UltraFire UF1508 Review (Zoomie)

everydaysurvivalgear · 2018-03-22T18:42:39.000Z

UltraFire UF1508 Review

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Hey folks back again with another long story or two! Hopefully not this time lol.
This time around we will be reviewing the UltraFire UF1508 which was sent to me by Fasttech for review.
Fasttech let me chose an Ultrafire flashlight and this is the one I chose. You may wonder why? Why not it has all the characteristics of a good modding flashlight. Hopefully its as good as the 1405!

UF1508 Purchase link
5% off using code (SAVING)

This is going to be two parts I plane to turn this into a thrower and see what results we get.

What is included? Well like many generics lights not much

UltraFire UF1508

Extension Tube

Lanyard

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Build
The Build on the UF1508 is surprisingly good! I really was not sure what to expect when I asked for the UF1508. Overall I am pleasantly surprised at the build quality. I had high hopes after seeing the group buy threads of other UltraFire throwers. I mean not all Ultrafire are crap look at the UF13 I just bought from Fasttech and its a good light!

Overall the UF1508 is built really well it feel solid in the hand and is heavy. The UF1508 appears to be using hard anodizing type 3. Its easy to see the improvement in anodizing because its more of matte finish when compared to the hard anodizing type 2.
The anodizing is finished good on my light its not got any chips or scratches every thing appears to be good.

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The UF1508 is made out of aluminum alloy they do not state if its aircraft grade lol but yea its T6 alloy. The pills itself is made out of brass for nice extra heat sinking its a super heavy duty pill. The pill should good for modifying for extra power.
The lens on the UF1508 is a convex glass lens which I was surprised to see I was expecting a plastic lens. This does add weight to the UF1508 but if a glass lens is made good it works really well. The lens is not AR coated but it still works well. My lens came good very clean and not chipped but you do have to be careful with these glass lenses.

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Build specs

Glass lens

Hard anodizing type 3

Aluminum alloy

As far as I am aware a glass lenses perform better then plastic lenses with throw in mind but are not as durable overall.
I modded my Cometa with a dedomed XPG2 and I got 330kcd from it. The UF1508 has a slightly bigger lens and is more curved if that makes a difference so I am hoping for a better number form the UF1508. I am no zoomie expert!

Cometa Left and UF1508 Right
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The UF1508 is IPX65 water resistant which should be okay to use in heavy rain. The way the UF1508 is built it does have O-rings on all the opening parts and the zoom function has double o-rings. So the UF1508 has an O-ring around the lens and tail cap and battery extension and zoom function.
Even thought its only rated to IPX6 I would bet money that you could take the UF1508 under water with no issues! Drop resistant is a bit hard to say it should be good for 1m but I wouldn’t push it with the glass lens. Plus its using a buck driver.

IPX65 Water resistant

Drop Resistance 1m

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Size specs

Length single tube: 150mm

Length double tube: 220.5mm

Head diameter: 54mm

Tube diameter: 26mm

Tail diameter: 28mm

Weight: 296 grams (without out the battery and with the extension tube)

Lens width: 48mm

You looking at me looking at you looking at me? At least i wasn’t naked lol
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The build and finish of the UF1508 is very good as I have already said. All the edges are clean and well cut on the light and the threads are cut very good. The threads that control the zooming function are large and well cut which is important seeing as it will be getting a workout. All threads came well lubricated especially the zoom threads. Even the machining inside the head and the body looks really well done I will have to take a picture to show you. The knurling is neat and tidy and each part expect for the head has its own knurling. Even the battery tube has knurling and ripples for extra grip.

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What else can I say?
From the pill design I am guessing the UF1508 made by the same factory that makes lights for Brinyte the pill is similar to some of there set ups.

Design
The UF1508 is designed with performance in mind Its a heavy duty flashlight. The UF1508 is a plunger style flashlight but the head isn’t overall to big looking thanks to the extra big heat fins.
The body is fairly small and sleek with lots of big lines but no over protruding parts like on most zoomies.
The UF1508 does have a lot of heat fins in the head which are deep and big and this should help with heat once modified. The body looks like it was made for cooling the fins have ample to let air in and are huge. The Pill its self has some heat fins that make contact with the battery tube.

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The UF1508 is an awesome host to modify its design leaves a lot of options open. The UF1508 can be used with 1 or 2 18650 cell. Making the UF1508 a good option when compared to other zoomies. You need a smaller light? Run the UF1508 with a single cell.
Once modified you could even run 4 18350 cells with a XHP35 on direct drive. Now that sounds like a nice idea?
Even stock the UF1508 has a lot of option it will work on one or two cells which comes in handy when out and about if you need a longer run time while hunting.

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The UF1508 features an easy to change pill. You can buy green and red LED pills for the UF1508 or you could even make your own. I say build XHP70 for power and a XPG2 pill for throw.

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Looking at UF1508 you can not tell its a zoomie flashlight. There is no visible indication that it is a zoomie besides the lens up front.
The zoom function on the UF1508 works good but its a bit weird? Well at least to me.
First time I have seen this kind of zooming function on a flashlight. You have to unscrew the head to get the zoom feature to work and it feels weird to me lol. There is no lockout so if you unscrew the head to much it will come of. You will defiantly be able to tell once the UF1508 is fully zoomed out. Usually the zoom function and taking the head apart are two different adjustments is that the right word?

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This system has its pros and cons. I guess its not as fancy as other zoomies but it gets the job done. I think this style will be better for heat dissipation you always have the big heavy head in contact with the pill contacts. Where with other zoomies the pill is only ever in contact with battery tube and may not touch the head. Waterproofing is also easier this way plus you gte no gunk in your zoom threads lets look at my Cometa.

Looks like i had my Cometa up my nose lol Both lights are zoomed out all the way!
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The UF1508 features a none removable tactical ring on the battery which makes one handed operation easier with the single tube.

Performance
Stock performance is good from the UF1508 it is what you would expect from a flashlight of its caliber. It performers similar to the Brinyte B158 in stock form. Throw is a tad better then the B158. I measure 62325cd which is like 500m of throw?

The UF1508 is using a Cree XML2 it looks like a U2 or U4 bin which I was surprised to see. I know its a top bin but I am not 100% sure if its a U2-U4 bin they all look the same only slightly different. Its defiantly not a T6 bin.

Some times when buying an Ultrafire light you do not know what to expect so it was awesome to see the XML2.

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The UF1508 is sitting on a copper board from the factory which is a nice bonus. Ultrafire and Fasttech do state the emitter is neutral white but it does look a tad cooler to me but its always hard to tell with a zoomie. The Copper LED board is thick its 1.5mm in thickness. The MCPCB appears to be DTP but I will find out for sure when I modify the light. I will dedome the LED and see what candela we get with the stock driver.
The LED is on a 16mm board.

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The UF1508 is using a quick change pill system so you can change out your pills with ease. This is the most beefy pill I have ever seen so I weighted the pill and it 36 grams! That is a beast of a pill! The pill it self is using a driver retaining ring which makes modding super easy. The driver size is only 17mm so it will need some work to fit a bigger driver but its not impossible to fit a 20mm board.

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The UF1508 is using a buck driver with 5 modes the highest output is around 3amps to the LED. The driver is capable of 1 or 2 cell input and the UF1508 does come with an extension tube. Output is the same with one or two cells you will just get a longer run time with the 2 cells. The good thing about running 2 cells in a buck driver setup is that you do not need high drain cells to get good performance any standard old cells will give you great output.

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The UF1508 does have a memory mode even thought it stated it doesn’t. It is the next mode memory mode so if you leave the UF1508 on high the light will start on medium. Is that classified as memory? Lol Also the UF1508 is using a reverse clicky switch so changing modes is at least easy.

There is no indication of mode output levels and it doesn’t really matter to me seeing as I am going to mod this light.
I will do some test and get the real output numbers and post them in the review. I ended up reading the current draw and estimating based of XML2 output charts. Its really hard to measure output on zoomies.

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Modes and Output (Measured by me)

High: 1050 lumens at 2.5 hours

Medium: 550 lumens at 5 hours

Low: 200 lumens at 15 hours

Strobe: 1000 luemns

SOS: 1000 lumens

Run times will great seeing as you can use two 18650 cells even on full brightness expect to see over 2.5 hours of run time on high.

The machining is nice
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Beam pattern
The UF1508 has a different beam pattern compared to other zoomies. The wide mode is still narrow and is not that flood heavy as with most zoomies.
I am not sure if its because of the lens design or the head does not sit low enough to the emitter to get good flood. Okay I done some digging and I loosen the pill so it sat higher and the UF1508 is now more floody then before.
Honestly because I am using the UF1508 as thrower host I do not mind the light not having much flood.

My throw measurements

62325cd

500m

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UI
The UI stock is just a basic UI its made to get the job done. You have 5 modes and no hidden modes. So each time you cycle through the modes you will need to go past strobe and SOS which is not ideal. This is not my only driver that works this way so I don’t mind. On the plus side the UF1508 does have next memory mode. Plus the UF1508 is using a reverse clicky so you will hardly notice.

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Overall I would rate the UF1508 as a good light its built very good and has the potential to be modified into an even better flashlight. The price is good considering what you get including the glass lens and nice finish. Its fairly hard to find the UF1405 now so this may be the alternative you are looking for.

I will update this thread or create another once I have modded the UF1508.

All these pics are taken at ISO800 as usual. I have no stock zoomies so i had to choice random light to compare with the UF1508.

Zoomed in low mode
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Zoomed in medium mode
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Zoomed in high mode
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Zoomed out low mode
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Zoomed out medium mode
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Zoomed out high mode
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100m to the tree no problem!
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UF1508 Left and XT12GT Right
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UF1508 Left and Fully modded C8 Right
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UF1508 Left and Cometa Right (Not a fair comparison)
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Last but not least i played with the pill and undone it a tad and it does make the beam slightly wider.
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Thanks for taking the time to read the review

Regards Chris

everydaysurvivalgear · 2018-04-11T20:06:58.000Z

Cometa at 100m. Hopefully once modded the UF1508 kills it!
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Nicolaas · 2018-03-22T18:52:26.000Z

It’s a nice aespheric zoomie indeed!

I have the one with the bigger lens (69mm) in which a Brinyte B158 pill with BLF dd driver and dedomed XP G2 do the work.
The lens is ok, certainly not top notch but good enough, although it has slight chromatic abbreviations.

It does 616Kcd (measured @ Djozz).
I just got an extra Brinyte pill that will host an Oslon BF with direct drive. (waiting for experimental Oslon BF driver from Lexel).

According to my calculations it should make well over 800Kcd.
O yes, I use the short batt tube with one 18650.

Cheers
Nico

everydaysurvivalgear · 2018-04-05T09:48:37.000Z

The pill in the UF1508 is better then the B158 pill unless you need to fit a bigger driver.

I am looking at a bigger 75mm lens head now

I wonder what throw that will give me hmmm.

everydaysurvivalgear · 2018-04-11T20:06:43.000Z

I added a video if you are into that!

Plus there is a general code for 5% off flashlights and gear using the code (SAVING) no caps lock needed lol.

kramer5150 · 2018-04-12T15:27:39.000Z

Nice… I have been eye-ing the 75mm version:

https://www.amazon.com/Uniquefire-Infrared-Flashlight-Adjustable-Zoomable/dp/B01BXX7NAC/ref=sr_1_6_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1523545931&sr=8-6-spons&keywords=UF-1508&th=1

and white emitter pill:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L36UODM/ref=twister_B01BD1G0CG?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I am happy with my UF1504, how it zooms way out in flood mode. Very versatile. The UF-1508 doesn’t seem as capable as a flood beam, but more capable as a thrower when focused.

Nicolaas · 2018-04-12T19:00:47.000Z

UF1504 is more versatile, 1508 is more of a dedicated thrower indeed.
But then, it really does throw!

Grtz
Nico

SKV89 · 2018-06-11T16:30:53.000Z

What size head was the 63kcd throw measured at? Do you think the 75mm one will out throw the 1405?

Nicolaas · 2018-06-11T17:18:59.000Z

Well…………the UF1405 and 1504 have the same diameter head (70.5mm)
My modded (Djozz) UF-1504 does around 440Kcd with dedomed XP G2 (runs on 1 cell)

The UF-1508 has a 75mm head diameter.
My modded (Djozz) UF-1508 does around 616Kcd with dedomed XP G2 (runs on 1 cell)
And the lens is far from perfect, you can clearly see abbreviations in the beam.

The question is: does the Wavien Collar fit or is the diameter to big?
And then there is the difficulty of focusing the collar properly and especially giving it the right height above the led
in order to have the reflected light excite as much as possible of the surface of the led.
I know from German flashies that this can be quite a tedious labor, we’re talking about tiny differences, less then a tenth of a mm.

Grtz
Nico

SKV89 · 2018-06-11T17:29:34.000Z

Nicolaas:

Well…………the UF1405 and 1504 have the same diameter head (70.5mm)
My modded (Djozz) UF-1504 does around 440Kcd with dedomed XP G2 (runs on 1 cell)

The UF-1508 has a 75mm head diameter.
My modded (Djozz) UF-1508 does around 616Kcd with dedomed XP G2 (runs on 1 cell)
And the lens is far from perfect, you can clearly see abbreviations in the beam.

The question is: does the Wavien Collar fit or is the diameter to big?
And then there is the difficulty of focusing the collar properly and especially giving it the right height above the led
in order to have the reflected light excite as much as possible of the surface of the led.
I know from German flashies that this can be quite a tedious labor, we’re talking about tiny differences, less then a tenth of a mm.

Grtz
Nico

I thought your post #3 said you have the 69mm version. Would be cool if you can get a wavien collar to fit. 1MCD+ in something that size would be amazing.

Nicolaas · 2018-06-11T17:43:41.000Z

I do. Uniquefire states it has a 71mm lens, but that is the outer diameter of the head.
The lens itself has a 69mm diameter.

And yes, if I could get a Wavien to fit in there and if I could get it well enough focused, it could reach over 1.3Mcd and that would be amazing indeed.
If it doesn’t fit I will try to fit one in my Thrunite TN31 that has already been converted to Aespherical.
It is non-functional now but it did 649Kcd with a dedomed XP G2, so it could go well over 1,3Kcd as well.

Will keep you informed!

Cheers,
Nico

SKV89 · 2018-06-11T17:58:54.000Z

Nicolaas:

I do. Uniquefire states it has a 71mm lens, but that is the outer diameter of the head.
The lens itself has a 69mm diameter.

And yes, if I could get a Wavien to fit in there and if I could get it well enough focused, it could reach over 1.3Mcd and that would be amazing indeed.
If it doesn’t fit I will try to fit one in my Thrunite TN31 that has already been converted to Aespherical.
It is non-functional now but it did 649Kcd with a dedomed XP G2, so it could go well over 1,3Kcd as well.

Will keep you informed!

Cheers,
Nico

Ok I see. so you have the 71mm lens, which means you have the UF-1504 not the UF-1508. So with the UF-1508, you should get even more throw with the 75mm UF-1508. 1.3 Mcd would be even better than the GT.

Edit: nvm, you mean the 71mm/69mm version of the UF-1508.

Nicolaas · 2018-06-11T18:11:05.000Z

Uhm….no. Sorry I meant 75 instead of 71mm. Typo………

The UF-1508 was available with either:
38, 50, 67 or 75mm head. These measurements relate to the outer diameter of the head, not to the diameter of the lens.
For instance: the 75mm head has a 69mm lens in it.

This in turn translates to 3.739 mm2 lens surface. Combine that max. luminance per mm2 of the led and you have the theoretical max throw (allow for 95% lens transmittance).

Cheers,
Nico

Alen · 2018-08-03T17:53:33.000Z

On 2018 still again small 16mm MCBP and 17 mm driver,
that suck

Nicolaas · 2018-08-03T19:25:02.000Z

Yah well, mine does 637Kcd.
Not bad for a cheap aespheric running on just one cell.

Cheers,
Nico