FenixLD20-QuarkAA2-QuarkAA2Tactical

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Hi, and welcome! I see nobody's replied so I'll share what little I know.

I can't speak to the fenix light, but all of the quarks I've seen have beautiful beams with no dark spots. However you say you want a tighter beam, and the current quarks - due to properties of the XP-G emitter - do have fairly large beam centers (hotspots). Beautiful, but maybe not what you want.

For Quarks with tight beams you'd have two main options: either a quark turbo (head is designed to give a beam like you're requesting) or an older run quark with the XP-E emitter.

That leaves you with
Quark AA² Turbo
WARM WHITE Quark AA² Turbo
Quark AA², R2 Edition

I really am liking warmer tinted lights right now and would recommend that warm white turbo, but it's a personal thing and you may prefer the cool white of the other two. The warms are not quite as bright as the cools, but still very bright.

If you are still considering the regular and tactical quarks, the only difference between them is the user interface. The following two threads discuss the differences and some rationale for preferring one over the other in different situations:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/267730
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/240105

What I got out of them was that the regular quark gives you easier access to all seven modes (5 brightnesses and two blinkies) which some people prefer but you may have to cycle through modes more often than you like to get where you want, whereas with the tactical you select any two of the modes ahead of time and program them for instant access, but accessing the modes you haven't programmed is a little more burdensome. Tactical has forward clicky switch (momentary-on works, you can signal with it, etc), regular can stand on its tail. It's all in the threads.

I hope that helped a bit.
-John

The "narrower beam" requirement exclude all the Quarks. They all emit at some 90+deg as seen on the various beamshot comparisons. Fenix is not much better IMO, the beam is about 80-85 degrees.

The only truly narrow beams I've seen are the LF3XT and the Olight I25. Both about 1/2 the width of the Quarks at the same distance.

In terms of power, its difficult to judge accurately since the tighter beams that emit less lumnes, but have a higher concentration of light or lux, seem to be brighter. You shouldn't worry about the beam composition since most lights that have OP reflectors will eliminate almost all artifacts.

This thread will have a lot of info and useful beam comparisons: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/214890

If you're interested in the Quark, but you want a tighter beam you should look at the Quarks with an XP-E R2 emitter (like pepekraft suggested). They also come with a free Prism kit, and don't forget the "CPF8" discount code during checkout if you decide on a Quark. As you can see in this gif, the XP-E clearly has a tighter beam profile than the XP-G.

Another consideration you should look at is the UI (User Interface)

The UI is VASTLY different between the regular and the tactical.

I personally prefer the UI of the tactical, but the recessed clicky of the regular, thus I have a Quark 123 Turbo but with the recessed clicky on it.

My suggestion for you (if you read about both the UI's and decide you like the tactical) is to go to the 4 sevens website and get the:

AA Turbo:

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_330&products_id=1917

Recessed Forward Clicky switch:

http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_330_342&products_id=1978

This way you get:

-AA light

-My preferred interface (though yours may differ)

-Reasonably throwy light

-Recessed tail clicky (you may like protruding, but I prefer recessed for tailstanding and protection)

-Backup clicky (even on good lights the clicky is the weakest link, and I think its usefull to have a spare)

The Quark doesn't exactly have a tight beam. See below:


If your looking for a thrower there are better lights out there. I25 will give about 16% more throw, P100A2 ($50), P20A2 (70) and TK20 (50) will give you about 33% more throw all for the same or less money. All of these lights are top of the line, can be bought with a cpf discount, the prices in my post don't reflect the discount btw.

Not to mention the Deree Javelin, which is a P60 host (which means that as new emitters come out, you will be able to upgrade your light) and can run on 3xAA, which gives it more available power and runtime. The Javelin has a beam which is almost exactly like the Quark and is about $10 less than a regular/tactical Quark.

EDIT:
what will you be using this light for?

ti-force said:

If you're interested in the Quark, but you want a tighter beam you should look at the Quarks with an XP-E R2 emitter. They also come with a free Prism kit, and don't forget the "CPF8" discount code during checkout if you decide on a Quark. As you can see in this gif, the XP-E clearly has a tighter beam profile than the XP-G.

Click to expand...

Fantastic display, and thanks for putting that together. For my money, that's reason enough right there to get the R5 (I prefer floody lights).

was.lost.but.now.found said:

Fantastic display, and thanks for putting that together. For my money, that's reason enough right there to get the R5 (I prefer floody lights).

Click to expand...

I'm glad you find the beamshots useful :thumbsup:. Oh yeah, (in case you're wondering) the distance is roughly 23 feet from light to Pine tree.

I have the Fenix LD20 and the Quark aa2 non tac . I think the Quark is a little brighter of the two. I like the Quark better than the Fenix but the Fenix is also a fine light .

Hi.

I thought I may as well throw the spanner into the works with another suggestion.

If you want an AA powered torch that is a great thrower and has a reasonably tight beam, then have a look at the Dereelight Javelin. On 2 AA batteries it is great, on 3 AA's this thing becomes a fiend!

Regards,
BedazzLED.

Don't confuse tighter beams with a throwier/tighter hotspot. Spillbeam has very useful qualities that shouldn't be overlooked.

aL01 said:

-A narrower or more focused beam

Click to expand...

LD20.

(Quarks are more floody - which I found great for EDC but I'm sticking with LD20 for my work light)

If you want a tighter hotspot in the AAx2 look for XR-E and XP-E lights not XP-G. The Eagletac P100A2 is a nice light at a bargain price, good AA thrower but it may or may not have a very slight dark spot in the center. My P100C2 has a almost unnoticeable dark spot in the center but it does not bother me I can only see it on white wall unlike other lights that is obvious outside as well, I have read some have it and some don't. You can still find the Quark AAx2 R2 model as well as the LD20 Q5.

http://www.eagletac-usa.com/products/product.aspx?pid=1-4-6605

red02 said:

The Quark doesn't exactly have a tight beam. See below:


If your looking for a thrower there are better lights out there. I25 will give about 16% more throw, P100A2 ($50), P20A2 (70) and TK20 (50) will give you about 33% more throw all for the same or less money. All of these lights are top of the line, can be bought with a cpf discount, the prices in my post don't reflect the discount btw.

Not to mention the Deree Javelin, which is a P60 host (which means that as new emitters come out, you will be able to upgrade your light) and can run on 3xAA, which gives it more available power and runtime. The Javelin has a beam which is almost exactly like the Quark and is about $10 less than a regular/tactical Quark.

EDIT:
what will you be using this light for?

Click to expand...

I think you should be more specific when recommending and comparing lights. Specifically Eagletac and Fenix lights; they are now implementing the newer XP-G emitters, which normally don't throw as well as XR-E or XP-E emitters. You should probably specify OP or SMO reflector too, since that usually makes a great difference, and the P20A2 seems to have been offered with both.

A good review:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/277658

If you go with the LD20, go with the Q5 version vs the R4. The Q5 throws better and the overall light output is not much different. Several retialers still have Q5's available. The R4 gives a little more runtime on turbo, but otherwise isn't really much brighter. The XP-E R2 version of the Quark AA2 throws even better than the LD20 Q5 and the overall output again is about the same. Check this thread here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/277658

aL01 said:

-A narrower or more focused beam

Click to expand...

It would help to know the reasons for wanting a tighter beam. If you want a "thrower", I think most here would agree there are better choices. If you are looking for a jack-of-all-trades light, personally my choice goes towards more floody lights that have a larger hotspot. I find myself avoiding certain lights I really want to like, just because they have too small of a hotspot for most tasks.

aL01 said:

Oh, I'm pulling the 'trigger' this Thursday- Thanks!!

Click to expand...

Please let us know what you decided on.

Oh, and by the way, :welcome: