I have the LED LENSER P7 and the new 212 lumen P14. The P14 is brighter than the P7. Since the P14 has a larger head the beam on the P14 when the flashlight is in the full extended position is much brighter than the P7's beam when that light is also fully extended. for the size, the P7 is second to none. Although, if you want something with a little more kick, the P14 is the way to go. the P14 is the brightest light on the market for any AAA or AA operated flashlights.
LED LENSER P7 VS P14
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kramer5150
Flashaholic
Not even close (sorry in advance).... Fenix TK40 has you beat by a factor of ~3x. Theres also a new ITP light that uses multiple AA cells.
Anyone interested in LL products should look carefully at their cell requirements, many Lenser AA/AAA lights are not compatible with NiMH. Its not stated openly on the packaging, but if you inquire with LL they will provide the necessary details for your specific light.
You should also note that they are direct driven off those alkalines, so yes they will be bright initially but output will drop proportionally as the cell depletes over its lifespan.
Anyone interested in LL products should look carefully at their cell requirements, many Lenser AA/AAA lights are not compatible with NiMH. Its not stated openly on the packaging, but if you inquire with LL they will provide the necessary details for your specific light.
You should also note that they are direct driven off those alkalines, so yes they will be bright initially but output will drop proportionally as the cell depletes over its lifespan.
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Try any other light, such as a Quark, Fenix, Jetbeam, etc. and you'll be blown away! Coast/LED Lenser lights are crap, and definitely not woth the price in comparison.
For one thing, C/LL lights are not regulated, in any way. They have no driver (computer chip to control current to LED, allow multiple modes), and instead rely upon a resistor, and the natural current resistance of alkaline cells to limit current to the LED. This is why they only allow the use of alkaline cells. The difference is pretty simple: a driver calculated the available voltages and currents, and determines whether or not to dim the light, thus showing you you have a dead battery, or continue to feed high current to the LED. A driven light usually has an output graph that is pretty flat, with a sharp drop off at the end, as the cells begin to be unable to provide the necessary power.
A resistor-ed light, on the other hand, dims slowly over time, as the batteries begin to drain. They have a few minutes of initial brightness, then, as cell voltage drops, so does the available current, and the light dims over time. This is a bad thing, because it tells you your cells are dead, when they may only be partially depleted.
Secondly, most, if not all C/LL lights are poorly heatsinked. This means that the LED has no way to transfer the heat it produces to the body of the flashlight, which severely shortens the life expectancy of the light. This is why most C/LL lights do not get warm to the touch (which is, unbelievably, a good thing, if a light gets warm rather quickly, it means that there is an effective path for heat to transfer from the LED to the body, to allow your hand to cool the light).
Third, most (if not all, I'm not sure) C/LL lights are only anodized with Hard Anodizing, Level III (HA III). I believe they are only anodized to HA II. HA III is a much harder, more durable form of anodizing than HA II. In fact my dad has a Coast light he uses for work, where most of the anodizing has worn off in the last 2 years (and he barely ever has to use it, it stays in it's holster for the most part).
Fourth, C/LL lights use very inefficient battery arrangements. A single AA battery has the same capacity (nominally) as three AAA batteries. The reason C/LL uses a three and four AAA cell configuration is to provide adequate voltage to the LED, without a driver, under current drain (alkaline voltage sag is horrendous above a moderate-to-low current drain).
Take a look at some other brands, which are real quality, and much better bang for your buck, and prepare to be amazed.
Oh, and, :welcome:
For one thing, C/LL lights are not regulated, in any way. They have no driver (computer chip to control current to LED, allow multiple modes), and instead rely upon a resistor, and the natural current resistance of alkaline cells to limit current to the LED. This is why they only allow the use of alkaline cells. The difference is pretty simple: a driver calculated the available voltages and currents, and determines whether or not to dim the light, thus showing you you have a dead battery, or continue to feed high current to the LED. A driven light usually has an output graph that is pretty flat, with a sharp drop off at the end, as the cells begin to be unable to provide the necessary power.
A resistor-ed light, on the other hand, dims slowly over time, as the batteries begin to drain. They have a few minutes of initial brightness, then, as cell voltage drops, so does the available current, and the light dims over time. This is a bad thing, because it tells you your cells are dead, when they may only be partially depleted.
Secondly, most, if not all C/LL lights are poorly heatsinked. This means that the LED has no way to transfer the heat it produces to the body of the flashlight, which severely shortens the life expectancy of the light. This is why most C/LL lights do not get warm to the touch (which is, unbelievably, a good thing, if a light gets warm rather quickly, it means that there is an effective path for heat to transfer from the LED to the body, to allow your hand to cool the light).
Third, most (if not all, I'm not sure) C/LL lights are only anodized with Hard Anodizing, Level III (HA III). I believe they are only anodized to HA II. HA III is a much harder, more durable form of anodizing than HA II. In fact my dad has a Coast light he uses for work, where most of the anodizing has worn off in the last 2 years (and he barely ever has to use it, it stays in it's holster for the most part).
Fourth, C/LL lights use very inefficient battery arrangements. A single AA battery has the same capacity (nominally) as three AAA batteries. The reason C/LL uses a three and four AAA cell configuration is to provide adequate voltage to the LED, without a driver, under current drain (alkaline voltage sag is horrendous above a moderate-to-low current drain).
Take a look at some other brands, which are real quality, and much better bang for your buck, and prepare to be amazed.
Oh, and, :welcome:
Not even close (sorry in advance).... Fenix TK40 has you beat by a factor of ~3x. Theres also a new ITP light that uses multiple AA cells.
Anyone interested in these LL products should look carefully at their cell requirements, many Lenser AA/AAA lights are not compatible with NiMH. Its not stated openly on the packaging, but if you inquire with LL they will provide the necessary details.... NiMH+LL=:mecry::candle:
You should also note that they are direct driven off those alkalines, so yes they will be bright initially but output will drop proportionally as the cell depletes over its lifespan.
i beg to differ on this point, i have been running my P14 using eneloops and have not encountered 'poof-ing' (if there is such a term) yet and hopefully not for a long time to come. But if it does poof i'll retract this statement.
+1 on being beaten by TK40
I got the P14 on a whim and i find that i like it cos of its ability to focus from pure flood to a tight spot
I also own the P5 (1xAA) and run it on an eneloop with no issues so far and its a nice light too, surprisingly bright on NiMH
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kramer5150
Flashaholic
i beg to differ on this point, i have been running my P14 using eneloops and have not encountered 'poof-ing' (if there is such a term) yet and hopefully not for a long time to come. But if it does poof i'll retract this statement.
+1 on being beaten by TK40
I got the P14 on a whim and i find that i like it cos of its ability to focus from pure flood to a tight spot
I also own the P5 (1xAA) and run it on an eneloop with no issues so far and its a nice light too, surprisingly bright on NiMH
I have reworded my statement... it was not intended to illustrate deficiencies of any specific model.
**edit**
Researching it further, you might want to think twice about using NiMH cells in this light. According to the brightguy product page Coast is against using NiMH cells in this light. They list a couple reasons. But they skate around the real reason... that direct driving an XR-E from 4xNiMH (with nothing more than a resistor) may overheat the emitter.
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Coast_P14_LED_Lenser_8414_Speed_Focus.php
I am not a Lenser basher, I have nothing to gain or loose from my statements. I just want to look out for those members who may own this light.. a simple friendly heads up.
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no worries, it was not read as bashing, which was why i 'begged' to differ
As stated, the site says 'may', i'll take a chance on that. Perhaps i might lose some life on the LED but that's an acceptable trade off. I'll find out when i go for my Bali trip end November, i'll be bringing the P14 (amongst others) to see how it fares.
Jethro
Newly Enlightened
This may or may not be somewhat relevant to the thread... For the last year my best flashlight was a Coast LED Lenser I bought for $30-40 at Home Depot. It is a 3xAAA version, and does not have an adj. beam, just a lens that focuses to a very bright spot. I was convinced it was the perfect light. Very small, cheap, lightweight and a very bright hotspot. It's worked flawlessly for the past year or so with heavy use.
Recently I came here to get info on my LED Lenser because a friend wanted to buy one. I can't find this particular model anywhere online or in a store. It took about 2 hours of browsing the forum to realize there are much better lights out there, not becasue of Coast/LL, just because there are better lights in general. Not more than a week and a half later I took possesion of my SF LX2.
About 2 days after getting the LX2 and while comparing beams outside, basically playing with the two lights, the Coast switch started malfunctioning. It's now a crapshoot as to if it actually turns on at all.
Just trying to share my experience, not bashing Coast/LL at all. This is a very simple light and shouldn't have failed... but it did and I can no longer count on it.
Who knows, maybe the SF will fail in a year as well, but I doubt it, and even if it does I will be able to have SF fix it. With the LED Lenser it's basically dumpster food.
Recently I came here to get info on my LED Lenser because a friend wanted to buy one. I can't find this particular model anywhere online or in a store. It took about 2 hours of browsing the forum to realize there are much better lights out there, not becasue of Coast/LL, just because there are better lights in general. Not more than a week and a half later I took possesion of my SF LX2.
About 2 days after getting the LX2 and while comparing beams outside, basically playing with the two lights, the Coast switch started malfunctioning. It's now a crapshoot as to if it actually turns on at all.
Just trying to share my experience, not bashing Coast/LL at all. This is a very simple light and shouldn't have failed... but it did and I can no longer count on it.
Who knows, maybe the SF will fail in a year as well, but I doubt it, and even if it does I will be able to have SF fix it. With the LED Lenser it's basically dumpster food.
SureAddicted
Enlightened
Hyperloop, hearing the pittyful excuse about "Led Lenser forbids the use of NiMH in their lights" is starting to get a bit embarrassing. I could think of a few a good manufacturers who do not recommend the use of 10440 cells in their lights, but does that stop people from using it, no. In those threads you dont hear people mentioning about that certain manufacturer who forbids the use of 10440, and they have great success. I think we both know what it comes down to, so its best to ignore statements like that. A lot of people here have great success using NiMH cells in their LL lights, myself included, so just laugh it off next time you read that kind of comment.
kramer5150, your comparing apples to oranges, the TK40 ~630 lumens will ofcourse be brighter than the P14 @ ~ 212 lumens, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out. Oh and the bit about not being compatible with NiMh, read the first paragraph.
I agree that it's not the brigtest AA light on the market, but I do believe its the best throwing AA light on the market.
kramer5150, your comparing apples to oranges, the TK40 ~630 lumens will ofcourse be brighter than the P14 @ ~ 212 lumens, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out. Oh and the bit about not being compatible with NiMh, read the first paragraph.
I agree that it's not the brigtest AA light on the market, but I do believe its the best throwing AA light on the market.
kramer5150
Flashaholic
...so we both agree on at least one thing.:rock:
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Egsise
Banned
:laughing:
Why is it so hard to accept that LL does not recommend NiMH/NiCad/lithium cells in their flashlights?
Just leave it, you should not incourage people to gamble just because you get away with it.
Deft.
whoa there
i agree with everything that's been said, heck i have thrown a 10440 into my E01 for that matter.
It may just be that LED Lenser is just playing it safe and recommending that rechargeables not be used (perhaps some product liability issue here?), i dont think they outright said that "IT IS FORBIDDEN" (spoken in a deep booming deity like voice from the heavens)
anyway, end of the day, i enjoy all my lights, i know there are bigger, badder and brighter than what i own and i can lust for those till my wallet grows fat again (if ever).
anyway, tis friday here in singapore, hope everyone has a great weekend.
i agree with everything that's been said, heck i have thrown a 10440 into my E01 for that matter.
It may just be that LED Lenser is just playing it safe and recommending that rechargeables not be used (perhaps some product liability issue here?), i dont think they outright said that "IT IS FORBIDDEN" (spoken in a deep booming deity like voice from the heavens)
anyway, end of the day, i enjoy all my lights, i know there are bigger, badder and brighter than what i own and i can lust for those till my wallet grows fat again (if ever).
anyway, tis friday here in singapore, hope everyone has a great weekend.
Marduke
Flashaholic
It may just be that LED Lenser is just playing it safe and recommending that rechargeables not be used (perhaps some product liability issue here?), i dont think they outright said that "IT IS FORBIDDEN" (spoken in a deep booming deity like voice from the heavens)
Well, to me, these statements mean "forbidden"
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=219121
kramer5150
Flashaholic
thanks... that was the thread I was looking for originally, and the one I was thinking about when I replied to this thread here.
SureAddicted
Enlightened
I going to provide 2 exerts.
1. This light in question is popular here on CPF. The Manufacturer states:
Battery: 1 x AAA, 1 x Rechargeable NiMh AAA, or 1 x 10420
(Due to the small light body size,10420 batteries
are not recommended since it may cause the light become hot very quickly.)
2. This exert is from a very well known, respected Retailer here at CPF. The light in question is very popular.
Can the **** use 3.7V lithium-ion rechargeable batteries?
No. Using 3.7V lithium-ion rechargeable batteries will lower the life of the LED and will also remove the lower output modes entirely.
The second exert, many many users here at CPF are doing just that, running 10440 in that specific light, same with the first exert. Funnily enough I never come by these comments in those threads.
Now you can interpret this anyway you want. The first I saw of people using NiMH in their LL lights was here on CPF. I followed suit. After about a year or more, I have not had any problems with using NiMH, also I have NOT come across a single thread where someone has had a malfunction due to running NiMH in their LL lights.
Seems to me like you need to use the search function, there are many here at CPF who use NiMH, its old news, but to you seems like it isnt. I'm not encouraging a single thing, I'm just echoing on what others are doing.
I provided 2 exerts, I could of easily provided more. Be my guest, use the search function, enlighten yourself.
Next time get your facts straight before you post a comment.
Egsise
Banned
And still you can not change the fact that the manufacturer does not recommend NiMH/NiCad/lithiums. :nana:
StingKing
Newly Enlightened
So sick of every time there is a led lenser thread it turns into bashing.
Stay on topic and lets keep it positive, if you dont like the lights in question and have nothing constructive to say, click the back button.
Yes, i agree the P14 is a cracker of a torch with really good throw. Its one of the most popular sellers in the camping shop i work at, and we carry a good selection of lights from surefire, olight, itp, led lenser, inova.....
The led lenser stuff sells the best cause your average customer knows nothing of regulation, lumen outputs and the like, they just see its really bright, focuses well and runs on simple batties you find at the corner store.....
Stay on topic and lets keep it positive, if you dont like the lights in question and have nothing constructive to say, click the back button.
Yes, i agree the P14 is a cracker of a torch with really good throw. Its one of the most popular sellers in the camping shop i work at, and we carry a good selection of lights from surefire, olight, itp, led lenser, inova.....
The led lenser stuff sells the best cause your average customer knows nothing of regulation, lumen outputs and the like, they just see its really bright, focuses well and runs on simple batties you find at the corner store.....
kramer5150
Flashaholic
All lights have their strengths and weaknesses. Its up to the consumer to pick products that match his/her requirements. Thus far I think this thread has been a civil and polite exchange of information, illustrating both the strengths and weaknesses of a product.
CPF is not just about glowing praise for everything.
Egsise
Banned
Yeah sorry....
You are right, for average consumer Led Lensers are great lights.
apontes
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- May 5, 2009
- Messages
- 139
Until their ~80$ flashlight gets eaten up by alkaline leakage...
I would gladly buy a P14 if not for its unreasonable price.
