Too bad there isn’t cheap keychain AAA flat tail switch light with TIR lens and 3 modes.
It’s convenient and more comfortable have reversible levels light on switch lights than twisties that can be annoyng rotate head several times.
Sometimes twisties don’t have reliable level change,cause bad contacts or dirt on them.
Although I'm quite pleased with my C01S, I might give the E3A a try, after reading the above posts.
As far as LED brightness is concerned, I'm aware that cool white > neutral white > High CRI.
But how does this translate into lumens? If it's only a matter of 90 lm for the High CRI, vs 100 lm for the NW, it should be barely noticeable, whereas the tint difference will be.
OTOH, is a difference in runtime to be expected, or will the current from the driver be the same whatever the LED type?
example AAA Tool Cool White Low CRI 110 lumens
same light with High CRI, 80 lumens (27% less)
bear in mind that a difference in brightness of 50%, is a small visual difference.
the runtime stays the same
Although slightly off topic since it is more than $10 (twice as much), FYI the most compact AAA flashlight is AFAIK the DQG Tiny AAA.
58mm in length, and slimmer than the above mentioned lights: 12mm to 12.8mm diameter, vs about 14mm. Weighs 13g although it is stainless steel.
First, I always go for the High CRI. The difference in output usually sounds like a lot, but since light perception is not straight line, in real life there is very little difference.
I like both Sofirn C01 lights. The C01S is more useful, at least to me, and if one looks around one can usually be found for under $10. The C01 makes a nice ‘watch where my feet are going/Find the keyhole’ type light. Last I looked Sofirnlight was selling them for $3.99. And it is definitely worth it to pay the extra $3 for better shipping - two weeks to Kansas City, MO.
Hi all,
I've just received my Skilhunt E3A, slate blue, high CRI. 16 days from order to delivery to France.
Very good build quality, very light and compact. With a Lithium primary battery it weighs only exactly 15g. Only 3g more than my lightest flashlight (a DQG Hobi). Probably amongst the best "brightness x runtime / weight" ratio you can get.
But disappointed with the beam shape: the hotspot is not round, and there are many artifacts in the spill, which at close distance looks like gossamer. I will have to add a piece of thin frosted plastic foil to correct this, fortunately the pill and optic seem easy to remove according to the zeroair.org review.
This is strange since the same review says "The emitter is behind a TIR optic, which gives a nice beam profile", and the beam picture in this review doesn't show at all the ugly artefacts I see.
Thanks Lightbringer for advocating this light, I would not have ordered it without your advice. I will order more since they make nice gifts. Too bad the red version is not "Type III anodization".
that may be just your light, mine looks perfectly fine, and hotspot is not round because there is no hotspot, i see no distinct circle, its just a pool of flood
Same here. Nice clean smooth flood, zero artifacts of any kind. Really odd.
Pix? Might be a lemon (TIR lens with a gap or void, etc.). Might be worth it to contact the seller…
I tried to take a few pics, but there is so much brightness difference between hotspot and spill that - contrary to my eyes - the camera cannot show the spill and hence the gossamer artefacts.
The actual result is significantly worse than what the pics show, both in terms of hotspot shape and in terms of spill homogeneity.
Moreover the transition from spot to spill is very sharp, no nice gradual transition like on zeroair pics.
I also notice that when I rotate the flashlight, I can see the gossamer artefacts rotate as well (they don't have rotational symmetry and look more like patches than rings).
I could describe the beam as sort of a big star surrounded by a nebula.
This is clearly visible at short range (30cm = 1' or less), but still visible on a white wall at 1 meter distance.
I removed the pill + optic, and did not see anything wrong. Same issue after reassembly.
Both of my Skilhunt E3A lights (one regular and one high CRI) exhibit the same beam pattern you are describing at close range.
This is probably caused by the pebbled surface of the TIR lens.
upon further inspection, i think y’all are right, it does have a weird spill outline, but to be fair, this is only 1 feet from the ceiling, i never noticed it before cuz i never held it this close to something before, usually its a solid 3 feet at least, and i dont notice this. while knowing this is a bit disturbing, i think ill digress, as long as in practical use it doesnt affect anything.
Agreed, I do not see this as a problem either.
The only issue is that once you notice something, you cannot un-notice it which can be a problem for some things but not this one.
I think I’m late to the party, but Fenix offers the E01 v2 that’s just a tad larger than the Olight/Skilhunt but has three modes. Probably some mediocre cool white emitter too.
ya i tried it, size is a bit bigger, which isnt too much of an issue, but personally i dont like the 3 modes, it just means i need to twist it 3 times to get to 100 lumens.
@niajef and roostre: you are correct, this is only really noticeable while "white wall hunting". But it was my first obvious impression when I compared the beam and color with other tiny lights I have (C01S, DQG Tiny AAA, Astrolux M01). I agree it won't be a nuisance in real life usage and might bother only flashaholics, not the people I plan to gift the light.
Nevertheless I am wondering: can the (tiny: 12mm diameter) optic be swapped, and what for? Any suggestion for clear or frosted optic, rather than the pebbled one?
Another option: what about polishing the pebbled surface on extremely thin grain sandpaper? I might try it but I'd rather have a spare optic in case it fails.
Yeah, people have done that, but it’s irreversible.
If you like floody, a small piece of diffusion film can work wonders. Sticks on, peels off cleanly. Keep the sticky part clean, and it can stick on again.
Yajiamei store is the best source of plastic lenses.
Here is a lens with smooth surface.
Here with frosted surface.
Thanks samyy for the suggestion. I have started browsing their store since the examples you gave are a bit too large (13mm, whereas the E3A optic is exactly 11.8mm). But I'm puzzled: their lenses are sorted by LED type (e.g. CREE XLamp XR-C & XR- E lens, CREE-XPG & XPE & XPL& 3535, CREE XLamp XB-D & 2525, etc.). Which LED type should I choose for my E3A, knowing its LED is a Samsung LH351B?
In the meantime I managed to cut a disk of thin rigid diffuser film using a 12mm punch. It turned out to be 12.3mm once cut, and did not fit inside the head, so I carefully sanded its edge until it ended up being 11.8mm diameter (the edges are not perfect but no matter, they are hidden under the rim of the head). [edited after a closer look to the resulting beam]: this improves slightly the beam quality, but there are definite purple tint shifts in some parts of the outer beam without rotational symmetry. So better in real life usage and at medium distance (above 1'), but still ugly at white wall hunting.
BTW, I've seen "DC film" mentioned in several threads. What does "DC" stand for?
- Not very compact: 15mm diameter, vs 14 for most tiny AAA lights, and 12.8 for the DQG Tiny AAA
- Not very light: 17g, vs e.g. 7.5g for the Skilhunt E3A, and 13g for the DQG Tiny AAA although it is stainless steel, not Al
- Unspecified LED color: Cree XP-G3, and then?
- "Intelligent" mode memory function: not for me, I hate being blinded at night when I get High whereas I would have liked Moonlight. I wish all manufacturers would replace it with a "manual" memory function, like allowed by Anduril. Thus you always get what you expected, without needing to predict what your next use of the light will be, each time you turn it off.
I'll sit this one out.