First light-Led Lenser V2 or Inova?

Hi all you flashlight junkies /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I'm new to the flashlight scene and wanted to buy me a nice Luxeon based lamp. I considered 2 options: the new Led-lenser V2 three (or four) or an Inova t1/t2(no surefire's or customs because of availability and price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif).I realy wanted to buy me an Inova t2 ,but when I looked at the battery prices-6 euro for a piece, and its more of a spotlight…Anyway the Lenser sounds perfect-solid aluminium body,1watt Luxeon, good size and price…so obviously I don't believe a thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Could anyone who has one post a quick review of the V2 and compare it to a t1/t2?Maybe some beam pics? Is the V2 more of a spotlight or floodlight? Maybe some other good priced luxeon's?
Would be grateful for any info.

Curseblade ... WELCOME !!!!
Cool avatar and name btw /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

To your question ... I own almost all LedLenser lights and I can give you the honest and certainly true opinion that you shouldn't even think about this decision ... and buy the Inova any time!

LedLenser are nice and beautiful, but:
- not watertight
- not regulated (well, most of them anyway)
- use uncommon batteries (most of them)
- don't protect their optix
- are classic medium quality lights

whereas the Inova is build like a tank ... and has more to offer, depending on the version you want.

bernhard

I haven't looked at a LED lenser, but I have a couple of Inova Xo's (more or less a T2) and an Xo3 (like the T3.) These are terrific lights. I've had zero problems with mine, despite my annoying habit of dropping them onto the pavement. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

The CR123A cells are expensive in retail here locally too - don't buy them that way. Mail order them for $1.00 - $1.50 a battery. There are numerous mailorder suppliers for them -
www.batterystation.com is one, but there are others. Most places that mailorder lithium battery powered flashlights will cell the batteries in bulk. (Usually in lots of 15 or 20.)

The T2 is a very useful light. I find I use my Xo a lot - it's a good tradeoff between battery life and brightness. (Although depending on what you are doing, the T3 isn't bad either - it is a lot brighter, but it does go through more batteries.)

I'm trying to justify getting a T1 because of its smaller size... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

well, I read your post more thoroughly now and can add some info:

I guess you are talking about the LedLenser V²-Series which use AAA or AAAA batteries and look like this:



... and not about the V2-Series which look like this and are rather mixed fellows:



There is a beamshot of a V² against an Arc LSH-P:



... and this is a comparison of those lights:




As MrBenchmark just said ... I'd always go with a Lithium-powered light nowadays since you can get the batts for cheap and they are so much better (and smaller!) than the Alks.

If you don't want to spend a lot of $$ on this Luxeon light, the Inova units are a good choice, other good alternatives include the Pelican M6 LED or one of the various Streamlights.

nfortunately Arcs are out of range nowadays, but they are cool (small), too.

From about $140 on you can get cool custom lights on CPF if you are interested.

And to end this blabla ... one really good LedLenser is this one:



The Chipfire V16 ... very dim, but super-stylish, watertight and liithium-powered.

bernhard

BTW, just to amplify on Kiessling's (incredibly thorough) post, a real good reason to go with lithium cells is their performance in cold weather. They are much better than alkalines in cold temperatures. Depending on where you are, this might or might not make much difference to you. The lithium cells also have much better shelf-life, so if you want to just leave the light someplace and forget about for months at a time it until you need it, lithium cells are MUCH more reliable. (I put an Xo in my wife's SUV for just this reason.)

Err, and the CR123a's are small and high-tech looking, so you have this light with "exotic" batteries, which is good for impressing people, right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I have checked the specs of the V² series that Kiessling mentioned. They mentioned nothing about regulation, and the battery runtime of 120 hrs for 3 AAAs seems too long (they mentioned 40 hrs for application as bike light, which sounds suspiciously like unregulated). The whole text is a little bit over the top for my taste, written by marketing people, which always makes me turn away from companies. Also the lights are only described as splash-proof. Right now, there's nothing really outstanding enough to make me buy a LED-lenser (a very good review might change that...but it has to be VERY good).

EDIT: I also found a US-store. Sells the Luxeon-I-3AAA version for $60, and gives a battery runtime of 4 hrs (sic! Go figure). If the European prices are similar, I would definitely recommend an Inova.

The Inovas seem like a more solid deal in my eyes. I own the X5THAIII (EDC), X1, XO, T3, and they're all awesome lights (and they're all dunkable -- self-tested).

Regarding the costs of CR123s: Batterystation has a European (German) outlet under Miracle Store, which sells the Batterystation's CR123 starting at 1.25 euros (cheaper for bigger orders).

Hi Everyone,

I recently purchased a V² AAA and I'm very happy with it. It's beam is very nice, mine gives a nice wide even spot of light (a wider bright spot and without the rings shown in the beam shot posted by Kiessling).

Okay, so it's not regulated, not that tough (the aluminium it quite thin and it's not hard anodised) nor is it fully waterproof, but it feels good in the hand, has a nice clicky switch and runs for 4 hours off 3 cheap AAA batteries (even with online purchasing of 123 batteries, the AAA's are cheaper per hour).

I'd still like an Inova though (both a T1 and T3) for less frequent use and apart from anything else, just the sake of owning! I just need to find a supplier (noone in the UK lists them yet that I've seen).

Thanks for all the info guys!
Now ill totally go with the inova's, Actually the main problem abut the inovas was the availability and priceof batteries. But this tip with the miracle store-many thanks elgarak /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif !

P.s. I got the cool nick from some "magic online nick name creator"
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Csaro ... don't get me wrong ... LedLensers are not bad lights at all, they are solid mid-class lights (good engineering, gold contacts, perfect knurling, ...) that just do not meet the expectations of most people on this forum ... they have some major shortcomings (not splash-proof, no lens, and for some of us: no regulation) that prevent them from being bought by members except me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

bernhard