spot -> flood optics alla LED Lenser - are they any good?

ok, I've been reading up on a number of different flashlights over the past week - learnt a lot too, largely down to this forum.

However of the many flashlights I've looked at online or read reviews of, very few seem to have the ability to go from a spot to a flood ability. The classic Maglites do, although in fairness the flood mode that represents a donut for the beam pattern is nigh on useless in my book.

But the YouTube vids of the the LED Lender flashlights (P7, MT7 type of thing) seem to be quite affective.

So my question is - are they? And if so, why don't more flashlights have this ability? And are there any negatives to having such a feature?

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oops. hotlinked image.

there is nothing to criticize about spot-to-flood flashlights. some work with aspherical lenses (Tiablo, Romisen RC-29), others come with sophisticated mechanics (led lenser, led lenser clones). imho everyone should own 1 such flashlight. do it like me, buy one.

And buy another flashlight with fixed optics (reflector) too.

led lensers are very expensive for what they are. it's a sizeable company and their website and packaging and stuff is very professional. and expensive. keep that in mind.

Led Lenser has the patents, which means only cheap knockoffs will have the flood to throw capability.

While I like flood to throw, they do have problems. First, they dont throw very well... in throw mode much of their light leaks out the side. Second, the new emitters suck with flood to throw because they throw light out the side more and are very fat...meaning they dont focus as well.

They are great worklights though since they have a nice even light with no glaring hotspot.

I wouldnt buy Led Lenser though...they are WAY overpriced. Best bet is to get a Romisen from shiningbeam for 25 bucks that is flood to throw. Id go with the 3xAAA version, or the 1x18650. Try to get the XR-E emitter, R2 bin. This will throw the best. If you value the flood more, then you might take an XP-G or XP-E emitter version. If you reallly want flood, consider a Yezl XM-L flood to throw.. get the one with the big head. Throw will be same as XR-E version or less, but flood will be much more.

I'm not going to say anything because this is always turns into a heated debate on these forums. I'm not trying to sound rude but this question comes up about once per month. There is a ton of information in these forums about LED Lenser. Please, do yourself a favor and read about to pros and cons of an LED Lenser before you spend your hard earned money on one.

I had the HP7 but I took it back to the store after a few days. It's a decent light and it's definitely bright enough to use in and around the house or walking after dark.
I also thought the zoom function was very cool and it worked very well IMHO.
What I didn't like about it"
1)When you change the focus you also change the length of the light
2)The zoom lock is execrable. There's no click or detent when you lock it
3)The zoom lock is VERY weak. I locked the zoom and pushed down on the top of the light just hard enough to push it into my holster and the zoom still moved even though it was locked.

I might get another one & run it with enloops but that isn't at the top of my shopping list right now.

I really think I would rather get one of the Romisen lights from Shining Beam first
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-215/Romisen-RC-dsh-C8-II-R2/Detail

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Half the price and probably just as bright if not brighter