LEP Real World Uses

All I need is a small single cell sub 1000lm light for most of my needs. Before I work out what I need an LEP for I wanna know why I need my 45 other LED lights. :person_facepalming:

Haha the Q8 array is crazy.
Just to be clear I had the bracket given to me. If I wasnt saving for a house I would buy another 12 for a 4x4. In theory that would be 8000 lumens and 9.6km throw.

bat signal, warn nearby airplanes jk. kamehame night photos.

Second this.
I am not sure why almost all of the manufacturers don’t make zoomable LEP flashlight, except for Maxtoch.
But on the other hand the light emitting angle of LEP module could be very small compared to LED’s, hence I am not sure if LEP would work well in a reflector setup.
And because of the same reason, even with zoomable feature the maximum flood it can produce may not be very large either, but at least usable.

Anyway, maybe the manufacturers out there can include LEP in a multi-emitter setup, something like the Acebeam X70? Using one LEP + lens at the center, and surrounded by a number of LED’s for lumens and spill? Could this be how we get the best of both worlds?

Any dark hole day or night. I bought a LEP specifically because it does not have any spill. If you don’t have a use for one, then don’t buy one. I carry a light every day that has a 70° hot spot and 120° spill. I don’t complain about that light and say that it should be more like an LEP. They have different uses.

Dumb idea or not, I’m going with “I got one because I can.” Besides, as my wife would explain, it’s not as dumb of an idea of buying 10 different brands of professional quality Saxophones for a 3rd grader just starting out, but no one has ever accused me of subtility. This, from a guy without a Tungsten cube I’ll note.

Can’t wait to see 8 of these beasts wrapped up into a single array. Whooohooo ……

Call it 11 if one adds the Yamaha Wind Synthesizer.

A zoomable LEP light has two choices: either let the lens stick out of the front (a vulnerable idea), or the head must be wider than a comparable LEP light that does not zoom, to make way for the wider beam angle. Maybe they think that a less compact LEP flashlight is less attractive and sets itself less apart from a LED flashlight.(I’d agree with that)

Or maybe they just want it pretty damn waterproof. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Just say NO to Zumiez. And that is Google voice typing spelling.

I’d like to see a compact Zoomie LEP.

But that said, the lumens and tint of a LEP might make for a rather poor flood mode. To address this, add additional LEDs under the lens next to the laser phosphor. These extra LEDs could be something like LH351D or SST-20. Something floodier, with better CRI, and more lumens for up-close use.

They wouldn’t even need to add a lot of extra LEDs to boost the flood mode. Even just one extra LED is probably enough.

I would also like to see a simple ultra-compact pocket LEP flashlight.

The new compact Lumintop is close… but it still has a wide bezel and a lot of unneeded trit slots and other elements that make the light bigger than it needs to be.

The Richfire LEP is a nice simple tube. But it’s sized for 21700 and the light itself is fairly large…. too big for pocket EDC.

To date, NOBODY has produced an ultra-compact LEP with a simple knurled tube as the body and head.

Real world uses, no idea.
Buy me one and i will test it and see if i can find any :smiley:

Maybe a LEP flashlight makes for a good cat toy? Perhaps safer for your cat than a laser pointer. :sunglasses:

Illuminating something at a very far distance (1000m plus) sounds impressive, except that it’s only a pinpoint of light relative to your eye. You’ll see SOMETHING there, but not enough for detail unless you’re also using binoculars. What’s the use case for something like that? Probably military. Think of it — operating the light on a servo-motor gimbal with one hand, while the other hand grips & focuses a tripod mounted magnifier (monoscope or binoculars) to observe something significantly far away at night. It wouldn’t be useful on a boat for that purpose—too much movement. Maybe with a stabilizing gimbal one could use it for signaling.

I have bought the Nextool 4tool L10 (no idea of quality, it is in the mail and could be weeks from receiving it, no reviews found either), this is rather compact and without the circus of the Lumintops, but it is still a 18650 light and with 32mm head. I agree on hoping for a 25mm wide tube-style LEP flashlight for 18350 cells, about 100mm long, and have about 200kcd throw.

I use a Niwalker MM18III around the “farm”. The combo of flood and throw work well. I’d like to see an LEP head combined with big flood like the Niwalker. 1000 feet is about as far as I need for throw.

In the meantime I’ll buy a Thor I because of the size/price and I like the way it looks - I was all set to buy similar parts for a build from Lumens Factory. But this is very similar and includes the LEP engine for about the same price.

I use a haikelite ht35 from boat. Some places are first come first serve and we often drive miles in the dark checking for empty sites. Other places you reserve a site but still need to find it in the dark.

Spill is horrible because there is nearly always some fog/mist.

When beaching the zoom function is great.

I used to use a modded aspheric crelant vg5 but someone dropped it on concrete. Also modified a black shadow terminator to use 4 aspherics. This had a bigger focused beam and worked great. Both meant I needed a second light for landing, and zooming means I can keep Spill off the boat from tiller steering position.

I don’t think leps have enough lumens for my uses. I am sure they would help see buoys and campsite signs, but you need to see back into the woods to tell if canoe campers are there. 5k or less seems to pierce fog better. Hopefully xhp50.3 will come in warm tints so I can swap to that.

I can’t see far enough to use the throw they have over the ht35, and using binos in a moving boat while you drive is impractical.

When they get 2 or 3 times as bright, and under $100, I will certainly give it a try.

We are out on a lake right now. First 5 sites we checked were taken.

Fenix had put out a combined emitter package in an interesting array — LED’s around the perimeter of the reflector for spill, and then a deep reflector LED for the throw. The LR40R.

I think it’s a pretty workable design and I hope they can see their way to putting an SBT-90 or CULMN1.TG in the center at some point. Or perhaps one of the other Chinese companies might clone the setup and tackle the need.

I am suprised how much I like the LEP as an EDC. Its enough lumens for most uses and using it for wall bounce for more spill is amazing. Shoot it at a nearby wall and it makes spill. This is one of the coolest things I ever used. Its like using a C8 for the first time but way longer distance. I tried one with a fresnel lens as well and its not as long but it can do basically the same thing. Very cool stuff.

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Make a “lens cap” that’s got diffusion film (even 2 layers if needed) if you want something nice and floody for inside. Pop off for throw.

I use mine to bend light through a large crystal…other than that it might be useful if you’re tasked with guarding a door at the end of a straight tunnel.