【convoy】H4 and B35AM options are updated

Would result in great tint but it’s a 6V LED, quite floody with its huge footprint.
How about 3x Luxeon V (4040 footprint)? :wink:

The 3x21A compared to a Q8 with 4 XP-L's discounted at $40 is not a great deal for $60. I hope the bezel is SS for this price, can't tell from the listing, but don't think Simon ever used bare alum for a bezel like this. But still, you do get Convoy quality of the anodizing, threads, etc.

Could use a tripod mount too.

What’s wrong with flood? That’s why I like the original Q8 (warmer, floodier) vs the Sofirn (cooler, throwier) versions. If my DC7 didn’t have onboard charging (which neither the Sofirn/BLF versions have, “forcing” the horrible horrible inconvenience of removing the cells and charging them in my Ope and then replacing them), I’d probably not use it for the same reason.

To me, the Q8 is kinda like 4 S2+es bundled together, more useful (to me) as a wider floodier beam.

Yeah, would require a boost driver, but that right there gets rid of pwm issues (too tempting with 3V emitters), and loses a lot of inefficiency vs linear regs (N×7135, etc.).

Unno, but to me, a throwy beam is kinda limited to long(er)-distance snooping. You wanna light up a trail 300yds down, etc. But for practical use (driveway, basement, cabinets, backyard, etc.), floody is way way way more useful. Just yesterday I got kinda tired of my E05’s beam, and slapped some diffusion film on it. And it had a fairly wide hotspot to begin with.

Anyhoo, in cases where I want throw, I got C8s, L2s, P30s, GTmini/-micro, etc., that would work great.

im not being stupid here (not trying to be), but I always see people mention the Q8 for prices like in the $40 range but I've never seen them for that, where could you find such a deal? I don't own one but becoming more and more interested in trying one. Mostly because blf did the light. Thanks in advance!

@ MoreLumens Thank You! thats great!

The MT-GT dedomed is a different story. Just reminiscencing.

Just saw it the other day for $40, maybe Prime Day thing, or something competing with Prime Day, not sure but it was this light: https://sofirnlight.com/products/original-blf-q8-flashlight-alone-or-kit1-or-kit2

$40 is the magic # because that's what the original BLF group buy price was, think no extra for shipping, tax, etc. We were paying that or more for the junky SRK's. The closest thing to it was the SupFire M6, reviewed here, but only had 3 LED's, had the nice SS bezel and was built like a tank (heavy) like the Q8. We really modeled the Q8 after the M6, but with 4 LED's, lighted switch, our custom driver/firmware of course. Cheapest M6 around was $45, maybe...

Actually the M6 goes wayyy back further, here's a review from 2013.

The really bad thing about the Q8 launch is it put Richard at Mtn Electronics out of the modded M6 business, because he sold a modded M6 for about $70 I think, that was very close to what the Q8 is. Not sure if he ever forgave me for that...

The Q8 was early in the "custom modded light for the masses from China" craze we are all experiencing and benefitting from today, where we design or help design a light, then they make it in China. Can't say it was the first - others preceded it.

I find it difficult to recommend the 4*18 and 3*21 to photographers without a tripod thread. The Q8 and GT3 still win the soda can top spots for photographers.

What options do we have for non-destructively adding tripod threads to sodacan lights? I used to use those photography magic clamps back in the day for smaller lights, but the diameter on these bigger lights would need much larger clamps, which really starts to bulk things up…

Succinctly summed up four years of forum comments and development into one beautiful sticky-worthy paragraph. I think it would be neat to see more drivers support lighted tailcaps, too, and if possible it'd be cool to be able to choose whether they lit power-on or power-off. This is pretty much UI perfection here with or without extras added in.

I agree with all this but there’s still a few more niggles with the Convoy ramping UI that stop me from using it over basic stepped modes.

This is based on using the M3-C with ramping and comparing to Narsil / Anduril. I’m not sure if the ramping UI has changed since last year.

  • Ramping must include moonlight too, not just low.
  • Faster blink to indicate end of ramp. Or no blink at all.
  • No direction memory after a couple of seconds. M3-C will always ramp the opposite way to last time, even after a long time or being off. Should always ramp up from off or after being left on for a bit. Should only be able to ramp down soon after a ramp up (or from 100%)
  • Always ramp down from 100%. M3-C does nothing (probably tries to ramp up) from turbo if you last ramped down, then double clicked.
  • Add “tap and hold” to change ramp direction. M3-C requires you to hold for it to start ramping before it will ramp the other way.

True, the details, or subtilties of the UI implementation is where the quality shows and usually where the mimics let you down. All the more reason to consider the originals. Wish I could see the cost difference in the drivers, but Anduril doesn't have to be a FET+1, it supports buck and boost drivers, and other designs as well.

Provided that Simon uses Atmel chips on his drivers, I wonder if he was interested in my UI approach I once presented here on BLF:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/65021

  • based upon FSM code (Andúril 2 source code)
  • stripped down to the essential functionalities
  • keeping more or less the same layout for interactions (1C on/off, 4C lockout, 2H ramp down, ...)
  • optimized timing settings for clicks, blinks etc. as we know it from Andúril
  • logarithmic ramping curve (more linear to the human eye's perception)
  • optimized thermal regulation based upon predefined settings in source code

If Simon even were to provide flashing pads on his drivers, customers could conveniently flash their own firmware onto Convoy flashlights (NarsilM, Andúril 1/2, this "basic UI" shown below, ...). If he even were to use the new AVR-1 chips (816, 1616, 3216) he could benefit from factory-calibrated voltage and temperature readout.

All it takes is:

  • some helpful member(s) doing the necessary changes on the source code (this started to happen on the above mentioned thread already)
  • a manufacturer willing to invest a few days of time and willing to step up to a more sophisticated but simply-kept user interface

On a side note:

Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in winning over some of the popular manufacturers I am familiar with for this UI, no matter how hard I tried. Their initial and overwhelming interest has finally gone into oblivion.

Lux-P - that UI looks awesome. I would be in! Looks like all you need. Great for the Convoy brand, as a basic but intelligent UI and Operarion. And of course then if users wanted they could flash whatever UI they like, too.

I don't see a downside.

simon has seemed open to new and more out of the box things, I see him looking into (with much help from educated users) a tint ramping 4x led with optics edc option.

I think a UI like this would be PERFECT for that new light.

Yes! that's the UI Convoy needs

+1 Lux-P, it's a richer UI but still simple, shame it hasn't been picked up.

Honestly, I just rubber band my soda can light to a tripod, with a pair of thick rubber bands like the kind that grocery stores use on celery bunches, without the mounting plate and thread in the way. A cotton rag helps keep it from slipping. It is neither very solid nor pretty, but it is easy and quick.

It would not be difficult to go a step further and put a 1/4-20 thread in an aluminum plate, then glue or screw a saddle to the plate for the light to sit in, with tabs to attach the rubber bands to.

I have seen some bike mounts that look like they could be adapted to fit some soda cans, but nothing that would work right off the shelf.

Found it! Here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/61510

haha, awesome!

Simon, will there be a M26D flashlight? Just like M21D but for 26650/26800 batteries?

Cheers
Thomas