C'mon guys, just “quote” each on a new window, then add together all of their contents on your desired “Add new comment” one. :))
Cheers ^:)
I am a retired auto and truck mechanic and trained in solving problems. I learned how to edit quotes by learning from what did not work and moving forward. 
Are you in the UK? Shipping may kill the deal, otherwise I'd still take it. Maybe djozz would take another - not sure, maybe better shipping to him in Amsterdam?
Yup, he’s in the UK, I thought of that too.
Really? That On The Road i3 is a really fantastic little zoomie IMHO
Ypu have the whole package?
Please check shipping to France since I would like another as gift.
I really don’t get you not liking it. I so like that it outputs about the same as the little Olights it has been modeled after zoomed out but can have you look further because of the zoomed action.
Nice package too.
Yeah I actually do pocket it despite it having only a little cell and before I pocketed a bigger 18650 light because of the further looking possibility.
If the little Olights, OTR M3 and OTR i3 would be the same price I still choose the i3
I would want to use it with a Nichia 219b.
So if shipping is less then 50% I’d gladly take it off your hands 
100 posts in 3 days!! Zoomies sure ain’t dead! I’ve been obsessing over zoomies lately, not sure how I missed this thread until tonight.
The title of the thread itself almost begs for a debate, so I’ve started a new thread to “focus” on newer model zooming lights:
Tell us about your newest zooming flashlight!
_
Nearly all of my lights are reflector, however I totally agree with the zoomie fans here who have stated: “better visibility when zoomed out because there’s no hotspot” IMO the even beam is a joy for medium-close range use such as indoors or working on something. Chicken D’s excellent photos (first 2 photos in post #47) are a perfect example of that fact.
I also agree with the idea of “benefit of no spill when zoomed in” There certainly are advantages to that, and a mini AA budget zoomie even out-throws a comparable high end mini AA reflector style light.
At the same time I fully understand that trying to get the “best of both worlds” into one flashlight there’s going to be some compromise, but that’s not holding me back from wanting them.
Thanks The Miller, this statement really got me sold on the Z1! I’m trying to decide between the host to build an either an XHP70 or a MT-G2, or a complete stock light with XHP50.
Some gratuitous zoomy beam shots from a LED Lenser P7.2
Flood
Spot
Nice shots stephenk, seems a quite properly implemented optic system.
With regards to that, I made some comments about using a pre-collimating lens on my zoomie overhaul the other day. Tonight I made some more brief testing and I must conclude that, to my surprise, it seems I'll end up using the glass plano-convex ∅30/28mm (total/convex surface diameter) lens I purchased a few months ago “just because it seemed to be up for the task”, yet initially I dismissed it because of its long focal lenght which made it not as suitable for a single lens setup. However, when I set a ∅22/18mm short focal lenght plastic plano-convex lens (from an SK68 clone) just above the led dome, the resulting combined focal lenght becomes more or less perfect for focusing the led die on a big, full of lumens window when zoomed in. The only downside I see is that this mostly turns the flashlight into a big window thrower (unless the upper focusing lens is removed for a decent flood, of course). 
Now I'll have to figure out how to unattach the original plastic plano-convex from the head, the inside aluminium surface has some tiny teeth and the hole's overall internal diameter seems to be just slightly smaller… @#$%!
Cheers everyone ^:)
If like me you can’t see the images that stephenk posted, you can hilight his comment and ‘view source’ — the links are there in the code.
I can make the second one appear:
http://i.imgur.com/f7mIwbQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Yf3yavD.jpg
I’m happy to buy dozens of flashlights. I don’t expect each one to everything I need in a flashlight.
Ah wait!
OK we see his vendors and manufacturers send products for review. So it can happen a certain brand gets a lot of attention (like now Olight has send out a lot of review stuff)
And new zoomies just are not brought to us from vendors/manufacturers so they seem less popular.
Probably the main issue is that making a good one is hard and involves more machining then a reflector based light, combined with lumens loss and it is clear why manufacturers prefer non zoomers
Sometimes output is less important than targeting. When trying to see past an obstruction or down to the bottom of a narrow well a low power tight focus beam with little or no spill can illuminate where you want when a broader beam washes the foreground leaving the background in shadow. Yes, aspherics lose output in zoom and often don’t have great heat management. If you want to see the whole tree or find something in it with one light a zoomy can do it. The concept is one of compromise (true of all lights)no matter how you feel about their usefulness. Other lights can do better at certain things but not all things so excellence depends on need. Hot rodding them is inherently limited in many designs so maybe the zoomy fans can get together and come up with a new design, maybe one with a combination of lenses/optics but that will have its own set of compromises. Someday maybe nanotech will be able to produce a highly reflective, flexible, adaptive shape reflector material but not yet.
It is not the machining that makes a good zoomie hard to make, it is the design that is harder. If you want the optical lay-out, heatsinking, lens mounting, slider mechanism and overall size and looks done well, it requires some basic knowledge and experience. At first, the chinese budget manufacturers failed to posess that basic knowledge, and once a few poor designs were on the market, they stopped thinking altogether and just copied those poor designs, cutting corners in the process.
That said, a classic good design was the Wolf Eyes Night Hunter, well copied into the Uniquefire UF-T20. If only they had used a good quality lens :weary:
Can anyone else not see them?
Not had any issues before with hosting and linking photos from imgur. I can see them OK even when logged out of BLF. Maybe a firewall around California?
I see them fine!
Love that last zoomed in pic.
Really nice
What were the issues with the T20 lens? I’m seriously considering buying a UF-1505 (C8 zoomie) and I read it uses the same lens (and pill) as the T20.
Also giving some serious thought to the Sunwayman T25C, not sure if its lens is glass or plastic.
The UF-T20 has a lot of variation in lens quality. Both Kloeper Knife Works and Luminarium I. have build up a multitude of T20’s for sale to hunters, and reported that.
I have a SWM T25C and modded it to 180 kcd, it is a well build light but compared to the more budget zoomies like the UF-T20 it is not special enough to justify the price difference. I wrote something about it:
I would love to have an 18650 size versionof the Fenix FD40.
Personally, I don’t consider any 26650 light suitable for EDC pocket carry. The largest I go with are small 18650 lights.
I agree with you about edc, my ZebraLight SC600 Mklll, is the largest I use in that capacity.
Thanks for this info an the link to your thread on the SWM, nice collection of zoomies! The first photo was really helpful to see the size comparisons.
Sounds like the SWM has a better lens (more durable, less artifacts) than the T20 and UF-1505. If price was not in consideration would you prefer the SWM over the UF-1505? (The SWM is currently on a flash sale at GB, same price you paid)
I also recently came across the SupFire F5 (that and the F3) and noticed in the photo you have one, searched and found your review which I just began reading. I first saw the Surlight version on amazon, and thought it looked familiar, a image search turned up the SupFire F5.