What XR-E light would you buy first?

I'm sure Fenix is already brewing something, but I figured the best way for manufacturers to know what the market wants is to get the market to tell them point blank. My intent is to start a petition for whatever light gets the most votes. I chose the lights that I did because they are within the reach of almost everyone and the makers have enough buying power to get theirs hands on large quantities of these nearly unobtainable LEDs. I also limited the Fenix and Inova lights to series rather than specific models, as the manufacturers might prefer to create a similar model rather than rehash an old design with a new light engine. If you find yourself wishing there was an "other" choice, post your opinion.

For the companies that actually pay attention to flashaholics, let's make it easy for them! Vote, vote, vote!

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

My first choice remains an upgraded ElektroLumens Little Friend. But if that doesn't come to pass then probably a Fenix XR-E light followed by a Streamlight Propolymer version.

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

L series, high that is close to 700ma as possible, and low that is right around 350ma or so. Yes low would not be for preserving night vision, but just increasing runtime. high would be temporary "burst" mode used for really lighting up something with 100+ lumens.

2nd would be an E-series, because you cant go wrong with lots of lumens from an AAA keychain light!

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

Fenix L Series
Fenix P Series
Fenix E Series

Yup All 3 of em...

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

id like to see one in a P1 or P-XRE. now thats what i call a pocket rocket.

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

Fexix L and E series

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

Hey, where's the choice of . . . .

ALL the above !

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

what i would be looking for would be 50mA low, 700mA high, 2A burst. Since these are rated at maximum of 2A.

i would also like to see a light which can drive it at this current of 2A or 1.5A, while having a replaceable emitter module, so that if the emitters output reduced over time it can be replaced for cheap. Since an XR-E cost only about $8, even cheaper than surefire incan bulbs.

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

I've been wanting a P1 (currently EDC an L1P), so I'm voting for the P1.

Does anyone have any feel for how long it might be before the XR-Es are common enough for Fenix to be able to buy enough? Because the $45 for that P1 is burning a hole in my pockets.

Nels

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

if fenix has any sense (unlike huntlight), they will stick within the current price marks. they are already making 200% of cost on each P1.

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

I voted P but would get any of the Fenix series, but mostly I want a Ti CR2 Ion w Cree XR-E

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

I'll wait for the reviews...

1)
The XR-E has a narrowish beam parrern. Most of the light goes straight out the flashlight window instead of hitting the reflector. Lot more spill light but the hotspot may not be hotter.
2)
The XR-E is more efficient than a Luxeon but not more than a Nichia CS or Rigel.
I like to EDC a 1AAA with 2 hour runtime. That narrows it down to Pacific, Baltic, E1, L0P-SE. I estimate these lights to feed 75-80mA to the LED. According to Newbie's tests The XR-E provide 20-22 lumens. After optics losses it will probably be 12 lumens. The lights I mentioned are in the 9-12 lumen renge.
At the 20 mA drive level of the Nichia CS the XR-E puts out 11 lumens. Flashlight reviews measures the Arc AAA-P at over 7. But the narrow 15 degree beam angle of the CS would concentrate the hotspot 25 times better than the 75 degree beam angle of the XR-E.
3)
The best lights to benefit from the XR-E would be deep reflector and optic based torches.
My Little Friend would go from 210 lumens high 50 lumens low to 400 lumens high 120 lumens low (before optic losses. Assuming Fraen comes out with a tri-lens optimised for the XR-E

I will probably not bother upgrading my Fenix E1.
I will probably get a new L0P-SE-XRE or L1T-XRE. I like bright floody lights. Doubling the spilllight would be great. Do not care as much about the hotspot.
I would consider a Little Brite Friend but may opt for a Lucidus-3AA XRE Fraen LP instead. It will be 1/3 as bright as a Little Friend-XR-E but 2/3 as bright as the current Little friend high, brighter than the low of either lux or XRE Little Friend. I hate changing batteries every 20 minutes.

Reference
Production CREE XR-E Testing
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=138503

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

LEDninja said:

I'll wait for the reviews...

2)
The XR-E is more efficient than a Luxeon but not more than a Nichia CS or Rigel.
...According to Newbie's tests The XR-E provide 20-22 lumens. After optics losses it will probably be 12 lumens. At the 20 mA drive level of the Nichia CS the XR-E puts out 11 lumens. Flashlight reviews measures the Arc AAA-P at over 7. But the narrow 15 degree beam angle of the CS would concentrate the hotspot 25 times better than the 75 degree beam angle of the XR-E.

Click to expand...

i'm not agree with you. first of all newbie have tested a bad bin of xr-e, not the absolute best. the nichia CS is far from the eff. of the xr-e:

the arc AAA-P drive the led at least 60ma and the voltage is at least 3.6V so is 216mW so 32lm/w of eff.

the xr-e at 40ma have 2.8V so 112mW so 98lm/w

same thing with the rigel: also if you get the best bin (P9) you have 23lm at 150ma at 3.5V so 525mW so 43lm/w

about the optics i never used them so i don't know how they are efficient but manufacturers declare >85%... so theorically must be like a reflector

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

Burgess said:

Hey, where's the choice of . . . .

ALL the above !

Click to expand...

I 2nd this motion.

Re: What XR-E light would you buy?

Burgess said:

Hey, where's the choice of . . . .

ALL the above !


:lolsign:

Click to expand...

I would probably eventually end up with all of the above as well, but the purpose of this poll is to find out which one we want the most badly (first), so we can tell the manufacturer what to focus on. So far, the results are exactly as I expected: Fenix L vs P. My vote went to the P series. A three-stage P1-XRE would supplant most pocket lights and have enormous wow factor. Unless the votes change, this is what I'll start the petition for.

Ideally, something P1-like, though preferably with at least two stages - the amount of light the XR-E puts out at maximum burn is just too much for some purposes.

This might be getting overcomplicated - but how about a tailclickie for on/off, and a rotating collar (like on the SureFire U2) for [Locked Off] [Low] [Med] [Hi] [Momentary Eye-Searing Turbo]?? Obviously it would have to be a BIT bigger than the P1 we know and love, but not too much so.

I voted Inova XO/T series - an XO or T1 size would rock! - but a Q3 would be OK too.

Better yet though would be a SF L1 (old style head). Already has two stage momentary tactical switch. Just if it was a touch shorter, it would be a great pocket EDC.

Ok so I wanted a Ti CR2 Ion w Cree XR-E. Now I'm all adither with the new Mc Cree which is on the horizon so I guess I'll have to get both!