WadeF
Flashlight Enthusiast
Got my Fenix T1 today. I had it sent express mail from Fenix-store.com.
First impression, wow, this is solid compared to other Fenix lights. After seeing the P3D abuse thread I can't imagine what it would take to take out this thing.
It feels pretty good in my hand. The points around the tail switch don't bother me. To switch between general and turbo you twist the body. The clip rubs on the knurling, but so far no scratches. You only have to turn it a little bit to change mode, so it's not a big deal. The clip is very tight, had a bit of trouble clipping it to my jeans pocket, but this particular pair of jeans has like a double layer of denim along the edge of the pocket which doens't help.
As far as output, it's bright, and out throws the P3D with ease. Here are my LUX meter results:
With AW R123's 3.7v:
General: DX Meter 1,110 LUX / TES Meter 1,480 LUX
Turbo: DX Meter 4,860 LUX / TES Meter 6,600 LUX
With Titanium brand primaries:
General: DX Meter 1,090 LUX / TES Meter 1,450 LUX
Turbo: DX Meter 4,920 LUX / TES Meter 6,690 LUX
Seems to have a little more output on Turbo with primaries, but almost identical output.
So for throw, the max I got was 6,690 LUX on the TES Meter. Comparing that to some other lights:
Dereelight CL1H 3-stage Q5 w/ smooth reflector: 9,300 LUX
Dereelight CL1H 3-stage Q5 w/ textured reflector: 6,450 LUX
Dereelight DBS 2SD Q5 1A w/ smooth reflector: 26,400 LUX
Malkoff M60 Q2 1A w/ OP in Surefire G2: 4,780LUX
While this won't compete with Tiablos, MRV's, DBS's, etc, for throw, due to the reflector's size being small, the output is similar to the CL1H 3-stage Q5 with a OP reflector.
The T1 also comes with a nice holster which has a flap to secure the light. I still need to get a picture of that. It came with a lanyard, spare o-ring, and a spare orange tail switch cover. Was wondering if it would have a spare black tail switch cover for those wanting a more "tactical" look.
Unless I got another orange by mistake? Anyone get black?
This is still an initial review, I haven't had a chance to take it out in the dark, but here are some pictures and beam shots, and as always you can click on the pics to see a hi-res version:
Fenix P1D-CE, P2D-CE, P3D Rebel100, T1, Surefire G2, E2e, Rayovac 3-Watt 2AA:
Dereelight CL1H V3, Fenix T1, Dereelight DBS:
Fenix P3D and T1:
Surefire E2e and T1:
Beamshot time. WB set to daylight, apeture f2.8, distance 1 meter.
Turbo:
1/10 sec:
1/40 sec:
1/160 sec:
1/640 sec:
General:
1/10 sec:
1/40 sec:
1/160 sec:
1/640 sec:
Well, the kids decided to stay up late, but once I finally got them to fall asleep I got outside and took some beam shots. Only 30F outside, could be worse.
I'm still debating about the exposure. I went with ISO 100, f2.8, and 1sec again. For the control shot, it looked more accurate at 2 seconds, but then the beam shots seemed overly bright at 2 seconds, maybe I should go 1.5 seconds. Oh well, I went with one second and it will at least give you an idea how these lights compare. The Fenix T1 did very well I thought and has a useful beam. The distance to the white buildling (garage) in the distance is around 150-160 feet away. Again, click on any of the pics for a high res version. If you open a couple shots in multiple browsers you can switch between the browsers by clicking the various tabs at the bottom of your screen, or at the top if you have tabbed viewing, which should overlay the shots and allow you to toggle between them quickly for a more dramatic comparision.
First up, control shot:
Fenix T1 General - AW R123's
Fenix T1 Turbo - AW R123's
Dereelight CL1H V3 3-stage Q5 smooth reflector - AW 18650
Dereelight DBS 3-stage Q5 smooth reflector - AW 18650
Fenix P3D Rebel100 Turbo - AW R123's (Look at that color rendering, not bad for a LED)
Fenix Red LOD-CE Q4 Turbo - Sanyo Eneloop AAA (Would be much brighter on 10440)
Surefire E2e incan 65 lumen bulb - Surefire CR123's
Crazy that the little LOD-CE Q4 with a AAA 1.2v NiMH is putting out similar lumens to the Surefire E2e, but due to the small reflector it doesn't throw as well, but has brighter spill.
I think the next time I repeat these shots I'll go with a slightly longer exposure as they are probably a little darker looking than in person, and it's more noticeable with say the Surefire E2e and LOD as they looked a bit brighter than that in person.
The Dereelight CL1H has as slightly brighter hot spot, more noticeable in person, and at 1 meter reads about 3,000 LUX higher, but that's due to the Dereelight having a smooth reflector and the Fenix a textured one. I figure they are probably putting out about the same emitter lumens, more or less. I have new modules coming for my Dereelights which will have Q5 WC's being driven at 1.2A. I'd expect them to be slightly brighter and I'll take more shots when I have them, probably another couple weeks.
I think Fenix did the right thing by using a textured reflector, as you can see the beam is more practical for general use. Most people probably don't need to light things up past 200 feet most of the time. As you can see with the CL1H, you loose a lot in the darker parts of the beam because of the smooth reflector. I could switch to a textured reflector in the CL1H and it would probably almost match the beam of the Fenix T1. The T1 reflector looks pretty much exactly like a P60 style reflector.
First impression, wow, this is solid compared to other Fenix lights. After seeing the P3D abuse thread I can't imagine what it would take to take out this thing.
It feels pretty good in my hand. The points around the tail switch don't bother me. To switch between general and turbo you twist the body. The clip rubs on the knurling, but so far no scratches. You only have to turn it a little bit to change mode, so it's not a big deal. The clip is very tight, had a bit of trouble clipping it to my jeans pocket, but this particular pair of jeans has like a double layer of denim along the edge of the pocket which doens't help.
As far as output, it's bright, and out throws the P3D with ease. Here are my LUX meter results:
With AW R123's 3.7v:
General: DX Meter 1,110 LUX / TES Meter 1,480 LUX
Turbo: DX Meter 4,860 LUX / TES Meter 6,600 LUX
With Titanium brand primaries:
General: DX Meter 1,090 LUX / TES Meter 1,450 LUX
Turbo: DX Meter 4,920 LUX / TES Meter 6,690 LUX
Seems to have a little more output on Turbo with primaries, but almost identical output.
So for throw, the max I got was 6,690 LUX on the TES Meter. Comparing that to some other lights:
Dereelight CL1H 3-stage Q5 w/ smooth reflector: 9,300 LUX
Dereelight CL1H 3-stage Q5 w/ textured reflector: 6,450 LUX
Dereelight DBS 2SD Q5 1A w/ smooth reflector: 26,400 LUX
Malkoff M60 Q2 1A w/ OP in Surefire G2: 4,780LUX
While this won't compete with Tiablos, MRV's, DBS's, etc, for throw, due to the reflector's size being small, the output is similar to the CL1H 3-stage Q5 with a OP reflector.
The T1 also comes with a nice holster which has a flap to secure the light. I still need to get a picture of that. It came with a lanyard, spare o-ring, and a spare orange tail switch cover. Was wondering if it would have a spare black tail switch cover for those wanting a more "tactical" look.
Unless I got another orange by mistake? Anyone get black? This is still an initial review, I haven't had a chance to take it out in the dark, but here are some pictures and beam shots, and as always you can click on the pics to see a hi-res version:
Fenix P1D-CE, P2D-CE, P3D Rebel100, T1, Surefire G2, E2e, Rayovac 3-Watt 2AA:
Dereelight CL1H V3, Fenix T1, Dereelight DBS:
Fenix P3D and T1:
Surefire E2e and T1:
Beamshot time. WB set to daylight, apeture f2.8, distance 1 meter.
Turbo:
1/10 sec:
1/40 sec:
1/160 sec:
1/640 sec:
General:
1/10 sec:
1/40 sec:
1/160 sec:
1/640 sec:
Well, the kids decided to stay up late, but once I finally got them to fall asleep I got outside and took some beam shots.
Only 30F outside, could be worse. I'm still debating about the exposure. I went with ISO 100, f2.8, and 1sec again. For the control shot, it looked more accurate at 2 seconds, but then the beam shots seemed overly bright at 2 seconds, maybe I should go 1.5 seconds. Oh well, I went with one second and it will at least give you an idea how these lights compare. The Fenix T1 did very well I thought and has a useful beam. The distance to the white buildling (garage) in the distance is around 150-160 feet away. Again, click on any of the pics for a high res version. If you open a couple shots in multiple browsers you can switch between the browsers by clicking the various tabs at the bottom of your screen, or at the top if you have tabbed viewing, which should overlay the shots and allow you to toggle between them quickly for a more dramatic comparision.
First up, control shot:
Fenix T1 General - AW R123's
Fenix T1 Turbo - AW R123's
Dereelight CL1H V3 3-stage Q5 smooth reflector - AW 18650
Dereelight DBS 3-stage Q5 smooth reflector - AW 18650
Fenix P3D Rebel100 Turbo - AW R123's (Look at that color rendering, not bad for a LED)
Fenix Red LOD-CE Q4 Turbo - Sanyo Eneloop AAA (Would be much brighter on 10440)
Surefire E2e incan 65 lumen bulb - Surefire CR123's
Crazy that the little LOD-CE Q4 with a AAA 1.2v NiMH is putting out similar lumens to the Surefire E2e, but due to the small reflector it doesn't throw as well, but has brighter spill.
I think the next time I repeat these shots I'll go with a slightly longer exposure as they are probably a little darker looking than in person, and it's more noticeable with say the Surefire E2e and LOD as they looked a bit brighter than that in person.
The Dereelight CL1H has as slightly brighter hot spot, more noticeable in person, and at 1 meter reads about 3,000 LUX higher, but that's due to the Dereelight having a smooth reflector and the Fenix a textured one. I figure they are probably putting out about the same emitter lumens, more or less. I have new modules coming for my Dereelights which will have Q5 WC's being driven at 1.2A. I'd expect them to be slightly brighter and I'll take more shots when I have them, probably another couple weeks.
I think Fenix did the right thing by using a textured reflector, as you can see the beam is more practical for general use. Most people probably don't need to light things up past 200 feet most of the time. As you can see with the CL1H, you loose a lot in the darker parts of the beam because of the smooth reflector. I could switch to a textured reflector in the CL1H and it would probably almost match the beam of the Fenix T1. The T1 reflector looks pretty much exactly like a P60 style reflector.
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