Two days ago, I received this so-called "800 lumen" Cree zoomable from a dealer on ebay. Now I expected the ratings to be off, but hey, let's have some hope! I got excited because it boasted the R5 emitter (I expected it to throw like the Q5 but with more power - nada).
And then, upon throwing in some rechargable AAAs and clicking it on, I was disappointed. Never fear, I figured. A trusty protected Trustfire 3000 mah will come to the rescue. In it goes, and the difference was so little that I could barely tell. And even with that, it was barely brighter than a Sipik 1AA. The belt clip was nice and spongey and it didn't come dripping in oil. The thing feels good in the hand, but it isn't as bright, nor does it throw as well as my SAIK SA-9.
Came with a nice case and only a few dings to the body. Here it is below on the left going head to head with what should not be competition.
The 800 lumens is not possible obviously but otherwise it is as I would expect. A XP-G with the same size optic/reflector doesn’t throw as far as a XR-E. It has a larger hotspot however and that is where the “extra” lumens go.
The other problem is that the beam angle of the XR-E is better for an aspheric than a XP-G.
It looks like a decent zoomie type of light however.
Well sorry that you lucked out. I have a XML zoomie on the way and honestly I dont expect very much from it standard. But I have this evil plan to do new head for it where I can fit this:
Let me know. The zoomables I have are with lenses that tend to rattle and I'm guessing an upgraded one might work some magic. My only true babies are the Sipik and the SAIk SA-9. it's a love affair!
Interesting Rusty - I have the Saik Sa9 also and just got a Citipower Sa9 which is almost the same but is driven a little harder than my Saik- a little brighter but less warm light.
Because of the excellent throw on these and the visible in air beams at night that look so cool in the sky- I've been on the lookout for other intense but small emitters that might even be better.
There's a small Yezl that uses a R5 emitter that looks nice but is a push pull focus- I prefer the more precise ring type focus like the Saik.
The R5 is rated up to 1.5 amps by CREE - so it can be driven hard to 2.0 amps at least.
Should be very bright at 2.0 amps compared to a Q5 right?
Anybody try this emitter ?
The SAIK SA9 is hard to beat for throw and nice stable turn focus mechanism.
I wonder if the Tiablo Aspheric- much more expensive is actually much better ?
I got a citipower SA-9 off ebay recently. Came as a combo with a dual 18650 charger and two ultrafire 18650s. I won the auciton for $13 shipped. I am surprisingly pleased with this light. The finish looks like paint, but other than that its a nice little light IMO. The only problem is, the beam (both in flood and zoom mode) and overall brightness is equaled by my 14500 powered TomTop SK-68 clone that is 1/3 the size. Runtime on the SK-68 is pretty limited though with 14500.
