OK what might be (IMHO) almost as good as the fabulous Fenix L1 v2.5, but at 1/2 to 1/3 the price?
I have an infatuation for single celled lights and top of my list goes the AA battery. So to find a single AA battery 0.5watt flashlight that has good form factor and remains small - well..... is a FIND.
Tucked in on their 1/2watt page is this AdvancedMart model # LED-005S - it's shown in shiney silver on that page - but I noticed there is a choice of black too. Normally I prefer not to get black flashlights - but the shiney silver ws a bit too "gaudy" for my tastes -
so black it was - shown here with its supplied pouch -
Size comparison -
Heads view -
vs. Fenix L1 v2.5 (Non-Premium)
vs. River Rock 0.5w 2AAA
(note Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA (TM-310H) would be similar
see the direct side-by-side comparison beamshots in the links)
vs. the classic CMG Ultra-G
One has to be careful looking at these comparison beamshots - even though the beams are in the same picture side-by-side and have received the exact same exposure, focus, scaling, color balance etc. - the failing is the limited dynamic range of the camera (or even film) the hotspots are WAY brighter and grossly over exposed -so do not show the difference in brightness - so the dimmer light always seem brighter than it is in the normal exposure. I use the normal exposure really to compare the beam characteristics and the vital side-spill/corona.
The -2 Stops Underexposed beamshot is an attempt to show the differences in brightness - again the hotspots are still somewhat grossly overexposed - so it is still not a very good indication of the difference in hotspot brightness - although in the comparison between the AdvancedMart 0.5w 1AA and the CMG Ultra-G one can just see the Ultra-G's hotspot is noticably dimmer - showing its color artifacts.
Using all these lights at closer distances (under 9feet) they are all still somewhat "comparable" - yes, one can see that the Fenix is quite a bit brighter than the Ultra-G (for this extreme example I'd be using under 6feet) and so it should be - but to me it's not quite to the point of being "blown away" - perhaps I just don't like to talk like that - however going 10feet and beyond then the differences becomes a lot more noticable.
One thing I noticed was that the light did a slight flickering during the beamshots - even though I had taken the time to scrape and clean the tailcap threads and those on the body tube, then lightly lubed the threads before the tests. The threads seemed somewhat "crude" with black anodization (or is it paint**?) in them - note the threads are critical as this is where the electrical contact is made.
This is a pic of the threads even after scraping/cleaning
However some whacking/shock of the light cured the slight flicker.
Notice how thin the body tube is at the threads - it kind of looks like the material used in the 1LED 1xAAA "clone"? - (that's why I thought it might be black paint** above) although the AdvancedMart page does spec it as aluminum. I tried a strong magnet - and unlike the AAA clone, this body tube shows no signs of magnetism - this light does feel very light without the battery - perhaps it is some (strong) aluminum alloy?
Anyway because of the thinner tube this light measures 18mm diameter compared to the 20mm of the Fenix - it looks and feels slimmer. It is actually slimmer than even the River Rock 2AA or the Nuwai 1AAA heads (both 19mm).
That's why I like this light for under $19 shipped (better price for 2, I now regret not buying two straight off) - it is slimmer and lighter than the Fenix - not as bright but it is not put to shame, the tint again is not as good as the Fenix - but surpringly better than either the River Rock or Nuwai 0.5watts....
For the price there's very little not to like for a good form factor single AA light.
EDIT - the tailcap switch is a reverse clicky - one needs to push it well into its recess/hole before the light is switched on.
Being new to me, occassionally I still manage not to quite switch it on - and I don't have very wide thumbs/fingers. I have to remember to use the tip of my thumb to activate this light. In some ways I like this as it would be very unlikely that the light would be switch on accidentally.
EDIT2 - mention should be made for the outstanding service I received from AdvancedMart.com - I order this light on-line late Wednesday night Nov/30 like nearly midnight - got an acknowledgement when I logged in the next morning and found it was shipped that day - and I received it today - Sat Dec/3 - I used the first class USPS shipping which was only $2.50... some praise has to go to the USPS too.
I have an infatuation for single celled lights and top of my list goes the AA battery. So to find a single AA battery 0.5watt flashlight that has good form factor and remains small - well..... is a FIND.
Tucked in on their 1/2watt page is this AdvancedMart model # LED-005S - it's shown in shiney silver on that page - but I noticed there is a choice of black too. Normally I prefer not to get black flashlights - but the shiney silver ws a bit too "gaudy" for my tastes -
so black it was - shown here with its supplied pouch -
Size comparison -
Heads view -
vs. Fenix L1 v2.5 (Non-Premium)
vs. River Rock 0.5w 2AAA
(note Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA (TM-310H) would be similar
see the direct side-by-side comparison beamshots in the links)
vs. the classic CMG Ultra-G
One has to be careful looking at these comparison beamshots - even though the beams are in the same picture side-by-side and have received the exact same exposure, focus, scaling, color balance etc. - the failing is the limited dynamic range of the camera (or even film) the hotspots are WAY brighter and grossly over exposed -so do not show the difference in brightness - so the dimmer light always seem brighter than it is in the normal exposure. I use the normal exposure really to compare the beam characteristics and the vital side-spill/corona.
The -2 Stops Underexposed beamshot is an attempt to show the differences in brightness - again the hotspots are still somewhat grossly overexposed - so it is still not a very good indication of the difference in hotspot brightness - although in the comparison between the AdvancedMart 0.5w 1AA and the CMG Ultra-G one can just see the Ultra-G's hotspot is noticably dimmer - showing its color artifacts.
Using all these lights at closer distances (under 9feet) they are all still somewhat "comparable" - yes, one can see that the Fenix is quite a bit brighter than the Ultra-G (for this extreme example I'd be using under 6feet) and so it should be - but to me it's not quite to the point of being "blown away" - perhaps I just don't like to talk like that - however going 10feet and beyond then the differences becomes a lot more noticable.
One thing I noticed was that the light did a slight flickering during the beamshots - even though I had taken the time to scrape and clean the tailcap threads and those on the body tube, then lightly lubed the threads before the tests. The threads seemed somewhat "crude" with black anodization (or is it paint**?) in them - note the threads are critical as this is where the electrical contact is made.
This is a pic of the threads even after scraping/cleaning
However some whacking/shock of the light cured the slight flicker.
Notice how thin the body tube is at the threads - it kind of looks like the material used in the 1LED 1xAAA "clone"? - (that's why I thought it might be black paint** above) although the AdvancedMart page does spec it as aluminum. I tried a strong magnet - and unlike the AAA clone, this body tube shows no signs of magnetism - this light does feel very light without the battery - perhaps it is some (strong) aluminum alloy?
Anyway because of the thinner tube this light measures 18mm diameter compared to the 20mm of the Fenix - it looks and feels slimmer. It is actually slimmer than even the River Rock 2AA or the Nuwai 1AAA heads (both 19mm).
That's why I like this light for under $19 shipped (better price for 2, I now regret not buying two straight off) - it is slimmer and lighter than the Fenix - not as bright but it is not put to shame, the tint again is not as good as the Fenix - but surpringly better than either the River Rock or Nuwai 0.5watts....
For the price there's very little not to like for a good form factor single AA light.
EDIT - the tailcap switch is a reverse clicky - one needs to push it well into its recess/hole before the light is switched on.
Being new to me, occassionally I still manage not to quite switch it on - and I don't have very wide thumbs/fingers. I have to remember to use the tip of my thumb to activate this light. In some ways I like this as it would be very unlikely that the light would be switch on accidentally.
EDIT2 - mention should be made for the outstanding service I received from AdvancedMart.com - I order this light on-line late Wednesday night Nov/30 like nearly midnight - got an acknowledgement when I logged in the next morning and found it was shipped that day - and I received it today - Sat Dec/3 - I used the first class USPS shipping which was only $2.50... some praise has to go to the USPS too.
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