NEW FENIX MC10

[Hack On Wheels]

I have one of the early MC-10's and the switch is really stiff. I'm kind of used to it now, but not what I'd expect from Fenix at all. Wish it had a rubber boot and one of their regular clicky switches. Are the switches stiff on the newer runs?

Hoping my switch doesn't fail.

I got mine, in black, a couple of weeks ago. Shipping took a bit though, so I'm not sure how "early" mine would be considered. For what it's worth, my switch is pretty stiff. It seems to work reliably and it'll come on in my bag if I don't lock out the light, but its a bit tough to press.

 

[Mr Floppy]

Just took delivery of my MC-10. I got the blue one and it doesnt look as funny as the photos.

The beam is quite nice. Its very smooth and pattern is like that of a sun. There is a very round spot, very bright, very white. Around this is a fairly wide corona, about twice as big as the spot, probably a bit more than double the radius. This corona has a greenish tinge but its quite a bright corona and seems quite useful. The rest is a very wide spill, about 4 times the radius of the corona. With the diffuser on, the greenish tinge is no more. There is a more diffused spot and the spill is much brighter with the corona being less visible.

The switch, theres certainly no chance of accidental activation. It is stiff but its not too stiff. No problems here with a soft squishy thumb. Certainly not too hard to double click the switch between flashing modes and normal modes.

Tail standing is a bit funny. If you angle the head all the way down, it tips over. To overcome this, you need to have the clip at the back and the triangular ring angling up. Move them a bit and it tips over. If you have the diffuser on, you need to have the hinge on the bottom. Its a lot better with a battery in it. It can tail stand without having to fiddle around with the clip and ring.

Using the clip, is really versitile. Its a bit heavy if its clipped to the bill of a soft beak cap but I clipped it to the side of the cap so the light came from the side of the head like the fenix headband. Clips to the belt, pockets, shirt pocket, collar, shoulder strap. Not so good with loose shirts. I have it clipped on the side of my jeans on the belt. Have to wear the trousers a bit higher though to limit movement. The clip is very tight, very strong.

I like the angling. Its so practical. The instructions mentioned it can be used with a tripod. I'm assuming camera tripod but I cant see any screw holes to mount it on so maybe not.

What would be nice is a red diffuser. I could clip it on my backpack when I'm on my bike. I've cut a small circle of red cellophane and stuck that on the diffuser and although it works, a red diffuser would be the works.

Almost night time so I can test it in the dark soon.

 

[WadeF]

Here is a pic of mine:

 

[slayergut]

My switch is quite stiff too.and my thumb is sore after playing with it around. Really hope fenix fixs this if they decide to put out an evolved version of the MC10.

 

[strinq]

Tail standing is a bit funny. If you angle the head all the way down, it tips over. To overcome this, you need to have the clip at the back and the triangular ring angling up. Move them a bit and it tips over. If you have the diffuser on, you need to have the hinge on the bottom. Its a lot better with a battery in it. It can tail stand without having to fiddle around with the clip and ring.

Err...y would u want to use it without the battery?... If there's a reason for it to tailstand i would assume it's because u want to actually use it...

 

[Mr Floppy]

Err...y would u want to use it without the battery?... If there's a reason for it to tailstand i would assume it's because u want to actually use it...

You wouldn't. It was to highlight how precarious tail standing is. By design it should be able to support itself. I dont think fenix thought that out too well. My suggestion would be to release a tail cap with a bit of a lip and it'll solve the tailstanding issue. In the meantime, a rubber grommet around the tailcap will stop the thing tipping over when the slightest wind blows, and thats with a battery in it.

Another little trick to stop the thing tipping over is to clip a coin to the opposite side of the torch to act as a counter weight. Like this:

Can I say how much I like that clip?

A little bit more about the torch, it has quite a bit more throw compared to the fenix L1D. On one AA, it does seem to put out a fair bit of light. Attached the light to my bike helmet with some cable ties, its quite usuable for a slow bike ride.

As for using it as a tail light. Red cellophane did not stay in place very well as the bumps and jumps on the bike jolted the diffuser about so fenix, please make a red diffuser

Sat outside at a picnic table with an umbrella, reveresed the clip and clipped the light to the canvas and that was more than enough light to eat my sausages by. Did I mention how useful that clip is? Its a great combination with the angled head.

Overall, its a very practical light. The design could have been better but it serves its purpose as a military style angled light. Shame that they picked anglelight as the name. Puffin would have been better. It looks a little bit like a puffin. Well, Opus the big nosed penguin. Maybe a proboscis monkey. Barbara Streisand? Thats it, I'll nick name it Babs!

 

[supes]

I'm with the others on the stiff switch. It would have been nice to have it like the Zebralight UI, where you hold down the button for the 3 different levels of brightness, instead of another press hold. Great postive, audible detents when adjusting the degree of the head. Clip is helpful. Mine will tailstand in any degree. I have a Sanyo Eneloop in mine.

I thought all of these had the Osram LED in it. Mine looks like it has a Cree XP-E. Smooth beam like Quark. Anyone?

A side-by-side AA would be cool.

 

[Burgess]

to WadeF --


Fantastic photo !

:goodjob::thanks:
_

 

[importculture]

I ordered 2 mc10's and one came with an led with what looks like no dome and the other came with what looks like a newer tiny cree led. Is there an option to choose or is one the newer production version? If it is will all new mc10's come only with that emitter? And does it make the other now limited and rare? Thanks for any help

 

[strinq]

You wouldn't. It was to highlight how precarious tail standing is. By design it should be able to support itself. I dont think fenix thought that out too well. My suggestion would be to release a tail cap with a bit of a lip and it'll solve the tailstanding issue. In the meantime, a rubber grommet around the tailcap will stop the thing tipping over when the slightest wind blows, and thats with a battery in it.

Ok that's just weird, mine tailstands perfectly fine with the battery in it...
Even without the battery in it, it can tailstand. Just not as balanced of course.

 

[jirik_cz]

I ordered 2 mc10's and one came with an led with what looks like no dome and the other came with what looks like a newer tiny cree led. Is there an option to choose or is one the newer production version? If it is will all new mc10's come only with that emitter? And does it make the other now limited and rare? Thanks for any help

The "led with no dome" is Osram Golden dragon +. The one with Cree LED is probably newer. Is it XP-E or XP-G? Can you post a pic?

 

[Mr Floppy]

Mine will tailstand in any degree. I have a Sanyo Eneloop in mine.

I have eneloop as well. When I tap on it lightly, it rocks about. I wonder why they made it so precarious? Surely they can design to make sure they all tailstand safely. Its my only gripe about this torch at the moment but its just so useful.

I thought all of these had the Osram LED in it. Mine looks like it has a Cree XP-E. Smooth beam like Quark. Anyone?

Interesting, have you a pic? The osram also has a white ring around the side and mounted on a white square.

I have to say, the osram heats up a bit. That might be an explanation for the plastic body. The tail cap gets pretty warm when you touch it so the plastic might make it easier to hold. Pretty good heatsinking though. The LED doesnt dim because of heat as far as I can tell. 1.2 hours runtime, on eneloops, it seems pretty close.

A side-by-side AA would be cool.

Totally,

Ok that's just weird, mine tailstands perfectly fine with the battery in it...
Even without the battery in it, it can tailstand. Just not as balanced of course.

So if you angle the head all the way down and you blow on the back of the torch, does it rock or tip over?

The "led with no dome" is Osram Golden dragon +. The one with Cree LED is probably newer. Is it XP-E or XP-G? Can you post a pic?

+1.

 

[LUPARA]

For the British market the MC10 should have been called the HM Postbox. For the U.S. market it could have been called the 'Nodding Culvert' :huh:

Name that light? What a crappy name: Anglelight.

Wonder who came up with that? :thumbsdow

This is an excellent all-around utility light; again, too bad that it has a crappy name. :shakehead

C'mon Fenix it's a no-brainer !!!

 

[Jaybird]

Just received my MC10 today in the mail (black).

Overall I was quite impressed with it. Solid design, fits well in the hand, and even a bit brighter than I was expecting.

I took some photos to show the emitter, beam shot on high, and just a couple others.

I can take other photos upon request if there is something someone would like to see.

:thumbsup:

 

[strinq]

So if you angle the head all the way down and you blow on the back of the torch, does it rock or tip over?

With the battery in it, it's super solid, u can blow as hard as u want it won't fall. Without the battery, you gotta blow really hard for it to fall over but again like i said, without the battery in it, who cares if it tailstands or not.

 

[Azure]

The type of battery you use also seems to affect the balance of the light. I tried using a lithium L91 in the MC10 for awhile, but it kept tipping over when the head was angled down. Switching to a heavier alkaline appeared to make a small, but noticeable, improvement in its stability. It's still a bit precarious, but it's not falling over on me as often.

 

[Mr Floppy]

I can take other photos upon request if there is something someone would like to see.

THAT is not an Osram LED.

Could you crop and scale a picture of just the LED please? I would love to see what that is. This is what the Osram looks like:

Here are a few additional pictures of my "Goofy" (Name by Hiltihome)

Wulf

I guess CREE but I'll leave it for the experts.

I wonder why there are two types? Seriously, it should have a different number or something if the components are different. Plus I want one of the new ones too now dagnabbit!

I also did some ceiling bounce tests. From 1 metre, in a larger room than my usual bathroom, eneloops,
Fenix L2D Q5 Premium: 26.1 Lux
Fenix L1D Q5 Premium: 17.4 Lux
Fenix MC-10 Osram GD+ on high: 21.0 Lux
Fenix MC-10 Osram GD+ on medium: 8.8 Lux
Fenix MC-10 Osram GD+ on low: 0.6 Lux

Just some initial readings but once the silly season is over, I'll get some better readings.

Edit:
Interesting little side note, I have a NiMH battery with high IR. A wall bounce from 30cms (1 foot) away, on high I got 14.4 Lux and 21.8 Lux on medium. After a couple of seconds, medium drops down to 14.6. Bizarre.

 

[Jaybird]

Mr. Floppy...

Here's a closer shot of my emitter on my MC10. It's the best I could do with my digital camera. I'm no emitter expert but looks like XP-E?

 

[jirik_cz]

but looks like XP-E?

Yes, this is Cree XP-E.

 

[Rexlion]

...I also did some ceiling bounce tests...

Hope you don't bang up the light, bouncing it against the ceiling like that.