Pros and Cons of Zoomies vs. Reflector Flashlights

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

I am trying to determine why someone would want a zoomie instead of a reflector flashlight. I have compiled some reasons:

Advantages of Zoomies:

  1. More versatile beam
  2. Throw farther
  3. Crisper more defined beam and less unwanted spill
  4. Less artifacts
  5. Up and coming and more exciting

Advantages of Reflectors:

  1. More blended beam
  2. Simpler
  3. Less light loss
  4. Easier to modify
  5. Less likely to breakdown
  6. Better tint (currently, until zoomies use better emitters)
  7. Traditional
  8. Do not have a square emitter shaped beam when in full throw mode
  9. Can be waterproofed better.
2

As far a telescopes go, the refractor came before the reflector. The reflector was the improvement. The big problem with refractors (zoomies) is that when the diameter of the lens increases, the thickness of the lens get prohibitively thick. So for small lights it’s not really a problem, but for large lights it may not be practical.
Another problem with refractors is that red a blue light will not focus at the same point. That’s why a prism will split white light into its’ component colors.

3

To add to the original post:

Advantages of zoomies:

  • completely uniform beam is more useful for some applications than a blended beam.

Advantages of reflectored lights:

  • much easier to make waterproof. Zoomies tend to not be waterproof due to need to allow air-pressure to equalize when the zoom is cycled. In an air-tight zoomie, air pressure will tend to cause the bezel to self-retract into whatever position it was in when the light was sealed unless a VERY stiff zoom mechanism is used.

I noticed you listed “better tint” as an advantage of reflectored lights. That’s only because there are a wider selection of high-end traditional lights that feature better emitters. There’s nothing inherent about reflectors that give them better tint than zoomies. It’s not hard to mod a zoomie with a better emitter giving it the same quality tint as any reflector light.