LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it? BEAMSHOTS added

[hyperloop]

I just picked up an LED Lenser P5 when i went to see my dealer about collecting my TA30 for review. We were sitting down, chatting about lights and such and he was telling me about the P5 and how, for a single AA light, running on 1.2v eneloops, it was an amazing light.

I did not have any impression on LED Lenser products save that they weren't too popular here on CPF so i asked him to bring one out and demo it.

The time was about 12 noon, we were sitting in shade but with loads of ambient lighting, he pops in an Eneloop, clicks the forward clicky tailcap switch and i was astounded, the hotspot is large and was clearly visible against the near white wall about 4 feet in front of him.

Then he told me, this light is focusable and showed me the flood, darn! It was a near perfect circle of white light, no clear defined rings and artifacts although there are discernible cree rings. It makes no difference in real life use though.

I was sold and bought one immediately, it's sitting in my pocket now and i was just sitting in my office during lunch hour with the lights off and blinds drawn just shining it around, focusing from flood to spot (one handed mind you) and just enjoying this light and marveling that this output came from ONE 1.2volt AA.

Anyone else out there owns one and would like to share their experiences with this light? Will post some shots of the light and compare with my other one AAs in the near future.

Some beamshots (the window is about 12' (if not more) from where i am standing)

Control shot (below)

Full flood (below)

Full spot (below)

 

[DaveG]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

I have one,and like it,a little on the pricey side.Seems well made,I dont EDC it, the holster is on the large size for my taste.It is bright for sure.Have got to the point of having all these flashlights and this one gets neglected.Have to find a smaller holster and start to EDC it.

 

[L.E.D.]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

I use it as my EDC once in awhile. Definitely a nice light, though it sucks down an alkaline real quick, 50% in about 45 minutes, it's taking 1.5 amps off a fresh alkaline. Great with rechargeables though, better runtime curve due to less internal resistance, obviously, a little less initial brightness. Heatsinking is easily more than sufficient on the new Led Lensers, you can feel the area near the head heat up pretty quickly after a few minutes on (on high for P7's and up), even quicker on the P5 due to its small size. I have to say that Led Lenser definitely underrated the lumens on the P5. There's no way it's putting out only 59 / 65 lumens. With a fresh alkaline, it clearly beats the 150 lumen 2C Task Force Cree on ceiling bounce. Perhaps Led Lenser measured the lumens in the middle of the alkaline runtime curve. One thing to note though, I've noticed what seems like a switch failure when these are brand new, I have 3 of them. A lot of the switches on the new "high performance" Led Lenser line seem to need "breaking in" for some reason, especially on the ones with a SERIAL NUMBER below the LL logo, ESPECIALLY the P7's and up, any of them with the 3-level dynamic switch. The P5's also seem to need breaking in as well, though. If you notice the light seems to flicker / not turn on when clicked in all the way to constant on, or it fails to function properly using momentary, just use the switch repeatedly --A WHOLE BUNCH--, and the contacts will get cleaned off. I've broken all of my HP LL switches in, and have had no problems AT ALL. Another interesting thing I've noticed, any HP LL light that has a serial number on it ALSO has no metal pin which prevents the head from being able to be twisted / rotated. Any LL light without the serial number has the pin and cannot be twisted. It really doesn't matter, honestly I also like the ones with serial numbers, because instead of having to unscrew the optic's retaining ring to align it better if you have an ugly beam which is also lessening your throw, you can just rotate the head without any disassembly and memorize the position it's in using the mold mark notch thingy as a reference point, in relation to the flat with or without a logo...

A lot of people say it's too overpriced just because of lack of circuitry, honestly the P7 and P14 don't really need it, the 6 volts the four cells provide give it a better runtime curve, even using alkaline, than some semi-regulated lights, and using NiMH / Eneloops they have an even nicer runtime curve. You get this performance combined with the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle as there is no complex circuitry to fail or have problems, as has been shown in quite a few regulated lights. Many will say that the rechargeable argument is void since LL recommends not using rechargeables. Now this is where I am kind of disgusted with Led Lenser. There's NOWHERE NEAR enough of a difference in the runtime curve for people to say "oh, it's going to overheat with rechargeables", The heatsinking works just fine for this, and there are already many runtime graphs showing people running sets of lithium cells continuously until runtime end, still working just fine. There's no chance for "thermal runaway", there's never any TRUE direct drive mode, even on the dynamic switch models, there is a resistor in the head. Somewhere on the main LL site they claim to want to be friendly to the Earth, total bullcrap, they UNREASONABLY recommend against rechargeables and they KNOW the majority of people don't recycle their spent alk cells, not to mention the fact that the "alkaline driven" H7 headlamp and the H7R rechargeable which uses NiMH have absolutely no differences in terms of heatsinking.

 

[hyperloop]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

Hi L.E.D. wow, thanks for the advice, i did find the switch a bit iffy to begin with but after reading your post, i just clicked on and off continuously for a minute or so and its much better now.

say, any idea if the P5 can run off a 14500??

EDIT: couldn't resist it any longer, slipped in a 14500 and did a momentary, there was a blinding white flash of light, then nothing, did another momentary, another blinding white flash of light (yes, i was looking at the LED) then nothing. Slipped out the 14500 and put back the 1.2v 2500mAh Soshine cell and its working fine now.

So i guess no 14500s for the P5

 

[Crenshaw]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

A Dealer let me borrow a P6 from him (probably the same guy hyperloop haha) while he was doing some comparisons with my Tiablo. I must say, i am utterly impressed by it! i never knew led lenser made such good products...it outthrows so many of my other lights it actually feels embarrasing.

Crenshaw

 

[hyperloop]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

If the dealer is in Bedok, then its the same guy. I was asking about a P14, 4xAA one which i am thinking of getting.

His price for the P5 is quite attractive

 

[jupello]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

... i was just sitting in my office during lunch hour with the lights off and blinds drawn just shining it around, focusing from flood to spot (one handed mind you) and just enjoying this light and marveling that this output came from ONE 1.2volt AA.

Hehe, the focusing system kept me amused for a long time when I bought my P7.. untill the reflected light got my eyes sore and I "had" to stop fiddling with it

 

[hyperloop]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

i could not seem to find any technical information on the light, can any other P5 owners comment on the water resistance, durability?

 

[jupello]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

i could not seem to find any technical information on the light, can any other P5 owners comment on the water resistance, durability?

I only have P7, but I'm pretty sure P5 is not watertight either. The focusing head needs to have holes for airflow in/out for smooth use. So at least the beam would be distorted a bit if you would try using it underwater, don't know if the water could get anywhere where it could damage the light tho.
Rain should not be problem for it, but don't dunk it unless you really want to test the limits..
Edit: Since you already tried to kill it with 14500, please get some pics if you decide to try using it underwater too

 

[Yapo]

Re: LED Lenser P5 - is anyone EDC-ing it?

I edced my P5 for awhile before i had got my proton pro(to make up for the lack of low modes).

I found that the P5 is great light for the single AA size and output...it can throw just as good, if not better than my 100ish lumen lights when focused but the beam on mine when fully focused isnt so pretty.

u can see a slightly off centred cree die projection over a round hotspot along with some rings. Also the tint of the beam on mine is a little cool for my liking and when it is fully flooded the edge of the beam appears to be slightly brighter than the middle.

I only wished the P5 would have a smoother hotspot when focused as well as a low mode and i can only imagine how much more it could throw if it was 100 lumens.

An interesting thing i found was that the surefire F04 beamshaper and filters can fit on it and also the holes around the bezel actually let air in/out as it became abit harder to push/pull the head when i had the beamshaper covering them so i would recommend that u dont push/pull the bezel when underwater although i wouldnt know if it can even survive being dunked underwater for long. The oring on the tailcap feels like it seal quite tightly though.

I opened up the head and slipped a GITD oring around the optic lens for glowing fun. Also i find the head is hard to push/pull if i havent used it in a day or so.

Other then that its a great light which i still slip in my pocket along with my proton pro, thats clipped to my pocket, whenever i'm expecting to require some extra pocketsized throw!

 

[hyperloop]

beamshots up

 

[Nyctophiliac]

Just thought I'd chip in.

Today I found the P5 in a shop in Central London for only a few quid more than on the interweb - so I impulse bought it. I thought it would at least be as good as my cheaper AA lights and I have had many Led Lensers over the last few years, all of which have lasted with no complaints on their manufacture or hardiness. Also my P7 is only superceded in throw by my modded aspheric mag, so I knew their throw potential was great.

I was very much floored by the brilliance of this light. Although it has only one level, it does have different 'modes', in flood it won't dazzle too much for dark adapted eyes, and tightly focused the throw is superb and searingly bright. Excellent optic on the head, possibly a perfect optic as you have max throw which gradually morphs to a wide, even flood.

I compared it to lots of other 1AA torches but it out-throws them all - even with 14500 type lights. Here are some comparison shots with a Nitecore D10 R2 with a 14500.

Side by side - P5 is 25mm taller:

Front end off and on - P5 is 6mm wider at the head, 2-3mm slimmer for the body:

And a beamshot at 1 foot - the hotspot of the P5 is a lot brighter than the Nitecore - with almost no spill, and becomes increasingly obvious the further from the wall the lights are - the P5 wins hands down.

During the setup for the shots, both lights were on constantly for about 5 mins. The D10 was much warmer than the P5 but not hot - I will try an extended run when I go for my night-time bike ride this evening.

For a runtime comparison please refer to this thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=226983

All in all, a great light IMHO, and for all us chaps and chappesses here in the UK, it comes in significantly cheaper than other high end AA lights - not that price is an issue when a good light is concerned. I have no problem in recommending this light to anyone who appreciates a good thing, well made.

 

[hyperloop]

let's give it up for the P5, a great little light!!!

 

[Nyctophiliac]

In addition to what I said in my previous thread, For the last three nights I have used the P5 on my bike as the front light - absolutely great. I have it set to flood and angled down so the light starts just in front of the bike - I also have a more throwy light mounted next to it. Together they make just about the best light set up I have had - great for spotting potholes on the old pockmarked roads around here.

Nice little light.

 

[fluke]

Anyone done a review I have searched but not found anything.

 

[hyperloop]

Anyone done a review I have searched but not found anything.

I own one but there really isnt that much to say as its a simple one mode light that has incredible output for being a 1xAA light and it can focus. Runtime on 1 x AA is stated on the packing as 3 hours.

As for waterproofness, i read elsewhere that there are pictures or videos on youtube that show the Led Lenser series being placed underwater but i aint brave enough to try it out yet.

It feels good in your hand, its a forward clicky single mode and the focus can be adjusted one handed. If ya have any other questions, just post here man.

 

[fluke]

Thanks for that I need a new AA (Smallish) light for night time door number spotting, I have been using Coast Hocus Focus but these are a bit big for pocket carry when wandering about.

What is the throw like ??

I need 50 to 100ish feet range.

 

[SureAddicted]

As for waterproofness, i read elsewhere that there are pictures or videos on youtube that show the Led Lenser series being placed underwater but i aint brave enough to try it out yet.

There are various videos on the tube where the light is submerged underwater while its on. On my LL, the holes don't go all the way through. I'm surprised no one has investigated this further.

 

[lrp]

Where can you purchase these lights? Thanks!!

 

[hyperloop]

Thanks for that I need a new AA (Smallish) light for night time door number spotting, I have been using Coast Hocus Focus but these are a bit big for pocket carry when wandering about.

What is the throw like ??

I need 50 to 100ish feet range.

When focused to spot, using an eneloop AA i can get that distance. I've shone the light down 12 stories with loads of ambient lighting and can still see the hotspot distincly. When focused to spot, the hotspot is larger than most 1xAA lights