I recently stumbled upon a photo of this newer side switch zooming light (the Wowtac A3S), and thought it was very interesting as there aren’t many good quality side switch zoomies at a decent price.
Looking at this light made me remember this thread I started back in 2016, it appears there’s been a lot of new models introduced since then, so I thought I’d try and resurrect the thread for 2018! I didn’t want to start a new thread so there wouldn’t be two of the same.
It looks like the zooming market segment is alive and well and has shown no signs of slowing down in the past year, I’m excited to see what 2018 brings.
I’ve updated the list in the OP, added 28 models plus a section on UniqueFire, I’ve deleted ones that are no longer available and fixed any dead links to clean it up and bring it current. Hope to hear of some more to add!
I received mine yesterday, haven’t tried outside. The optic ain’t great, in flood there’s a dark hole in the middle of the beam. Otherwise it’s fair enough.
Great work!!
I love my UF-1504. Got it from MTN as a DIY host and theirs is a generic unbranded version. Paired with a FET boost driver, XPL-HI V3 and IMR 26650 its all I need. It ewasily far out-throws the range of my own vision, which admittedly is very poor, even with my coke bottle glasses. For the price I paid, and its overall size I don’t think I can get more peak lux AND open flood when defocused. I want to try the UF-1508, but my understanding is that it doesn’t zoom far out at all, so its only good for one thing.
For the longest time I hated zoomy lights, but the 1504 changed all that. When it is de-focused it has a very wide flood beam… very versatile and useful.
Thanks, and thanks for posting about your 1504, nice photos!
I wonder if one was built like yours but with regular XPL (not HI) would it have more light/brightness in full flood mode, but still have some good throw?