dealgrabber2002
Flashlight Enthusiast
I guess it's really designed for inside the tent or somewhere with trees with low hanging branches.
*new* Fenix CL20: portable camping light with neutral white and red leds
- Thread starter kj75
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It looks like they did a nice job with the lumens output and runtime. I imagine that with the multiple emitters, the not too high lumen count, and the clear but faceted diffuser, the lantern may not put out too much glare. If you need more light for an area, then you may need two lanterns.
If it was ten dollars less, and could take an 18650 battery, I'd say it was a winner. Of course I have not seen the beam, if it is only good as a tent light, THAT would be disappointing.
If it was ten dollars less, and could take an 18650 battery, I'd say it was a winner. Of course I have not seen the beam, if it is only good as a tent light, THAT would be disappointing.
Phaserburn
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have one on the way to me; looking forward to trying it out. 160 lumens is actually quite respectable in the battery powered lantern world. Most small AA lanterns are in that arena.
dealgrabber2002
Flashlight Enthusiast
Is not the brightness I am curious about, it's plenty bright. It's can it illuminates the table while eating because it doesn't have a cone reflector to reflect the light downward like traditional lanterns.
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rookiedaddy
Enlightened
took a couple of pics for comparisons, hope it helps...
All photos taken with same manual settings. First, let take a look at Surefire's with cone diffuser...
now, on to Fenix CL20...
these are not to compare brightness between E2DL and CL20, the E2DL is just conveniently within reach while taking the photos (but if you must know, the E2DL is brighter. these are taken with camera pointing to just a small area, not total brightness).
The CL20 does have a bigger dark area, the shadow, compare to lights using cone diffuser due its shape, still does a decent job of illuminating the surrounding surface tho. note that you may wanna play with the height of where you place the light. still, for optimum illumination, the light is best place downwards...
All photos taken with same manual settings. First, let take a look at Surefire's with cone diffuser...
now, on to Fenix CL20...
these are not to compare brightness between E2DL and CL20, the E2DL is just conveniently within reach while taking the photos (but if you must know, the E2DL is brighter. these are taken with camera pointing to just a small area, not total brightness).
The CL20 does have a bigger dark area, the shadow, compare to lights using cone diffuser due its shape, still does a decent job of illuminating the surrounding surface tho. note that you may wanna play with the height of where you place the light. still, for optimum illumination, the light is best place downwards...
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dealgrabber2002
Flashlight Enthusiast
Thx rookiedaddy! Exactly what I want to see. That's good enough illumination for me.
kj75
Enlightened
Got mine yesterday....
Nice light...a bit smaller than I expected...but good built quality.
Personally I would prefer a better low, but the other modes are well balanced. For low you can use red light too.
IMO this light should have a beacon mode too, I can be handy in emergency situations. Now you can use red SOS-mode.
The magnet is strong enough :thumbsup:
Nice light...a bit smaller than I expected...but good built quality.
Personally I would prefer a better low, but the other modes are well balanced. For low you can use red light too.
IMO this light should have a beacon mode too, I can be handy in emergency situations. Now you can use red SOS-mode.
The magnet is strong enough :thumbsup:
Yeah a beacon mode would make perfect sense for this light. I mean--- it looks like what I think a beacon would look like
If it had that I wonder if they could make it emit even higher pulses brighter than the max. Sort of like what they are doing with "burst" mode in a lot of their lights. My dad used to go skydiving in the 90's and had/has a strobe beacon for night jumps. If I remember correctly it's basically a flash tube with a capacitor. I think it ran on 1 D battery.
I wonder if that sort of thing could be implemented into a light like this without making it too big. Do we know what kind of leds are in this light yet? Who wants to crack one open?
If it had that I wonder if they could make it emit even higher pulses brighter than the max. Sort of like what they are doing with "burst" mode in a lot of their lights. My dad used to go skydiving in the 90's and had/has a strobe beacon for night jumps. If I remember correctly it's basically a flash tube with a capacitor. I think it ran on 1 D battery.
I wonder if that sort of thing could be implemented into a light like this without making it too big. Do we know what kind of leds are in this light yet? Who wants to crack one open?
Grizzly22
Newly Enlightened
This looks absolutely perfect for the ice fishing shelter this upcoming winter. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this.
Julian Holtz
Enlightened
Is ist possible to remove the screws visible when the battery cover is taken off, to have a look at the inside and the LEDs?
kj75
Enlightened
Blue version on HKE now..
Someone already opened it up... http://bbs.junpinzhi.com/post2_52337_1.html
BadHobbit
Newly Enlightened
Just received 4 blue CL20s. I love the smooth spread, honest 165 lumens, spacing of levels, hanging solutions, sturdy build, relatively small size ... and they are just plain cute - kind of like the original Mac in a PC world. Kudos to the design team!
I would use them mostly for tent and car camping here in Japan, but also in my fishing boat cabin ... and after looking at the Chinese link above (thanks Archangel), can think of some new uses in my apartment as well. I prefer the design of this Fenix for its even spread to the slightly larger 4 AA battery lanterns with reflective cones ... even if they come with a switch for flipping the emitters around into a regular flashlight. I have better dedicated flashlights for that ... Zebras, Derees, nichia driven key chain lights, etc. ... even a Polarion PH 50.
What I would change in a perfect world:
1 - Although it is neutral white, my aging eyes prefer a slightly warmer incan color or hi CRI — like an array of Nichia 219s. I like reading before nodding off and the warmer lights seem easier on my eyes. And a combination of high spread and hi CRI would give a big advantage of seeing more natural daylight colors when looking for small objects over a wide area.
2 - I am in the Tokyo area, so although CR123s are readily available, the bang for the buck on those batteries just don't seem to make sense ... unless CRs are better for cold climes, long storage or other advantages I am not so familiar with. If the Fenix took rechargeable RCRs, I might change my mind. But it doesn't. For my purposes, I would design it without the option for disposable CRs and therefore keep the same lumens and spread while making the light even more compact.
3 - I dumped the alkalines that came packed with it in favor of top of the line 2500 Panasonic Enloops ... had too many cheap lights wrecked by alkaline leakage. A higher spec 18650 configuration might also be interesting — especially with the latest batteries like the Nitecore 3400s. But the sheer universal availability of AAs is also hard to beat.
4 - Opening and closing it is a mixed bag. It took me a little fiddling, but the o-ring and sturdy locking mechanism make it worth it.
5 - My biggest complaint is that the springs for Enloops insertion are a bit tight. I ruined the casing on a couple of fairly expensive Enloops trying to pry them back out. Haven't tried a CR, but imagine there is a similar possibility of damage ... but who cares since you have to toss that battery anyway. Not very green. On the other hand, I hope to use my Enloops repeatedly for a long time, so I wish they would put one of those cloth tabs under the battery bay so that I can yank on the tab to pop the batteries out thus protecting the casing. I might try installing a cloth tab anyway.
All in all, I am satisfied with the price of 39.00 each — enough that I might order a couple more for Christmas presents. Good bang for the buck. Hope to see some future development with this design.
I would use them mostly for tent and car camping here in Japan, but also in my fishing boat cabin ... and after looking at the Chinese link above (thanks Archangel), can think of some new uses in my apartment as well. I prefer the design of this Fenix for its even spread to the slightly larger 4 AA battery lanterns with reflective cones ... even if they come with a switch for flipping the emitters around into a regular flashlight. I have better dedicated flashlights for that ... Zebras, Derees, nichia driven key chain lights, etc. ... even a Polarion PH 50.
What I would change in a perfect world:
1 - Although it is neutral white, my aging eyes prefer a slightly warmer incan color or hi CRI — like an array of Nichia 219s. I like reading before nodding off and the warmer lights seem easier on my eyes. And a combination of high spread and hi CRI would give a big advantage of seeing more natural daylight colors when looking for small objects over a wide area.
2 - I am in the Tokyo area, so although CR123s are readily available, the bang for the buck on those batteries just don't seem to make sense ... unless CRs are better for cold climes, long storage or other advantages I am not so familiar with. If the Fenix took rechargeable RCRs, I might change my mind. But it doesn't. For my purposes, I would design it without the option for disposable CRs and therefore keep the same lumens and spread while making the light even more compact.
3 - I dumped the alkalines that came packed with it in favor of top of the line 2500 Panasonic Enloops ... had too many cheap lights wrecked by alkaline leakage. A higher spec 18650 configuration might also be interesting — especially with the latest batteries like the Nitecore 3400s. But the sheer universal availability of AAs is also hard to beat.
4 - Opening and closing it is a mixed bag. It took me a little fiddling, but the o-ring and sturdy locking mechanism make it worth it.
5 - My biggest complaint is that the springs for Enloops insertion are a bit tight. I ruined the casing on a couple of fairly expensive Enloops trying to pry them back out. Haven't tried a CR, but imagine there is a similar possibility of damage ... but who cares since you have to toss that battery anyway. Not very green. On the other hand, I hope to use my Enloops repeatedly for a long time, so I wish they would put one of those cloth tabs under the battery bay so that I can yank on the tab to pop the batteries out thus protecting the casing. I might try installing a cloth tab anyway.
All in all, I am satisfied with the price of 39.00 each — enough that I might order a couple more for Christmas presents. Good bang for the buck. Hope to see some future development with this design.
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burntoshine
Enlightened
I've had mine for about a week and I'm very happy with this light. They got a lot of things right.
Excellent job, Fenix!
Excellent job, Fenix!
Joys_R_us
Newly Enlightened
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