Fire Fly III Interfaces

I have a FF3 on the way, and just by reading the manual..it makes no sense to me. Is it that hard to use, or change brightnesses. I really like the look and size of this light, just hope it is easy to use.

I don't find it hard to use at all, but it does take a little practice. However, the light and the interface are both so well designed that it's hard NOT to practice!

Put aside some time to sit down with the light and the manual once the light arrives and I think you'll be fine. This is by far the most practical and satisfying light I own. I carry it on my keychain, and use it for everything from reading in bed to lighting my night time bicycle rides.

Congrats on a great purchase,
Jack

Firefly III is easy to use. Just follow the manual and pick your favorite UI mode. The simplest to operate is User Interface #1; makes the FFIII works like a simple 3 stage light.

Ditto, it sounds worse than it is. Two things that took some practice for me were the fairly short time to cycle on to off for modes (0.8 seconds or it locks in to that mode and will go back to off next turn) and the speed it goes through the brightnesses when setting levels. I would probably still be happy with the 1.2 second delay to allow you to cycle modes, but I don't miss much any more. The thing to remember is it only matters how fast you turn it back off after turning on to advance, you can leave it off between modes as long as you want, and it will come on to the next mode in the sequence. It only goes to "off" next once it has blinked to signal it is locked in a mode (after 0.8 seconds). After that you start from the top of the sequence for that User Interface.

Brightness setting is not described in much detail in the manual. When you hit that mode, and you must change to any other UI than #1 to have the option - then you can switch back to UI #1 if you like after setting, it will go through an automated sequence starting with one bright flash to signal it is about to set "low", and then you see the dimmest setting followed rapidly by the second dimmest on up to number 20, and then it will scroll back down from 20 to level 1, as I said, pretty quickly. At any point, you can turn the light off and it will be locked at that last brightness for "low", whether it was on the way up or down. To set "high", you have to start over and wait for it to go through all of the "low" options without selecting a new one. Then it will flash brightly twice to signal the start of "high" setting, which is just like "low" setting, turn it off at the level you want for "high" (interestingly, "high" can be lower than "low", if you prefer). The only problem I had at first was a tendency to be slow at the switch and get the level one past the one I was shooting for. Like everyone says, a little practice goes a long way toward having fun and taking full advantage of your new toy. BTW, I am only using level 2 and level 9 for my low and high, since burst is always lurking one twist away if needed. Hope this helps speed your learning process and ease the anxiety during the wait for delivery!

It Looks to me like User Mode 4 would be the most useful. What mode do you all stay in?

User mode #4 for me low/high/max/strobe and SOS. Might as have all the options at my disposal. Enjoy your light and messing around with all the options are not only easy to do with practice, you'll find yourself messing around with them even when not needed.

I use mode 4 on both my FF3 and Jil Intelli. The interface is a bit confusing at first, but you'll learn it quickly enough.

Mode 4 for me too. Seems most popular, as it is as simple as mode 1 so long as you don't go past burst. But if you want to, you can!

I also use it in user mode 4 most of the time. Although, I use user mode 5 when I go running in my neighborhood at night. There is enough light most of the time from street lights to see, but when a car approaches I like the strobe mode to be 1 twist away.

Mode-4 here as well.

I alternate between mode 3 and mode 4. Mode 3 is the one where the last brightness retained is the first to come up. This is what I use when running, because I want it to start on my "high" option.

I love the interface, but have two small issues--the brightness settings go by so fast that I'm never sure which one I've selected. I use the light as a bicycle helmet light, and change the bright to match my estimated needed run time, but I'm never quite sure what the run time will be. Part of this is because it's hard to get a consistent charge on the Li-Ion cells, too. I recently picked up an aftermarket FluPic from Goldserv for a Q3, and it may go through the brightness settings more slowly, if I recall correctly, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet.

Second, I wish there was a slower strobe mode. Actually, I'd like a VERY slow mode, e.g., one flash per 5 secs. as a locator to find my way to my tent in the dark. And also a moderate strobe, e.g., 2 hz, for use when cycling at dusk/dawn, or in the city with high ambient light.

But I'm being nitpicky, as overall I think the interface is fantastic.

Jack

Jack the FF-III allows you to set the strobe rate. You must do this in Mode-5. Go to Mode-5, set the strobe rate, return to the desired mode and it will have the new strobe rate set.

TIN,
I think what Jack is referring to is that the slowest strobe available isn't slow enough. I have to agree. Even the slowest strobe is several flashes per second. For bicycle use I want to make drivers aware of my presence not send them into an epelectic seizure. Also I want to conserve battery life. The light gets warm on even the slowest strobe so I imagine its pulling a good bit of juice.

Is this a flu pic or a POP2?

the FFIII uses a flupic. i also keep mine on mode 4, although have it set to come on on strobe at first go. as mentioned before, the interface is not as confusing as it initially seems. after a bit of practice, it's actually quite simple to use.

How can you "set" it to come on strobe at first in user mode 4?

Somy Nex said:

the FFIII uses a flupic. i also keep mine on mode 4, although have it set to come on on strobe at first go. as mentioned before, the interface is not as confusing as it initially seems. after a bit of practice, it's actually quite simple to use.

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Ned-L said:

How can you "set" it to come on strobe at first in user mode 4?

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Cycle the power until you have it on Max. Turn it off while on this level before the 800/1200ms "blink". The next time it is turned on it will be on strobe.

This works for all levels and modes. If you switch it off before the "blink" in any level, the next time you turn it on, it will jump to the next level instead of starting at the first level of the mode. HTH,

Paul

Ned-L said:

How can you "set" it to come on strobe at first in user mode 4?

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if you don't lock on to a stage (get that little blink to tell you it's locked) before turning the light off, the next turn-on will always be at the next stage =)

guess i got beat to it, but the basic info remains the same

cave dave said:

Even the slowest strobe is several flashes per second. For bicycle use I want to make drivers aware of my presence not send them into an epelectic seizure. Also I want to conserve battery life. The light gets warm on even the slowest strobe so I imagine its pulling a good bit of juice.

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Yes! That's what I meant. Thanks C.D.

Hey, thanks for all the advice. Looks like Mode 4 is the favorite.

And I just have to say, that my Fire-Fly arrived in the mail today, and although I havn't had much time to play with it, I am very impressed with it and this one is a keeper. I am prone to buy and sell, but I think this one might be my new EDC and replacing a very popular and nice light that I have. Hard to believe a light this small does so much and puts out such a nice amount of light.