick *** Turbo level for brightness and lower levels for runtime .....

And hopefully, the next version of the M3 will be a lot smaller !!

 

[Steve L]

My thoughts exactly. With multi level lights I really dont see a reason for two modules. It seems like they optimized it for a single 1.2V cell(current draw).

 

[heliyardsale]

Either way, something has to be done, the more I play with it the more bummed I get. I really don't see myself carrying this light much because it's too big for EDC, my good old L1T is smaller and just as bright plus has a good low setting on the same flavor AA's. Also, I have other lights that are similar size and heft with greater output if I need to blast light, ie Mini-D and M1. As much as I hate to say it, I see this light sitting on the shelf with others until a higher output fix comes along for it, it may been soon up for sale to make room for another Fenix. I hope the Rexlight 2.0 comes through for us... I need something to cheer me up... I'm glad I just won a Sam's HID spotlight auction for 38.00, I need a good blast of lumens!!
Heli

 

[patycake57]

Thanks for your review Heli. I have the M1 and really like it, but will pass on the current M3.

 

[Chaz]

This seems like a good place to add my impressions of the Lumapower M3.

As noted in this thread, the size in all configurations is larger than many of the equivalent CREE lights. The CR123 config is essentially the same size as my L1D-CE. It gets larger (lengthwise) with other configs.

However, I cannot use other configs since the main AA tube doesn't fit well into the head. It is hard to screw in, and when finally forced as far as it will go it does not press the switch in the head for the high mode. The CR123 tube fits quite well and works fine.

When the focusing reflector unit is unscrewed, there is a plastic(?) unit that fits around the led that is loose and almost fell out. When unscrewed enough to give a reasonable flood beam, that washer like unit would probably bobble around and might get in a position to partially block the led. There is also the problem that it is very loose in flood mode and might allow too much moisture in as noted in this thread.

The clickie always starts in low and then proceeds to the higher mode on the next click. It does not matter whether or not the head is in the high or medium mode position. The tail switch apparently handles the two modes, while the head switch (activated by screwing the head all the way in) handles the med and high modes. I am not sure what this implies in terms of the type of regulation (if any) that is used.

Overall I do not think much of the unit, although it makes a decent but large CR123 CREE light that is not any brighter than the L1D-CE, at least for the leds that are in mine. The low and high are about the same as the L1D, but the medium is somewhat less bright than the L1D medium. This is with the M3 using a CR123 and the L1D using an AA. I will not use the AA tubes since it feels like the threads are being damaged when I screw the main AA tube in and I only have low and mediium with it in.

 

[heliyardsale]

Anybody else with the M3 feel the same way Chaz and I do? Time for group therapy.
Heli

 

[FlashSpyJ]

I´m thinking of buying it, and the only reason I´m thinking of buying it is because the focusing ability, I would like a light that could throw like the L1D CE and also have a floody beam almost like the SF L4. But if the M3s output is lower than the L1D CE maybe its not for me. I dont know how good the floody beam is, but since the output now isnt very exciting maybe I´ll wait for the boosted one, if there is coming one!

 

[carrot]

The first thing I thought when I saw this title was... "Surefire M3?"

I don't know about you, but I like to be as unambiguous as possible when manufacturers use the same model name. IE: PM6 vs. SF M6 (Pelican M6 2-cell Xenon vs. Surefire M6 6-cell Xenon)

 

[datiLED]

The M3 is much bigger than I thought it would be. When I opened it up, and saw how huge it was, even the CR123 body, I was disappointed. I knew then that I would never carry this light. The beam was nice and smooth, but as others are saying, not bright enough for such a big light.

From arrival to the CPF Sell Forum took less than 15 minutes.

 

[ntalbot]

I was quite disappointed with my M3 as well:
1. Not bright enough on high
2. Using the focus feature makes the bezel way too loose, so it's essentially an unusable feature.
3. Combination of twist Hi-Med and a 2-stage clicky is not a good UI for me.
4. Momentary switch is hard to use. You have to have the tail unscrewed "just so" for it to work. Who on earth wants a switch that's ONLY a momentary switch? This was the deal-breaker because I was planning to use this switch since I hate two-stage reverse clickies.

The two-stage switch on mine died after about a dozen clicks, so I sent it back and asked for a full refund.

What would have made me request a replacement instead of a refund would be if the twist level adjustment was three stage, or Hi-Lo instead of Hi-Medium. And if the momentary switch was a single-stage clicky with momentary. Do I have to buy an SF to get a single-stage clicky with momentary?????????????????????????????? I can't wait for the SF Crees to become available!

 

[Lobo]

Do I have to buy an SF to get a single-stage clicky with momentary?????????????????????????????? I can't wait for the SF Crees to become available!

Could also check out the Liteflux LF1, soon with cree upgrade.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/liteflux_lf1.htm