Who's not buying another light till the XM-L?

Is anyone saying "I'll pass" on everything out there, given that lights using Cree XM-L emitters may be out by year's end?

I can see buying warm beams, since warm XM-Ls won't arrive as soon. But why buy a premium light that has a cool or neutral beam? Aren't you afraid of feeling like a chump come January?

Yes, I know, there's always something new coming. But most advances are evolutionary. This is big.

I can see where you're coming from here but assuming the release dates are to be believed, the G2X and 6PX series will be out in a few days!

I'll definitely be ordering at least one of those!

I think there's more to lights than the emitter they use.

I won't be buying any more, but that's mostly because I've already bought way too many. I need to sell off some, I think.

It will be interesting to see how the XM-L performs. It's a shame that it is a larger die than the XP-G which limits its applications somewhat.

I thought the XM-L *was* evolutionary? What's so big about this one aside from the efficiency gains (entirely expected given the cadence of CREE efficiency, Moore's Law, and all that) and, well, the die size?:nana: (sorry, had to)

I'm planning to order more of the NW Quarks. I buy lights not for a month use but for years of service. My first NW Quark performs perfectly in its specific application and I hope it will continue to do so for the next -say- 2-3 years at least.

There will be more revolutionary changes in this period. And certainly there will be brighter and more efficient lights but still a 3 year old Quark will still be a useful tool. Reason: My requirements change at a slower pace than technology.

It's like buying a computer. You always buy them too early because in the blink of an eye it will be outdated :shakehead. If you always wait for the latest development you never get one.

If the new LED generation is so great - well, a good reason to add a new treasure to my collection.

Oh and by the way: Not buying any flashlight until January? You must be kidding me! Someone give me resuscitation please, quick!


Lucciola

Ok the new emitter will be put out late. No optics or reflectors will work quite right on release day. Manufacturers won't be in a hurry to drop the stockpile of LEDs they have now to start making new new new lights.

The new emitters being put out in lights by January? LoL
Oh when they become reality I'll buy but till then I'm not sitting on my hands.

Still waiting for high CRI emitters to become standard...

I'm 'passing' until then. I'm happy with my Moddoo XP-G triples until he gets the XM-L's in them. :huh:

Lucciola said:

Not buying any flashlight until January? You must be kidding me! Someone give me resuscitation please, quick!

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LOL, I went ~9 months without adding any lights or LED modules, until the XP-G's were widely available earlier this year. The wait was worth it.

The new zebralight SC51 does look revolutionary. The circuit used is as important as the emitter and the zebra circuit allows it to put out 200 lumens from a single 1.2v AA cell. That is a jump in performance that I think even new XM-L led lights will struggle to match up to, also the increased die size of the XM-L's does seem like it may limit some of their use to larger lights.

RedForest UK said:

The circuit used is as important as the emitter and the zebra circuit allows it to put out 200 lumens from a single 1.2v AA cell. That is a jump in performance that I think even new XM-L led lights will struggle to match up to [...]

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But with the slightly lower expected Vf of the XM-L, I imagine that the driver in question would do even better with the newer LED. From what Gene Malkoff has said about the XP-G Malkoff M31, the output at 2.4 Vin was ~doubled compared to the earlier M30, not because of the greater efficiency of the XP-G, but that the lower Vf of the XP-G permitted that very agressive M31 boost driver design & subsequently greater LED drive currents at that low of a voltage (~2.4v). :shrug:

I bought a Quark Mini AA2 a week and a half ago. I do not really think the 1 or 2 AA and 1 or 2 CR123A lights which work best for EDC are really suitable for the XM-L.

A lot of CPFers are moaning over the current lack of XR-E lights which throw better than the brighter XP-G. The XM-L will be even floodier. The early XM-L lights will probably be using P7/MCE reflectors to get to market quicker and result in floody torches. Like everyone was complaining about the throw of 4sevens XP-G lights until the Maelstrom G5 came along. The time between the DX floody P7 lights and the Fenix TK40 with a much better beam pattern and throw was 18 months.

So I predict the early XM-L lights 6 months from now will be floody and there will be a lot of burned out LEDs and/or battery explosions due to attempts at direct driving an ultra-low Vf LED. (The Aurora SH-40 is already over-driving 1*18650 at 5A with the SST-50. With an XL-M swap the current would reach explosion prone levels. And the XL-M is rated for 2A not 5A.)
12 to 18 months from now, we will see torches optimized for the XM-L.

But the XM-L will still be the equivalent of the SST-50. The SST-90 will still be brighter.
Kinda like after I bought my early P7 torch everybody was gaga over the 220-270 lumens of their Q5/R2 XR-E lights. And I kept muttering to myself "What is the fuss about? My DX POS is 350+ lumens!"

I do not buy lights for the LEDs they have in them, I buy lights in spite of what LEDs they have in them. If a light with the Cree XM comes out that is extremely appealing to me, then I will get it. Otherwise, I will wait until one does. Same for any other lights that currently use the XP-E or XP-G or XR-E.

sign me up.
I don't really know what will be so special about the new emitter, but I do know that I'm spending WAY too much money on lights. I need to relax.:huh:

Paul_in_Maryland said:

Is anyone saying "I'll pass" on everything out there, given that lights using Cree XM-L emitters may be out by year's end?

I can see buying warm beams, since warm XM-Ls won't arrive as soon. But why buy a premium light that has a cool or neutral beam? Aren't you afraid of feeling like a chump come January?

Yes, I know, there's always something new coming. But most advances are evolutionary. This is big.

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I am certainly not "passing" on anything until then, but I will say that I have had a special part saved back for the exact moment they are released.

I'm not too worried about the reflector/optic thing. I have always been able to improvise when other emitters came out.

I am very excited about this, but certainly not holding my breath. When the XM was first announced it was projected to be released in the "fall" of this year. Not sure where you heard January, but if it has been pushed back till then that's just one more reason for me not to wait.

Personally I think the XM-L will really shine (pun not really intended) when it's used in the EDC format.

The SST-50 gives a really nice floody beam that's perfectly useful for EDC lights, but its major issue is the power requirements.

If the XM-L can give 750 Lumens at 2A, then 16340/18350 based EDC's can start to push some genuinely impressive lumens.

I, for one, would just adore a 3-mode, 10-200-1000 lumen EDC with a LDF coated lens for pure, flawless flood.

Like carrot, I don't care what LED is in the light, I buy the light because I like it.

As for the warm, neutral, and cool tints: I prefer neutral and cool tint LEDs - I just don't like the look of warm LEDs.

This is actually the first I've heard about this new emitter, exciting. Think it would be good in a quark mini 123? I'm always on the prowl for the latest greatest keychain light.

XM-L by XMAS


:santa:
_

sol-leks said:

This is actually the first I've heard about this new emitter, exciting. Think it would be good in a quark mini 123? I'm always on the prowl for the latest greatest keychain light.

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This is the first I've heard of it too. Sounds exciting. I just want the most efficient lights with the best UI sooo I think I can wait for it (disregard the m10a I just ordered).

I just buy the host I like and wait for newer LED's/Pills to come out for them. That's why I have a Lumapower Turbo-Force head, body, and switch. I also have two (customized to my liking) Surefire C2's, one bored, the other not. Adaptibility really is what keeps me sane these days. Took me a year and a half, and 30 plus flashlights to figure it out though.

I was going to but the lumapower trust but now hearing about this i am wondering. 750 lumens off of a 16340? How floody is this led supposed to be?

I am also wondering what PEAK is going to do with these LEDs.


Does anyone have a link to the LED's stats? Input out put etc etc?

Is this the product page?
http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp_mpl.asp
It says the mp-l and it says 900 flux from 150 ma. Or is this something different? I dont quite get all the ratings they list for LEDs....