Andúril 2 coming to Sofirn - The general Sofirn development thread

dogfarts (hopefully), red, UV… interesting!

Yes I agree micro is more common right now and it does a good job. I was adding possible improvements for future developments that could make their already nice products better.

I just don’t like how micro you have to insert the cable one way only and there’s more friction so the port doesn’t last as long if you use it often. With the USB-C, you can insert cable in either way and less friction so the port is more durable.

Surely you mean it’s wearing out the cable, not the port.

USB-C is the physically superior connector but it is functionally a dumpster fire since there are loads of devices using the connector and not conforming the published specification.

Both sides of a micro usb “wear”. But I also have devices with “worn” full size usb ports/plugs where the fit is sloppy and unreliable.

That triple reflector looks like a waste of space, with those tiny diameters Sofirn could have made the flashlight with a much leaner head.

Tbh these days if I’m buying something that charges USB and doesn’t need data, I’m all about 20AWG cabling for it :smiley: None of this 28AWG nonsense. Portapow made great power-only cables, don’t seem to really sell them anymore.

Totally agree, the triple reflector is designed very poorly. They could have maximized the size of the individual reflectors or reduce the head size. Very wasteful.

They prob did it cause the mcpcb is a mess of wires. Obviously they have the c8f and didn’t use it

Are you two taking into consideration the depth? A larger diameter reflector typically needs a deeper head. Maybe they did not want to make the light longer for some reason. They might have converted an existing flashlight design, maybe one that originally used TIR lenses. There are a lot of potential reasons they did this. Maybe they want larger hot spots? Who knows.

I guess the issue is that they’re not all running at the same time, so you need to seperate things out… would like to see under the reflector though; Barry or Jackie, do you have images of what it looks like under that?

My personal thoughts about this new light:

  1. Reflector: As mentioned before Sofirn is more a less either wasting space (= smaller head with a TIR 10507-10511 optic) or they are wasting potential for more throw/range by not using the full reflector diameter for an interleaved triple reflector.
  2. LED: While it’s a smart move to use those LH351D they recently purchased in large quantities I would have preferred a 365nm UV LED (LG LEUVA33W70RL00 or Nichia 276A). Instead of the XP-E2 red 620nm I would have appreciated the new XP-E2 deep red 660nm with a more intense and darker red. Unfortunately, this LED is more difficult to source (e.g. Arrow, Cutter)

They could also relaunch their C8F 18650 light with these three independently running LEDs or even use the C8F 21700 host. All it takes is an appropriate driver and an adapted LED MCPCB.

I wonder what UI this one will have and if there will be only one or multiple brightness levels (at least for the white and red LED).

Well, to satisfy most BLFers, a wider reflector should be deeper too, to maintain an ideal ratio. But, in reality, it isn’t necessary to do so. It is quite possible to make a deep reflector that is not wide or a wide reflector that is not deep. As long as it is a paraboloid and the die is positioned properly at the focal point of it, it will work to collimate light.

Sofirn’s New Tech: variable temperature of light

source: Sofin New Tec: variable temperature of light | Sofin New Tec: variable temperature of light Interested in? | By LED flashlight | Facebook

Is it from one LED?

I haven’t watched the video, but it’s probably from the LT1 Lantern that DBSAR has been working on for a few years. The Lantern uses two different CCT of LEDs, a few of each, and a newly designed driver with firmware by ToyKeeper.

Probably from a Q8 with 3000k+5000k LH351Ds and the Lantern Build.

That’s interesting.

I’d like to know more about what that video shows. It looks very similar to what the BLF Lantern does.

That went fast :open_mouth: . Even before the Lantern is out, ToyKeeper’s New Tech has become Sofirn’s New Tech :neutral_face: . Let’s see that as that they like what you are doing :slight_smile: :person_facepalming:

I’m actually surprised that manufacturers don’t put “ToyKeeper firmware!” on their boxes as a selling point. It’s an instant sign of quality to anyone in the know :slight_smile:

Does Sofirn have an intention to give buyers a choice of CCT? For a long time there was no news on this issue.