Fenix TK45 (760 Lumens) vs. Maglite 5*R2 Cree Drop-In (1200 Lumens claimed)

[ThirstyTurtle]

UPDATED WITH PICTURES

So I'm not super proud of the following beam shots for a number of reasons and I'm going to take some better ones soon but at least it's something. It was way too humid last night to take these pictures so there's pretty intense bounce back from the moisture and plenty of light pollution. Amateur at best but it's better than nothing.

Enjoy!

Tree line @ 250'
Camera Settings: Locked white balance, 18mm, f/3.5, 2"
The lights weren't aimed in identical spots but you can see that the TK45 is much floodier and the Maglite is much brighter at its center.

Fenix TK45 - Turbo (760 lumens)


Maglite 5*R2 Cree Drop-In - High (1200 lumens claimed)



Tree line @ 250'
Camera Settings: Locked white balance, 18mm, f/3.5, 3"
Here they were aimed at about the same spot and it's pretty obvious which is which but you can see they both have similar spill.

Fenix TK45 - Turbo (760 lumens)


Maglite 5*R2 Cree Drop-In - High (1200 lumens claimed)



Tree line @ 450'
Camera Settings: Locked white balance, 18mm, f/3.5, 1.6"
I realize here they're sort of aimed at the asphalt instead of the trees but it does do a decent job of comparing the two lights to my car's headlights. In fact once I got back on my secluded street I cut the lights and held the Fenix out of the roof for about a quarter mile and it did just fine!

Fenix TK45 - Turbo (760 lumens)


Maglite 5*R2 Cree Drop-In - High (1200 lumens claimed)


Car Headlights - Low Beams (2002 VW Golf)
Car

Headlights - Low and High Beams (2002 VW Golf)


Tree line @ 300'
Camera Settings: Locked white balance, 18mm, f/3.5, 1"

Fenix TK45 - Turbo (760 lumens)


Maglite 5*R2 Cree Drop-In - High (1200 lumens claimed)



Again, I'm not super proud of these but they do at least show a little of what can be expected. I think I need to use shorter distances since these lights (especially the TK45) are so floody and not throwy. I just had a hard time figuring out that even though they're 800ish lumens they really don't shine all that far. I'm going to get some better shots once I have a less moisture-filled night and I'll add those pictures when they happen.

[Gunner12]

Not sure how hard this might be, but maybe you could attach the lights to the leg or legs of the tripod? It'll give a nice "first person" view as if the camera is holding the light.

Enjoy the darkness!

[ThirstyTurtle]

Not sure how hard this might be, but maybe you could attach the lights to the leg or legs of the tripod? It'll give a nice "first person" view as if the camera is holding the light.

Enjoy the darkness!

That's a GREAT idea!!! I'll certainly try that and see how it looks. I think I could attach both of them, one on each of 2 legs just using some zip ties and have them pretty secure, that would certainly make changing scenes easier, just pickup the tripod and move!

[CyberCT]

I really wish Fenix would rerelease the TK45 with the new XPG2 LED to give something like 1200 OTF lumens or something similar. The compact size of the TK45 compared to that kind of output would be pretty awesome. TK70 is crazy bright but the size is a little annoying, and the driver squeal.

[ThirstyTurtle]

Well it looks like it'll be a few days before I get a chance to do these beamshots, between weather and prior engagements I just haven't had time.

But I'll tell you this, my initial impression is that the Maglite drop-in is brighter and it DEFINITELY throws further. However, the TK45 has much more useable levels and probably substantially better runtimes. The Maglite has SUPER HIGH, PRETTY HIGH, and HIGH, there's not much of a low or anything on it, plus you have to cycle through STROBE and SOS everytime which is obnoxious but it's no biggie.

I'll get the beamshots up soon!

[inspirit]

looking forward to your sharing pics

[Painful Chafe]

[ThirstyTurtle]

Sorry! I ordered more Eneloops so that both lights will have fresh AA Eneloops (14 in total!) and they're getting here today. I'm going to try to do the beamshots tomorrow night but worst case I will 100% for sure be doing them Sunday night.

Sorry for the wait guys, I think it'll be worth it though!

[HighlanderNorth]

Well it looks like it'll be a few days before I get a chance to do these beamshots, between weather and prior engagements I just haven't had time.

But I'll tell you this, my initial impression is that the Maglite drop-in is brighter and it DEFINITELY throws further. However, the TK45 has much more useable levels and probably substantially better runtimes. The Maglite has SUPER HIGH, PRETTY HIGH, and HIGH, there's not much of a low or anything on it, plus you have to cycle through STROBE and SOS everytime which is obnoxious but it's no biggie.

I'll get the beamshots up soon!

^Thats why I opted not to buy the Olight SR-51. It has only 2 modes, very bright and much brighter. I think ALL LED lights should have a low and low-medium mode. The modes of the Olight SR 51 are 250L and 900L. When you are around the house, 250L is often too bright for the task, and it wastes battery charge.

[ThirstyTurtle]

UPDATED WITH PICTURES IN POST #1

[tabraha]

^Thats why I opted not to buy the Olight SR-51. It has only 2 modes, very bright and much brighter. I think ALL LED lights should have a low and low-medium mode. The modes of the Olight SR 51 are 250L and 900L. When you are around the house, 250L is often too bright for the task, and it wastes battery charge.

I agree. We had a pretty decent power outage not too long ago and my TK45 on low made a very nice candle that I didn't have to worry about runtime. The flexibility to go from candle (relatively speaking) to 760lumens is nice. The uptime on low is really nice. If they were to up the juice on the tk45 I would probably consider adding a second for the house. The 5*R2 seems potent though I'll give it that.