Hi. Thank for the heads up. That is the one I tried to order a few weeks ago but was told only black was available from now on, I guess they are making them again. I actually managed to get a gun metal one off of ebay, had to pay a bit more but in the short time I've had it I quite like it. Build quality is not great but acceptable IMHO and it's slightly brighter than my F23.
That's where this thread should have ended but unfortunately I stumbled across another NC Extreme design budget light which just arrived today.
I bought it off of QCG Sipik SK68 but right after I ordered it I found it on popbuying.com Sipik SK68 for a bit less.
This one seems to be brightest of all with a similar size flood(?) to the F23 but I need to get outdoors at night to test the usefulness of the zoom functionality.
I'm a big fan of this style of light. I have the Romisen Q5 emitter version in a single mode.
What interests me about the one you post is 1) the zooming lense 2) it tailstands 3)Takes AA battery but does not add much length as it's only a few mm longer than the other variations 4) the price.
I worried about the max brightness of only 80 lumens as I'm bright light nut (and I wish it took 14500s) but I may give them a try.
I haven't stepped up to Li-ions yet but yeah it would've been good if it was futureproofed a bit by handling more than 1.5v, a low mode would have been good too.
On NiMHs it is the brightest out of a Trustfire F23 AAA, MX Power ML-310 AA and a 2xAAA Mini Maglite with a LED upgrade.
Here is a Chinese webpage with a few more beam shots.
When I do eventually get a load of Li-ions and a charger I can see myself purchasing a genuine Extreme, just something about them.
I’ll probably get one of those as well but didn’t want to admit it in my last post in case someone asked me to justify getting 4 versions of the same flashlight.
6 if you include the Smallsun ZY-C81 and SacredFire NF-555, though I definitely wouldn't admit to buying those and would feel suitably disappointed in myself.
Any further impressions on this light? What do you think about the brighness? DX now carries this light and list the working voltage up to 4.2v but with the DX this could very easily be a mistake. I wish there was a way to verify if it can take a 14500 without frying the light. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39585
It's definitely brighter than the MX-310 and I like the smaller size.
The zoom feature is great and really increases the throw but the beam pattern is square due to the shape of the die, don't know if that's an issue for anyone, just a bit ugly.
I'm sorry I don't have any exact test measurements, this is all done by the naked eye.
My only concern is the slide, I'm not sure how long it will last as I think it's metal on metal.
It looks like I'll have to take the pill out the top to get at the mechanism and lube it but I don't have the right tools just now.
As for the 14500, the manufacturer's website only states 1.5v and AA. Translated
But to confuse matters the listing in the Taboa (Chinese ebay style website) link I posted earlier might state that it does.
The literal translation is "The shop owner tests personally, uses 14500 lithium batteries to use the 5th battery to be brighter than!".
I read that as meaning he's personally tested that use of a 14500 is brighter than the use of a 5th battery (#5 is the Chinese reference for AA, though you probably already knew that).
With the SIPIK variation being 16mm shorter (using an AA type battery) and a few bucks cheaper than the MX version, I'm thinking of giving them a try...though I'm betting the MX will be brighter.
I guess it would depend on the heat issue, there is more aluminum to dissipate the heat then there is on the A4, but why use a plastic reflector epecially with these high powered lights.
Looking at the AA extension, I'm pretty sure if I can get the plastic bush out that it'll run a 17500 which is more than double the capacity of an RCR123
No, that rather means that DM has 'transferred' offers of two other shops into theirs, including the pictures btw. I don't know how and if it might be totally legit, but that seems to be the reason. They probably have a formula like ourprice = othershopsprice*0.992 or something.
Totally same flashlight, I'm quite sure about that.
