Yes, the niteize works in candlemode, I'd say it works just as well as the bulb. Although I've never thought the candlemode was all that useful in stock form, so that doesn't really say much. It's a neat idea, but one that really isn't all that great in actual use. I think a mini-mag just isn't doesn't put out enough light to use it as an area floodlight, it's a lot more useful to just leave the head on an reflect it off a wall or ceiling, or shine it into a water bottle (the old camping lantern trick)

Breathingmeat brings up a good point about the durability aspect. Personally, I've never had a problem with the fragility of incandescents. Yeah, they did have a tendency to go out when you really needed it, but all maglights come with a stock bulb in the tailcap, so it wasn't an ablsolutely critical issue. If the light isn't actually in use and turned on, an incandescent bulb can withstand a lot of abuse. A normal incandescent flashlight, no matter how fancy, is just batteries and a wire, about as simple as it can get.

LED's really are a lot more durable in terms of shock, HOWEVER, I've had many more issues with my LED lights than I ever did with bulbs failing. Most of my LED lights use some sort of circuit to boost/regulate the battery power, so with the additional features, comes additional points of failure. Contact problems, circuit issues, loose components, short circuits, overheating, etc, are all new problems that I've had to deal with since LED's have become popular. The biggest problem with this is; most of the times they aren't easily fixed. With a standard mini-mag, you can change the bulb or disassemble it and clean it out with no tools in less than a minute. With most LED's, you're out of luck it something were to happen, because it's not something that can be repaired in the field.

Overall, I still prefer the LED's for their ruggedness, but in terms of overall durability, the difference between the two isn't a big as people might think. Although LED lights have eliminated the biggest failure mode from the flashlight (which is the bulb), in reality the point of failure has just moved to a different (and most of the times, more inaccessible) location
Also, it really is just and excuse for me to go out and buy more lights <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />