mchlwise
Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
- Messages
- 949
I had posted my thoughts about my Fenix L1DCE a couple weeks ago, and promised a review and pic/beamshots. Yesterday, I received my JetBeam C-LE, and decided to post a combined review/comparison, with a beamshot shootout. :rock:
Let's get right to it:
The contenders, along with the trusty old JetBeam MkI which was my wife's light until she got a L1DCE for Valentine's day.
(First of all, I MUST say to anyone interested in the JetBeam C-LE, the threads on this light have been a cause of much concern. The release of the light was delayed supposedly to fix an issue with the threads. Early reviews indicate that the threads are VERY hit-and-miss between different samples. Whether the lights come from different batches, some improved some older with problems, I have no way of knowing - but I've seen posts of threads binding/locking up, threads being rough and too tight, threads being too loose, and just about everything else - despite their being properly cleaned and lubed. I've also seen posts about people wondering what the fuss was about and being very happy with them. I have to believe that everyone is being honest in their assessments, and therefore you're taking your chances somewhat in either getting a great light or crap, based on the threads.)
I received 2 JetBeam C-LEs yesterday (outside of either group buy, BTW), and both had flawless smooth and clean threads. The C-LE has a foam ring installed on the head - to prevent battery rattle and keep enough pressure between the battery and the head so that it doesn't make contact until it's tightened down. The foam ring on both of my samples didn't exactly "fall" off, but it only took a slight nudge. I believe from looking at it that the oil or grease they put on the threads worked its way down, and destroyed the glue holding the ring on (WD-40 is great for removing glue, by the way). Not a big deal. At first (after cleaning the glue goop residue off) I just threw the battery in, dropped the foam ring on top of the battery, and screwed the head in. Thinking about it later and looking inside the light, there is a small stud at the bottom of the tube for the negative contact. I coaxed the foam ring into the bottom of the light, then dropped the battery in and screwed the head on. It worked perfectly! The foam ring "disconnects" the battery from the negative end, instead of the positive contact on the head. It's tight enough it won't come out without being pulled out with a wire or something, and keeps the battery from rattling around. (If anyone has a concern with this arrangement let me know, otherwise I think this is the way to go.)
The machining of the C-LE is VERY well done (leaving out the thread issue), as is the anodize. My wife looked at it and complimented the machining also. The knurling is light, but effective. The head is easily operated with one-hand. The finish seems tough, and held up well to multiple split-ring installations while I figured out which Berkely Point clip I wanted on it.
Recapping my impressions of the Fenix L1DCE somewhat: I'm very impressed with the L1DCE. Fenix seems to have matured somewhat in their manufacturing. The machining is very well done, threads are nice and smooth, and anodize is smooth, even, and appears to be durable. The walls of the body seem very thick, and the light seems generally tougher than previous L-series Fenix lights. The light is mostly smooth, as previous Fenixes have been.
The L1DCE is larger than the JetBeam MkI, which is larger than the JetBeam C-LE:
The C-LE uses the JetBeam orange-peel reflector, while the L1DCE uses the Fenix smooth reflector:
(Incidentally, I don't know if it was the angle of the flash or if it's AR coating [which I suspect] or some other factor that made a difference, but there is clearly a reflection of the flash from the MkI that the L1DCE and the C-LE didn't have in this picture.)
How do the reflectors affect things, and how do the Crees compare to the Luxeon? Let's take a look!
I went out to my old stand-by bench after it was good and dark, and stood "about where I did last time" to take some beamshots. Since I don't have a marked spot at a fixed distance from the bench, it varies from review to review. However, I am very careful to not move once I start shooting, and each of these pictures were taken with distance and all other factors as equal as possible.
(The lights were all running on fresh Energizer E2 L91 Lithium cells)
First, the "baseline" camera flash for perspective, and the JetBeam MkI:
Then, the JetBeam C-LE/Fenix L1DCE shootout:
I didn't see any reason to muddle up the review with medium or low modes, so I just shot them at their highest modes. Incidentally for those interested, the JetBeam C-LE's mid and low levels are both lower than Fenix's mid and low levels (there is very slight difference between Fenix's high and turbo, BTW).
The L1DCE is definitely brighter, and the rings which are so apparent on a white wall are certainly hard to notice in this application.
I was somewhat disappointed in the C-LE expecting it to be brighter. It's certainly very bright, but with a Cree in it I was hoping for something closer to the L1DCE in output.
But what about throw?
I'm adding a new beamshot target this review - the treehouse. I stood a measured 60' (about 18M) from our treehouse and went for it.
Lets take a look!
(I had to go back out this morning and take a daylight shot since the flash wasn't all that effective)
The shootout:
The difference in the reflectors and the loss of throw from the orange peel used by JetBeam really becomes apparent. The JetBeams put out a nice and smooth beam, but if you're looking for throw, I think the Fenix wins. The picture reflect my recollection pretty well, but I think the additional throw from the Fenix is even more apparent in person.
Another important consideration for me is the U.I. The Fenix is very intuitive, and easily switchable with its head-twist to change from General mode to Turbo mode. I have yet to "get lost" using the Fenix, I always know where I am and how to get to where I want to go. The C-LE, on the other hand, seemed much more cumbersome. Mostly because of the twisty, and the need to twist-untwist-twist to get from mode to mode, but I also managed to "get lost" using it. "Wait, was that high, no that was high... now I'm in s.o.s. dangit... (twist, twist, twist)."
Despite all of its flaws, the C-LE has become my new EDC, which was the purpose I bought it for. I've had a L0PSE on my keychain as my EDC/emergency light, because I want to make sure I've got something on me at all times. The L0PSE worked great and I was very happy with it, but for slightly more size and weight I could have a AA-eating multi-mode Cree for around $30 bucks! So far, the weight and size difference haven't been a factor. Time will tell for sure on that aspect, but for now I'm quite pleased.
This is my former setup:
and my present one:
Hope that gives you some good information, and helps with any decisions.
Thanks for reading.
Questions/comments welcomed!
Let's get right to it:
The contenders, along with the trusty old JetBeam MkI which was my wife's light until she got a L1DCE for Valentine's day.
(First of all, I MUST say to anyone interested in the JetBeam C-LE, the threads on this light have been a cause of much concern. The release of the light was delayed supposedly to fix an issue with the threads. Early reviews indicate that the threads are VERY hit-and-miss between different samples. Whether the lights come from different batches, some improved some older with problems, I have no way of knowing - but I've seen posts of threads binding/locking up, threads being rough and too tight, threads being too loose, and just about everything else - despite their being properly cleaned and lubed. I've also seen posts about people wondering what the fuss was about and being very happy with them. I have to believe that everyone is being honest in their assessments, and therefore you're taking your chances somewhat in either getting a great light or crap, based on the threads.)
I received 2 JetBeam C-LEs yesterday (outside of either group buy, BTW), and both had flawless smooth and clean threads. The C-LE has a foam ring installed on the head - to prevent battery rattle and keep enough pressure between the battery and the head so that it doesn't make contact until it's tightened down. The foam ring on both of my samples didn't exactly "fall" off, but it only took a slight nudge. I believe from looking at it that the oil or grease they put on the threads worked its way down, and destroyed the glue holding the ring on (WD-40 is great for removing glue, by the way). Not a big deal. At first (after cleaning the glue goop residue off) I just threw the battery in, dropped the foam ring on top of the battery, and screwed the head in. Thinking about it later and looking inside the light, there is a small stud at the bottom of the tube for the negative contact. I coaxed the foam ring into the bottom of the light, then dropped the battery in and screwed the head on. It worked perfectly! The foam ring "disconnects" the battery from the negative end, instead of the positive contact on the head. It's tight enough it won't come out without being pulled out with a wire or something, and keeps the battery from rattling around. (If anyone has a concern with this arrangement let me know, otherwise I think this is the way to go.)
The machining of the C-LE is VERY well done (leaving out the thread issue), as is the anodize. My wife looked at it and complimented the machining also. The knurling is light, but effective. The head is easily operated with one-hand. The finish seems tough, and held up well to multiple split-ring installations while I figured out which Berkely Point clip I wanted on it.
Recapping my impressions of the Fenix L1DCE somewhat: I'm very impressed with the L1DCE. Fenix seems to have matured somewhat in their manufacturing. The machining is very well done, threads are nice and smooth, and anodize is smooth, even, and appears to be durable. The walls of the body seem very thick, and the light seems generally tougher than previous L-series Fenix lights. The light is mostly smooth, as previous Fenixes have been.
The L1DCE is larger than the JetBeam MkI, which is larger than the JetBeam C-LE:
The C-LE uses the JetBeam orange-peel reflector, while the L1DCE uses the Fenix smooth reflector:
(Incidentally, I don't know if it was the angle of the flash or if it's AR coating [which I suspect] or some other factor that made a difference, but there is clearly a reflection of the flash from the MkI that the L1DCE and the C-LE didn't have in this picture.)
How do the reflectors affect things, and how do the Crees compare to the Luxeon? Let's take a look!
I went out to my old stand-by bench after it was good and dark, and stood "about where I did last time" to take some beamshots. Since I don't have a marked spot at a fixed distance from the bench, it varies from review to review. However, I am very careful to not move once I start shooting, and each of these pictures were taken with distance and all other factors as equal as possible.
(The lights were all running on fresh Energizer E2 L91 Lithium cells)
First, the "baseline" camera flash for perspective, and the JetBeam MkI:
Then, the JetBeam C-LE/Fenix L1DCE shootout:
I didn't see any reason to muddle up the review with medium or low modes, so I just shot them at their highest modes. Incidentally for those interested, the JetBeam C-LE's mid and low levels are both lower than Fenix's mid and low levels (there is very slight difference between Fenix's high and turbo, BTW).
The L1DCE is definitely brighter, and the rings which are so apparent on a white wall are certainly hard to notice in this application.
I was somewhat disappointed in the C-LE expecting it to be brighter. It's certainly very bright, but with a Cree in it I was hoping for something closer to the L1DCE in output.
But what about throw?
I'm adding a new beamshot target this review - the treehouse. I stood a measured 60' (about 18M) from our treehouse and went for it.
Lets take a look!
(I had to go back out this morning and take a daylight shot since the flash wasn't all that effective)
The shootout:
The difference in the reflectors and the loss of throw from the orange peel used by JetBeam really becomes apparent. The JetBeams put out a nice and smooth beam, but if you're looking for throw, I think the Fenix wins. The picture reflect my recollection pretty well, but I think the additional throw from the Fenix is even more apparent in person.
Another important consideration for me is the U.I. The Fenix is very intuitive, and easily switchable with its head-twist to change from General mode to Turbo mode. I have yet to "get lost" using the Fenix, I always know where I am and how to get to where I want to go. The C-LE, on the other hand, seemed much more cumbersome. Mostly because of the twisty, and the need to twist-untwist-twist to get from mode to mode, but I also managed to "get lost" using it. "Wait, was that high, no that was high... now I'm in s.o.s. dangit... (twist, twist, twist)."
Despite all of its flaws, the C-LE has become my new EDC, which was the purpose I bought it for. I've had a L0PSE on my keychain as my EDC/emergency light, because I want to make sure I've got something on me at all times. The L0PSE worked great and I was very happy with it, but for slightly more size and weight I could have a AA-eating multi-mode Cree for around $30 bucks! So far, the weight and size difference haven't been a factor. Time will tell for sure on that aspect, but for now I'm quite pleased.
This is my former setup:
and my present one:
Hope that gives you some good information, and helps with any decisions.
Thanks for reading.
Questions/comments welcomed!
