Update: I ordered one today and it looks to be just what I was after- a good, VERY cheap zoomy! It’s cool to get good referrals to BUDGET lights like this one. I seem to get stuck on the same stuff (Sofirn for one… and good stuff it is), but it’s nice to get out of the box an find deals in the corners like this one. I am not expecting anything but a $12 light here BTW. But it’s the $12 lights that are decent that “turn me on” for sure!
I’d like to see MORE posts like yours where we all can share the decent “el cheapo’s” out there. One never knows until someone takes a chance and posts it— thanks man!
I like what I see in the first picture, a proper and more or less flat emitter retaining ring. The emitter should sit very close to the lens when in flood, doesn't it HenrysCat? I wonder what driver size does it uses.
Bad points, imho, are single hole at the tail for lanyard, and only ∅42mm head for such a long flashlight.
But hey! It's nice to see they are listing the correct capacity and weight for the red UltraTurd batteries. :-D
Yes the LED is right under the lens in wide, below I'm about 2ft from wall, if I step back to about 6-7ft it covers a good 3-4ft of floor and ceiling, so it's very wide.
Here zoomed in fully again about 2ft from wall,
And corrected, this is what you actually see, the pattern of the led itself.
Mode Group 3: Ramping actually works okay, it’s smooth ramping too
Click - High
Hold - Ramping (flashes twice at floor and ceiling, if already at highest it will still flash before ramping down)
Click - Off
2x click - Strobes
While off
Hold - moonlight, release and hold ramps up
Release and hold will reverse direction
Group 3 is not bad at all, I expected worse. Just wish it stored the ramp setting but still nice you can start first at Moon
Group 4
Click - High, Med, Low, Strobe, Sos
Click - Off after a level has been on more than 3 sec, otherwise cycles to the next level
While off
Hold - Moon
Click - Off
Group 5
Click - High
Click - Off
While Off
Hold - Moon
Click - Off
_
If the lens was fixed it would be quite okay
EDIT: Some artifacts while zooming but after playing I actually prefer the frosted lens rather than a square
I like your design changes (LH361D is my preferred emitter - 5000ºK).
Change the frosted lens to an aspheric for focus and this may be a good zoomie.
And look into the USB cover to not get caught when slipping into a pocket.
I just got mine in today after ordering it 15 days ago… that was fast! Looked good BUT one side has a scratch going across 1/2 the light… 3 stars
I didn’t have time to take it outside tonight, but ran a quick test with Sofirn button tops (3000mAh 18650s), and it ran fine for a short bit. I tried my solder topped 30Qs and they were not long enough to make contact to turn the light on. The Sofirn batteries barely did it and shaking it wigged it out as it was too loose still. I grabbed a 21700 and it almost went into the tube, but not quite. As you can imagine there is a lot of rattling too.
The rear spring is a joke that looks like it came out of a ball point pen. Looking down the tube from the rear, what I see is a solid brass looking contact (very wide), so no spring. I’ll probably go digging into the parts box for a better clicky switch for the tail while replacing the rear spring (and bi-passing it while I’m at it).
The zooming is decent but probably not a light for wet weather. Lens looks nice and LED is centered. Focus goes down with a fairly even beam throughout while going from wide to zoomed. With a few small tweaks it will make a cool little zoomer for fair weather outings. More time will tell and I’ll update after the first round on the bench here in a few weeks when I get a rainy day.
Frosted lens is much better than focusing into a small square of the led. I actually prefer the frosted lens since you get a good amount of surround light as well.
So upon looking again… up the tube- I see where a cold solder point probably held a spring. But someone assembled it broken since no spring fell out when I initially open it. The new Sofirn IF25a has a wide, brass contact behind the driver and I was used to seeing this the last few weeks (as I’m playing with both the 5k and 6.5k version lately). But ya - I now realize that is why batteries weren’t long enough and it rattled like hell.
I contacted the seller and might have to send pics, but it’s not right and so I’ll see what they can do for me. Again… thanks Funtastic for the heads up