I have published my latest review of the (much reviewed) Sofirn IF22A compact thrower.
This review has been written primarily for night photographers, but should interest flashlight enthusiasts who like to read reviews from different perspectives.
Nice write-up. Not having a lot of nuts and bolts knowledge, I’m curious as to why manufacturers predominantly program alternating frequency strobes into their drivers. Is there a specific reason for that? I’m not a light painter, and rarely ever even activate strobes on my lights, but TBH when I do the AF is just annoying. It’s nice Anduril operates with constant frequency.
Agree, good review;
And, I also do not understand why anyone would prefer an alternating frequency strobe for any reason.
Nice review stephenk.
Looks like a nice outdoor flashlight and I like that it has internal USB-C charging.
There are lots of studies by police and military folks that show certain types of strobes are far more effective at affecting people - sometimes to the point of nausea and near debilitation. For that purpose, it can work. People like to dream about “defense” and such, but if you need it (and it’s quickly accessible) it’s there. Most of us kind of hate blinky modes and prefer them to be absent or well hidden in the UI so you don’t accidentally start them up, but then they’re not so useful as a defense thing. I think there are some past threads on here discussing it (and links to various studies or commentary) about strobe effects if you want to read about it. Maybe better known as “tactical strobe.”
Personally, if it’s not illegal, I’d like for flashlight makers to pick the slightly dubious actual military strobes.
Not sure if it’s a good idea to sell lights like it though…
Maybe varies by country or something but it wouldn’t be illegal in the US. That said, though, probably of no benefit seeing as though our lights are so small.
I’ve been a blinky-disliker forever, but I have to say that reading Stephen’s posts and reviews opened my eyes and changed my view a little. I’d never really seen legit light painting - it’s amazing what he and others have produced! Beautiful. (Also, Stephen, nice review….failed to say that earlier!)
Thanks!
I can understand if the manufacturer actually advertises their strobe as being alternating frequency for that reason (as Nitecore do), but the majority of flashlight manufacturers don’t advertise the fact that their strobe is alternating frequency, and thus none of their customers would be buying their lights for that reason.
Sadly, the move by manufacturers towards alternating frequency strobes and hidden/non-memorised strobes has created a serious lack of budget and consumer grade flashlights for light painters. I was pretty annoyed and vocal when Biscotti had it’s strobe changed from 10Hz to alternating frequency, as it stopped the S2+ from being an excellent budget flashlight for use with light painting tools (it’s still awesome for illumination purposes though). Sadly, it hasn’t been changed back. Vezerlezer have expressed interest in a 3rd light painting mode with 2 memorized constant frequency strobes in their next 2 switch light, so I’ll wait and see if that turns out, but that light is pushing the limit of budget.
It seems like Simon or Sofirn (maybe Wurkkos?) or Hank could be receptive to a special edition driver in one of their hosts, marketed towards light painters…maybe even Banggood/Astrolux. Something off the shelf that wouldn’t require people to mod or flash. If the market is there, I guess. They’d have to at least recoup development and production run costs. Seems worthwhile, though.
I’ve had no luck with trying to get Simon to change back from alternating frequency strobe to constant frequency strobe.
Anduril is actually quite good for light painters (apart from being somewhat complex to use), but the issue is lack of decent tail switch, single emitter lights, with suitable head diameters so that it can fit in light painting tools (most allow 24-36mm, but some <28mm) - really it is limited to the KR1 (but head diameter is too large for 28mm T8 tubes), FW1A Pro (mediocre throw), and FW1A (mediocre throw after reflector was downgraded, and driver is now FET only). A KR1 with head at 28mm or slightly less would be awesome. None of these have USB charging either.