How do you really feel?

yaesumofo

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How do you guys (and girls) really feel about the idea of using anything but the current crop (or future "super emitters") of high flux emitters in new flashlights?
If I didn't know better I would say that, as useful as they may still be, the days of the LUXEON emitter (LUX I LUX III LUX V K2) are numbered.
Comments thoughts notions.........??
Yaesumofo
 

Kid9P

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With the improved run times yet brighter output, it's kind of hard to stay away.
 

BentHeadTX

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The Creevolution is exciting and all my new light purchases and light mods will use them for obvious reasons. My EDC lights are Luxeons and will continue until I can get something compatible to mod my FF3.

I feel that the "super LEDs" are bright enough for viable variable output single AA lights to replace much larger flashlights in non-flashaholic use. No longer are CR123A batteries required to get a small light that has serious punch. Now I can send flashlights to family members that have the size and punch we are used to but will run on regular batteries.
 

kogatana581

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I have been using several LuxIII-equipped lights the last 3 years. They all have performed quite adequately for my needs and I have not had reason to replace them.

I have also been using a 2-CR123 incandescent light since 1997.

In the very near future, I will be sampling a Seoul LED-equipped light. If this setup proves to be as reliable as those with the LuxIII LEDs, the 2-cell incandescent will see less duty as daily carry, but will not disappear from my inventory. I find it frivolous to get rid of something so reliable just because I am able to do so.
 

LED Zeppelin

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I have two perspectives depending on what you mean by "using" them.

I have many Lux lights, and though their market value may have been dimished somewhat by the Cree and now Seoul, they still fuction just as they always have.

For modding fun use, it's sort of "been there done that" with the Luxes, and my future mods will definitely be geared towards trying out the new stuff.

But as a tool, the Lux lights are still more than adequate and generate wows at will from non-us people.

The new emitters are here to stay, and have raised the bar permanently for what will be our new wow lights.

What we want and what we need are different things, I already have what I need and more. But that won't stop me from trying to build a light with the best, cutting-edge parts, with the best of my abilities and knowledge.
 

LowBat

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My opinion; regular upgrading to better technology is exciting stuff. I love reading about improvements and eventually getting ahold of the new tech.
 

Mr_Dead

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I have a pretty high-tech background, I'm used to obsolescence cycles and pretty ruthless about upgrading.

Yeah, I have 65-year-old kerosene lamps. They function just as well as they always have, and I can appreciate their intrinsic and historical value, but they aren't anyone's EDC anymore, and they aren't what I'm going to grab if things are going "bump in the night".

I bought the P1D CE with the full realization that, now that competition is opening up, it's VERY unlikely to remain "state of the art" nearly as long as the previous generation, and whatever comes next will probably be obsolesced faster still.

Still, it's a trickle-down. As I upgrade my EDC and packing lights, the previous generations will move down into glove compartments, emergency kits and doorside duty.

I'd like to think that at some point the industry will realize that expensive, high-tolerance optical and mechanical components with very long useful life cycles should NOT be hard-coupled to solid-state electronics that are improving at an accelerating rate... that the components need to be modular and upgradeable to make it worthwhile investing in high mechanical/optical quality... but, then, the digital camera industry hasn't figured that one out yet either.
 

Wolfgang_Ludwig

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I feel very well. Because I got rid of a lot of "old" lamps. I sold or just gave away all Lumiled-Lights (many). At the moment I only have SF 9P and G2, UK Q40 and Aleph 2xCR123. They all are really consumer-moddable and have very reliable housings that have lasted for 5 to 15 years though I used them and haven't put them in drawers or on shelves. I like things that last and don't like these things build like a tank but no chance to update.
 

Frank Maddix

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LED Zeppelin said:
But as a tool, the Lux lights are still more than adequate and generate wows at will from non-us people.
<PEDANTIC>Well I'm a non-US person but not a non-us person! (but when I was a 'resident alien' in the US I felt like a US person.)</PEDANTIC>
 

lightrod

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I agree the days of the (current) Luxeons are numbered. Don't know if it's a good analogy, but how long did folks still purchase 286 computers when the 386 came out? Only for a while, and only when they were much less expensive (and then after that they were not available at all).

Seems to me there's something symbolic about SF's move to Cree - a "defining moment" in the LED flashlight world.
 

dim

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I think that it's more about the flashlight - its purpose, quality, functionality, beam pattern, etc. to do a task or for a mission than it is about the technology. Yes, Crees and the like are an improvement in output and efficiency and will replace much of the existing, aging technology but, yaesumofo, as sweet as a Yaesu FT-2000 may be, there is still something that make one go "Oooooo" when one hears a FT-101E (w/ a D-104) swinging.

73
dim
 

Casual Flashlight User

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I have ordered a JETbeam Cree CL-E AA out of curiosity and because it was a great price...but the truth is I could live without it - My old technology ARC-P and HDS EDC do the job.

I don't like the idea that all these super-duper Cree lights don't seem to have a proper low setting either. The next "Cree light I buy will be an upgrade for one of my HDS lights...which means I will have access to a proper low setting.


CFU
 

leukos

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Casual Flashlight User said:
I don't like the idea that all these super-duper Cree lights don't seem to have a proper low setting either. The next "Cree light I buy will be an upgrade for one of my HDS lights...which means I will have access to a proper low setting.

+1
 

adirondackdestroyer

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I still have my old luxeon lights and still carry my L0PSE, but I won't be buying any Luxeon lights anymore. They are old news and really any company still using them isn't with the times. While they do their job just fine, the same light with a Cree in it would do it 2x better.
 

CM

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I still have a few Luxeon based lights but they're just waiting for a suitable reflector so they can be modified with a Cree. Regardless of whether or not the days of the current crop Luxeons are numbered, I will not be buying any more lights based anything made by Lumileds unless they raise their efficiencies.

To me the biggest benefit of the Cree is longer runtime. For my usage, the output of the Luxeons at around 400-500mA is adequate. If I can get the same output from a Cree at 300mA or less, then it has met my needs. Currently, they do but I'm so amazed at the Cree's output that I have focused my mods in lights that beat the Lux V's in output but at significantly less power.
 
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Whether or not the current Luxeon would survive in the market depends on:

Efficacy at lower power level as well as full power. If it is way better, it would make a flashlight about as bright as current Luxeon light, but with smaller power source and/or longer battery life.

Cost in production quantity.

CM, does the Cree have the same Vf at 300mA compared to the Luxeon at 400-450mA?
 

Sub_Umbra

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I'm very OK with the old emitters for the reasons others have stated -- they still do the job I need them to do. Their runtimes are also acceptable to me. Under my own set of circumstances I may continue to buy some lights that have older emitters until the newer ones proliferate to the point where they push the older ones out of the marketplace. For the most part.
 

yaesumofo

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I agree.
The great advantage of the current wave of high flux emitters is that there is enough overhead so that runtime can be increased without sacrificing output. This is only going to get better. I wonder how much potential there is in led technology.
There have to be some limits. Has anbody calculated what they are?
I doubt I will be buying any Luxeon based flashlights untill lumileds improves their output flux. Which I am sure they are hard at work on as we read these messages.

Yaesumofo


CM said:
I still have a few Luxeon based lights but they're just waiting for a suitable reflector so they can be modified with a Cree. Regardless of whether or not the days of the current crop Luxeons are numbered, I will not be buying any more lights based anything made by Lumileds unless they raise their efficiencies.

To me the biggest benefit of the Cree is longer runtime. For my usage, the output of the Luxeons at around 400-500mA is adequate. If I can get the same output from a Cree at 300mA or less, then it has met my needs. Currently, they do but I'm so amazed at the Cree's output that I have focused my mods in lights that beat the Lux V's in output but at significantly less power.
 

lightrod

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yaesumofo said:
....I wonder how much potential there is in led technology. There have to be some limits. Has anbody calculated what they are? ...

yaesumofo - I bet you're ahead of me but I saw this post https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/1660217&postcount=46

The best Crees get to about half of the Dept of Energy's 50% efficiency goal of 200 lumens for one watt (about 325 mA). When the 200 lumen/watt goal is attained, we could have single cell CR123 lights putting out 100 lumens or so for 3 hours and 250 lumens for about an hour. Hard to imagine.
 
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