CMG INFINITY ULTRA

CMG Infinity Ultra, retail $23.95 (www.pocketlights.com)
Manufactured by CMG Equipment (http://www.cmgequipment.com)
Last updated 07-06-07

Infinity Ultra


The Infinity is a light familiar to a lot of hikers, campers, boaters, and other people who spend a lot of time outdoors. It is a small, single LED flashlight powered by a single AA cell, and it runs for an amazing 40 hours on the same battery. The problem was that some people thought it was really too dim. Now comes the Infinity Ultra: Think of it as a regular Infinity on crack and steroids. It is substantially brighter than the original, while still managing to run for up to 25 hours on the same battery.


SIZE:



To turn the Ultra on, just give the knurled head a clockwise twist. Turn it the other way to shut it off.

It comes equipped with a spring steel pocket clip, and a lanyard so you can carry it around your neck or hang it from something.



To change the battery when it *finally* poops out, unscrew the knurled head, dump out the dead battery, and drop a new one in, flat end (-) first. The button end (+) should be visible when you have it in right. Then screw the head back on, and you're good for another 25 hours worth of light.

A statement in the instruction card says that lithium cells can be used to get even more light; however run times probably won't increase greatly.

Battery discharge curve
A run-time test was conducted on my birthday, the 15th of September.
Sitting at home watching a meter... hmmmm...

Even after running for almost 40 hours, it is still producing enough light to get you by in an emergency; and unlike some other regulated lights, you can turn the Ultra off and back on even when it is nearly exhausted.

I ran a battery discharge analysis on the Infinity Ultra-G using a GE/Sanyo 1,600mAh NiMH AA cell on 05-02-04, and here's the chart:

This test was run to the 25% intensity point so the cell would not become damaged by overdischarge. As you can see, it started to tank at about 7 1/2 hours, and spent a full 5 hours at or above 50% intensity.




The Infinity Ultra is built like a small tank, just like its older & dimmer counterpart. The only really noticeable changes I see between the Ultra and the original (besides the light output) is that the Ultra has deeper knurling on both the head and on the band around the barrel, the color of the finish is different (it's a very dark forest green) and the positive battery contact is gold plated, instead of using that wierd black stuff. The dark green finish is very tough to photograph with the cameras and lighting I have at my disposal; it tends to still look black. But trust me, it's a very dark forest green, which is quite obvious in sunlight.

The brightness is DEFINITELY much greater than that of the original white Infinity; this new Ultra puts out enough light to make it truly useful in many more situations than the original. But don't throw out your original - you'll thank me when you reach for it in a pitch black room and use it without blinding yourself. Use the Ultra when you're in a situation where that doesn't matter, or where you've just come out of a more brightly illuminated situation and a regular Infinity would be just too dim to do the job.

The only thing I can find wrong with the Ultra is that there is still some battery rattle when you shake the light while it's off. While this is quite nitpicky, some people may find it to be of concern. A quick fix that has been suggested is to wrap a post-it note around the battery before inserting it in the barrel. This slight rattle honestly doesn't bother me, so I won't bother with post-it notes or other "fixes".

When you take the head off, you'll now see the battery contact is gold plated, instead of being covered with that conductive black stuff found in the latest generation of original Infinities. Some people have scraped this material off to obtain consistent contact; however I have yet to have a problem with it in my samples. But since it's gone in the Ultra, I guess that's one less thing to worry about.



Beam photo. Tested at 15,000mcd on a nearly-new alkaline.
The original Inifinity in white tested around 7,000mcd.




Ultra on the left, Arc-AAA Limited Edition on the right. Ultra had a well-used lithium AA in it for this picture. When it was replaced with a known almost-new alkaline, both lights were, for all intents and purposes, identical in output. For the record, the Arc-AAA LE cranked out 15,500mcd, just a fly's butt hair higher than the Infinity Ultra with its tired old lithium battery.

I do not have any new lithiums to do an accurate assessment yet; but when I do get some, this picture will have to be re-shot and all the measurements re-taken.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LED in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from WWW.TWO-CUBED.COM.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was received on 08-19-02, was provided by D.K. at Pocketlights.com and is in the earliest phase of testing.

Like I did on the original Infinity page, I hung the Ultra and a pair of my first Infinities around my neck and tried to snap a picture of the whole mess. :p

Needless to say, I am not a very photogenic individual.


UPDATE: 10-10-03
Sometime earlier this year, I got an Infinity Ultra-G, the US Government version of the Infinity Ultra. The Ultra-G came from Nick C. at www.countycomm.com, so there's no more need for anyone to pipe up. :-)
Even good people can forget things now and then, and I'm no exception.


Here's the Ultra-G by itself.
Note the US Government inscription on the barrel, just below the head.


And here's the obligatory shot of the beam on the test target.
On a reasonably new Energizer Industrial, it measures 18,700mcd.
So it's brighter than a standard Infinity Ultra, but not that much brighter.

The Infinity Ultra-G does not come with a lanyard or clip, and it has a US Government NSN on it, but otherwise appears the same as a regular Infinity Ultra. The Ultra-G is said to be finished in a Type III hard anodizing ("HA-III" as us flashaholics know it), so it should stay looking newer for longer.


UPDATE: 10-17-03
A page about the CMG Infinity Ultra-G is at www.countycomm.com/light9.htm that includes some buying info (a shopping basket) if you're interested.
The light costs $18 from the above web page as of the time of this writing.


UPDATE: 05-31-04
I added the CMG Infinity Ultra to my Trophy Case section; something I should have done long ago. Sorry about the delay.


PROS:
Small size
Tough construction
Water resistant
Anodized finish, not painted like the original
Significantly brighter than the original Infinity
Cheap and easy to feed


CONS:
Some people think the reflector should have been left bare.
Rattles slightly when shaken.


    MANUFACTURER: CMG Equipment
    PRODUCT TYPE: Mini Task Light
    LAMP TYPE: LED, 5mm
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium flood with soft fall-off
    SWITCH TYPE: Twist bezel on/off
    BEZEL: Knurled, LED inset at center. No reflector.
    BATTERY: 1x AA cell
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 175mA
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Yes, to 30 feet
    ACCESSORIES: Spring clip, lanyard
    WARRANTY: Limited Lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar RatingStar Rating
    (There's no graphic for an *almost* perfect score)









CMG Infinity Ultra * WWW.POCKETLIGHTS.COM






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