I wouldn't buy the 501 or the xenon.. there is a camping diffuser that comes with a 501 .. but unless it was pure free I'd avoid a 501 I like a 502 much better and i still think 502's are junk..my advice is always been this ..wait until you are gifteed them .. to go out with intent of purchasing a 501 is a waste of money .. in every flashoholics life .. cheap unwanted crappy hosts are gonna show up .. like ants to a picnic .. if you have the ned for a 501 go to the camping section and buy the flashlight and diffuser for 5$.. that's the deal and guess what a free 501 .. The xenon is worth spit .. open your p60 host spit in it and ..voila .. same difference .. never seen a good one yet .. ymmv
I have a 501 with an XP-E in it, and it is one of my favorite lights. It is both thinner, shorter and lighter than my Ultrafire 504 or my Solarforce L2. An easy pocket carry; I have not had any issues with it. I have it loaded with 2xCr123.
Only thing negative I can say about it is that it does not tailstand, and the lightly crenelated bezel is not removeable.
I gotta go with Boaz on this and I'm going to add the 503 to his sad list of dumb lights. After you click my 503B on and off about 6 times to get the light to come on/stop flickering, the switch is pretty damn reliable. And, if I take off my glasses the sloppy lathe/machine work doesn't bother me at all. Did I mention no other P60 head will screw on? And the bezel threads are different too?
Brinyte C5 is very nice, I had that and $20's of IMR's in my basket... I emailed they and they told me you had to order via the BiO site.
It's possible I would have bought some of the batteries from BiO, but they put the prices up recently and they are just so very much more than they were at their other site...can't bring my self to order them now.
Xenon light is a new lighting technology that is brighter than any other form of lighting. It is even more cost and energy efficient than the common lighting used for large spaces such as halogen. Xenon gives off five times more light and lasts ten times longer than Halogen Lamps.