Saw this on your FB, very intriguing!

Chinese marketing nothing more

Looks really cool!  

Very interesting. Very curious how it works. In the flood mode it sort of looks like a diffuser is being used because it looks like there is a lot of light being scattered at wide angles.

A typical aspheric actually loses more like 70% of the light when in throw mode.

So how much output loss is there with this zoom and correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t LED lenser already have this? or is that something different? Also does this mean it has more throw than a reflector or just a slightly larger hotspot at full zoom?

Well if it has no moving parts then it’s not “zooming”

I guess it uses a hybrid optic with several LEDs placed at different focal points, the focus change is controlled by shifting the current between the emitters.

Th558 wrote:

So how much output loss is there with this zoom and correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t LED lenser already have this? or is that something different? Also does this mean it has more throw than a reflector or just a slightly larger hotspot at full zoom?

Led lenser uses a special optic where the emitter travels inside and most of the light is captured by the optic at all focal settings, but it still requires moving the head to zoom.

Th558 wrote:

So how much output loss is there with this zoom and correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t LED lenser already have this? or is that something different? Also does this mean it has more throw than a reflector or just a slightly larger hotspot at full zoom?

It would not have more throw than a reflector since the throw is mostly determined by the size (frontal area) of the light.

Will34 beat me to it

There have been several similar “electronic zoom” lights which operate by transitioning between a throwy LED and a floody LED.

I am hoping that this version uses a TIR for the throwy optic and then has a COB ring LED mounted behind the TIR on the same MCPCB as the main LED. That has been my favorite combination.

Ttrev did something similar with the K1, but obviously this would work much better with a multi focal TIR

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/73548

Looks interesting !

Discussed on reddit , with a claim that there’s “no moving parts” and “only one LED”. I’m not sure how this could work if both of those statements are true.

I have no idea how it works, but I'd be surprised if there really are no moving parts anywhere inside or outside the flashlight.

M4D M4X wrote:

 in the light shown above uses a single LED

and the way the light leaves the optic can be “modified” to be flood or beam – and anything in between

Smart glass that diffuses the beam?
Variable shape lens?

Both seem too expensive to be worthwhile so I guess it’s something different.
I’m mildly interested with such teasers.
Show us the tech and then we’ll be able to tell whether we like it.

BTW, I can’t see the vids. Neither on FF nor on Chromium.

I saw the one on reddit.

Interesting

Who’s going to take one apart?

If it’s smart glass, I’ll love it.

Scallywag wrote:

M4D M4X wrote:

 in the light shown above uses a single LED

and the way the light leaves the optic can be “modified” to be flood or beam – and anything in between

That makes it sound like there’s an LCD between the optic and the front glass, which controls which parts of the beam leave the light. Or even just diffuses the output.

That’s what I was thinking – perhaps a type of “smart glass” lens like polymer-dispersed LCDs. Technically that would be diffusing like DC-Fix, not zooming.

I don’t know what the transmission efficiency would be, but if that is how it works, once these lights are on the market, I’m sure someone could test one in a homemade integrating box while zoomed, diffused, and with the lens removed to find out.

Very interested in seeing how their focusing mechanism works.

Years ago I saw a video of a prototype flashlight that used a deformable lens. It was a promo video for the company that made the lens. From their video it looked like a pretty neat concept. It appeared with it you could make a flashlight that was basically a normal reflector light, but with the added benefit that the lens could be deformed to produce a different beam. But since then I’ve seen nothing. I wonder if this new Manker uses something similar.

However, I note from the first video in this thread, the Manker appears to have the zoom controlled by buttons. That makes me wonder if this is just a motorized zoom light, just with the moving parts on the inside.

If that’s the case, I’m much less impressed. Flashlights are already bulky enough without having to carry around a motor you don’t really need. And if the manker is a conventional zoom light inside, then the light will be even more bulky since the casing must have enough room to hold all the parts at both flood and spot positions. There would be a lot of empty space inside the light.

This would make it much bulkier even than a similar conventional zoom flashlight, which can collapse down into a compact form when throw is not needed.

On the upside, the Manker’s beam from the video looks pretty nice. And zoom lights are a market sorely lacking in quality manufacture and creativity. I’m looking forward to seeing how Manker did this.

Firelight2 wrote:

makes me wonder if this is just a motorized zoom light, just with the moving parts on the inside. If that’s the case, I’d be much less impressed.

That was my first thought when I watched the video.

Only time will tell.

iamlucky13 wrote:

Scallywag wrote:

M4D M4X wrote:

 in the light shown above uses a single LED

and the way the light leaves the optic can be “modified” to be flood or beam – and anything in between

That makes it sound like there’s an LCD between the optic and the front glass, which controls which parts of the beam leave the light. Or even just diffuses the output.

That’s what I was thinking – perhaps a type of “smart glass” lens like polymer-dispersed LCDs. Technically that would be diffusing like DC-Fix, not zooming.

I don’t know what the transmission efficiency would be, but if that is how it works, once these lights are on the market, I’m sure someone could test one in a homemade integrating box while zoomed, diffused, and with the lens removed to find out.

That’s my guess too, similar to the film used here:

I’d love to see a patent on this light.

Firelight2 wrote:

Very interested in seeing how their focusing mechanism works.

Years ago I saw a video of a prototype flashlight that used a deformable lens. It was a promo video for the company that made the lens. From their video it looked like a pretty neat concept. It appeared with it you could make a flashlight that was basically a normal reflector light, but with the added benefit that the lens could be deformed to produce a different beam. But since then I’ve seen nothing. I wonder if this new Manker uses something similar.

However, I note from the first video in this thread, the Manker appears to have the zoom controlled by buttons. That makes me wonder if this is just a motorized zoom light, just with the moving parts on the inside.

If that’s the case, I’m much less impressed. Flashlights are already bulky enough without having to carry around a motor you don’t really need. And if the manker is a conventional zoom light inside, then the light will be even more bulky since the casing must have enough room to hold all the parts at both flood and spot positions. There would be a lot of empty space inside the light.

This would make it much bulkier even than a similar conventional zoom flashlight, which can collapse down into a compact form when throw is not needed.

On the upside, the Manker’s beam from the video looks pretty nice. And zoom lights are a market sorely lacking in quality manufacture and creativity. I’m looking forward to seeing how Manker did this.

M4DM4X says it does not use a motor as far as he knows.

I saw these videos a few days ago. Time will tell what they are doing, and if it is a practical/useful solution or just a gimmick.

nice……

Telephoto lens concept which has been around for decades.

no dust and better weather seal

The only way to have no moving parts would be using that smart glass or some sort of dlp to change how the light scatters.
Even then there is still technically something moving, it’s just very very small.

It may switch between different emitters/optics like some Energizer lights?
Or maybe an internal moving lens (as per some camera lenses)?

Intriguing design indeed.

Would be happy to see this with Samsung LH351C or LH351D.

A COB that different parts are lit as the beam changes?