I finally received the Sipik SK-58. It's a very nice little flashlight for the money. The beam is ugly though, unlike the generic "No. 5" zoomable light, which has a truly beautiful beam. But the overall quality of the Sipik blows away the generic version. I need to do a proper review on these soon.
On a related note, C78 1xAA flood-throw light is really cheap at Focalprice:
The description says it's 2xAA, but that's wrong. Focalprice's descriptions are terribly most of the time. But it does appear to be the same C78 that most reviewers at DX seem to like a lot. It seems too long and ugly to my eyes though.
Sure thing. I also bought the light that Nautic recommended: MXDL SA-28. I hope it is one hell of a thrower! I'll compare those together with my Hugsby P31, Trustfire F23, and BLF Delight :)
They'll probably tell you that the C78 is better. But for me the SK-58 is a mighty handsome little light, and the C78 is outstandingly ugly, so that sealed the deal for me. ;)
I got my C78 from FocalPrice. It's NOT the same as the DX one. The DX has a Cree Q3. I have no idea what emitter this is, think it's an Osram. When it's fully zoomed in, the beam is the worst I have seen. The rectangle thing inside is nice, but there's all this other stuff around it
Hey there midieval10, thanks for the update on this!
So, there are multiplemutliple versions of this light floating around out there. Yes, that appears to be an OSRAM, looks identical to the Sipik SK-58 and its generic twin, both of which I own, and which both use OSRAM. In my opinion, that's not a bad thing, OSRAM makes some very fine LEDs, it's just that paired with cheap optics it often creates an ugly beam. I also have the zoomable SmallSun ZY-C85, which appears to have a Cree LED, and it also has an ugly beam at full zoom. At least it's a brand name LED in this light, and not a piece of glowing epoxy like the cheapest generic LEDs appear to be. For $6.07 it sounds pretty nice, but I would recommend instead the Sipik SK-58, which is very high quality and attractively styled.
Thank you Nautic for recommending the KD MXDL light. I just got it today and it's an awesome light. The body says Q5. Not sure if that's true, but it's very bright! It's brighter than my Hugsby P31, which has a Q3. Throws very well. The only thing I would have liked is more flood. I'm using 3xAAA right now because I'm still waiting for my 18650s to come in.
How do you take the head off? I want to just pull it right off but I don't want to break it! The zooming right now isn't that bad. It does feel harsh but it stays in place well.
The zooming right now isn't that bad. It does feel harsh but it stays in place well.