LED Lenser X21 REVIEW

[maxim0200]

Hi all,
I just purchased the LED Lenser X21.
I thought I might pop a review for you guys to drool over (i know i do).

The manufactures blurb:

This masterpiece is another milestone in our company history. The LED LENSER® X21 will cause a sensation

because it allows for a whole range of new applications in light engineering. The lamp has a light

output of up to 1068 lumens*. Thanks to the Advanced Focus System, the light cone can be adjusted

dynamically.

You must have held this lamp in your hand to be able to really appreciate it. The LED LENSER® X21 offers

a broad, circular low beam as well as a sharply focused searchlight beam. 7 ultra-bright

high-performance chips and 7 terminator lenses produce a quality of light that you have never

experienced before - a blazing beam that makes even car headlights look pale in comparison. This lamp's

lighting range is already legendary. And its impressive appearance radiates power and authority.

* Average values. May vary +/- 15% depending on type of chip and batteries.

LED 7 x Cree
Length 395 mm
Weight 1488 g
Luminous flux 1068 lm
Batteries 4 x D
Energy tank 120 Wh
Burning life 300 h
Switch Dynamic Switch
| Technical data*

After shopping around the various stores in my city the recommended retail price was around 699$ and when talking to the shops the best i could get it down to was 650$ in the end i purchased this lil beauty for 549$ AUD off eBay from a seller in Perth (I suspect the price was so cheap because they might import them directly from Germany and are not using the Australian importer ZEN imports).
Postage was 20$ registered and 4$ insurance.

For a torch 573$ is allot of money to spend (luckily the Rudd government paid for mine =D with the 900$ economy stimulus package)

Performance
This torch has a excellent performance, outstrips a 4 D-Cell maglite many fold.
I took it outside recently and I reached a visible 200m range at night (confirmed by Google earth, im sure it can go further but I have not had a chance to see as of yet)

Build quality
Case is made up from metal aluminum I do believe, it has a solid high quality feel, and much like one of the old maglite's that security guards carry around as a weapon.

Packaging
The torch was well packed. It came in a black plastic case, solid enough construction to protect the torch during normal wear and tear. The hinges for it are plastic so im not sure how long they will last.

Thoughts/Comments/Experiences
This is an excellent torch, I keep it in the boot of the car for those occasions that you need a torch and this exceeds what I was expecting out of this torch.

I can say this torch is pretty drunk proof and

The switch is a 3 state switch (off - low beam - high beam) I do like this function but the switch is extremely sensitive and I have accidentally blinded myself many times.

On my torch I have applied some glow tape to locate the torch in the dark; this can be seen in the pictures as the thick green tape.

In the pictures I have compared the LED Lenser X21 to the LED Lenser Hokus-Focus and the Maglite 2X C cell.


Pictures (apologies on the quality)

Box & Torch

Torch& Paperwork

Torch Comparisons. Left to right, LED Lenser Hokus-Focus, Maglite 2X C cell, LED Lenser X21







My attempt at beam shot on narrow beam (can vaguely see it in the dust)


Shining torch at hand at full brightness.

The following pictures are with the cameras auto adjust ON (no real comparison between beam intensity).

Narrow Beam (Spot)


Wide Beam (Flood)


The following pictures are with the cameras auto adjust OFF (black image included for reference)
Narrow Beam (Spot)

Off


Low


High

Wide Beam (Flood)

Off

Low


High

The following pictures are comparisons between the 3 lights I have

X21 & maglite

X21(Left) & Hokus(Right)

Glow Tape

Charging glow tape on x21


Charged section of glow tape

Full length of glow tape
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT] Conclusions
Excellent torch, hope you enjoyed my review, please message me if you have any requests, comments, questions and I will do my best to answer them =]

maXim:twothumbs


Over sized images deleted

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/Rules.html#siglines

 

[makapuu]

Thanks for the pictures.
Any chance for some outside beamshots.

 

[yellow]

I would not dare to post such crappy pics

 

[TITAN1833]

I would not dare to post such crappy pics

So we have a professional in the house,care to share your pictures

 

[SureAddicted]

I would not dare to post such crappy pics

That is not called for. If you don't have anything constructive to add stay out of the thread.

maxim0200, good job with the review and pics, keep it up pal.

 

[TITAN1833]

That is not called for. If you don't have anything constructive to add stay out of the thread.

maxim0200, good job with the review and pics, keep it up pal.

+1 that's what I wanted to say :twothumbs but! anger got the better of me

 

[Mjolnir]

Any chance of some outside beamshots comparing the flood mode and spot mode?

 

[monkeyboy]

Good job on the review and :welcome: maxim0200

I can assure you that your efforts are very much appreciated here on CPF. Maximum picture size is 800x800 pixels BTW.

What interests me about this light is that the spot to flood optic actually appears to work effectively. Do you notice any light loss when changing the focus? Also, is the light regulated? i.e. does the light gradually dim as the battery depletes or does it maintain full brightness then dim down suddenly?

 

[TITAN1833]

hey! monkey were you not living in Scotland awhile back? :thinking:

Apologises to maxim0200 for being off topic

 

[Gunner12]

Thanks for the review!

As a reminder, the rules say not picture larger then 800x600, so you'll have to tweak the picture to fit withint this rule.

:welcome:

 

[jimmy1970]

Boy, this thing is a beast! And it's a big brute - it's almost twice the length of my TK40! Get some good NIMH rechargable D cells and your away!!

James...:thumbsup:

 

[maxim0200]

Hello again, thank you for your comments, this weekend I will try to take it out and get some outside beam shots to you, (I will also try to hunt down a better camera).

I can assure you that your efforts are very much appreciated here on CPF. Maximum picture size is 800x800 pixels BTW.

What interests me about this light is that the spot to flood optic actually appears to work effectively. Do you notice any light loss when changing the focus? Also, is the light regulated? i.e. does the light gradually dim as the battery depletes or does it maintain full brightness then dim down suddenly?

I will post pics in smaller size next time (i did not realise the limit, apologies)
Yes the flood is verry effective it dose not have any hotspots as the 7 LEDS somehow blend with eachother.
When focusing (pulling the sleeve foward on the front of the torch) about half way there is a hot spot 'ring' around the center.
When fully focused ther is a verry bright spot of the 7 LED'd focused together with not to much spray.

I do believe it is not regulated, as the blurb dosent mention anything and when i cracked the front of it open i could not see any electronic chips, i havent ran it down yet so im unsure on that front.
ovuious.

Took this torch on a coast trip, we were flashing it around in a drunk state and verry convinently we saw 2 police hellicopters on the horison, i immediatly stashed the torch away as soon as i saw them and then sat around shitting myself watching them fly around our part of the coast with wheir kick *** floods. iff it was us i think we might have accidently flashed an aeroplane or a ship.
Are these pictures 800x 600?

Pics of the hellicopter

Its that blue thing

Its that red thing

Pictures of X21
I have taken a couple more pictures with an iPhone (2MP camera instead of that horrible aldi, noname 5mp camera)

I shall post outside pics as soon as i can, check back in a week or so and i should of done it by then =]

maXim:twothumbs

 

[maxim0200]

Boy, this thing is a beast! And it's a big brute - it's almost twice the length of my TK40! Get some good NIMH rechargable D cells and your away!!

James...:thumbsup:

I went to battery world (battery store here in aus) and they dont have any D size NIMH only NIcad, I dont want to use NIcad they take to long to recharge and they have a memory. anyway all they could offer me was hight mA AA's with a plastic insert so they fit in a D Cell.
Also the NIMH run at a lower voltage than the disposable ones so it wont be as bright (apparently).
Can anyone shead some light on this? like how AA's would perform?

Thanks,
maXim :twothumbs:

 

[houtex]

so it operates on 6 volts? someone could make a 2x123 body for it then huh?

 

[MattK]

I went to battery world (battery store here in aus) and they dont have any D size NIMH only NIcad, I dont want to use NIcad they take to long to recharge and they have a memory. anyway all they could offer me was hight mA AA's with a plastic insert so they fit in a D Cell.
Also the NIMH run at a lower voltage than the disposable ones so it wont be as bright (apparently).
Can anyone shead some light on this? like how AA's would perform?

Thanks,
maXim :twothumbs:

I would not recommend that - it's way too much current for 4 x NiMh AA's. You need real D cells, and not the 2500-3500mah NiMh kind (they're just sub C's in a casing) - either NiCd 5000mah+ or NiMh 8000mah+ - more is better. Not a factory recommend solution FWIW but I think there's many reports of it working just fine.

so it operates on 6 volts? someone could make a 2x123 body for it then huh?

no - 123'a can't safely move that much current - same problem as above

 

[Ryanrpm]

All I got to say is....that's a large light.

BTW, use a tripod while taking those outdoor beamshots, and keep your light still by setting it on something as well. Blurry pics don't do the light or its potential justice.

 

[yellow]

hey ppl,
it might be fun for You to type funny things ...

I have quite a lot pics added to my posts (mostly in "modified") and I have NO artistry interest in my pics, also my equipment is almost crap, but at least they are in focus and thus one can really see something
(which these new ones are NOT, like the ones out of post #1 which are removed now)

but I must admit: not a single pic in focus - thats really an achievement


PS: dont You think all the impression and professionality of Your "review" could improve from showing pics that are sharp?
If You use a cellular phone for taking them, put it 1/2 a meter back, take the pic and then cut the important part out and resize it.

 

[maxim0200]

hey ppl,
it might be fun for You to type funny things ...

I have quite a lot pics added to my posts (mostly in "modified") and I have NO artistry interest in my pics, also my equipment is almost crap, but at least they are in focus and thus one can really see something
(which these new ones are NOT, like the ones out of post #1 which are removed now)

but I must admit: not a single pic in focus - thats really an achievement


PS: dont You think all the impression and professionalism of Your "review" could improve from showing pics that are sharp?
If You use a cellular phone for taking them, put it 1/2 a meter back, take the pic and then cut the important part out and resize it.

I dont write reviews on a regular basis so i cannot expect any professionalism to come out of it just an opinion on what I think of this torch. I appreciate that you write good reviews but I don't have the experience nor the tools to do that so i do the best with what i can get.

As for my blury ness, i apologise AGAIN... but I blame the inside ones on the piece of s**t camera I used, and the outdoor ones, well i was rolling drunk with a s**t camera...
I shall re-shoot them when i have the chance:sigh:

All I got to say is....that's a large light.

BTW, use a tripod while taking those outdoor beamshots, and keep your light still by setting it on something as well. Blurry pics don't do the light or its potential justice.

Thankyou for your constructive positive comment, i diddnt think about doing that but i will for when i do the outside shots.
Also for the outside shots i have a better camera lined up, 8MP i think (im borrowing it from a friend).

For those of you that are interested in seeing the original photos, http://s577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/maxim0200/
(I would like to request that this link stay up as it may be inappropriate to have bad pictures on your web page but I do think its ok to let those still interested see them)

-mattkk
now that you mention it I have heard of batteries exploding from over current draw.

maXim:twothumbs

 

[maxim0200]

Hello all again!
I went out into the night and took some pics, unfortunately these are all I could get because the camera's battery died

Sewer Vent at 10m (10 yards or 32 feet)

Sewer Vent Wide

Sewer-vent-narrow

Sewer Vent at 83m (90 Yards or 272 feet) with trees behind at 140m (153 Yards or 459 feet)

Narrow Focus high exposure

Narrow Focus

Medium focus

Wide focus

Kangaroo's and Other Things

The kangaroo is roughly 50m (54 Yards, 164 Feet) away. can you see him? he is in the middle, check out my photo bucket (link at end of post) for higher-res pic.

Hopefully these are better quality, I plan to recharge battery and go out again sometime. Any suggestions?
All photos can be found at http://s577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/maxim0200/

Please feel free to ask questions, il do what I can for requests!

Enjoy
maXim:twothumbs

 

[adirondackdestroyer]

Nice beamshots.

Kangaroo's? Unreal! Do you see them often, or are they a rare site? I could only imagine seeing them all over the place like most of us in the U.S. see Deer.