Advice needed on which LED torch to buy

Hi everyone,

I'm after a LED torch and it must have two main requirements: -

Varied beam focus (wide to spotlight)
Good battery life

Ideally I don't wan to spend more than $100 and want to get the best spec / performance possible i.e. brightness of the light but also taking into account my main two requirements.

Any help / suggestions will be much appreciated?

:welcome: Glad to have you aboard :thumbsup:.

Your quest to find a focus beam light is going to severely limit your choices. Most modern lights actually get by fine without this feature. Beyond this and long run times what requirements do you have? Small to EDC? Multiple output levels? Pocket clip? Long distance illumination (throw)? Plan to use primaries or rechargeable cells? Indoor, outdoor or mixed use?

What will you use the light for?
Size?
Batteries?

As pobox1475 said, most lights don't have focusing. For closer range use, they have a good amount of spill and/or a lower output mode. Defocusing a reflector based light will result in artifacts that mar the beam pattern. Lens based lights can go from wide flood beam to spot beam pretty well, but they lack spill and are usually less efficient at transmitting light then a reflector based light.

:welcome:

How much is "good" battery life? You could pick up a Fenix E20 for less than 40 bucks and then decide what you liked and what you didn't. If anything, it's quite reasonably priced to keep as a backup light if you choose to have something else afterwards...

Maybe a Maglite 2D or 3D Rebel...

variable focus is crap (but that will need some years of use to learn that)

here is a very good one to have what You want
(You did not type of multilevel, did You?)
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14450
Quality, overall machining and output are really great - that low price and "usual" workmanship of their offers considered.

the cell is simply the best choice at the moment, but there are a few similar models with other battery setup available, just in case



PS: the very best "performance" within Your limits were something like a Jetbeam Jet III Pro Ultra

hi guys,

Thanks for your replies. In response to a few of your answers, I'm after a torch to go out at night to the chicken pen at the allotment at the back (150 meters away) to lock them up at night. I want something which wont need new batteries every couple of weeks, so at least a few hours battery life.

Taking your replies into consideration then maybe a variable beem may not be required if the spill is great enough. Also if the beam power can be varied to half power to make the battery last longer but still be bright enough then this too would be ok (at least then I would have the option to use switch to the full power beem if need be).

I was thinking of the Nightcore Extreame Cree R2 but I'm not sure on the battery life or how bright the reduced beam or spill would be? I'm no torch expert so your opinions / reccommendations are greatly appreciated.

In response to the maglite option, i've thought about a maglite but I'm not keen on the 'circles' in the beam.

thanks

Here's a review for the Nitecore Extreme. As you can tell, runtime on max is less then a hour.

The Eagletac T100C2 II (here's a review) could work for you. It's a simple 2 mode light and is larger then the Nitecore Extreme, but it runs for over 2 hours on a single rechargeable 18650 (imagine 2 CR123s stacked on top of each other, a 18650 cell is a bit wider then that).

thinking of the Nightcore Extreame Cree R2 but I'm not sure on the battery life

Click to expand...

How long do you need it to run? Back-up cells are easy to carry. I have a couple of the limited edition NEX's that have the stainless steel bezels for add durability. They are very solid and high performing torches.

Checked out the review for the Eagletac T100C2 II, I like it, decent run time and looks a pretty good torch, got a pretty good review on the site the hyperlink points to.

Think I'm going to go for that, thanks very much guys for your help

how about something from Led (Coast) Lenser? They sure have superb focusing system(no artifacts on flood-literally) and with some good battery configuration you could easily get some decent runtimes. I have a led lenser p5 which is rated "only" 65lumens but throws almost better than my nitecore extreme r2:huh: You really need atleast check some models from their line, if you want a torch with focusing ability.
On the other hand, their lights aren't regulated on alkalines(output slowly drops through entire runtime) but "semi-regulated" on ni-mh(output is much more flatter), which can be annoying to some cpf members.
I really like my P5, it's great all-around torch for close-up work(flood) or spotting something far away(100meters)-with only 65 lumens! I feed it with duracell ni-mh cell and it works great!

Now the bad things: lensers aren't HA III anodized and rather pricey...

i would especially take a look at models P14(4xAA) and P17(3xD).

If you end up going for the Eagletac, also buy a set of 18650 batteries and a charger for it. It will be more cost effective in the long run.

I know it is subjective, however I have found the Mag Rebel's focusing ability to be very useful, somewhat due to its excellent brightness... It is one of my main workhorse lights..

I don't mean to discredit any of the other recommendations given in this thread, as I am sure they are very good. Just stating my humble opinion on how well the Mag Rebel performs.

i own 2 LED Lensers, the P5 (1xAA) and the P14 (4xAA), i think the P14 might be the light that suits your requirements. It has 3 modes, turbo-high-low.

Turbo is activated by pushing in the switch halfway, then when the switch clicks it will change to high mode, click off and on and it will be in low mode then click to turn the light off.

Slightly irritating is the fact that from low, you have to click the switch off and it will jump to turbo before going off, advantage is that from low, you can press in halfway to get turbo.

It can focus from complete flood to tight spot, easily 300 ft.

The other alternative is the Fenix E20, simple light, 2xAA, one mode. You can get it from 4sevens don't forget the user discount code "CPF8". Take a look at the Fenix TK20 as well, very nice tough and durable light. You can see some of the beamshots for the TK20 here, it was those beamshots of the TK20 that finally tipped the scales in its favour as i was wondering what the tint was like.