mchlwise
Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
- Messages
- 949
I finally got my hands on a Fenix P3D with the Rebel 100 emitter (P3DR100). After waiting for it to get good and dark, I went out to see what the Rebel can really do.
I decided I'd keep it to a 123-cell affair, and put the P3DR100 against my Surefire G2Z with a P61 assembly, and just for fun I'd throw in the P2D with 4Sevens upgraded Q2 Cree emitter (P2DCE), all with fresh cells of course.
I thought it could be very interesting since Surefire rates the P61 at 120 lumens, and Fenix rates the P2DCE at 135 and the P3DR100 at 200.
My first test I was unable to get a picture of. There is a weeping willow tree a measured 200 feet from the spot I was standing in. The G2Z lit it easily, as expected. The P2D also lit the tree, but maybe a little less so. The color temperatures between the incandescent and the LED make it a little hard to judge, but since the P2D has a slightly textured reflector a loss in throw was expected. Then, I fired up the P3D. Even with the P3D's slightly textured reflector, it blew them both away, clearly lighting up the tree more than either of the other lights.
oo:
I moved on to a test I was able to photograph: My treehouse from a measured 55 feet (please excuse any lack of focus):
Again there is a clear color difference, but the P3DR100 clearly throws more than the G2Z.
After these tests, comparing to Surefire's claimed 120 lumens, I'm not doubtful that the P3DR100 puts out pretty darned close to the 200 lumens Fenix claims. The G2Z's 120 lumens are in a very tight spot. I'll show a better example later, but the center spot of the P3DR100 is not only brighter than the Surefires, but there is MUCH more light around it in the spill whereas the Surefire's spill is virtually non-existant.
(By the way, the P3DR100's beam was flawless. No rings or artifacts as with the crees, just a nice wide hot-spot fading quickly into a smooth and useable spill. :huh
My next test was my standard Park Bench at 15 feet shot:
I next wanted to try out some color-rendering tests.
I went to the garden and found a nearly-ripe tomato to see how the lights render reds and greens:
I'll probably get a lot of crap for saying it, but TO ME these latest LED emitters render a wide spectrum of colors very well, and do better than the incandescent [flamesuit on]. Sure they wash out the colors somewhat and push things into the blue side of the spectrum, but look at how much yellow and brown comes through on the incan. :duh2: My maters don't look like that, they look more like the LEDs show (I didn't mess with the camera settings or white balance at all, it was on full auto, flash off).
Next, I went to a red rose growing through some badly faded redwood-stained lattice:
I forgot to turn the flash off on the first picture, and decided to include it since it looks to me the most realistic and life-like. Again, the LEDs washed out some of the colors as expected... but the incan didn't render the colors accurately either! The rose is red, not orange, and the lattice wood is weathered grey as the flash shows it, not brown as the incan does. I think the Rebel washed out the rose a little more than the Cree did just because of the amount of light so close to the subject.
I didn't notice a huge difference in tint between the Rebel 100 emitter and the Cree Q2 emitter. I had thought the Rebels were going to tend more towards warmer light than mine does. I don't know if my Cree is particularly warm or my Rebel is particularly cool, but as far as tint/color temperature I'd say they're about equal... with the Rebel being brighter, of course.
Finally, some shots of a rose from the same bush growing out of the other side of the lattice, from a bit of a distance (and reduced in size). In the comparison, if you look closely, you can clearly see the difference in the size of the spots and spills.
To me, it looks like the P3DR100's spot is close to twice as big as the P2DCE's, and about equal to the size of the G2Z... but with useable spill which the G2Z just doesn't have.
Overall, I'm VERY impressed with not only the P3DR100 and the new Rebel emitters, but with both Fenix lights. I hadn't put the P2D up against the G2Z before, and am pleasantly surprised at how well it did.
Feel free to post questions.
Hope it helps you guys on the fence about the new LEDs - GET EM! They rock.
I decided I'd keep it to a 123-cell affair, and put the P3DR100 against my Surefire G2Z with a P61 assembly, and just for fun I'd throw in the P2D with 4Sevens upgraded Q2 Cree emitter (P2DCE), all with fresh cells of course.
I thought it could be very interesting since Surefire rates the P61 at 120 lumens, and Fenix rates the P2DCE at 135 and the P3DR100 at 200.
My first test I was unable to get a picture of. There is a weeping willow tree a measured 200 feet from the spot I was standing in. The G2Z lit it easily, as expected. The P2D also lit the tree, but maybe a little less so. The color temperatures between the incandescent and the LED make it a little hard to judge, but since the P2D has a slightly textured reflector a loss in throw was expected. Then, I fired up the P3D. Even with the P3D's slightly textured reflector, it blew them both away, clearly lighting up the tree more than either of the other lights.
oo:I moved on to a test I was able to photograph: My treehouse from a measured 55 feet (please excuse any lack of focus):
Again there is a clear color difference, but the P3DR100 clearly throws more than the G2Z.
After these tests, comparing to Surefire's claimed 120 lumens, I'm not doubtful that the P3DR100 puts out pretty darned close to the 200 lumens Fenix claims. The G2Z's 120 lumens are in a very tight spot. I'll show a better example later, but the center spot of the P3DR100 is not only brighter than the Surefires, but there is MUCH more light around it in the spill whereas the Surefire's spill is virtually non-existant.
(By the way, the P3DR100's beam was flawless. No rings or artifacts as with the crees, just a nice wide hot-spot fading quickly into a smooth and useable spill. :huh
My next test was my standard Park Bench at 15 feet shot:
I next wanted to try out some color-rendering tests.
I went to the garden and found a nearly-ripe tomato to see how the lights render reds and greens:
I'll probably get a lot of crap for saying it, but TO ME these latest LED emitters render a wide spectrum of colors very well, and do better than the incandescent [flamesuit on]. Sure they wash out the colors somewhat and push things into the blue side of the spectrum, but look at how much yellow and brown comes through on the incan. :duh2: My maters don't look like that, they look more like the LEDs show (I didn't mess with the camera settings or white balance at all, it was on full auto, flash off).
Next, I went to a red rose growing through some badly faded redwood-stained lattice:
I forgot to turn the flash off on the first picture, and decided to include it since it looks to me the most realistic and life-like. Again, the LEDs washed out some of the colors as expected... but the incan didn't render the colors accurately either! The rose is red, not orange, and the lattice wood is weathered grey as the flash shows it, not brown as the incan does. I think the Rebel washed out the rose a little more than the Cree did just because of the amount of light so close to the subject.
I didn't notice a huge difference in tint between the Rebel 100 emitter and the Cree Q2 emitter. I had thought the Rebels were going to tend more towards warmer light than mine does. I don't know if my Cree is particularly warm or my Rebel is particularly cool, but as far as tint/color temperature I'd say they're about equal... with the Rebel being brighter, of course.
Finally, some shots of a rose from the same bush growing out of the other side of the lattice, from a bit of a distance (and reduced in size). In the comparison, if you look closely, you can clearly see the difference in the size of the spots and spills.
To me, it looks like the P3DR100's spot is close to twice as big as the P2DCE's, and about equal to the size of the G2Z... but with useable spill which the G2Z just doesn't have.
Overall, I'm VERY impressed with not only the P3DR100 and the new Rebel emitters, but with both Fenix lights. I hadn't put the P2D up against the G2Z before, and am pleasantly surprised at how well it did.
Feel free to post questions.
Hope it helps you guys on the fence about the new LEDs - GET EM! They rock.
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