Ultrafire 602C Q5 5-Mode LED Flashlight (CR123A)

Is this light any good? :candle:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10806

Couldnt resist and ordered one, i'll post some feedback once i get it.
It looks promising, and very small for a clicky light, even smaller than the romisen rc-c3 that's twisty.

Looking at the mode, it seems to be the same driver as the C3 5-mode.
I believe it should be able to drive the Q5 at 1000mAh with CR123A or even higher with 3.7v rechargeable.

Heat is the only issue when the cree is drive at high output.

Grrrrr, couldn't resist the temptation. Just pulled the trigger and ordered one.

I won't order one because I've found I have a problem with 5-mode lights. I often use my EDC in quick bursts (say, to let my digicam autofocus when its illuminator doesn't cut it), and a multimode light will switch mode when used like that. It wouldn't be much of a problem if the light only had two or three levels, but the damn strobe and SOS modes make it a hassle.

Fallingwater said:

I won't order one because I've found I have a problem with 5-mode lights. I often use my EDC in quick bursts (say, to let my digicam autofocus when its illuminator doesn't cut it), and a multimode light will switch mode when used like that. It wouldn't be much of a problem if the light only had two or three levels, but the damn strobe and SOS modes make it a hassle.

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Wouldnt using LED as flash assist will make the WB goes toward the blue? especially in auto mode?

thanks.

I'm talking about situations where I need to take pictures quickly in almost total darkness, such as parties and the like. I'm the official photographer whenever I'm out with my friends, so I need to be able to do that.
My camera has a pretty powerful AF illuminator for the standards of prosumer digicams, but it's still just a 5mm LED. It'll do for short distances, but for anything beyond spitting distance it needs external help.

I used to EDC this one-mode twistie light; if you unscrew it just enough that it turns off it's possible to hold it like a pen and push on the back for momentary activation. This makes it great as an auxiliary AF illuminator.

The single mode was a problem though, as full brightness was often overkill and battery life was pretty lousy, so I swapped it for a short time as my EDC with this multimode flashlight.
The two dimmer modes make that one much better as a general-purpose EDC, but it sucks for momentary activation. Every time I needed it to assist with autofocus I had to either leave it on for long enough that it locked into high mode (about three seconds), or click through four modes the next time I needed it (including, of course, the never-enough-hated strobe and SOS modes). That got annoying very fast.

I then replaced the MTE with a Nitecore DI, which is to me the perfect EDC, as it allows me to use it both as AF assist and multimode general purpose light.

As for the WB it doesn't suffer, probably because it already considers the rather blue light of the illuminator and compensates accordingly. Even if it didn't, though, weird WB is better than a horrible blurry mess in the picture.

In the end, my opinion is that multimode lights would be much better without SOS and strobe, and with a much shorter time limit for mode lock.

Fallingwater said:

In the end, my opinion is that multimode lights would be much better without SOS and strobe, and with a much shorter time limit for mode lock.

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Sounds like a good hack if it uses an off the shelf mcu.

I've got one of these on order and I too don't like the idea of having a long wait before turning off if you don't want to change modes, 1 second would be long enough for me.

I've no idea what to hack to do that. Can you illuminate me?

Edit: I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that you don't just mean a complete driver replacement.

That looks like a great light, but I really have no use for modes, or having to wait to turn it off. Maybe low and high at the most. I like that it has a regulated Q5 with a tail switch.

I have a similar light on the way (10685), but it seems it is direct drive with a Cree P4. I got it because it is simple "on-off", but am disappointed it may not be regulated. But, hey, what do you want for $11.88?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10685

Is there a way to regulate it? Should I try and put a Q5 in it or would I barely know the difference?

I may take the reflector out of it and make a flood light if I don't like the beam compared to the other light I have on the way.

Fallingwater said:

I've no idea what to hack to do that. Can you illuminate me?

Edit: I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that you don't just mean a complete driver replacement.

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I'm hoping it uses an off the shelf microcontroller that I then could swap out or reprogram with my own code. Only the mcu would get changed out.
Dave

No news about the Ultrafire 602C Q5 5-Mode LED Flashlight (CR123A)?

Probedude said:

I'm hoping it uses an off the shelf microcontroller that I then could swap out or reprogram with my own code. Only the mcu would get changed out.
Dave

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How does one reprogram flashlight microcontrollers?

Mine is on its way from Dealextreme. :nana:

CandleFranky said:

Mine is on its way from Dealextreme. :nana:

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Ditto here. Already posted on HK Post too! I should have it this week.

No news about the Ultrafire 602C Q5 5-Mode LED Flashlight (CR123A)?

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I don't think anyone has received theirs yet. I was surprised at how fast mine posted though.


Edit: I'm getting confused on all the lights I've been ordering. The sku 10806 I do indeed have on it's way to me this week. I also ordered sku 10853 and just got an email today saying it is delayed. Never got one of these emails before. This was the pricing mistake UF C2 Q5 that I got in on.

Mine is still being collected from the supplier :-(

- Vikas

Probedude said:

I'm getting confused on all the lights I've been ordering. The sku 10806 I do indeed have on it's way to me this week. I also ordered sku 10853 and just got an email today saying it is delayed. Never got one of these emails before. This was the pricing mistake UF C2 Q5 that I got in on.

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Yes, I've got the same email today. Bought the C2 Q5 @ the same cheap $17 price. Perhaps the next email will say "sorry, we can't deliver at all, because .. bla-bla-bla ... chinese winter ... bla-bla-bla". What do you think?

Got the same order delayed email from DX for UF C2 Q5 . Fortunatelly, they have shipped out 602C Q5 to me.

DX reports that mine shipped 1/23/08.

mine's on the way since last week, i should be getting it this week.