New Fenix range thoughts..

[techwg]

Ah the lottery.. My tint is really nice, i love it.

 

[StriderSMF]

Mine's pretty good to perfect beam good spill decent throw i love the pd and p3d series.

 

[lyyyghtmaster]

In other news, I am now the proud owner of the only 50-cent Husky LED flashlight in the world with a Cree LED in it. :p

Don't bash yourself! Some of those cheaper (yet still reasonably well constructed) lights, with their low LED current, can make very nice late-night flood torches with an unreflectored CREE or something similar! Kind of like the Zebralight concept. This past Christmas HD had $10.00 3-packs of 2-AAA lights with (3) 5mm LEDs each, that are easy to mod and put about 100mA to the LED(s). :cool:

 

[McAllan]

Friday I got a chance to pick up my ordered PD20 and LD20 and here's my impressions.

Construction is generally very nice. Anodizing is flawless but threads and o-rings could be better lubed - no big deal, you should do it regularly anyway but like when buying a new car you don't expect needing an oil chance when driving home for the first time.
The threads at be bottom seems a bit on the fine side to me. Time will tell how well they'll stand up. Personally I'd prefer them to be a bit more coarse like the mini mag (but still with HA).

The holster is acceptable for the LD20 but I'll probably use a mini mag holster with Velcro flap (not the type you typically get with a MM) which it fits very well. For the PD20 it's a quite different story - as it's very short but head sticks out just as far as in the LD20 holster you get the feeling it could drop out just about any moment :sigh: - and it might very well do that some day. I'd definitely use another holster for the PD20 - just about any other no name holster for that size is better - or just put it in my pocket.

Then there's the tints. For the PD20 I got a very nice one but the LD20 is a bit too green for my taste - especially on the two lower modes. Guess this is the price for constant current rather than PWM regulation.
So can't really decide what's better. CC or PWM. I got an MTE C3-1 in stainless steel and as just about any other China light it's PWM but at a very high frequency one or two kHz I'd guess. It keeps it color even at lower temperatures while the Fenixes changes. The PD20 to a bit more yellow - quite pleasent. But the LD20 to :rant:greenish one. On turbo there's still a tint difference but much more suble and which to prefer is a matter of taste as the PD20 is a bit more cool.
Then there's the output. Well, it's bit mixed feelings because the MTE with a single AA NiMH puts out just as much as the others on turbo if not a tiny bit more than the LD20 - and the MTE is "only" rated 150-160 lm while the Fenix'es are 180 lm. And it even got an inferior reflector and no advanced coating on the lens - a ceiling bounce confirms that.

But all in all they tip out to the recommended side. Despite my complaints of the greenish LD20 I'd probably not notice it if it where my only LED multimode/level light.
On top if that: Where I live they only cost a tiny bit more than the original mini mag LED but yet they are far superior and the LD20 being everything the MM was expected/supposed to be - except available in outdoor shops and the like where you typically fint the MM in my country.

Both mine are with the light OP reflector. I've got an LD10 and LD20 with smooth reflector waiting for me to have time be picked up at the post office. Hope I don't get :rant: greenish ones - then I'd much prefer cooler but more neutral ones.

:rock: Pros:
-Flawless hard anodizing (you'd be very surprised if MM is all you know)
-Very nice beam (the light OP ones - cant comment smooth yet)
-Efficient driver
-CC regulation (could be a cons also)
-I like multiple modes. Strobe is pretty close to the most optimal dazzling effect :grin2:
-I like the design.

:rolleyes: Cons:
-CC regulation "enhances" the LEDs tint on lower modes. Is it neutral it'll be yellow on lower modes - it it very slightly green/yellow on high it'll be much more green on on the lower modes.
-A :ohgeez: holster for the PD20 - risk of it falling out and get lost/damaged/chipped/scratched.
-SOS is on the very slow side. SOS on my other China lights are much better even they're also a bit slow on the O. If you've once been in a situation where you'd have appreciated an SOS it'd better work good so it's easily recognized.

Then a question: Is the ring holding the switch in place glued?
I'd like to take it out in order to try a GITD cover but it seems pretty stuck. Don't know how much force I'd want to use. Anyway it should be considered user replaceable since spare covers are included :thinking:

 

[deusexaethera]

Don't bash yourself! Some of those cheaper (yet still reasonably well constructed) lights, with their low LED current, can make very nice late-night flood torches with an unreflectored CREE or something similar! Kind of like the Zebralight concept. This past Christmas HD had $10.00 3-packs of 2-AAA lights with (3) 5mm LEDs each, that are easy to mod and put about 100mA to the LED(s). :cool:

No, I mean it was literally 2/$1.00, and the LED was crap, and I took a 5W Cree drop-in from a 2xAA Maglite and installed it. It's still a piece-of-crap 50-cent light, but now it puts out a lot more light.

Dunno why I ever bought that Husky light; I had to take apart both of them to get enough well-fitting parts to rebuild one good one. But it was a fun experiment.

 

[Kremer]

... since a good number of us asked for a light like the P3D but running on an 18650 and, generally, a lower low

Same here, I have a L2D but want a P3D type and size 18650 EDC with a low voltage cutoff to make it safe for unprotected cells.

Since ordering a Jetbeam, even most of my modding stopped, they are simply great

I've been looking at the Jet-III ST and as a lower budget alternate the L-mini if they come back in stock at Shiningbeam.

 

[JWP_EE]

One difference I noticed between the L1D and LD10 was the cutoff voltage. The L1D would work down to about 0.3V. The LD10 cuts out at about 0.9V. Since I am using NIMH cells the LD10 is kinder to my cells if for some reason I don't notice the light dimming.

 

[CdBoy]

got my first Fenixes a month ago, yep PD30 and LD20!

pros: great reflector, bright Cree Q5 premium lights and nice body design.

cons: very thin aluminum body prone to dents and scratches (HA-III type anodizing paint).

overall: i rate this as 7 out of 10. 10 being the highest. am planning on getting the TK40 and/or TK11 R2

 

[Gunner12]

...(HA-III type anodizing paint)...

Anodizing and paint are two very different things. Anodizing, Paint.

For aluminium, anodizing is aluminium oxide(think sapphire in hardness) grown on the aluminium itself and is much more durable then paint. The colors of anodizing comes from dye. The different thickness, toughness, and process determins if it is Type II, Type III, and so on. Good HA is very hard to wear down. Usually if you can see metal, that means the HA has chipped away in that area instead of worn down.

Dents as in the whole body being squished or the metal itself denting?(the first happens to all Al lights and probably all metal lights in general).