Sofirn SP70 Alone $50, PM for AMZ US CODE(LIMITED)

These 2 remarks, made right next to each other, sound conflicting to me.

How can you tell that Sofirn made the right choice of reflector if you did not check yet if they did the focussing right on the smooth reflector, especially if both you and Sofirn found a hole in the center of the beam while we know here on BLF that the XHP70.2 makes a fine hotspot in a smooth reflector.

I do not think that a non-parabolic reflector can be a reason, never heard of any manufacturer making non-parabolic reflectors, there is no reason to do that other than screwing up CNC settings.

This is in no way an attempt to dismiss Sofirn’s first big thrower, I think that the SP70 does many things right, and the good price more than makes up for the shortcomings that it still has (finning could be more effective, reflector deeper and smooth, a real BLF-UI would be more attractive).

I know I posted these earlier, somewhere:

Oops, here, post #1957, and more info: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/52135/1957

Yes, Jason also linked it. Thank you both.

I forgot to reply to this part. Yes, 12A is nothing to sneeze at, and we're looking at something like 90 watts there. Although I'd disagree that it heats quickly. Between the power reduction of possibly up to 50% as well as what we're hoping to be better thermal mass, my SP70 is not a hand warmer like my L6 is.

I'm really excited to see your efforts with a new FET and Tom's efforts with an ATTiny. I just need to decide if I want to mod it, or if I trust Sofirn enough to get the BLF edition right. Well, not even right, because many would probably prefer slightly different features than me.

Other notes:

I just noticed the tactical ring thing by the tail spins freely. Weird!

My dual springs appear to be compressed enough to both make contact with Shockli 5500mAh button-tops.

@Scallywag, can you check if the springs are magnetic?

Thank you.

The tactical ring is not threaded, it’s held in place by sitting on o-rings.

The way Sofirn explained it to me was that they could not play with the reflector height because the centering rings had already been made and having a new batch made would have created a big delay. So they had to chose an ugly beam or a pretty beam.

If adjusting the reflector height makes for a nice looking hot spot, then Sofirn probably has the time to have new centering rings made. I also hope they can make the SMO reflector the full 75 millimeter inner diameter. There needs to be a noticeable jump in distance between the two or what’s the point of the SMO.

I can actually think of a reason to use a non parabolic reflector shape. Since the parabola is based on a single point source, I can see were a really large emitter like the 70.2 might cause some anomolies. I’ll use the picture below.

Notice how a large emitter could potentially create anomolies in the hot spot? A very slight alteration in the reflector shape might eliminate the anomaly. If it does, why not incorporate that tweak to the shape?

Or maybe a parabola is fine, but this particular one is not focused properly? IDK.

My Lumintop Tool AA also has a colored spot in the center of the hot spot, but it’s yellow instead of purple.

Certain things are really strange to me. Like why is the SP70 SMO spot purple? Where is that color coming from? It’s beyond my understanding.

That the led is not a point source does produce imperfect imaging, but that does not make a difference, the parabola will still be the best shape for producing throw. No magic possible here.

I do hope that Sofirn can sort out the smooth reflector, indeed full size and well-focused.

My 2 cents, for what it’s worth (probably less than 2 cents :stuck_out_tongue: )

I, for one, greatly appreciate Jason’s efforts in bringing a new light to market, that performs pretty darn well. Let’s be honest, anyone on Amazon that is not a flashlight enthusiast is going to be blown away by the performance. As well as many of our fellow constituents who already enjoy the light.

What I dislike is the manufacturer’s willingness to push a product onto the market before it’s perfected. We keep seeing this with other manufacturers where a design is made, a few prototypes are sent out, and before the prototypes get in the hands of enthusiasts, its already on Amazon (or pretty darn close.) Astrolux and Amutorch just did a similar thing of having a group buy before the lights were even made! I think Sofrin jumped the gun on this one. While it’s a great flashlight, it could have been a fantastic light with a little more tweaking (reflector design while using the same head, better UI, higher quality driver components)

Sofrin, I will not be buying a light until I see a dedicated BLF edition which remedies the reflector design, and utilizes a better user interface. Single click ON to the last setting used (which is usually high) is a huge factor. I would be willing to pay a premium price to get the light I (we) like.

Hopefully we can keep the conversation going, constructively and objectively, because I would love to see a light that really achieves the objectives which were originally set forth.

Just to be clear, it does do this. (In case you thought it didn’t and needed to be added)

Does or does not? I thought Tom E said it goes to last used?

If my info is incorrect, I’ll happily correct it. I thought it went to last intensity used in ramping mode.

Edit: as I understood it, from OFF, press and hold goes to moonlight, and it will not ramp up to high like Narsil or Emisar’s UI. The only way to get out of moonlight is to turn it off, then single click ON which goes to the last used setting. For me, that seems like a shortcoming.

guys, I think there are some misunderstandings.

Sofirn SP70 available now is sofirn version which is helped by BLFers but not BLF version. Sofirn put it on market because sofirn need a big powerful light.

The BLF SP70 version is not confirmed, since now some of the sofirn SP70 are received by BLFers, you guys can talk about how do you like the BLF SP70 to be.

Just don’t mix sofirn SP70 with unconfirmed BLF SP70. :person_facepalming:

You were describing a basic momorized level. When you single click to turn it On, you go to the last used setting.

So if you like to keep it at a specific level, you can. One click On and one click Off. It stays at that level.

Keep in mind that all UI’s are a compromise because you can’t please everyone. Even though the operation of Moonlight on the SP70 is not perfect, I think this is a solid improvement over the UI on the S70S and L6.

I personally don’t ever use lower levels on my big lights because I have smaller lights that are better for moonlight.

Could everyone read post 2000 again.

I’m guessing Sofirn would rather us talk about what we want than nit picking the current light and leaving a bunch of negative stuff for search engines to find.

I like Barry’s list. 4000k is ideal for me but its an easy change so I don’t really care.

Narsil would be better. No one is going to use candle mode with this and throwers aren’t really ToyKeeper’s thing. This is Tom’s domain.

Add in some input from Kawiboy, TA or Dale and this thing could be special.

Is it better if start a new thread for BLF SP70 ?

Do the sales figures of the current SP70 look good enough to make a BLF version?
Maybe it is too early to know?

I totally understand the “last mode” idea. In my opinion, it’s probably a good feature. The problem I see is the ramping from OFF. I cant ramp from OFF to HIGH. Ramping from OFF only goes into moonlight mode. Then you have to turn it off, then 1 click turns it to blindingly bright light.

Sofrin needs a ramping mode that goes from 0 to max, while holding the switch from OFF.

Definitely.

Yeah, this function was quite low on my list of priorities. I’m glad the overall UI works as well as it does.

A simple fix might be covering the lens with your hand or leg to avoid any sudden brightness while you ramp down.

A counterpoint could be that some people like that you can activate moonlight without loosing your preset level. Losing the preset certainly irritates me that’s why I use a different light when I need a very low level.

Like I said, no UI suites everyone perfectly.

I purchased this light thinking it was going to have ar glass and becu springs, but I’m not disappointed that I misunderstood. I like the sofirn lights I’ve purchased and would love to see an upgraded blf edition with a good price, I’d purchase another.

I was told that they were using BlueSwordM’s BeCu springs. Does anyone know how to confirm this?