Zoomies needs to be put into categories:
“ultralight” around 25mm lenses
“light” around 35mm lenses
“middleweigh” around 50mm
“heavyweight” around 69mm
superheavyweight 75+mm
And I would add that optical acrylic lenses are far better than glass lenses for zoomie light. When Brinyte figured that out they manufactured furthest throwing zoomie in middleweight category; B158 with possible 340kcd when properly modded.
> If yours is so good why have you had to mod it??
The better it is to start with (as a host) the better the modding can become.
The (very few) manufacturers who’ve understood this have been willing to sell us hosts and learn what can be made from their stock lights.
Just a quick question re zoomie vs reflector lights. Will a stock Brinyte B158 XP-L HI out-throw a stock 8*7135 XP-L HI Convoy C8?
Thanks.
Zuesray and Led Lenser p7 and p5 get my vote. Or the Poplite variants of them.
Sure thing it will 
Limited availability.
Decent build quality at modest pricing.
AAA - 18500 - 18650 versatility.
RAMPING mode! hidden 3 quick clicks
“Best” by no means but worth mentioning & consideration for modding.
Lens is acrylic, aluminum pill.
>EDI-T
Hmmmm, there are some interesting zoomies here:
http://www.edi-t.net/wordpress/?tag=adjustable
I wonder who sells them?
I tried e-mailing the company a couple of times a few weeks ago to see if they had a European distributor and they didn’t even bother to respond … wonder if it’s a business that either never really got started or did and didn’t appeal so has disappeared.
LOL, thanks! Was always a little sceptical due to the light loss via optics, but looks like I’ll have to get one finally. Anything better than the B158 in the same price bracket? Outright hotspot intensity and fair regulation are the main criteria.
Uf1504 then.
Flood to throw… It has very wide flood in combination with very best throw so you can adopt to any situation. So light loss via optics? You only have light gain imho with optics since you can adopt to any situation you need (distant scanning or dog walking), and see better in flood mode than with “useful spill”.
Well, truth be told I prefer reflectored lights for general use as I can see far and near without messing with the light, but want a zoomie purely for wildlife watching where often times we’re watching through a gap in the trees or landscape and reflectored lights would light up everything and blind me. In short, a poor man’s Maxtoch 2X. 
Just now Odepro sent me a few one time use coupon codes to get the KL42 for $23, if anyone is interested just ask in the comments or PM me and I will give you one.
I also tend to prefer zoomies. I find the wide very-even flood beam to be more pleasing and useful up-close than the hotspot+spill of a conventional reflector light. And of course, at a distance there’s no comparison. Zoomies have the best throw. Even losing 50% of the lumens in spot mode, throw tends to be better than reflector lights.
The biggest disadvantage of zoomies in my opinion is they tend not to be waterproof. Not a big deal for me, but this could be an issue for people in wet environments.
Yes most zoomies are not waterproof if waterproof means that it has to survive in a bucket of water or similar(although some of them can survive that without any problems) and what I would like to add here most zoomies need to be modded for best performance.
What i found that most China manufacturers tends to put very thin o rings on places where they should put thick ones or some of them have lets say 2x o ring slots and yet they put only one oring(and thin of course).
So we can easily enhance waterproof of certain models by swapping to thicker o rings and of course quality silicone grease. It will have heavier screw/unscrew/slide but they’ll be waterproof or at least more waterproof they were before
The HP1 is definitely a big step up in quality from the SK68. I’ve had one for a couple years. I haven’t seen anything match it’s quality in a $10 zoomie. My only beefs with it (yeah… I said beefs. :laughing: ) are the CW tint as you mentioned and that you get very little lumen bump from a 14500. Not even enough to make it worth using a 14500. I’d like to see it putting out more lumens but it does run much brighter than the SK68 on a AA alkaline and works great with NiMH cells. It has quite a bit wider flood than an SK68 too. Okay, I just thought of another so I guess that’s 3 beefs. It has no mid-range zoom. It’s either full zoom or full flood. Anywhere in the middle and there’s a black hole in the beam due to the Lenser style optic.
I’ve had 4 Zeusrays and honestly I think they’re junk. I got the second run though after they renamed it to the 120 I think? The only thing I’d give it points for is size. It’s pretty compact for an 18650 zoomie but unless you want to tear apart a cheap light and do a bunch of modding I can’t recommend it.
Cool topic. I’ll always love zoomies. I want more. I’ve given away countless numbers of SK68 clones and still have them all over the place. Those are hard to beat if you get a decent one for around 3-4 dollars. Non-flashaholics are always amazed by them.
Is there 18650 version of this light?
I own both the HP1 and Trustfire UF-10. I’ve also fully disassembled and modded both. Having done so I’d say that the Trustfire UF-10 has build quality as good as the HP1. Both are $10 lights.
It’s not hard to make a zoomie waterproof. Most cheap zoomies even have the o-ring slots to do so already built-in. Lube up the stock o-rings and add an o-ring or two into the missing slots and even a cheap zoomie becomes airtight.
So why don’t manufacturers include the missing o-rings to make their lights waterproof? Why does the i3 use split gaskets instead of sealed gaskets or o-rings? These lights are actually intentionally not airtight. There is a simple reason for this.
How zoomies operate
The typical zoomie operates by having a lens mounted on a movable bezel. When the bezel is retracted, the lens is close to the LED giving flood mode. When the lens is extended, the LED sits on the focal point of the lens giving spot mode. Extending or retracting the bezel changes the internal volume of the light.
Unfortunately, changing the internal volume of an airtight light causes the air inside the light to change pressure. As air pressure inside and outside the light tries to equalize, air pressure will cause the bezel to automatically return to whatever position it was in when the light was sealed (when the battery was inserted).
If you put the battery in when the bezel was in flood mode, and then try to slide the bezel to spot mode, the bezel will move on its own back to flood mode.
You can test this yourself pretty easily. Take any cheap zoomie (an SK68 will do), lube up all the o-rings with Nyogel. Add an o-ring between the pill and the body (that’s usually the one they omit), check ALL connections to verify there is an o-ring in place and it is the right size, then insert the battery and try the zoom.
The fix for this problem is simple … add a VENT so air pressure can equalize
This vent need not be large. An absolutely tiny opening will work…. but it does need to be there. Most cheap zoomies accomplish this by omitting one of the o-rings. The On The Road i3 does this by having 2 split gaskets instead of fully circular o-rings around the lens. With a vent air pressure no longer causes problems and the zoom functions smoothly.
Personally, I much prefer the push-pull type zoom mechanism for its ease of use, convenience, and effectiveness. Even with a vent I consider them generally good enough for rain or light splashing. If I need anything more waterproof I’ll reach for a non-zoom light.
I’m excited to hear this. I can’t find a Trustfire UF-10 online though. I found an Ultrafire UF-10 but very little about it though the few pictures I found looked awesome. Can you share where you found it and any more info?