Hmmm… Simon and Hank should not be afraid of their own OEM zoomie…, and regarding quality/reliability reflector lights should not be only option.
Imho in a future (if we will live to see) I would like to place a bet that zoomie lights will prevail… That is already happening with IR spectrum illuminator lights and new VCSEL laser modules which gives ultra high performance greater than any Osram and similar LED IR emitters and of course suitable host for them are only zoomie lights. So for example small 20 mm VCSEL zoomie is equivalent to 69mm Osram 4715AS zoomie. Runing driven at 0,7A vs 2,2A of Osram led. They are running cooler, longer runtime so only 1x18650 cell is more than enough + ultra light host. So it is just a matter of time until laser VCSEL technology will appear in visible spectrum… VCSEL are not that expensive either…
There are waterproof zoomies on a market so it should not be problem to make them waterproof especially if they will use acrylic lenses instead of glass ones. Obviously only Brinyte (and maybe just few manufacturers) figured that /acrylic plastic is more consistent, more resilient (shockproof + lighter) and better for mass production than glass.
Lets say twist zoomie: double o ring at the tail, double oring at lens section, and double oring on throat section… More than waterproof
My favourite approach to waterproofing is to add a secondary lens, could be a flat one that completely seals the light engine. Effectively a waterproof mule with added zooming aspheric. That’s simple and reliable. And doesn’t add friction.
I don’t think the firmware changes the current. I measured another driver running an SST20 at 4.28A. I could have had a measurement/zeroing error. Also, please excuse my misnaming of the FW. I meant Biscotti.
As for reliability, I think 4A/mm2 is pushing the limits. I’m obviously chasing some numbers here which is admittedly not practical. Just having fun with it. For a duty/EDC light, I’d run much more conservative drive levels.
Nice work. About 170kcd is what I saw from a C8 reflector. Didn’t put time into tuning it but it looked pretty much maxed out.
As for hosts larger than the L21A, you have the Convoy L6 + SMO reflector and the Noctigon K1 which will both yield around 600kcd at the same drive current. $$ start going up fast past ~60mm.
This zoomie has been in my AE cart and tempting me for months now. Nobody has mentioned or reviewed it. The HT line-up use acrylic lens, which really saves weight, cost, and improves performance on these large diameters. 66mm lens.
Very nice mod and results. :+1: I haven’t see mod yet in that ultra deep thread… Deep like an ocean
I despise throat switches and other redundant parts on flashlights like usb charging ports that seems like imposed standard now-days…
I would also like to see downsizing trend from manufacturers rather than overgrowing one…
And when we talk about aspherics imho there is light/lens size margin when the light becomes completely useless from usability side.
It will never be completely waterproof because there needs to be a way for air to get in and out of the head when the lens moves closer/farther.
If you completely sealed a zoomie with o-rings then the internal air pressure would make the head simply bounce back into the original position.
This is the only real solution to waterproofing ^
An extra flat lens at the front, like with reflector lights, that doesn’t move.
That keeps the internal volume constant.
The next challenge is moving the lens inside the sealed head from the outside without letting water in.
One option would be to use magnets, which can work through the aluminum body, or have a physical notch somewhow that then needs to be sealed with o-rings on the outside.
It’s not the only one. And may not be the best one.
The one that I see as potentially best is with use of air permeable membrane (gore-tex-like) that allows air to move in and out without letting water in.
Well Enderman we don’t actually need diving zoomie. Or maybe you need one? :laughing: Orings are more than suitable for regular IPX something usage of light. I did tests where I tossed regular 1503 light just modded with different thicker sets of oring into a bucket of 25 liters of water for 24 hours and there were no water leak into light or switch . Brinyte B158 should also survive mentioned situation but without any modding with better orings.
I don’t find extra flat lens on top as necessity for waterproofing but it ain’t bad as idea… There are zoomies that use front lens Curui 1706 and CRELANT 7G5CH.
But simple double Oring combination everywhere and I would prefer thread twisting/rotating zoomie since your mentioned effect “internal air pressure would make the head simply bounce back into the original position” will not happen with threaded zoomie action because such action is powerful enough to squeeze air out of the zoomie neck section with double(or even triple oring) during head twisting action.
I had a look at the zoomie lights mentioned but not really much use for such a tiny hotspot. Sounds ridiculously small for Tom to have trouble measuring the lux
