particular lighting needings - can you help me?

HighLumens

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I' d like to have some suggestions from you to know which flashlight is the best for me.

Here is the use I need the flashlight for:

- preparing my school bag late at night (I have to collect my books which are in different rooms);
- preparing my self to go to the bed (I go to the bed after I prepare my school bag and I don't want to wake up who is already sleeping).

That was the main use, which needs a low output, but I'd like to have just 1 flashlight for every situation(but if 1 flashlight doesn't fit all my requirements, please, feel free to suggest 2 or more flashlights), so I' d like it to be multilevel in order to:

- make me able to light up quite a big area if needed.

The flashlight must run on AAA (in order to be very pocketeable) and have a LED bulb.

Price? Of course it has to be affordeable (less than 50$) but if you suggest something out of this price range it's ok the same.

Thank you.
 

Toaster

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Liteflux LF2X would fit your needs perfectly. You can program the two modes to whatever you want. For example set P1 for ultralow and P2 for max. That way a quick twist will have the light come on in low, twist a bit more for max output. Also comes with a diffuser for handy flood/area lighting. A bit over your budget at $60 shipped but well worth it.
 

Oddjob

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Liteflux LF2X would fit your needs perfectly. You can program the two modes to whatever you want. For example set P1 for ultralow and P2 for max. That way a quick twist will have the light come on in low, twist a bit more for max output. Also comes with a diffuser for handy flood/area lighting. A bit over your budget at $60 shipped but well worth it.

+1. Just got one and it is great. Bit of a learning curve if you are not accustomed to programable lights.
 

Flying Turtle

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For a slightly lower price ($45) I think the older LF2 is still available. Not quite as bright, but has the same programming. Another you might consider is the Photon Rex (about $20). Very small and light. Charges up from any normal battery.

Geoff
 

HKJ

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+1 for the LF2X

I do not know any other AAA light with this wide span in output. If you can accept a AA light, the selection grows considerable. There is a LiteFlux LF5XT, NiteCore, JetBeam, (Proton Pro) and probably some more that I forgot.
You can see some of the lights on this picture:
DSC_1794a.JPG
 

HighLumens

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it seems you all like the LiteFlux LF2X more than the Fenix LD01(I love Fenix lights, so I was thinking about the Fenix :p ). I will spend a lot of timedeciding which one I like more.. it is going to be an hard decision :ohgeez:

@ HKJ thanks for the pic, I love this kind of flashlights comparison!

p.s.: does the LF2X have ONLY 2 modes?? I searched a bit but I can' t understand the difference between (taken from the lf2x description):


dot.gif
4 operation modes
dot.gif
6 user defined output
dot.gif
1 user adjusted output
dot.gif
4 functions


4,6,1,4:confused:
 
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gallonoffuel

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So far, my best solution for nighttime or early morning walking around has been a streamlight microstream with a cap from a chapstick tube on the front to diffuse it. The cap is a VERY tight fit, so what I did was use a lighter to soften the plastic and shove the light as far in as I could. I repeated this a few times and now I have a very nice diffused white light that runs on one AAA and is absolutely tiny. The pocket clip so far has been good to me, usually they get bent or break off because I'm pretty hard on them, but this one seems to have held up so far. I can use this thing without waking up the girlfriend and still have my nightvision when i turn it off.
 

HKJ

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p.s.: does the LF2X have ONLY 2 modes?? I searched a bit but I can' t understand the difference between (taken from the lf2x description):


dot.gif
4 operation modes
dot.gif
6 user defined output
dot.gif
1 user adjusted output
dot.gif
4 functions


4,6,1,4:confused:

No, it has many modes, but the interface is a bit special:
You can turn it to 3 position: off - P1 - P2

P1 is one mode and P2 is another mode.

Doing one or more fast twist P1 - P2 - P1 will change what modes you access with P1 and P2, in my standard configuration I access a low level on P1 and a middel level on P2.
Another setting is a adjustable level: P1 is fixed output and P2 is changing output.
The 3. possibility is two strobe modes and the 4. is two sos modes.
This makes a total of 7 modes in 4 blocks: 3 light levels, 2 strobes and 2 sos.

Most of these modes can be adjusted in the configuration menu, that is accessed with many more twists.
 

Derek Dean

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does the LF2X have ONLY 2 modes??
Yes this light can be a bit confusing at first. I don't think LiteFlux did a very good job with their description OR their manual, however, it's not really all that hard.

It has 9 operational modes. These are accessed by twisting the head a quarter of a turn back and forth quickly a certain number of times. You enter mode 1 from any other mode by twisting back and forth once (1x). You enter mode 2 by twisting back and forth twice (2x) and so forth.

Mode 1 (the default mode) is what you will use most of the time. It has 2 levels. They can be individually adjusted anywhere from 2% to 100%. This is done by entering the program mode (mode 6) which is a bit complicated, but doable. When you get your light it is preset so that the first level (called P1) is set to 15% and the second level (P2) is set to 50%. These are excellent and where I currently have my light set.

Mode 2 is the user adjustable mode and has one light level. You can access this mode easily by quickly twisting back and forth twice. The nice thing about this mode is that it is very easy to enter and then adjust the light level up or down, unlike mode 1 which requires you to enter programming mode (mode 6) to change the light levels. I have mode 2 set for the lowest level, 2%.

Mode 3 is beacon mode, giving you the choice of 2 fully adjustable beacon flashes. You can adjust both the light level, and the frequency of the flashes. You do this by enter the program mode (mode 6).

Mode 4 is the SOS mode. This also gives you 2 fully adjustable SOS signals.

Mode 5
is battery voltage check mode. You enter this mode by quickly twisting back and forth 5 times. The light then checks the battery voltage and blinks it's results. For instance it would blink 3 times and then pause, and then blink 8 more times for 3.8 volts (if you are using a 10440 lithium-ion cell)....... or it would blink 1 time and then pause, and then blink 3 more times for 1.3 volts if you were using an alkaline battery.

Mode 6 is the programmable mode. This is the most complicated mode, and requires that you sit down with the flow chart to set things, but once you understand it...... it's makes a lot of sense and it allows you to really adjust many parameters of the light to exactly how you want them. You probably only need to enter this mode once or twice, get it set, then forget it.

Mode 7 is the demo mode. This is normally the mode that the light comes in. It's designed to show all the neat things the light does. When you get tired of it, simply twist the light back and forth once (1x) and the light will go into mode 1, the general purpose mode.

Mode 8 allows you to turn the low voltage warning on or off. The default is off.... so if you are going to use a lithium-ion cell, you want to go into mode 8 and turn the low voltage warning ON.

There is no mode 9.

Mode 10 is used to return the light all factory default settings. This is great for when you first get the light and want to play around with everything (it really IS fun), but you might get lost..... so simply twist back and forth 10 times.... the light will blink off and then back on, I think back in demo mode.

If you decide to get this light, you should download the PDF manual so that you can become familiar with it BEFORE your light arrives, that way you can be up and running quickly.

But don't let this complexity fool you. The light is incredibly simple to operate right out of the box. Most of the time you will never need to enter any of the other modes. Leave it in mode one, and you will have 2 nicely placed light levels. Turn the bezel a bit for level 1 and a bit more for level 2. That's it.

Here are a couple of videos that show how easy it is to operate:

1. This shows a few operations. It is the older Liteflux LF2 and some of the stobes, beacons, etc. are a bit different on the newer LFX2 but the operation is the same. it simply attaches (a nice upgrade):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kor7tVHj3zo

2. This video shows how to program the LF2 using presses instead of switching back and forth quickly, something not discussed very much, but quite neat. It involves setting the light to the P2 position and then holding the front barrel of the light with two fingers while quickly pressing the rear of the light forward. It doesn't move very much, but just enough to accomplish what it needs to do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE9r75bQgv8

This little jewel of a light isn't for everybody, but if you like maximum flexibility from your lights and don't mind spending a bit of time playing with your light to learn how it operates, then the reward is a light that you can setup exactly the way YOU want it.
 
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HighLumens

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thanks Derek Dean for your explanation, very useful!

the first and the second link don' t work. I' am linked to the home page of "photobucket".

the LF2X is great, but I don' t like a few things of it:

- the clip has only one sense (doesn' t work on a cap);
- there is no hole for attaching keys while being able to tailstand;
- you must take the head off to attach the diffuser.

They are both great lights, I hope a light with both the strong points of them will come out soon:D.
 

Flying Turtle

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My understanding is that the diffuser just slips on the head of the LF2X. It was the old LF2 that required head removal for its screw on diffuser.

Geoff
 

HighLumens

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3. This shows a few more operations. It is the older Liteflux LF2 and some of the stobes, beacons, etc. are a bit different on the newer Extreme III, but the operation is the same. Also, you don't have to take the head off of the new Extreme III to attach the diffuser, it simply attaches (a nice upgrade):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kor7tVHj3zo

I think derek dean was referring to the Extreme III, but I'd be happy if the diffuser works like this even in the LF2X.

I can' t open the videos from photobucket properly. Am I the only or the links don' t work?
 

HighLumens

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uhm, nice, but it is still possible to remove the head leaving the LED attached to the flashlight. what is the aim? it makes waterproofness harder to achieve because water can enter in the flashlight by two different threads (even if there are o-rings).

I hope I explained well what I meant :grin2:
 

old4570

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Budget = ?

I would hate to recommend a $100 light , if your looking for a $10 Light .

Try DealExtreme or KaiDomain , KD seems to ship twice as fast as DX .
 

Jarl

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+1 for the LF2X

I do not know any other AAA light with this wide span in output. If you can accept a AA light, the selection grows considerable. There is a LiteFlux LF5XT, NiteCore, JetBeam, (Proton Pro) and probably some more that I forgot.
You can see some of the lights on this picture:
DSC_1794a.JPG

What's the light to the right of the aeon?

Cheers
 

Derek Dean

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Howdy HighLumens,
Sorry for the bad links...... don't know where they went. I've removed them from my original post.

Yes, I was talking about the ARCmania Extreme III which is a custom version of the LF2X, which is the light I have.

It's true that the LF2X doesn't have an attachment point for a keyring, which I must admit I don't understand. Somewhere on CPF is a mod for that, but I can't find it at the moment.

EDIT: Ok, I found the link to keyring mod (and I checked that it works):
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2453602&postcount=6

While the link shows cutting 2 additional notches in the light, that was only because he wanted to use both the clip AND the keyring attachment point at the same time. All that really needs to be done is to remove the clip, then fashion the small loop piece and install it.

Also, as HKJ pointed out, the diffuser attaches directly onto the LF2X.

By the way.... I wasn't actually recommending the LF2X for your situation.... especially since I don't own one. I was just trying to clarify it's operation for you a bit. I have the Extreme III which is a customized version of the LF2X (same basic UI), and I absolutely love it.

Of course I'm the kind of guy who enjoys reading instruction manuals and figuring things out, so for me, working with the somewhat complicated UI was a lot of fun, but I can easily understand why many folks found the UI to complicated for their needs. Often times simpler IS better. Good luck with your hunt!
 
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HighLumens

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Very nice mod, that way It becomes a keychain light :D

I found the first video on photobucket searching "Arcmania Extreme III" on google and it's very useful :D

p.s.:
on february 2007 came out the LF2;
on february 2008 came out the LF2X;
now it's february 2009: is LiteFlux going to sell a new edition of this flashlight?
 
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