Looking for the perfect 18650 zoomie ...

[dthrckt]

absolutely - furthermore, if you're going to have > 1 cell in (physical) serial, might as well be 26650

i hope to see more competition in the 26650 category - lights and cells

[gcbryan]

There’s one thing I like about the DBS-T with aspheric head (many things really) and that is you can use two 18350’s (not that I have any) and get the voltage for longer regulation and still not have the light be any longer than a standard 18650.
With a larger head though you might as well have a thicker battery both for looks, better proportions and for longer runtime.
If they would only lose the crenelated heads. I really don’t like that look. It just seems stupid just like the flash modes.
No one had flash modes before LED’s. Why the sudden necessity now?

[torelu]

@gcbryan

As I recall however the OP mentioned wanting more throw than he had in the Sipik and wanting to keep the size down. Personally I like flood (diffused) lighting most of the time and that’s why I mainly use flood lights rather than “flood to throw” lights When I want throw I use a thrower however for the most part it’s easier to find an aspheric in a zoom light at a decent price than in a fixed light so sometimes I go that route. It looked (to me) like the OP might be thinking along similar lines.

Well, I thought that if I upgrade the light to 18650, the size of the flashlight and the size of the head will be bigger anyway. So it could easily be a better thrower. I don't want the best thrower for any particular reason, it would just be nice to have. I don't like having a dedicated thrower because they are usually big and too powerful for most of my uses. But a good zoomie with nice modes can be useful in almost any situation.

I asked of a good XML/R5 zoomie because the specs (output lumens) are way better for these ones. I know that these have different characteristics (size, angle etc.) than the one used in the Sipik, but I think that with a smart optic system someone can use most of the light to make a nice flood-to-throw light even with an XML.

If throw is not the best thing an XML can do, how does it do in flood mode? Is the flood mode of the Trustfire Z5 for example, significantly brighter than the Sipik SK68? Or if you know another XML zoomie better than the Z5?

[dthrckt]

this dispatched to me on the 1st http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/trustfire-z6-cree-xml-t6-1000lumen-5mode-floodtothrow-glass-optics-led-flashlight-battery-charger-box-set-18650-p-8751

[torelu]

Yep, i've seen this one too. But it "only" has 1000 lumens (z5 has 1600).

Of course I know that Z5 doesn't really have 1600 lumens but i'm guessing that neither the z5 has 1000 lumens, right?

So ... how does it perform? Anybody? Haven't seen any reviews yet...

[dthrckt]

I don't think we've had any feedback yet, which is part of the reason I just went ahead and ordered it...

[gcbryan]

@torelu

@gcbryan

As I recall however the OP mentioned wanting more throw than he had in the Sipik and wanting to keep the size down. Personally I like flood (diffused) lighting most of the time and that’s why I mainly use flood lights rather than “flood to throw” lights When I want throw I use a thrower however for the most part it’s easier to find an aspheric in a zoom light at a decent price than in a fixed light so sometimes I go that route. It looked (to me) like the OP might be thinking along similar lines.

Well, I thought that if I upgrade the light to 18650, the size of the flashlight and the size of the head will be bigger anyway. So it could easily be a better thrower. I don't want the best thrower for any particular reason, it would just be nice to have. I don't like having a dedicated thrower because they are usually big and too powerful for most of my uses. But a good zoomie with nice modes can be useful in almost any situation.

I asked of a good XML/R5 zoomie because the specs (output lumens) are way better for these ones. I know that these have different characteristics (size, angle etc.) than the one used in the Sipik, but I think that with a smart optic system someone can use most of the light to make a nice flood-to-throw light even with an XML.

If throw is not the best thing an XML can do, how does it do in flood mode? Is the flood mode of the Trustfire Z5 for example, significantly brighter than the Sipik SK68? Or if you know another XML zoomie better than the Z5?

The light doesn’t need to get significantly bigger just because you go to a 18650. The head doesn’t have to get any bigger.
The XM-L won’t throw better if only someone would come up with a smarter optic system. The head diameter has to get bigger.
The XM-L in flood mode will output more lumens so it covers a bigger area. It’s not brighter in the sense of (lux). If you used a light meter to measure the lux at any one spot the XM-L wouldn’t be brighter.