I'm very badly into AA lights lately. Got a four 1xAA, two 2xAA and one 4xAA lights just in a month. I guess following the same rule I'll buy that new Fenix TK41 (8xAA) too.
So my dream light would be, a 3xAA light, 3xAA's preferrably dropped into the body not to require an adaptors bulk, or with spare adapters to let fast changes. Two lights come into my mind
1) 3xAA sitting in a triangle shape like all those 3xAAA setups with a throwy head,
2) A right angle, floodier head with 3xAA's parallel and sitting on the same plate.
I expect two buttons, one as a forward clicky and the other for modes. Modes should be at least four brightness levels, like Fenix's do, Turbo, high, mid and low (I mean real >200h low), while there should be three flashing modes (beacon, random strobe, mid brightness to down gradual 2sec flash) hidden behind a combination or long press.
Fenix LD40 makes more than half of this but 2s2p setup of AA's make it a bulky one.
I want a ramping light that has more precise control over the low end. Trying to fight myself not to buy a Sunwayman V10A/V20A. I wish there was a more budget friendly variant of this.
God, I'm glad that I'm right on this. Fenix has a new light, LD30 with 3xAA in a more sizeable package, throwy plus flooder by a zoom head, two buttons for modes and on/off and most likely to be a four modes + hidden strobes and forward clicky.
Look at the link and see post #257 for the pics and details.
I like the LD30-bonus if it has a smooth beam in between flood and throw, but I doubt it, as that would be a HUGE breakthough. But my ideal light-Zebralight with more output, rotating diffuser, and programmable modes-never happening, but one can hope...
OMG when will they release those new fenix lights? That TK70 looks like a BEAST. The other ones look more realistic and very interesting! Anyone know where I can find info on release etc.?
After playing with these QTC pills, I must say I really want the variable output in my lights. I like 18650 lights for runtime, so I'd say my light would be variable output, 18650, XM-L driven at 3a on high and then I could select the brightness I want. I really like dust/waterproofness in my lights, as well as HAIII.
Heck, I could probably figure out a way to fab up a light like this. I think I may work on a mini-match mod like this. I have the xm-l, the driver, the QTC...but I'll run it on 2 AA.
My ideal flashlight would have the following features:
Runs on AA or protected AW14500 batteries
Small - ideally similiar in size to the Jetbeam PA-01. But if necessary could be a bit larger. Clean cylinders are preferred. I don't like having a wider head.
Infinitely variable brightness selector ring - same interface as that used on the Sunwayman V10a... but smaller.
Able to produce at least 250 lumens on 14500. On max power, the light should be able to run for at least 30 minutes on 14500 without overheating.
Full regulation
Can tailstand
Fairly stiff reverse clicky switch. Similar to that of the jetbeam PA01. Stiff enough it probably won't turn on accidentally.
zoomable aspheric lense. Either a push-pull, or maybe some kind of ring control so as you turn a zoom selector ring the lens focuses. It would be cool to have a light with 2 control rings next to eachother: one for brightness and one for zoom.
Full knurling - I liked the knurling on the jeatbeam PA01 or Nitecore EZAA. Something similar to that.
Nah, a good build quality light (Fenix, Nitecore... but not big) with 3 programmable modes & memory, good linear driver with good regulation, 1x14500 or 186500 (not both in the same light I mean, or 14500/AA or 18650), tailstand, 1x XPG or XML. Nothing special :p (well, perhaps interchangable lenses or simply FTT light)
I'm not a fan of FTT lights but that's just me. I took 20 years to tolerate zoom lenses on cameras and am still a bit dubious about them - 30 years ago I made a (poor) living from selling cameras and lenses.
I'm not a fan of too-stiff switches but I can see where you are coming from - my lights tend to live on my belt so accidental activation of lights is less of an issue.
Not sure that two different rings would be all that usable for me.
But we are all different and it is always interesting to hear what other folks want - there are often things I'd not thought of.
I tend to go through phases where I want different types of lights. Right now I like the idea of a flood-to-throw pocket light. But before that I was looking at small-sized AA/14500 reflector lights and before that I was looking at AAA reflector lights.
Best pocket-sized reflector light I tried was the zebralight SC51. Small and short. Good heat-sinking, bright for its size. Runs on both AA and 14500. No knurling (but easily fixed with some grip tape). Excellent UI that allowed all modes to be instantly accessed with 1 button:
press button briefly - max power
press and hold for 0.5 seconds - minimum power
double-click button from off position - medium power.
Biggest things I didn't like about it were no zoom, so its throw wasn't very good, lack of knurling, and the mount for the clip protrudes when not using the clip. Electronic side-switch is easily depressed, but accidental activation can be prevented with tailcap lockout.
I want a 50mm ashpheric (preferably zoom) with an xml that has the same or smaller hotspot than a XR-E. Maybe this could be achived with a collimating lens directly over the emitter?
Yup.
The SC51 is bright on a regular AA, but runs considerably brighter on a 14500. It’s almost as bright as a Quark mini-AA on 14500.
No heat problems at all on 14500 and all modes function normally. I’ve tried both Ultrafire protected 14500 and AW protected 14500. Both work fine.
The only issue is that the positive battery contact at the end of the pill is a circuitboard with a few raised chips. For flat-top 14500s I would sometimes have trouble achieving battery contact. When this happened I’d pull out the 14500, rotate it slightly and stick it back in. Usually takes no more than a couple tries to get it to work properly and no battery magnet was required.