[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

Ordered one a few days ago, after they reappeared as available on the site. Followed instruction here to get the discount by leaving a message —- worked. But now, every time I go to pay I get this:
Payment failed
Reason: System error.
Suggestion: The system is busy. Please try again.

So I keep trying…

I had the same problem trying to pay with paypal, I finally paid with my credit card.

The same with me, everything works well. :beer:

Maybe BlueSwordM’s post should be linked to from the original post as it is the best illustrated explaination of how to get the special price.

Which post # as I had no luck.

Here’s the link:

Can someone who had trouble ordering before verify that BlueSwordM’s instructions worked?

Post #1576: [Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED - #1575 by BlueSwordM

I was able to buy the lights at the group buy price. Basically. I went through the order, put in a note asking for the group buy price and selected PayPal and committed the order, it sent me to PayPal which I canceled, then select orders from my account on AliExpress and messaged the seller as well with the same note. Then waited 6 hours and checked orders again and it was reduced price then paid. To pay with PayPal I had to cancel the aliexpress payment to get the PayPal option again.

Anyway can’t wait to get my lights. I’m probably going to buy more colors and wondering if the number I signed up for is that important because I already bought my allotment but like most here I have a problem.

If it works, it works, right?
:partying_face:

I can confirm that BlueSwordM’s instructions work. However I had to wait some hours before the price was adjusted.
The instructions are linked to in the First Post.

Great to read that the first orders are arriving.
Don’t hesitate to share your experience and opinion.

By the way: please be careful with the pocket clip, as it seems to be rather fragile.
I accidentally broke the clips of the prototypes when moving them from back to front to test the C01s as hat light.
Hopefully Sofirn included better quality ones on their production model.

I received mine yesterday but only checked my mail box 30 minutes ago.


Sorry for the over-exposed potato-quality picture.

I’m more and more disliking Sofirn for being gradually less “modder friendly” but as I didn’t plan to modify my C01, I’m really pleased by the quality (don’t know about the driver traces durability and potting quality, time will tell).
Colors rendition of the 3200K is warm but

Thank you Djozz and all people involved !

Just placed my order as per instructions.Now waiting for the price adjustment.This is my first GB in BLF or any other forums.I am sure all the hard work you guys are put in here will “shine” out very well.As of my order 29/31 left

After a couple tries I figured it out and Sorfirn just got back to me with the discount.
I went with one of each tint.

Just arrived home after work, and I found a nice surprise at the doormat, a little package from Sofirn ;-)

The production models include the same fragile pocket clip as the prototype models.

Please be careful when removing the clip in order not to break it. In my flashlight drawer I found another clip (I do not remember from which AAA flashlight, which is much more robust); Sofirn production pocket clip on the right.

The Sofirn manual states 35 hours runtime with an Alkaline battery. This weekend I measured the following runtime with brand new IKEA Alkalisk alkaline batteries: 4500K PROTOTYPE model 33 hours, and 3200K PROTOTYPE model 34 hours runtime.

Really funny by the way how you can "lego" Sofirn C01 and Fenix E01. This is the way to go if you want to add a magnet or a tritium vial to your Fenix E01 ;-)

Finally, I noticed a difference with the production model versus the prototype model: my 5600K production run C01 had a slightly bright hotspot at the center, which the prototype model had not. The 3200K production was evenly floody. I am not sure if this has slight hotspot has to do with alignment differences of the LED in the reflector during production.

I am super happy with the Sofirn C01 as new member of my 5mm LED flashlight family :-)

I posted some more pictures in this imgr album: https://imgur.com/a/u9RksCp

This weekend I did a little runtime test with some 1AAA 5mm flashlights running them on IKEA Alkalisk batteries(1.79 Euro for 10).
Results as following from LED on to completely dark:

1. Varta/Rayovac Indestructable 1AAA: 43 hours (of which the last 36 hours really dim)
2. Sofirn C01 3200K (PROTOTYPE): 34 hours (approx. 20 hours of regulated output)
3. Sofirn C01 5600K (PROTOTYPE): 33 hours
4. Fenix E01: 26.5 hours
5. GP Discovery CLE202: 24 hours
6. Gerber Infinity Ultra task light: 7:15 hours (much lower than expected)

0. Control: Zebralight H53Fc on AAA alkaline: 45 hours on 3.5 lumen (lowest M). After that 5 more hours on highest Low. Then it started to flicker. When removed battery measured 0.85 Volts. Still good enough to light a Sofirn C01.

Edit 1: added prototype clarification
Edit 2: added Zebralight result

I noticed exactly the same with my 5600K vs 3200K. If you are looking at the photophor die area, the one of the 5600K seems smaller and better defined as the one of the 3200K. Don’t know if there is a die area difference with same dome or a dome difference with same die area between them. Anyway, I really don’t care.

Somewhere earlier djozz mentioned that there were differences between the Yuji LEDs. I noticed this as well.

Left is the protoype C01; middle and right are two production run C01s from the same batch; the one on the left and right are more "rosy"; the one in the middle is more "yellow".

Still I like both better than my Zebralight H53Fc (high-CRI, 4000K, however with green tint). I guess I lost the Zebralight tint lottery :-(

Please bear in mind that these tints somehow look much more dramatic in this picture than in real life.

When using outside in real life even the Zebralight is actually quite good.

7:15 for a Gerber Infinity Ultra? That sounds awfully low, even if it’s with a AAA battery.

My GIU was recently ordered on Amazon.com. My goal was to experience this light as an AA form factor for a 5 mm flashlight, as according to Parametrek the GIU is the ultimate host for a Yuji LED. Perhaps my particular GIU is malfunctioning, or perhaps Gerber changed something to its driver recently in production, who knows?

The cause for the low runtime was not the IKEA AAA Alkalisk battery. After the GIU went dark, I transplanted the AAA alkaline battery into a Fenix E01 which run for 17:30 hours on moonlight. In the future I will try to repeat this test with the GIU, but first I have to acquire some new alkaleaks. Usually I only use NiMH cells.

Although I am disappointed by the low runtime of the GIU, I do like the sturdiness of the form factor, and the option to run both AAA (without adapter) as well as AA cells in this light. Perhaps it is possible to do some surgery on it and transplant a Sofirn C01 driver into it :smiley: