I'm not sure this topic was asked like this or covered, but lets see.
Here are my current views (no guarantee whatsoever that I'll stick to them by tomorrow ;) ).
I got my first Sipik SK68 yesterday, along with my first 14500s, and I must say I'm impressed. While I had thourough dislike for zoomies (that's junk, unreliable, useless, the lens only prevents the light from getting out, the rings are horrible, etc.), and initially ordered this as gift for friends and family ... I think I might actually keep this, until I find some better zoomie! I
love it!
I'll cheer for zoomies a bit, hope I won't upset anyone. :)
Flood is great, rather uniform, useful for close quarters or when I need a lot of dispersed light.
Zoom is great, it's ultra bright, great when I need to put some light on a distant object, or perhaps even blind someone temporarily.
And both of these in such a small case! It's small enough that it fits in my palm, and only top and bottom (clicky and lens) are visible when I clench it in my fist (can also be used as support in a fistfight, though hope I won't ever have to use it for that). On 14500's it produces more light than my old Mag 5D could ever even dream of, both in flood and throw mode.
I also have Uniquefire G10 (6 mode) and Ultrafire V6-T60. Both are good and I like them. But...
G10's beam on AAs look like it's coming from a toy compared to Sipik's. I haven't tried G10 on 14500's because the driver will burn. I bought it to be used with AAs, and I think I'll keep it that way.
While V6-T60 does have XM-L and produces much more light (in total, because of the spill) than Sipik, Sipik's beam looks much more useful to me. It radiates more/less uniform beam from flood to throw, no need to point main beam away from the object because it's too bright, simply make it more floody and you see more area with equal brightness. With fixed beam XM-L, the fact that I have to move away the main beam from the close object and use the spill to see it, while at the same time the main beam is blinding me from the side started bothering me even before I got the sipik.
Something to break this wall of text:
I'm actually thinking of getting an XM-L zoomie, but it would have to have a REALLY focused/small throw mode. Hopefully better than Sipik's. As far as I know that doesn't exist yet.
So, after my wall of text, what are your opinions and experiences? :)
Which do you prefer, zoomies or fixed flashlights? And by fixed, I mean something with a reflector. Or aspherics, but that is a whole different category for very specific purposes.
Why do you prefer it?
Which do you hate, and why?
I'd love to hear what you guys have to say!
Viktor