Focus function

Why is that most lights don't have focus function? Is it patented technology or what?

From my perspective those zoomie functions don't typically work all that well and they usually produce a messy beam pattern with a lot of artifacts. I think it's hard and expensive to do it right, and ultimately the cost outweighs the benefits.

nbp said:

From my perspective those zoomie functions don't typically work all that well and they usually produce a messy beam pattern with a lot of artifacts. I think it's hard and expensive to do it right, and ultimately the cost outweighs the benefits.

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Coast Pure Beam Focus works quite nicely.

I've also had some others that were quite good.

I've also had some bad samples.

Usually it means loss of water resistance

I could never get a focusable beam to work for me.

With Maglite, way back when, I would never know exactly how to adjust the beam, with all of the artifacts in the way.

With the LED Lenser I "upgraded" to after that, I found I only ever used the light on full flood, or fully focused. Everything in between was a mess of rings and artifacts. Not that I knew what they were called at the time, I just knew I didn't like the messy beam.

After that, someone gifted me a 6P with a Malkoff M61 drop-in LED module, which sported a nice bit of spill in the beam, with a bright hotspot in the middle, and suddenly everything started to fall into place.

Even if we could get a light with a zoom function that worked well, didn't compromise on water resistance and didn't result in a messy beam, I would still not buy it, I simply prefer a single beam each time.

To be honest, at first those "flaws" in the beam are not noticed by new zoomie users. Until you begin looking for flaws in a beam they don't seem to exist. You push on button, light comes out and all is right with the world.

Then one day you join a flashlight forum where members aim a flashlight at white walls and get bitter beer face if funky rings surround the beam or spider webs show up in the beam. One day you aim your zoomie at a wall and hit the on button. "GASP"………"it's true, my zoomie has artifacts" you shout out loud.

But I'll share a little secret……in real life when lighting up a dark shed, walking a dog or searching for a crayon under the sofa those artifacts don't matter one bit. Matter of fact when it's being zoomed to spot makes it blind you while working under a sink, a simple head slide and all those lumens get spread out nice and gentle.

The water resistant thing can be an issue if you drop it in a creek or something though.

I used to think zoomie flashlights were the best invention since the girl was invented. Then one day I bought a SureFire G2x Pro and suddenly the zoomie wasn't so special to me. I still use 'em those. Heck yeah. Hit on button, light comes out and all is right with the world.

nbp said:

From my perspective those zoomie functions don't typically work all that well and they usually produce a messy beam pattern with a lot of artifacts. I think it's hard and expensive to do it right, and ultimately the cost outweighs the benefits.

Click to expand...

I agree with that, especially the second sentence.

In my opinion, focusability has likely dropped low on the list of features that matter to most users, largely because of modern advancement in LED technology, resulting in beautiful beams with great tint and great combinations of spot & spill, along with multiple mode / lumen selections. If you don't want to blind yourself under the sink or in a tent, you can switch to a low or moonlight mode.

Growing up with Maglites, I appreciated the ability to focus, but looking back, I seldom used them on anything but full spot. When I ventured into Li-ion and modern lights, I was at first put off by the fact that very few could focus, but after I owned and experienced some great beams on a few nice Malkoff and Fenix lights, I realized why there was such a lower demand for focusing heads.

I think another thing too is the size tradeoff for a good focusing light. Maglites have a great focus and throw because the heads are large & deep. I recently tried a 900 Lumen focusing Fenix FD41, and didn't like it. My Fenix PD35 Tac, and LD30 are both much smaller and seem to have better beams, at 1000 and 1600 lumens respectively. With 5 different modes of brightness, I realized that for my needs I don't care enough to trade the size & lowered water resistance for ability to focus, just to end up leaving it on near full spot 99% of the time.

And that's not to mention that most of us have various lights which are more spot or throw oriented as needed for different situations.