I just wanted to ask for some advice please, considering that I am a novice.
I was initially searching for a reasonably priced flashlight (considering we must pay import taxes) that has both a good range at or above 550 metres, but also with very good flood. I saw this topic here, but all the recommendations were highly priced when adding on import taxes.
Then I stumbled upon the Sofirn SP36 with 6000 Lumens and a range of 550 metres and good flood as well, according to reviews and reasonably priced, but I noted this can't zoom (my other flashlight can zoom, but very weak).
Can I ask the respected, experienced audience what they think the potential benefits are of having a zoom capability? In other words if we were to compare the Sofirn SP36 with another flashlight with more or less the same specs, but the one has a zoom capability, then what would be the advantages of this zoom capability?
As a novice, I would think one reason would be to avoid disturbing a sleeping neighbourhood (windows) by zooming in to narrow the beam and avoid flooding the windows of a few houses at night? Then having the capability to broaden the beam again when needed?
Thank you for the advice from anyone. Of course if there are any better recommendations than the Sofirn SP36 that are reasonably priced and gives both good range and flood, then I would appreciate it (the previous recommendations on a previous post were all too highly priced when adding on import tax)
Sorry for the long post, and thank you kindly for taking the time to read this (by the way I noted on a long range video test, at sea, the Sofirn SP36 was visible at the shore 2.5 miles away). Thank you
Zoomies (aspherics) have near-zero spill when fully zoomed, but only put out about a third of the available light coming out of the LED, so 1000lm would end up being maybe 300lm when zoomed.
A reflector light with nice focus can concentrate the light to a small hotspot, with maybe half the light being concentrated in the hotspot, and the rest being dumped as spill.
A C8T, GTmini, P30, etc., would be good compact throwers.
Some zoomies (Z1, Cometa, B158, etc.) have bigger lenses and usually have a bit more throw than smaller pocket-zoomies, but it’s still only a third of the light getting tossed to the target.
He has a set of distances that he uses to show off different lights.
You can get an idea of what might work best for you.
The SP36 is a wonderful light.
But if long throw is your goal, something like the Sofirn SP70, might be more to your liking.
All the Best,
Jeff
What zoomies are there other than TIR? I’ve only seen TIR zoomies (except Maglite). I started out with a LED Lenser TT zoomie before discovering this forum, and to be honest it works pretty well considering it’s run by 3xAAA.
However, it doesn’t beat a dedicated thrower and flooder. Something like the Convoy C8+ and D4V2 are a great combo which I usually go with. You can get belt holster for your thrower, I keep my Convoy C8+ in a belt holster on camping trips for an easy searchlight, and D4V2 for everything else in my pocket.
Go ahead and post it here if you want to or start a new thread.
BLF is liberal as far as this sort of thing goes. The rules are for offenders who make a nuance of themselves.
You might get more reads with a new thread.
All the Best,
Jeff
Most zoomies have aspheric lenses (like magnifying lenses), and are not TIR lenses. TIRs are more bowl-shaped and have the “drilled out” part in the middle.
Zoomies are a divisive topic. Some love them, some hate them. Some love certain kinds but despise others.
I view zoomies like that:
Aspheric zoomies:
are typically not waterproof
are often of poor quality
are thermally challenged which reduces their performance
often have somewhat ringy beam
some hate seeing die projection at full zoom
lose about 1/3 of the lumens in throw mode which means that they have a very narrow throw beam
have no spill which, as you expect gives you great control of where light goes and where it doesn’t. Myself I love this control.
have excellent flood
usually have excellent throw. You can see farther with a zoomie than with a reflector thrower of the same throw because reflector spill distracts your vision
usually have excellent intermediate beam, free from any artifacts
as you look around you need to adjust focus a lot, you see either close or at intermediate distance or far - but never both close and far
TIR zoomies:
are typically not waterproof
are typically of mediocre quality
are typically expensive
are thermally challenged which reduces their performance
often have somewhat ringy beam
have nice round or roundish throw beam, they are efficient in throw which gives them very wide beam
most have bad intermediate beam but outdoor - fair enough
flood beam quality varies from excellent to bad
as you look around you need to adjust focus a lot, you see either close or at intermediate distance or far - but never both close and far.
There are also differences about what do you have to do to zoom a light.
In some you need to twist the bezel left or right. They are more waterproof and better thermally (thought not as good as a fixed focus light) but zooming is much more effortful. Myself I consider them useless for walking. In some you push or pull the bezel. These are faster to adjust though exactly how fast - it depends; some have tight o-rings which makes them fairly waterproof but very stiff in action. Push-pull is quite bad thermally.
There are also electrically zooming ones which is a gimmick. I haven’t seen any light like that being recommended yet.
Overall indoor and for EDC I prefer aspheric flood-centric zoomies. Outdoor I prefer TIR ones.
It’s hard to suggest whether zoomies are for you if you’ve never tried one. Really it would be best if you could borrow the lights in question to figure out whether they are for you but it may not be possible.
You could buy a cheap zoomie to try (f.e. Skywolfeye B16) but you’d need to take into account how it’s different from your target light in size (and therefore performance) and quality (which affects performance as well). I think it’s going to be hard to predict how much more performance you could get for a larger size. But at least for $3-4 you could tell whether you like the beam shape.
Actually I do something similar as well. I always have ashperic flooder with me (zooming or fixed) but often have a secondary light, a thrower (zooming or not) in the backpack.
The thrower not only gives me the ability too look farther, it also acts as a backup.
They have their flaws but I do like the options of flood and projecting the concentrated die a fair distance as I usually only carry very compact lights.
LED Lenser makes some good zoomies, however they’re quite expensive for their performance. You can get two proper BLF flashlights with better performance for half of the price of a single LED Lenser P7R for example.
Sofirn is a very good thrower to about 500 meters, and has usable spill. A zoom-able light is going to be less waterproof and is just not very desirable by collectors. The Sofirn C8G is also not very expensive. It wont reach the 800 plus meters of the Astrolux FT03 SST40-W, but that light might be a bit larger than you want. The Astrolux is not a huge light by any stretch though, and for the money it is probably the best thrower available, and also has some usable spill. Both of those lights are extremely good throwers for very little money. The only issue is to get the best price it comes in from China, and here lately that is very slow…like months.
I think the sst40-w would likely have the most meters of throw per dollar spent of any thrower. There are throwers that have 3 times the throw distance, but they usually run 8-10 times the price. That SST40-W is just a remarkable thrower for the small price. The Sofirn C8G is also very good if the SST40-W is just too big for someone. My Nitecore TM16GT is rated just over 1000 meters, but it is a much bigger, and more expensive light. Not really sure my Sofirn SP70 will even out throw the SST40-W in spite of how much bigger and heavier it is, as well as about twice the price. They are all good lights, but the SST40-W was the only one that just shocked me how well it throws for the price of the light. Well, the Sofirn C8G kind of did too due to its smaller size.
May I ask what your take is on the Haikelite MT40 with a throw of 850 metres and a reasonable flood/spill and reasonably compact and reasonably light weight and well priced?
In other words do you have any better suggestions for a good combination of throw and flood that is reasonably priced (considering import taxes - I am not in the USA), and reasonably compact for hiking in the bush (and reasonable weight)?
On another interesting note, I have now got quite a few Sofirn flashlights, and I have yet to get one that I thought was overpriced. They have all just been very well made for the cost…and no they are not paying me to say that. I am not impressed with their shipping speed however. They do seem to be a little faster than Banggood though, but that is not a compliment. Banggood is making Fastech and Gearbest look very fast…still waiting for orders from May to even show new movement.
I have never had any experience with the MT40, so I can’t really comment on it at all. In fact, I have not ever seen any flashlight by Haikelite so it would be hard to have an opinion on them.
