Is it just me?

Seems the recent lights released offer nothing new in terms of innovation. I lost interest with the floods of similar lights hitting the market. My last light purchase for myself was an E1B (bought it because of the optics which hasn't been done by another company) and it turned worked out great. Seems almost every week a new light is announced or released but they don't differ much from whats already out there. I can't be the only one feeling this way can I?

Thoughts?

Two things are happening. the most common one is what you just stated. more styles more people more money. however there is in fact inovation and progress. not very much in some cases but it is happening. in some cases more than we know of.

yes, i think its also the fact that we are waiting for the next big jump in cree/seoul...i know theres the P7 and cree version of P7 but they require higher drive and have no designed reflectors for it...been waiting on cree R4 and have been waiting on seoul V-bin forever but even that v-bin may not be enough ,its just we have been waiting forever on it ...as for lights yes some new nice lights here and there but for me nothing that i HAVE TO HAVE yet feel for it though a few are close

I agree. There are too many new lights out there sharing the same features and functionality. However, some people may choose one over another based on the way the light looks, whether it has a clip, or preference of switching mechanism.

I agree with your, the leds are not getting any more efficiency and the batteries are not improving either, i.e. everybody only has the same leds and batteries to design with, and they already have made design with them.
Some variations are showing up, but not much really new.

But I believe that the P7 and Crees 4 die led are starting a new flood of lights.

I don´t feel this way.

Respectfully, I think that people feel this way because the light (and LED) market was offering a lot of upgrades in the last 12 months.

So we, flashaholics, became used to the "speed" of new LEDs being released, the speed of all those new upgrades, etc...

But now, things are a little stuck... so probably that´s why the light industry looks slow.

I prefer this "slow velocity". My wallet thanks!

Agree 100% Federal LG!!!!!!

I'm pretty lucky with my timing in finding this forum and making my purchases. My lights are still the top of the mountain so no need to upgrade for a while.

LED-holic said:

Agree 100% Federal LG!!!!!!

I'm pretty lucky with my timing in finding this forum and making my purchases. My lights are still the top of the mountain so no need to upgrade for a while.

Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

CandlePowerForumsUser said:

Seems the recent lights released offer nothing new in terms of innovation. I lost interest with the floods of similar lights hitting the market. My last light purchase for myself was an E1B (bought it because of the optics which hasn't been done by another company) and it turned worked out great. Seems almost every week a new light is announced or released but they don't differ much from whats already out there. I can't be the only one feeling this way can I?

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Nope, it's not just you. I've been feeling that way for a couple years now. For me, the really last "WOW" light was the SureFire Titan and I can't remember the last time I really used it. There's only so much you can do with the available LEDS and battery chemistry. That leaves the "packaging" of these componants to make a product that someone will purchase. Since that technology hasn't changed, that why you see them adding all this whiz-bang "features", like SOS, STROBE, ETC.

Right now it seems similar to when Luxeon hit a plateau(Luxeon I and III(?) came out).

People wanted more output, so they put more dies in one package, and made the Luxeon V.

I'd say new stuff should be out after summer.

If you're really not that impressed, you should look at what some of the high end/custom makers are doing. McGizmo's LunaSol and Sundrop lights are great examples of a maker pushing the limit of what a small flashlight can do.

Just wait until the Flashlight World is WOW'd

by the new Mag Instrument Solitaire LED.



It's gonna' be not just a Flashlight, but an Illumination Tool.



Their lawyers are drawing up the Legal papers right now, as i speak.

(errr, i mean, type)



_

I like Maglites so I haven't scratched the surface yet of all the things I could do with them.

Was thinking about an incan mod, but the new P7 will probably come first.

It all depends on how you define recent.

In the last 6 months I've purchased:
1. UltraFire Conqueror, 3 CREE
Relatively small footprint, when used in 2X CR123; with a unified beam
2. Little Mini 18650
Smallest 18650 footprint
3. KD CREE, Q5 Buckle
AAA format, driving a Q5
4. Aurora P7, 5-mode
Single cell format. With a near perfect (for me) mix of power & daily usability.

Now I'm teetering on getting a JetBeam IBS.

If its innovation you're after, you should look look in the Custom Builders/Modders Forum.

Particularly the McGizmo Forum since Don (McGizmo) is one of the most
knowledgeable and innovative of Designers and Builders that CPF has
ever known.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=51


His sticky threads and current threads contain an unbelievable wealth
of information and discovery.

One of the current threads of interest is about a new creation of his called
the SunDrop which uses a special Nichia led with very high CRI (Good Colour rendition)

I am sure your enthusiasm will be rekindled after wading through all these
pearls of wisdom.

While there are currently less lights on my to get list, I'm not bored by what is being offered. There are definitely some lights coming out that are too similar to one I already have, and so don't need them. (There are still far too many lights with reverse clickies, and so I don't want many of them as well.) However I'm not bored with what is being offered. I think over the past year I've refined my tastes a lot and so now have a better idea of what I really like and want. When Crees and SSC's and Rebels first were coming out there were a lot of unknowns and lessons that needed to be experienced to be learned. Now I'm sitting back a bit more and not jumping at the first P7 light that catches my fancy.

Thanks for the feed back guys. I really appreciate it. I think a lot of how I feel has to do with the flood lights that aren't offering anything new. I agree that we've hit a plateau with cree/ssc/rebel but why can't companies that are making the lights offer something different than the next?

My example would be the surefire Titan... besides the gatlite/gatlight, I can't think of another light that operates the way these 2 lights do. Another example would be the UA2, not out yet but its going to introduce a focusable beam with optics instead of a reflector like the mag.

Last example I'll use is the ability to choose a brightness level like the Jetbeam IBS or Nitecore NDI/Extreme. Not sure who offered this first but its a feature that most lights with more than 1 output level should offer.

I think the next big wave will be the release of the Optimus/Invictus.

As for me, I have more than enough lights to use and do not need more . So am trying to save $$$ right now.

I have Q5 lights, a P7 Mag, some smaller lights and a SF M6 so I am pretty much set with my lights. Don't need anything new. I did order the aspheric lens am still waiting on it.

Well, for me, when I first joined the forum I was buying lights like crazy! I've slowed way down and realized I usually already have something that will do the job of the new (fill in the blank here) light. I have cut back to only making purchases after careful consideration and the light has to fill a niche or really tickle me in some way.

My last purchase was the IncenDio. For some reason(s), I really like this thing. :candle:

There have been innovations, maybe not huge ones, but it's become easier to get some important features at reasonable prices.

--The infinitely variable output feature has migrated down from the Titan (way too expensive for what it is) to several flashlights (the Nitecore, LF, RA twisty, Novatac, with the first two being reasonably priced) and even to 6P clone drop-ins (the DB).

--The Q5 CREE LED has become a great mainstay (with excellent runtime/output combos, up to well over 200 lumens at the upper end) with a good selection of battery support. This lets you get in a 2xCR123A formfactor, for instance, 10 hours of 60 lumens and 1.5 hrs of 225 lumens (e.g., the Fenix T1 in a tactical formfactor) selectable. Isn't this incredible?

--The Malkoff drop-ins (and other similar ones) let you play with "lego" flashlights in the 6P clone formfactor, so you get very good output/runtime combos in a very simple yet robust flashlight that you can keep upgrading all the while using either primaries, rechargeables, or even 18650's (in principle).

I agree that there have been some gimmicky "innovations", e.g., attempts to give both flood and throw (either by focusing mechanisms or by adding LEDs) which solve a problem that wasn't there - if you don't like a general purpose floody-but-with-hotspot output (like you get with a generic OP reflector), get one with throw but use a diffuser (beamshaper). So you already have both options.

The optimus/invictus are going to bring more innovation to the market place, but at very premium prices, such as focusability (I say it is an innovation provided it works better than earlier attempts, subject to the caveat that with a diffuser it may be redundant, but this needs to be tested once this light is out) and a battery indicator.

The P7 is kind of like the quad-core of computers in an LED, with 4 dies. If you want to see innovation, check out Elektrolumens who is already putting out 4xP7's (a sixteen-core!) with lumen outputs between 3,000 and 4,000, mostly flood right now (no optic solution yet). The great thing about the P7 is that it was announced and then sold and made available very quickly, not the case apparently with some competitors.

If you think about it, 3,000-4,000 lumen LED output is quite amazing, reaching at reasonable (for this type of output) prices lumen levels normally reserved for HID lights! So this is quite significant. We'll need the optics to go with it, of course, to match the HID ability to put light on something very far away.