Fenix HM61R ticking all the boxes?

[Stefano]

Solved the battery problem I have to understand if I have a good example with the tint
I don't like it only on the 5 and 50 lumens level, it has a greenish tint, It reminds me of the tint lottery I saw on the first examples of PD36R..

150-400 and 1200 lumens the HM61R tint is good
Do other HM61R owners also have greenish tint on the first two levels?

 

[kreisl]

Do other HM61R owners also have greenish tint on the first two levels?

hmmm. the op says that his early production unit has greenish tint on the first two levels. but he also said that a newer production unit (late 2021) had totally non-greenish tint on all levels. he called it "antarctic cool white" or something, which implies blueish/purplish hues and bright white hotspot with no greenishness, on all levels.

yeah let's hear other owners. please check serial number to state production date.

 

[Stefano]

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't thought about the serial number.
But even querying the Fenix site with the serial code I don't get the production date I still think it's recent given the 3400 battery

Edit:
I confirm the arctic white but only on the level of 400 and 1200 lumens.
On 150 there is still green tint but it is acceptable.

 

[kreisl]

if you got your unit from amazon , you could request a replacement unit (it's free of cost since you'd be returning one of the two total, it's called cherry-picking, a pretty common thing with flashlight shopping on amazon) .

 

[Stefano]

I asked for a replacement and it will arrive on Monday so I can see if it's better.

 

[kreisl]

I made a relevant or let's say interesting observation:
When the light is 'on' and you interrupt the circuit (e.g. by unscrewing the tailcap), the light turns 'off' (obviously!), and when you screw the tailcap back on, the light continues to be 'off'.

However, when the light is 'on' and you interrupt the circuit only for a fraction of a second (up to 0.5sec or so), the light turns off during that short time (obviously!) but then returns to the 'light on' state, i.e. the light does not stay turned off.

For example, a shock like bumping the magnetic tailcap on a metallic surface will cause the battery inside to jump at the (+)contact disc and lose momentarily electrical contact. Instead of the light turning off and staying off, we witness a singular light "flicker". One can reproduce this behaviour with a paper clip experiment: remove the tailcap, short the tail contact with a paper clip, turn the light on, interrupt the tail contact for a millisecond, and you'll see a flicker instead of continued black darkness, but interrupt the tail contact for 1 second (or longer) and you'll see continued black darkness and you need to press the switch to turn the light back on.

I use the tailmagnet's function often. So whenever i magnestick the light to an attracting surface (with a little shock), i would witness the singular flicker. That made me think and conduct that paper clip experiment.

 

[sirpetr]

I made a relevant or let's say interesting observation:
When the light is 'on' and you interrupt the circuit (e.g. by unscrewing the tailcap), the light turns 'off' (obviously!), and when you screw the tailcap back on, the light continues to be 'off'.

However, when the light is 'on' and you interrupt the circuit only for a fraction of a second (up to 0.5sec or so), the light turns off during that short time (obviously!) but then returns to the 'light on' state, i.e. the light does not stay turned off.

Its simple. In the circuit there are some input capacitors which keep voltage high enough to overcome very short interruption. When the interruption is longer, input voltage drops bellow operating level and MCU or whatever drives the circuit shuts down.

 

[Stefano]

I received the replacement flashlight on Monday but only tried it today.
It always has the 3400 mA battery (found at 3.89 V) unfortunately the tint looks identical.
Now I'll try it fine with the lux meter, my eye says the replacement torch has the low light level (5lumens) dimmer than the other - but the 50 lumens one seems a little brighter.
The other levels appear identical in brightness.

 

[kreisl]

sorry to hear that there's no tint improvement between the 2 copies. i'd keep the one with the brighter 50lm!
thanks for sharing your endeavors, appreciated

 

[Stefano]

sorry to hear that there's no tint improvement between the 2 copies. i'd keep the one with the brighter 50lm!
thanks for sharing your endeavors, appreciated

I ran the test with the meter, there are no big differences apart from maybe a 10% difference on the 50 lumens level I decided to keep the first copy.
It is not a purchase gone badly, with this type of led I expected a worse tint, but I would have liked the 150 lumens level to be arctic white as well.
I bought this headlamp to use it outdoors in combination with the Fenix PD36 so the levels used will be 400 and 1200 lumens and these have a good tint.
For close range and low levels I have Armytek and Zebralight or other Fenix models.
I don't guarantee it but maybe in February I will be able to do some beamshot.

 

[Stefano]

I removed the HM61 from its original holder and inserted it into a Zebralight holder and band.
I don't judge if the old or the new is better but for my habit I prefer it that way, also the soft rubber holder is better if I have to keep the light in my pocket or hanging behind my neck.
In a cellar I used the HM61R at the level of 50 lumens, for me who am used to the warm tint it was terrible.
I bought this version because I needed a Cool Withe headlamp otherwise I would have definitely bought the czech version (HM61R Amber) with neutral tint.
Now only one outdoor test is missing together with the PD36R to confirm that the purchase was right.

 

[n2mb_racing]

I removed the HM61 from its original holder and inserted it into a Zebralight holder and band.
I don't judge if the old or the new is better but for my habit I prefer it that way, also the soft rubber holder is better if I have to keep the light in my pocket or hanging behind my neck.
In a cellar I used the HM61R at the level of 50 lumens, for me who am used to the warm tint it was terrible.
I bought this version because I needed a Cool Withe headlamp otherwise I would have definitely bought the czech version (HM61R Amber) with neutral tint.
Now only one outdoor test is missing together with the PD36R to confirm that the purchase was right.

Curious, why did you pick the HM61 over whatever Zebralight you already had?

 

[Stefano]

Curious, why did you pick the HM61 over whatever Zebralight you already had?

As I wrote in the previous messages, I needed a headlamp with a cold tint to use coupled with another flashlight that uses the same SST40 led (Fenix PD36R)
I also thought of an Armytek or a Zebralight with a cold tint but then I preferred this Fenix because it paid only 69 euros on Amazon, good price, no shipping costs, maximum guarantee in case of problems.
if I didn't like it I could have returned it but the shape of the light beam was good for my purpose and I decided to keep it.
Magnetic charging is convenient.
I don't need ultra low levels like Armytek or Zebralight as it will be used at high power.

 

[sirpetr]

In reality most battery makers and companies providing batteries use the idea that a battery has to be within a certain range + or - of percentage of what capacity is listed. If a 3500mah battery is within 5% of capacity that is within 175mah of that number or from 3325 to 3675 mah which includes 3400mah easily.

It depends much on what discharge current are you using and if you go to the lowest alowable voltage (2.5V). In my experience same (quality) batteries under same discharge parameters tend to be very close each other, definately not 175mAh.

 

[Stefano]

After a long time I have been using the HM61R this evening.
No beamshot for the moment.
I took a 10 minute walk with the HM61R and PD36 TAC (not PD36R) using them individually and also in pairs.
I would have liked an additional light level with intermediate power between 400 and 1200 lumens (600 would have been perfect)
Despite being an excellent beam, I came to the conclusion that I would have preferred a wider light beam (even if this would result in a lower throw).
HM61R has a good throw but this pays a little in the side view, for those who use only one light this is good because you will have a good vision in depth and a sufficient close view.
But a headlamp is used to see closely and if Fenix reads this I would say that perhaps it should improve the opaque lens to get a slightly wider beam.
I used the 1200 lumens level a lot, the heat management is good and the power drop takes a long time to show (outside temperature around 12 ° C)
I wanted to take the old HL60R with me but I forgot it at home, I used it a lot but always in the house or garden and I wanted to see how it behaved.
The old models HL60R despite having an accentuated spot has a beam that I really like, the spill is wide and bright enough.
Using the HM61R (1200 lumens) together with PD36 TAC (level of 1000 lumens) is quite spectacular, unfortunately the SST 70 led of the PD36TAC has a very bad tint at low levels, used alone it is acceptable for me only in the 2000 and 3000 lumens levels .
I hope it is understandable (I use Google translate)

 

[DRW]

The HM61R is my favorite light. If I could only have one model, this would be it. We have several.

It's my EDC without the headband. With the headband It's my hunting, fishing, boating light.

The proprietary magnetic charging is the only drawback. At least the charging cable is inexpensive.

 

[kreisl]

The proprietary magnetic charging is the only drawback. At least the charging cable is inexpensive.

hehe what you regard as drawback i see as a buying factor:

• the interface is water-tight; no rubber cover is needed
• the port doesn't degrade thru stress, abuse, overuse (mech.)
• automatic plugging, blindly
• no connectivity issues (elec.)
• the magnetic force even enhances the elec. conn.

Since i have two units, i haven't looked for spare cable units, but i've seen noname ones on AliX. And doht Apple laptops have similar pull-away magnetic charging ports too? I had too many other type of charging ports (Mini-USB, Micro-USB, barrel connector) failing mostly mech. not elec. (NIETCORE, IMALENT, KLARUS), which makes me appreciate a magnetic port even more.

I would always choose this port over a barrel connector charging port.
I would always choose this port over a USB connector charging port.

I love it. Absolutely love it.
Clear words, by, the, kresil, thanks.

 

[DRW]

if you got your unit from amazon , you could request a replacement unit (it's free of cost since you'd be returning one of the two total, it's called cherry-picking, a pretty common thing with flashlight shopping on amazon) .

Who pays the cost when you "cherry pick"? The returned light has lost value.

 

[Stefano]

Who pays the cost when you "cherry pick"? The returned light has lost value.

It is again offered for sale as "used but in very good condition" at a slightly lower price. Amazon always buys things in large stocks and has very high profit margins no losses for him

 

[Stefano]

The HM61R is my favorite light. If I could only have one model, this would be it. We have several.

It's my EDC without the headband. With the headband It's my hunting, fishing, boating light.

The proprietary magnetic charging is the only drawback. At least the charging cable is inexpensive.

On Amazon it is not for sale, in Europe I saw that it is for sale on a Dutch Fenix site for only 5.90 euros (and shipping costs the same) the price is good for those who want to buy a spare cable.
The magnetic cable also has another advantage, you can recharge the flashlight by connecting it to a power bank and then put everything in your pocket or backpack.
The worst thing that can happen is that it disconnects while if it were micro_USB with a strong bump or some strange movement the charging socket could be damaged.