New Fenix light with focusing head.

Millhouse · **on:** October 03, 2011, 03:31:50 AM

Looks like Fenix are looking into making one.

Got a questionnaire from them last week about focusing lights.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #1 on:** October 03, 2011, 09:29:31 AM

Sounds good

Is the questionnaire online as well mate?

Neil · **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2011, 10:44:25 AM

Hmm, on old Mags I never could see the point but having played with Tony's little zooming torch (can't remember make, sorry) perhaps its time for a revisit.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2011, 11:38:38 AM

Quote from: Neil on October 03, 2011, 10:44:25 AM

Hmm, on old Mags I never could see the point but having played with Tony's little zooming torch (can't remember make, sorry) perhaps its time for a revisit.

It was that torch that made me have a re-think

Millhouse · **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:42:34 PM

Quote from: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on October 03, 2011, 09:29:31 AM

Sounds good

Is the questionnaire online as well mate?

I am on Fenix's mailing list, having done 3 other questionnaires for them. Had it emailed direct to me.

The questionnaire was quite short. Mainly asked about beam quality, whether quality was more important at close or long range. Also asked about LED tint.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:51:19 PM

Hope you put 'close' and 'warm' to keep me happy then

Millhouse · **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2011, 06:06:44 PM

Pretty much so. My preference was for neutral LED and close range quality.

The light is obviously aimed at the outdoors. No mention of form factor though.

ivanov · **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2011, 07:26:38 PM

LD30?

Gareth · **Reply #8 on:** October 04, 2011, 01:06:11 AM

Sounds interesting.

BTW I'm reasonably certain Tony's torch was a Romisen RC-C6.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/romisen-rc-c6-flood-to-throw-zooming-q3-wc-90-lumen-led-flashlight-1-cr123a-26792

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #9 on:** October 04, 2011, 10:05:34 AM

That looks like the puppy

Sparky415 · **Reply #10 on:** October 04, 2011, 10:35:42 AM

Thats the one

Great fun and only a tenna

Neil · **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2011, 10:46:51 AM

Quote from: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on October 04, 2011, 10:05:34 AM

That looks like the puppy

Eh, no Mike. That actually looks like the torch. Has the doc put you on really good pain meds for the back $:-\$

OH yes, its one of those days

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2011, 01:18:09 PM

Good to have you back Neil

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #13 on:** October 05, 2011, 12:13:28 AM

Quote from: Gareth on October 04, 2011, 01:06:11 AM

Sounds interesting.

BTW I'm reasonably certain Tony's torch was a Romisen RC-C6.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/romisen-rc-c6-flood-to-throw-zooming-q3-wc-90-lumen-led-flashlight-1-cr123a-26792

Shiningbeam has a newer version of that light; just got one myself a few days ago. It has two modes, although they're not much different from one another, but most importantly it has a warmish neutral white emitter in it that has a very nice tint. Mainly white, with just a hint of red/yellow in it, and definitely not one of those ghastly green or blue cool tints... those make me wanna hurl...

Neil · **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2011, 01:22:19 AM

Sounds nice. Do they do one that takes AA cells?

Gareth · **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2011, 01:45:22 AM

Quote from: Neil on October 05, 2011, 01:22:19 AM

Sounds nice. Do they do one that takes AA cells?

They do indeed.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/romisen-rc-29-cree-q5-wc-3-mode-180-lumen-convex-lens-led-flashlight-with-strap-1-aa-1-14500-50679

Neil · **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2011, 11:32:24 PM

Cool, shame its from DX. Too much grief.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #17 on:** October 07, 2011, 12:20:03 AM

Quote from: Neil on October 05, 2011, 01:22:19 AM

Sounds nice. Do they do one that takes AA cells?

Sadly, no; they're 1x123, but they can take an RCR123 so you don't have to shell out an arm and a leg for new primaries for it, or buy a huge box to get a decent price.

The did have an AA version of it, but it seems to have disappeared from their site.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2011, 12:23:23 AM

Quote from: Gareth on October 05, 2011, 01:45:22 AM

Quote from: Neil on October 05, 2011, 01:22:19 AM
Sounds nice. Do they do one that takes AA cells?
They do indeed.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/romisen-rc-29-cree-q5-wc-3-mode-180-lumen-convex-lens-led-flashlight-with-strap-1-aa-1-14500-50679

That's the one... it doesn't seem like that's a neutral one though... Q5 bin emitters are typically cool white... I haven't heard of a Q5 output bin in a neutral tint bin. The pics seem to indicate they have that gastly blue-green tint I loathe. I got one of those for my son last summer and it's an XPE R2 and while it's cool, it's not that sickly green or awful blue color like the one in the DX link.

Sparky415 · **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2011, 02:03:08 PM

There's another one from Dealextrme here
Customer pics look good to me but I'm no Jamie

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/c30-flood-to-throw-zooming-glass-optics-cree-p4-wc-100-lumen-led-flashlight-with-strap-3-aaa-18697?utm_source=dx&utm_medium=edm&utm_campaign=20111017&r=90000231

Woz · **Reply #20 on:** October 23, 2011, 02:45:37 PM

Well, imho, in times of multi-level LED lights, there is no need for focusing flashlights any more. The idea behind Maglite was to create a light that could be used for nearby illumination of a wider area, and focused so the limited output of an incandescent bulb could be used for long-range searching as well. Modern LED are way more powerful, so just use the lowest level for reading and the higher levels for longer distances. No need to focus any more.

Modern focusing LED lights are mostly crap, including the LedLensers I used so far. I would always prefer a nice fixed focus Surefire or even Fenix over any of those.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2011, 08:12:51 PM

Quote from: Woz on October 23, 2011, 02:45:37 PM

Well, imho, in times of multi-level LED lights, there is no need for focusing flashlights any more. The idea behind Maglite was to create a light that could be used for nearby illumination of a wider area, and focused so the limited output of an incandescent bulb could be used for long-range searching as well. Modern LED are way more powerful, so just use the lowest level for reading and the higher levels for longer distances. No need to focus any more.

Modern focusing LED lights are mostly crap, including the LedLensers I used so far. I would always prefer a nice fixed focus Surefire or even Fenix over any of those.

That focusing lights are mostly crap is unfortunately true. However, that doesn't mean they wouldn't be useful tools if properly designed. I personally really like the idea of a focusing full flood light... The problem is in the engineering of such a beast. For maximum efficiency you really do need some sort of reflector system with the LED, and the problem is making a reflector that is capable of changing its focal length. As far as I know, right now there isn't any workable solution to that problem.

That said, the standard spot-spill design of most single focus lights is sufficient for most uses, and matches the way our visual systems work quite well. The only real advantage of a pure flood design is that it increases sensitivity in peripheral vision, making it easier to notice things you're not looking directly at. Of course, this really only works well for short range use.

My experience with having two of these Romisen models now is that they're nice little lights for the money. Much better value than any LED Lenser model in fact. Build quality is not that far off, and the price is certainly a lot better. I'd pick a Romisen over an LED Lenser any day of the week.

Hello Lurker! Remove this ad and much more by logging in.

New Fenix light with focusing head.

Donations

Community Links