Nitecore EZ AA - over 5 years old, 130 lumens, yet one just sold for $35 on on eBay?

As a throwback, before I came back to CPF a few months ago, my EDC's were the top-notch (at the time) torches of a Nitecore D10 and an EZ AA.

The EZ AA has been on my keychain for the past 5 years, until I lost it today. Looking back, I paid $49 for it, and am amazed that compared to 130 lumens then, I can EDC the MH20 that is ~1000 lumens.

Anyway, as I was reminiscing, I saw the eBay auction below for an EZ AA that got a few bids, and sold for $35. Its used, though in good condition... but who's buying such things?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nitecore-EZ-AA-Flashlight-/331674825818

Is it considered vintage now? If so, my D10 is somewhere at home in pretty good condition (I think) -- the belt clip got loose after a year, and I lost the screw, so its been on a shelf or a desk. Does it have collectable value?

Any old-timers have stories of their first/past loves?

jfong said:

As a throwback, before I came back to CPF a few months ago, my EDC's were the top-notch (at the time) torches of a Nitecore D10 and an EZ AA.

The EZ AA has been on my keychain for the past 5 years, until I lost it today. Looking back, I paid $49 for it, and am amazed that compared to 130 lumens then, I can EDC the MH20 that is ~1000 lumens.

Anyway, as I was reminiscing, I saw the eBay auction below for an EZ AA that got a few bids, and sold for $35. Its used, though in good condition... but who's buying such things?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nitecore-EZ-AA-Flashlight-/331674825818

Is it considered vintage now? If so, my D10 is somewhere at home in pretty good condition (I think) -- the belt clip got loose after a year, and I lost the screw, so its been on a shelf or a desk. Does it have collectable value?

Any old-timers have stories of their first/past loves?

Click to expand...

It's not always about the latest and greatest for everybody. If you find a light that fills a particular niche for you then the fact that newer lights have more bells, whistles and lumens doesn't really matter. I've placed WTB adds for a Fenix L1T v2.0 before because that particular light is perfect for what I want to do with it and nothing else really fits. No takers so I guess I'm not the only one that appreciates the light.

I've found the 4sevens quark as they used to be made perfect for my needs. Mode spacing, runtime, size. I've looked around and there really isnt any light like it being made now. There are some lights that are kinda ok, sorta close but just not right. The new quarks now no longer can be locked out, cant use the head to switch mode groups, and have to specify a custom setting on ordering to get all the modes and even then no high mode, just max.


If a clean example of a quark 123 with xpg r5 or xpg2 came up id pay money for it over other newer lights.

Nice thread, the two Nitecore lights you mentioned were definitely unique and very popular around here. The piston interface of the D10 doesn't exist on any other lights that I am aware of and the EZAA interface of tighten for low and tighten further for high has only been found on the early Thrunite Ti. I am not sure why they don't still offer those options with updated drivers and emitters, of course. Anyone know why they stopped making those?

jfong said:

As a throwback, before I came back to CPF a few months ago, my EDC's were the top-notch (at the time) torches of a Nitecore D10 and an EZ AA.

The EZ AA has been on my keychain for the past 5 years, until I lost it today. Looking back, I paid $49 for it, and am amazed that compared to 130 lumens then, I can EDC the MH20 that is ~1000 lumens.

Anyway, as I was reminiscing, I saw the eBay auction below for an EZ AA that got a few bids, and sold for $35. Its used, though in good condition... but who's buying such things?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nitecore-EZ-AA-Flashlight-/331674825818

Is it considered vintage now? If so, my D10 is somewhere at home in pretty good condition (I think) -- the belt clip got loose after a year, and I lost the screw, so its been on a shelf or a desk. Does it have collectable value?

Any old-timers have stories of their first/past loves?

Click to expand...

Not sure about the EZ light but I collect the Nitecore D10 and they are hard to find and usually go for $45-60 depending on condition and if it has the clip or not. I've swapped emitters in most of mine with more modern led's to give it a nice neutral tint and a few extra lumens. Great light and wish Nitecore still made them.

Tusk said:

It's not always about the latest and greatest for everybody. If you find a light that fills a particular niche for you then the fact that newer lights have more bells, whistles and lumens doesn't really matter. I've placed WTB adds for a Fenix L1T v2.0 before because that particular light is perfect for what I want to do with it and nothing else really fits. No takers so I guess I'm not the only one that appreciates the light.[/COLOR]

Click to expand...

Ah, indeed, if the bezel didn't fall off my L1T and disappear, I would have never needed to get the EZAA! Those were the days!

Mr. Tone said:

Nice thread, the two Nitecore lights you mentioned were definitely unique and very popular around here. The piston interface of the D10 doesn't exist on any other lights that I am aware of and the EZAA interface of tighten for low and tighten further for high has only been found on the early Thrunite Ti. I am not sure why they don't still offer those options with updated drivers and emitters, of course. Anyone know why they stopped making those?

Click to expand...

Well, admittedly, my EZAA gave me a few problems.

A few times, the tightening/loosening mechanism somehow tightened the pill onto the battery compartment side of the torch, and at the same time the bezel side that screwed onto the pill was looser, so the torch was stuck on until I used my pliers/multi-tool to grab the exposed middle part of the pill to loosen it back again to turn it off, and then tighten down the bezel again so it has more friction than the other side of the pill.

Also, I think the battery spring on the pill side got overly permanently compressed/flattened when it is actually supposed to have some spring-iness?

As a sometimes-use light, these weren't deal killers, though.

snowlover91 said:

Not sure about the EZ light but I collect the Nitecore D10 and they are hard to find and usually go for $45-60 depending on condition and if it has the clip or not. I've swapped emitters in most of mine with more modern led's to give it a nice neutral tint and a few extra lumens. Great light and wish Nitecore still made them.

Click to expand...

I concur... Fenix single-cell or 2AA keychain/EDC lights lights at the time were nice too, but something felt really great about the D10. I'll definitely let you know if I can find mine!

whoops, double post

I lost my d10 a few years ago and managed to buy a used one here for that price. Its just the perfect pocket light.

Tusk said:

It's not always about the latest and greatest for everybody. If you find a light that fills a particular niche for you then the fact that newer lights have more bells, whistles and lumens doesn't really matter. I've placed WTB adds for a Fenix L1T v2.0 before because that particular light is perfect for what I want to do with it and nothing else really fits. No takers so I guess I'm not the only one that appreciates the light.

Click to expand...

You are so right. There are old lights I still find very valuable. Primary I think about Fenix TK20. It's old but still I don't consider it as outdated.
There is no 2AA light on the market today which combines that reliable performance, nice hold and nice tint. It's simple and while it has not close to as efficient emitter as todays lights it very well does its job. I can say similar thing about lights like TK10 and TK30. Very reliable performance and while they are not as bright as todays lights they have a better tint than many of the todays cool white lights. I am sure I will say similar about Thrunite TN35 several years ahead! And so on.

I'm always selling old lights to buy new ones. I don't collect or accumulate.

But the only one I won't sell, is a Nitecore D10. I love the design and piston so much. I just wish it were brighter and more efficient. I might just swap the emitter

Swedpat said:

You are so right. There are old lights I still find very valuable. Primary I think about Fenix TK20. It's old but still I don't consider it as outdated.
There is no 2AA light on the market today which combines that reliable performance, nice hold and nice tint. It's simple and while it has not close to as efficient emitter as todays lights it very well does its job. I can say similar thing about lights like TK10 and TK30. Very reliable performance and while they are not as bright as todays lights they have a better tint than many of the todays cool white lights. I am sure I will say similar about Thrunite TN35 several years ahead! And so on.

Click to expand...

Built like a tank, throws like a laser, great tint and runs on AA batteries. I keep one in my truck and have another put back just in case. Awesome light.

Tusk said:

Built like a tank, throws like a laser, great tint and runs on AA batteries. I keep one in my truck and have another put back just in case. Awesome light.

Click to expand...

I wonder why Fenix has not listened to all wishes out there on a true successor to TK20. LD25 was not!

I still carry my first P1D in my pocket everyday. Is the emitter/UI/output/etc outdated...? Sure, but it does everything that I need, and I don't have plans to change it.

I still have lots of my old lights from the days when the XR-E Q5 was the best ever. Lots of SSC P4 lights also. They still work....and 100ish lumens is more than enough for almost any task I need a flashlight for.

On the other hand....I also love my brand new PD35 and P12....1000ish lumens is just wonderful to see.

Ah, my flashlight-guardian-angel was looking out for me after all! My lost EZ AA was just in my car!

Fickle me already replaced it a TubeVN on my keychain, though, which is probably better because the moving parts on the EZ AA are not idea for pockets.

Mr. Tone said:

Nice thread, the two Nitecore lights you mentioned were definitely unique and very popular around here. The piston interface of the D10 doesn't exist on any other lights that I am aware of and the EZAA interface of tighten for low and tighten further for high has only been found on the early Thrunite Ti. I am not sure why they don't still offer those options with updated drivers and emitters, of course. Anyone know why they stopped making those?

Click to expand...

jfong said:

Well, admittedly, my EZAA gave me a few problems.

A few times, the tightening/loosening mechanism somehow tightened the pill onto the battery compartment side of the torch, and at the same time the bezel side that screwed onto the pill was looser, so the torch was stuck on until I used my pliers/multi-tool to grab the exposed middle part of the pill to loosen it back again to turn it off, and then tighten down the bezel again so it has more friction than the other side of the pill.

Also, I think the battery spring on the pill side got overly permanently compressed/flattened when it is actually supposed to have some spring-iness?

As a sometimes-use light, these weren't deal killers, though.

Click to expand...

Now I have to take back what I said about friction issues. I just didn't take care of my EZ AA at all, and the threads were full of crap. The spring does seem to be completely flat when it shouldn't be, otherwise they should have just used a metal nub for that side's battery contact?







I cleaned up the threads and now they're super smooth, and the torch turns on and transitions to high very reliably:

Mr. Tone said:

Nice thread, the two Nitecore lights you mentioned were definitely unique and very popular around here. The piston interface of the D10 doesn't exist on any other lights that I am aware of and the EZAA interface of tighten for low and tighten further for high has only been found on the early Thrunite Ti. I am not sure why they don't still offer those options with updated drivers and emitters, of course. Anyone know why they stopped making those?

Click to expand...

With regards to the piston interface, I believe McGizmo was the first to implement this.

The classic 2-stage progressive twisty has been around as well before their iteration of it. I believe this was first used by Larry Light, and with permission, subsequently used by Photons Int'l/Muyshondt in the Ion, Aeon, Nautilus, Mako lines.

Since then, there have been other makers that use this same, or a variation of it, progressive activation: Ra Lights Radio Twisty (now HDS Systems), Tain Ottavino (maybe other of his customs), Foursevens Atom line, DQG Spy/Hobi/Fairy - to name a few.

For myself, I actually preferred the 2nd version of the Nitecore EZAA that would ramp. I had two and sold both off. Outdated in output and runtime, I still wouldn't mind coming across one for sale.