Shiningbeam S-Mini II

Ive been in contact with Bryan at Shiningbeam about the sold out Perfect Regulation drivers that he used to list on his site and he let slip that there is a new L-Mini II replacement on its way. I know nothing about it other than that it has a variation of the Perfect Regulation driver that was in the L-Mini II and that its going to be called the S-Mini II. Oh, he mentioned that it will be Low - Medium - High as opposed to the High - Medium - Low of the L-Mini II.



With permission, here is a picture of it:





I've been bugging him for more info about it, but, so far, nada.

My S-mini arrived yesterday and the fit and finish is excellent. The light performs perfectly - It has a reverse clicky switch which is the best I've seen; click on is reassuringly firm and changing modes is quick and efficient with the gentlest pressure. It takes a minute or so to get used to just how sensitive the switching is but, in use, this is an outstanding feature.
Modes are memorized almost instantly; the literature says 1 second, I say less than a second, in fact, it takes a very quick click back on to beat the lights' memory. This is another excellent feature. The tail-cap has a well designed and engineered shroud, as you would expect with this type of switch, with no chance of accidental activation; the boot is the flat type and sufficiently recessed, yet still affording a 'ball of thumb' activation. This is a very big plus! So many makers get this simple on/off switching so horribly wrong.
The beam pattern is superb, the tint XP-G (R4) Neutral & very attractive but not as warm as a lot of 'neutral' tints that are available at the moment and which I would describe as 'on the warm side of neutral: The S-mini. I would describe as a true neutral tint, somewhat cooler than Z/L's SC30W. and closer to Malkoff's straight M31. without being quite as golden and retaining the slightest peachy blush. There is a noticeable cooler shift when going to low from high (Low > med >high). Low is 9.5L and quite a big step down.
The stated output according to the enclosed manual is 360L.- 155L.-9.5L. which is a bit generous and is probably the data for a cooler and perhaps R5 version. The booklet has NW R4 emitter pasted over the XL lamp description (?) The web site gives 335L. as the high output and this is probably close; and I would suggest these are bulb lumens. I have no sophisticated testing equipment but when compared to other lights with known reasonably accurate OTF readings and using an accurate Minolta light meter in a ceiling bounce test, the S-mini puts out a whisker more than a Malkoff M61W.
An excellent light, remarkably priced and a pleasure to use: There is no downside with the S-mini. A pocket clip would be nice, even if not used, as this is an easy roll cylinder. I believe Shining Beam is sorting one and it will be available soon! :goodjob:

Sparky

I agree, I think this is an amazing little light.

Just used mine today at work, though, and there were moments where it would have been nice for it not to roll away. Other than that, a GREAT display of usable light. It is currently my toolbox light for my job.

And although I have not yet used it, the holster that came with mine seems to be very nice.

This really is a 'bang for buck' Flashlight!

Great lights, the L-Mini and the S-Mini. I use them nightly in ceiling bounce mode as a late evening, soft room illumination light. They seem to run forever on low and medium with an 18650.

Should you have a power outage, these make awesome ceiling bounce lights with long run times! Very nice to have a couple of them around if for that purpose alone.