[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

The renderings look great!

I’m unsure what shape of reflector will work best with these, but I’m sure Sofirn can try a couple shapes to see what each yields, with the goal, I hope, being a smooth beam that fades very gradually.

I believe the apparent source of light for these emitters is near the tip of the dome, which may affect where the focus of the parabola should be.

An AA or other higher output light could be intriguing, but perhaps that’s something to discuss after this light is complete. One of the potential challenges is that outside the minimalist, super-reliable market position the E01 sits in, there’s a lot more potential competition. In the meantime, I’m happy to just focus on this light to ensure it comes to fruition.

I hope the inner diameter of the tube fits NiMH batteries. They are often a bit bigger than alkalines.

What ID is planned? A Tool AAA has 10.6mm

I remember tons of people were asking for an AA E01. Money were there to be made, but no company wants it.

I am interested in One 3200K ans One in 5600K

The Gerber Infinity Ultra is still out there, but nobody talks about that light anymore. It’s known for being rugged, reliable and has crazy runtimes, just like the E01. If companies see that a light already exists and doesn’t get much attention, why would they want to make something similar?

Hmm… I just measured my various AAA NiMH cells (Eneloop, AmazonBasics, Rayovac) - they are not any thicker than my Duracell alkalines, which are 10.2 mm.
How thick are your AAA NiMH cells?

If that’s the case, why many companies have 5mm AAA lights?

I am aware of the Gerber infinity Ultra but never had one so I cannot say it’s rugged, reliable, and has crazy runtime but I do have a few E01 which I trust so I can say it’s rugged, reliable, and has crazy runtime. I think others want Fenix to make an AA version is because they trust Fenix. Not saying Gerber is not trustworthy, I never had one.

Why do so many companies have 5mm AAA lights? Because of the attention the E01 gets. They are all pretty much E01 clones, without any significant improvements whatsoever.

The CMG/Gerber Infinity Ultra was a AA E01 years before the E01 was even made and had a huge following in the day, but seemed to be pushed aside in favor of smaller AAA 5mm lights like the Arc AAA, Fenix E0 and Peak Matterhorn.

The design looks fairly good, but still needs some adjustments IMO. Here are my thoughts and suggestions.

With the help of some measuring and calculating I gather that the dimensions of the light are 71 x 14,3 mm (length x head diameter), the same as the Fenix E01 (71 x 14,2 mm, according to the Fenix website). This is of course no surprise given that Sofirn started out by simply copying the E01, but I must admit I was hoping for it to be a few mm shorter that that...oh well.

I am not a fan of the tail design in its current state. The tail has a smaller diameter than the section just before it. This is not good. Reducing the tail diameter makes tailstanding less stable and should be avoided, especially on AAA lights with inherently small diameters.

Trits are (IMHO) more for high(ish) end bling (Ti) lights and don't really make sens on this light, especially if you consider that a trit costs the same or more than the entire light. I would very much prefer a magnet, because it adds versatility and is cheap (and doesn't have any Bremsstrahlung that trits have). Same tail design, but with a round cavity for a magnet instead of the trit slot.

If central hanging is important than the tail design of the ReyLight Pineapple Mini (pics in this thread) is worth a look (of course preferably with a magnet instead of the trit slot). The downside of this design is of course the specific piece of wire which potentially adds cost.

I really hope that all the edges on the light (especially the ones at the tail) are all chamfered or rounded. I dislike sharp edges. On the renders it looks like they are, hopefully this will be the same on the real thing. An example of how not to do it would be the Sofirn SP10A, none of the edges on the cutaway for the hole are chamfered which results in sharp, uncomfortable edges (here is a pic).

Longitudinal groves are nice, but they are not done quite right in the renders. At the front they stop just before the end of the knurling, while a the back they run through to the flat section. This looks a bit odd. It would be nicer if they stopped a couple of mm before the end of the knurling on both sides. An example of longitudinal groves done right would be the Fenix E05.

Yes, it’s still available, and I know of a couple users who have put Yuji’s in Infinity Ultras. It’s reportedly not too difficult to mod.

For now, however, I think it’s best to focus the discussion on the AAA light.

Nice idea to use a Yuji high-cri LED. I only have used a 100W COB LED from this store. I build a mobile High CRI Light for a girlfriend (professional Photographer that now lives on Bali).
I was absolut impressed! The pictures she took with the light look like they were taken under sunlight. But the price was not so nice. So to see a flashlight build with one of their Leds is interesting. To bad it puts out only ~10lumen.

But i noticed something. Many people want the light to be as robust as the Fenix E01. There is a lot of talking about the potting. And i think it will realy help to prevent loose coils, brocken and then shorting ceramic caps. . .
Now i see that Sofirn has plans to work on the reflector (i think it will help to get a better beam pattern with the 60 degrees leds). But we are potting the driver to prevent cables breacking loose and on the other Hand we remove a lot of stabilization around the LED. I do not know if it could effect the robustness of the light. But if you check the Picture i would say that the LED is now missing most of the material around it.
Just my two cents!

But i am still interested in one unit in CW!

I agree with Noir on all these points. I also prefer non sharp edges, but I am more neutral.

i hope they put a spring on the head. I hate the foam.

Noir, that Pineapple mini doesn’t have central hanging. The Astrolux A01 has central hanging.

So no clicky tailcap button?

This flashlight is an old-school twisty, for reliability and it keeps the light short.

I think Noir was referring to this pic with the wire.

^ I like the hook for that light, and in other lights, but I’m not sure about the light of this thread. At least it looks like the costs of this solution is a bit higher than of a hole, because it involves an extra part.

But if there is some general support for the hook I can ask Sofirn if it is an option.

Same for a magnet hole instead of a trit hole, if some majority thinks it is a better feature I can ask for that (I will think of a hole size that fits one of the available magnet sizes: not too big but ample strong to hold the light).

Yes it does . That silver piece of wire at the tail can be freely moved from side to side, so when you hang it from something it hangs centrally. Have a look at a video of the Pineapple Mini, for example this one.

That is true, but the tail design of the A01 is not particularly brilliant. The flat area is very small so it doesn't tailstand very well and it has some slightly sharp edges, plus there is no place for a trit or a magnet.

Yeah, sorry. I didn’t see that pic that Huey posted. :person_facepalming: