Nothing new on the horizon?

It seems that we are going through a period with nothing new and innovative in the wings!
If I think back over the years how we all waited with baited breath for product like

ARC AAA etc.
The next Fenix
Liteflux's clever UI
The first Nitecore with piston drive
The first Zebra series with instant access to high/low
Some dual switch tail caps, magnetic control rings, USB rechargeable/reprogrammable

etc. etc.

I can honestly say that off the top of my head there is no have to have light that I am currently pining for.

What say the experts here?

Interesting- been thinking the same thing myself. More thank just dropping in another LED and getting another 500 lumens out of an existing format- what's the next game changer- the next must have jump in performance?

Waiting for the flood of MT-G2 lights; by Christmas we'll all be comparing our 2000 lumen 2x123 form factor lights..

There are some high quality and innovative work lights been sold via various sources,best one i have seen is a high quality twin lens light with another centre lens which will telescope out for close up work and it is magnetic.One of my customers bought one off a tool van cost was about £80 and he rates it very highly as it is rechargeable and being magnetic aids when he is machining parts.

StarHalo said:

Waiting for the flood of MT-G2 lights; by Christmas we'll all be comparing our 2000 lumen 2x123 form factor lights..

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Indeed. In fact, yesterday I decided to stop waiting: pulled the trigger on a ThruNite TN35. I've always liked their stuff, and selfbuilt's review left no doubt. This will be my first new light in a couple of years -- basically, since the first wave of XM-L lights. There hasn't been much reason to upgrade until the MT-G2. It's not only nearly 3x the output, but by all accounts, also has killer tint.

The next big innovation I'm hoping for is actually in chargers. Say goodbye to crappy LED indicators and LCD segment displays and talk to my iPhone. So much more would be possible with a real display and a good app.

I want a Zebralight SC32w.

Might also be interested in a Zebralight SC62w if it's heavily enough driven.

With all the nice Triples and MT2G's we 'floodies' are being fed. .

But, yes, it seems the production guys like FourSevens, Fenix, etc are maybe in their research areas seeing where they can next take their small platforms to next. What's next for their small edc platforms? Im at least hoping for properly executed Nichia variants and some new leds from them.

While you wait, maybe you would want to entertain the nice beams from Torchlab, Malkoff, Hui, Mac, etc...But they dont have piston drives or strobes.

Streak said:

It seems that we are going through a period with nothing new and innovative in the wings!
If I think back over the years how we all waited with baited breath for product like

ARC AAA etc.
The next Fenix
Liteflux's clever UI
The first Nitecore with piston drive
The first Zebra series with instant access to high/low
Some dual switch tail caps, magnetic control rings, USB rechargeable/reprogrammable

etc. etc.

I can honestly say that off the top of my head there is no have to have light that I am currently pining for.

What say the experts here?

Click to expand...

Streak said:

It seems that we are going through a period with nothing new and innovative in the wings!
If I think back over the years how we all waited with baited breath for product like

Click to expand...

This has been on my mind for some time now it has been this way for quite some time I've never seen such a lull in this industry, at least with the big production manufactures custom builders not included. From the XR-E R2 through to the XM-L U2 it seemed every other week something really cool and new was released, there is new emitters out so that should not be the problem I don't know if designers have hit a brick wall or what, has nearly every style and function been done and now it is tougher to bring out a new light or series of lights? I don't know but it's no fun I hope it picks up.

Not being an expert(rather an enthusiast), there is no special light that has caught my attention so much right now so i´d say i have to buy it. The upgraded Nitecore TM11 XM-L2 looks interesting, but i have not decided to make any purchase of it. First i want to see a full review of it. The new Olight SR Mini also looks interesting, and i might buy it after seing a review of it.

Otherwise, i don´t know what to be expected from Cree later this year. :thinking:

The last upgrades they made was when they released the MTG2 in April 2012, the XP-G2 in July 2012 and the XM-L2 in December 2012. If they follow the every second year interval, i think we can expect new upgraded diods coming later this year(MTG3,XM-L3 and XP-G3?). I don´t know how much increased performance those diods migh have, but i guess they falls in about a 15% increased performance.

If Olight upgrades the S20 to any of the above mentioned new diods later this year, then i will definitely buy it, but for the moment i don´t have any particular light in sight.

You might want to stroll over to Vinh's sub-forum.

TEEJ said:

You might want to stroll over to Vinh's sub-forum.

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Yes, there are plenty of interesting lights at Vins forum!

Streak said:

The first Zebra series with instant access to high/low

Click to expand...

Geez man, there's been much more innovative things with the zebralights than just the UI. In recent times, the PID regulation is one that comes to mind, and they did that pretty damn well when compared to others.

Meh.... Honestly flashlights just aren't shinning for me these days. Maybe I will pick up a bright 4xAA of some sort but the love just isn't there. Has anyone seen a tint better than the older XR-E 5A Q2-Q3 or XP-E 5A-Q3? Fenix with a sub lumen low mode? Remember when the D10 was da bomb and Nitecore then couldn't seem to work out that simply upgrading the LED was enough. Leave everything else alone? But Nooooooo! The quest for an updated Fenix TK20....Never to be and yes it still rocks! Arc6..... ARC WHO? Why didn't they just upgrade the ZL H50? No one had a problem with a leaky twisty. But no, that wasn't to be either. Do we still have Surefire vs. Fenix threads?

You were warned about MT-G2 lights: Fenix MT-G2 TK35, 1800 lumens..

This Fenix definitely looks nice. Worth a look .

rayman

OK so I am not the only one then!
Yes there are the boutique manufacturers making really high quality/priced lights but in general I guess we are going through a bit of a lull.

As with all "new" technology I am seeing the same kind of thing in the latest cell phones. There was tons of innovation in the past but now the upgrades are incremental.
Galaxy S4 to S5 , HTC One M7 to M8 for example.

I compared the original Klarus XT11 with the upgraded one. As expected it's hard to see the 220 lumen difference between the two. A few years ago we would have done anything for a 220 lumen flashlight! And that's making the assumption that more brightness is more innovation as opposed to incremental change.

I don't think there is any lull. The new generation of MT-G2 lights are showing. The TN35 is excellent, and now multi-emitter MT-G2's are starting to show up. The Niwalker MM15 is the next really big innovation (but probably not the last Multi MT-G2 this year). At 5233 OTF lumens in a short format, it is the new king of flood (forget all those ridiculously inflated claims on the cheap chinese lights). And if you want to jump that to truly awesome lumens go with Vinh's version.

If that isn't enough, just wait a short while for the first 3 emitter MT-G2 light. It's bound to be on the way.