lights with zoomie typical beam?

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hello.

The Sipik SK68 was my first light and it was the one that made me a flashaholic. I totally fell in love with its even beam pattern.

So I began ordering other lights. Currently I have:
Solarforce with Ultrafire Dropin, op reflector
Solarforce with intl-outd ALXM Dropin, op
Solarfoce with dedomed T6, op
504b with T6 dropin, op + diffuser lens

So far so good. But yesterday I took one of my Sipiks to have some light while riding my bike and guess what, I fell in love with its beam again.
No I wonder if there are lights with similar, even beams. Maybe brighter, maybe better buitl lights. I don´t care too muich about the zoom function, but I want that nice beam.
Are there lenses that make Solarforce lights similar? Or what are usual suspects for good zoomies? (everything on a budget/ the cheaper the better, of course)

It can run cr123a/16340, 14550 and 18650 lights.

Thanks.

2

The reason the zoomies have that kind of beam is because they don’t have a reflector. If you take any given light and remove the reflector you get that type of beam no hot spot just a big even flood. I think some people call it a mule. It will lose it’s throw though. The zoomies have a convex lens so they have a throw of course but just when focused that way. For larger better zoomies there are a few out there that are not bad but none of them have ever really had the wow factor. I guess I would try a multi-emitter light. They are very floody and super bright. Of course the Sky Ray King is probably the most popular but if you don’t like the way it looks you can always go with something like the trusfire J12 or better yet a Trustfire 9X cree. That is my favorite of the wall of light models.

3

I take it you are meaning the beam profile in flood mode? I too love the even illumination they offer vs traditional reflector lights.

I’ve got a couple of SK68’s and they are good usable little lights. I have a couple of other zoomies too.

My a country mile my favourite and one of my all time favourite torches ever is the POP lite T33.

It’s a 3xAAA light and is about the size of a Solarforce L2M.

$22 @ FastTech (+ BLF discount if you enter the code)
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10000890/1075602-pop-lite-t33-cree-xp-e-r3-220lm-white-led-zoom-fla

I did a review of the T33: Mini Review: POP lite T33 (BEAM shots added) a Led Lenser clone/copy/alternative - heads up and info

In my opinion the TIR optic is many times superior to the aspheric lens used on most zoomies. The TIR doesn’t produce the cleanest beam if you are white wall hunting, but in actual use it is far superior. The flood mode is many times a larger area and in full zoom you get a larger round hot spot not an emitter image with lines (wires). So you see a bigger area at a greater distance and with greater clarity. The “dirty” rings you get on zoom look horrid on a white wall, but outside offer up enough ‘spill’ to walk by should you want to, but without being too bright to distract.

I’m also very much a fan of the 1 mode operation of the T33. The only downside is it doesn’t have the longest runtime, but it is comparable to most 1x14500 or 1xRCR123 lights I have and better than some.

I also have some other POP lites. The slightly larger T34 (4xAAA). This in reaity is just as good as the T33 in it’s ability. Although it is chunkier in the pocket despite using the same sized TIR optic. However I find I’m not overly keen on the UI and prefer the 1 mode T33 over the 3 mode T34.

Yesterday I also received the T22 which is a 1xAA light. It’s quite slick and fits in a pocket easily, although it is longer than an sk68. Thus far I’d say it’s the least impressive POP lite. Performance slightly exceeds an AA sk68. I think I will mod the T22 while I have no intention of modding the other ones.

Moving away from TIR zoomies I also received this a few weeks back:

$5.86
UltraFire ZB-006
http://www.fasttech.com/p/1133700

I originally ordered it as it claimed an XP-G emitter, during transit FastTech changed the listing to XP-E and as you can see in the picture the torch says JP-006 not ZB as per the listing.

I’m a bit annoyed at the emitter not being what I wanted. But I would say this is one of the best flashlights in terms of value for money that I own.

It’s very very compact, not much bigger than an sk68 and slimmer. And it out performs an SK68 (even one on a 14500) by a reasonable margin. It does get hot for extended use, likely due to it’s size. But it’s well worth the money and a good EDC.

I also have an XM-L zoomy. I got an sk68 clone, although one on a giant scale as it uses a 26650 battery for $12.99 off ebay. It’s a bit big and heavy for EDC, although fits in a jacket pocket ok. The XM-L offers more brightness in flood mode over the XR-E and XP-E emitter lights but can’t match them in throw. The XM-L has a lower surface brightness and just doesn’t project as well. Although the Aleto uses a larger lens and throws about as well as an sk68 on a 14500 does but with a slightly larger area.

More info here: Review: Aleto XML-T6 5 Mode 26650 "Zoomie" - The big brother to the Sipik SK68! *PIC HEAVY!*

My last zoomy is a Trusfire Z8, this is a very nice looking ‘bling’ pocket torch. It’s my only zoomy that twists rather than slides. It’s a nice light to use and hold, and again on flood was very good, although it lacked throw in zoom mode due to being an XM-L and a small lens. It was adequate, but nothing spectacular. I also found the stock emitter to be way too cool, almost ice white. And being stainless it did get hot.

Since then I’ve changed the emitter to a Nichia219 which has a very high CRI. It isn’t quite as bright now although still throws a similar amount, but the colour rendition is just superb.

Last up I have also bought aspheric lenses from DX and fitted them to my Mini Mag and my 6D Maglite. I’ve made these non adjustable so they aren’t flood to throw. But they work well for their intended purpose which is wide area even illumination.

4

@ 18sixfifty: Thanks for your post, but I didn´t mean normal floody lights.

@ Chicken Drumstick: Wow, thanks. Sadly, there seems to be no zoomie thats clearly better than the SK68, right?

5

Define better?

For the money the sk68 is great and largely why it’s so popular.

But it’quite chunky with sharp edges, has no regulation and poor quality anodising.

Output on a 14500 is pretty good but it can be beaten. And 1AA only offers limited runtime.

I think the T33 POP lite is a far superior light to the sk68, but it is bigger and more money. But so are my p60’s.

To add some pictures to my post above:





It’s less obvious in the pictures, but the CRI and tint of the Nichia219 is in another world compared to the CREE emitters. Pics just don’t do it justice.




6

Some more comparison pics: