Excellent build. Looks good and sounds like it works great as well. I’ve never seen a catadioptic system used in a flashlight before, only in film and DSLR cameras and it’s interest ing when you say it could be used as a star pointer because that’s where I first came across catadioptics, in an astrological telescope. They can give crazy long focal lengths without being too long in structure.
It seems like 1000 lumens and one hour run time on a single 18650 would be a good usable performance and you can always take a couple of fully charged spare 18650’s along just in case.
Lovely job!
Looks fantastic Wayne, the technique has been use in search lights in the past.
I had a Sigma 600mm mirror lens wayyy back in the 80’s.
The main advantage of Catadioptric lenses (mirror lenses) was that they had virtually no chromatic aberrations.
… one of the main problems with long lenses.
i think it’s a great advantage of mirror setups too… i’m unclear on the details of this flashlight optic however. i read that in imaging setups the lens is there to correct spherical aberration only. the lens looks to have some other purpose in this light.
Sounds sweet. With that size head I would have sized the tube for 26650's, though. What's the price on this?
Is this the optic?
http://www.roithner-laser.com/datasheets/led_optics/10158.pdf
hey Rufusbduck how are you doing, did you get the light? i just got my, really cool stuff, will try to make an review on it when i am in the right mood. so far its the best flashlight in my collection by a great margin, well maybe only my build can rival it a little by the amount of time i like to spend playing with them.
about Catadioptric system definition, i just now realize that my build can be considered a Catadioptric system 
my ebrzm looks to be in the same category too, lool i looks like i have an hidden love for Catadioptric system and i didn’t know 
seriously now, before when i read Catadioptric lens use in flashlight i strictly imagine this type of implementation in my mind :
and it looks like elektrolumens is using similar setup, but its difficult to say for sure just by looking photos.
now i see, i have probably read that pdf that Gj posted in the post above and the source of lens here:
elektrolumens 70% efficiency is relatively good i think for a compact spotlight system. is it hard to make it focus right?
Nice optic and flashlight! 70% is really good compared to an aspheric (I get 57% max at zoom-in).
Are these optics for sale somewhere? (like: affordable)?
Edit: I realise that the 57% above is compared to zoomed-out, compared to bare emitter it is worse.
Looks heavy for a 1*18650 light, how much does it weigh Wayne?
I have one of his lights. Its built like a TANK! I picked it up used and it is a work horse. This one has to “feel” impressive too. I like that solid chunky feel in my NON EDC lights. I wouldn’t EDC this bad boy.
Good work!
The 18650 is the more common and available battery. A 26650 could be used. I normally use the 26650 when it is needed for more power output, like the Big Bruiser that pulls 10A.
Yes, the catadioptric lens is the one you reference.
I have been considering what price to ask, and when I might sell one. I only have a couple of these lenses, but have more coming. Probably I need to ask around $200, for this short version. If anyone is interested in being a Guinea Pig, and buy one from me, send me an email: waynej@elektrolumens.com
The main reason I start a thread like this is to see if there is much interest in an idea I have for a flashlight. With so many views and posts to this thread, seems like there is good interest.
Wayne
20 ounces, with battery installed.
Wayne
thanks for volunteering the parts info, i hope you find many willing collaborators on this site =)
there is an interesting beamshot of an mc-e on the carclo site
http://www.carclo-optics.com/optic-10158
it really is a thin lens with good looking performance. i wonder what the applications for it are, the previous luxeon version seems to have been out since 2008 without significant flashlight adoption. considering it is a solid piece, i suppose the weight reduction is minimal. perhaps it is just easier to mold a TIR lens for higher efficiency.
The MCE LED with this lens produces a 7 degrees beam, and cd/lm of only 39. The 4 dies of the MCE make it not a good choice if one wants a narrow beam. The XML is a better LED choice. I stopped using the MCE LED a long time ago, because it is expensive as far as LEDs go, not as bright as the XML LED, and also the large die size. One good thing about the MCE is it has a number of wiring possibilities, and I used to drive it up to 5A mounted directly on a copper sink, with no overheating issues.
Wayne
i think we know the mc-e is well outdated… the beamshot allows us to see how well this lens really focuses though, as the 4 dies are clearly defined.
for user reference, you may wish to warn anyone disassembling the light about the danger from this post.
it does seem a shame this optic isn’t used more. looking at the design, the coma/corona is much reduced compared to a tir.
really looks to be a great light =)
I was able to take a few beam shots last night:
Check out my Elektro Lumens facebook page for more beam shots.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elektro-Lumens/241747626036389
Wayne
Looks good but out of my price range. 
I have not made a final decision on price., or even if I’ll be selling it. If I do a production run of 100, then I can offer it at a lower price.
Wayne
Single 26650 and easy to get to the driver and led would make this an awesome light. I wonder how many kcd it would be with a dedomed emitter and driven as hard as one cell can drive it
I could very easily make it to use a 26650. My thought is that the 18650 is more common.
I’m looking at the XM-L2 mounted on a sinkpad, to be driven hard. Could be DD. I probably will do this, just for fun. My guess is that it would run 5 amps or so. I used to run the MCE LED in my first EDC-XML flashlights at 5 amps and even sometimes more. As I mounted the MCE LED direct to copper, it would take amazing power levels (and get quite hot too!)
I’ll take a pic of the heat sink with the LED and circuit board. The board is attached at the base of the sink, same as with the EDC-XML-R, and is super easy to get to, swap out, replace, whatever. The LED is about as easy to take out. Any LED used has to have a small dome in order to be used with the lens.
Removing the LED lens doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. It exposes the LED die, and probably shortens the life of the LED. I know others do it, and I’ve done it too. I didn’t see much benefit from removing the dome.
As a flashlight manufacturer and retailer, one has to think of reliability. Putting things right to the limit, sometimes the limit is exceeded and poof. :Sp
Wayne
Yeah, I under stand that which is why I think it would be good to make all components easily accessible so if the end user is easily able to do it if they wish