See my post #828, left is a C01 prototype using a maxed-out 5mm LED with 670nm.
Regarding C01 using a low-yield 670nm 5mm LED I can only guess but I presume that Sofirn got also thrilled about the medical effects of deep red light to recover/revive color perception. There is a separate thread here that deals with these effects, discovered and invesigated by UCL, UK.
As the original driver of C01 barely made 1 (one) lumen with that LED, they tried some new driver pushing this LED to more brightness. It could probably be somewhere around 2-3lm with high intensity whereas the other C01R lights were operated on low mode (approx. 0.5lm). However, with only one mode available this brightness is way too high for treating one‘s eyes with deep red light. Should Sofirn manage to improve the beam pattern, I would recommend using a firefly and a high mode here. Moreover, I want to underline that shining light into one’s eyes can be harmful, regardless of its luminous flux or intensity.
thanks for the response Lux Perpetua. I’m not looking for a therapy light, but am somewhat interested in a red light. Seems like everyone will have opinions, but the current light vs the soon to come light with the SST-20 are very similar. Its hard to imagine a huge therapeutic (or visual with the same beam pattern) difference between 660nm and 670 nm, but I’m just an engineer.
If I got it right, they were able to buy a bin of SST20-DR with a dominant wavelength of 660nm with peaks of up to 670nm. As you noted, visible differences in tint between XP-E2 PR and SST20-DR are not to be expected. However, I do expect a slightly better beam profile with SST20-DR as this LED should fit even better to the common TIR optic of batch 1 and 2. I noticed a few artifacts in the outer rim of the hotspot on some samples of C01R, certainly being visible only on whitewall shots. Naturally, most people won't even notice it using the light in real-world-scenarios.
Sofirn is still looking for suitable wide-angle beam optics for C01S/R. I do not expect that batch #2 of C01R will be sold with another or any alternative, optional optics.
I have not heard about any large scale amounts of C01S or C01R that failed because of that. Can you please elaborate what happened? Djozz's son has made some nice torture tests on a playground with a C01 sample, proving that the light is nearly indestructible. However, it could be that this does not apply to C01S or C01R using a different head unit.
I thought it when saw the square threads of Sunwayman R01A
Because I wants put C01R on keychain and sure will falls on my hard floor.
If playground test as passed without damage on twist mechanism good to say
For a twisty, I found that a tight tolerance threading is more critical to limit back and forth play of the head with the body, than the threading shape itself.
The Sofirn C01 has less head/body play than the Jetbeam jet-U (that has a squared threading).
Comparing prices of Chinese webshops with something like Amazon is a bit like comparing apples and pears. Amazon's prices include:
shipping costs from Shenzhen to your local warehouse (US/CA/DE/UK/FR/AU....), i.e. fast shipping to your home when you order
handling charges for local logistics
Amazon's commission (I don't know what they take but let's assume 10-15%)
excess stock charges for items that sell (too) slowly
customs fees
import taxes (e.g. 19% in Germany)
loss of sales margin for that what we call "30 day satisfaction guarantee or free return to Amazon" service
If you take all this into account, it's not surprising that prices are higher on Amazon. Actually, I am still surprised that most prices for flashlights on Amazon do not differ that much from prices in Chinese webshops like Banggood, AliExpress, Gearbest.
Personally, I like that for some flashlights customers have the free choice between both kinds of webshops.
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