New Fenix TK22.

[Swedpat]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

I guess you'd need an otherwise identical control to really know if it makes a difference, but what's your opinion about the "lossless" orange peel reflector?

It's nice: provides a smooth transition between hotspot and spill with a wide corona. I would say: something like the beam of Malkoff M61 but slightly more throwy, a bit smaller hotspot.

 

[Swedpat]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

Actually maybe not everything is perfect with TK22: the regulation could be better at turbomode. As I see it it is hardly regulated at all; 680lm seems to be correct the very first part om the runtime(some minute(s) or so) but then the brightness drops and it will not take long time until it's down to 500lm and belowe.
This is only one of many examples that such a high brightness levels are too much for a single 18650 to maintain for more than a very short time.
I will do some careful runtime tests later.

 

[leon2245]

Another stupid question on this one-

There's not any aftermarket tailcaps that would fit the tk22 are there? They're not like c compatible or anything right? I thnk I'd just rather have a completely exposed protruding click switch than the partial shroud thing, if it's not going to tailstand anyway. Not to be negative, that's a tiny nit pick on an otherwise obviously awesome light, just curious.

 

[Up All Night]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

It's nice: provides a smooth transition between hotspot and spill with a wide corona. I would say: something like the beam of Malkoff M61 but slightly more throwy, a bit smaller hotspot.

Having a beam cross section similar to a M61 is definitely a good thing, the dimensions and output of this light would suggest significantly more throw.
Have you taken it outside? " Stretch its legs", so to speak.
Nice pics, thanks!:thumbsup:

 

[Swedpat]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

Having a beam cross section similar to a M61 is definitely a good thing, the dimensions and output of this light would suggest significantly more throw.
Have you taken it outside? " Stretch its legs", so to speak.
Nice pics, thanks!:thumbsup:

Not much yet, but I will certainly do! I can tell the tint is awesome, however. Again it makes me convinced that neutral is the way to go!

 

[martinaee]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

SWEET! I was waiting for somebody to post first impressions and pics of the Special Edition TK22 neutral.

In the words of Tuco from Breaking Bad: "TIGHT.... TIGHT, TIGHT!!!!!"

Looks like such a sweet light. My only reservations are that I myself prefer the smaller diameter heads that the xp-g/xp-g2 lights can provide. It's why I'm still waiting on the eventual TK11 or TK15 true replacement. Now when we get a TK(16?) with a neutral xp-g2 and this same loss-less op reflector.... then we'll talk

Hey Swedpat, do you have a TK11 xp-g r5? It has square tailcap threads and I'm wondering if the TK11 tailcap works on the TK22. I wanna see what that would look like if it works with a black tailcap. I guess you can do it with the normal black TK22 too.


---Hmmm and that's interesting that it drops down to around 500 lm in your estimation after a bit. Surely so do some of the other single 18650 lights that are advertising 900+ lumens off one 18650? I can't imagine they can stay up there long. I think this new TK22 hit a very good spot for output. I don't really care about having it hit 1000 lumens. All that does with this current xm-l2 is create more heat and less run time.

 

[Swedpat]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

Thanks martinaee!

Yes, it's really a nice light. No I have not an TK11, but I have TK10(not square threads) and TK15 S2. The bodies and tailcaps of my TK15 and TK22 are identical except from the color(both square threads) and fully interchangeable. Maybe it's the same with tailcap of TK11 xp-g r5, I can't confirm that.

Considering the best 2x18650 lights will perform 1,5-2 hour or so at 900lm, I am sure no single 18650 light can perform that output for more than a very short time(much less than half the runtime as double cells).

I will soon do a runtime test with fresh charged 18650.

 

[Swedpat]

Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

Now I have completed two runtime tests with TK22 Limited edition neutral tint.

2xTenergy LifePO RCR123. The cells have been lying 2-3 weeks after latest recharge.
After around 5% decline during the first minutes the brightness was stable until 18min 50s from start, and then it fell out of regulation.

EagleTac 18650 3400mAh: the cell was fully charged the day before with my Pila IBC charger. The initial brightness was slightly lower than the brightness after 18min with 2xLifePo RCR123, ~630lumens or so. After that it was pretty stable for 15-20min, and then the brightness continued to slowly decrease. Around 30minutes it reached 500lm and after 70min I interrupted the test(because I needed to go to bed). Next day I continued the test. The initial brightness was very the same as when I stopped it, and at around 1h 40min it reached 400lm. I then continued until slightly over 2 hours when the brightness was approximately 360lm.

Conclusion: the claim of 1h 30min at turbomode is a bit diffuse, what does it really mean? TK22 isn't really regulated at 3,7V(at least if my charger and cell work properly) and at 6V the runtime at full output will not even reach 1h with 2xCR123(based on my other comparisons between LifePO RCR and primary CR123).
I would prefer a 400lm turbomode which could provide maybe ~2,5 hour flat output with a 18650 instead of an initial brightness of more than 600lm and a decreasing brightness. Anyway; I really like this light and I think the 265lm mode will be the main mode for me!

 

[Overclocker]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

Now I have completed two runtime tests with TK22 Limited edition neutral tint.

2xTenergy LifePO RCR123. The cells have been lying 2-3 weeks after latest recharge.
After around 5% decline during the first minutes the brightness was stable until 18min 50s from start, and then it fell out of regulation.

EagleTac 18650 3400mAh: the cell was fully charged the day before with my Pila IBC charger. The initial brightness was slightly lower than the brightness after 18min with 2xLifePo RCR123, ~630lumens or so. After that it was pretty stable for 15-20min, and then the brightness continued to slowly decrease. Around 30minutes it reached 500lm and after 70min I interrupted the test(because I needed to go to bed). Next day I continued the test. The initial brightness was very the same as when I stopped it, and at around 1h 40min it reached 400lm. I then continued until slightly over 2 hours when the brightness was approximately 360lm.

Conclusion: the claim of 1h 30min at turbomode is a bit diffuse, what does it really mean? TK22 isn't really regulated at 3,7V(at least if my charger and cell work properly) and at 6V the runtime at full output will not even reach 1h with 2xCR123(based on my other comparisons between LifePO RCR and primary CR123).
I would prefer a 400lm turbomode which could provide maybe ~2,5 hour flat output with a 18650 instead of an initial brightness of more than 600lm and a decreasing brightness. Anyway; I really like this light and I think the 265lm mode will be the main mode for me!

well it used to be that runtime "specs" were determined going down to 50% of initial brighness. now ansi fl1 was specifically formulated to make the lights look better on paper. it's down to 10% i think.

all flashlights with buck-only drivers behave that way. fall out of regulation quickly. you can mitigate that by getting a better cell like LG's D1 charged at 4.35v. should keep it running longer in regulation.

or get a buck/boost like zebralight or armytek with FULL regulation. these give FLAT regulation even as the voltage goes down...

 

[Swedpat]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

well it used to be that runtime "specs" were determined going down to 50% of initial brighness. now ansi fl1 was specifically formulated to make the lights look better on paper. it's down to 10% i think.

all flashlights with buck-only drivers behave that way. fall out of regulation quickly. you can mitigate that by getting a better cell like LG's D1 charged at 4.35v. should keep it running longer in regulation.

or get a buck/boost like zebralight or armytek with FULL regulation. these give FLAT regulation even as the voltage goes down...

Yes, I actually have an ArmyTek Predator 2,5 PRO which has FULL brightness function. But I noticed the fabric setting on on my sample is STEP and I have not had the energy to find out how to adjust it to FULL brightness, the instruction didn't include in the package.
I read it in some thread here at CPF, and it's very complicated...

 

[herman30]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

http://kansalaisen.karttapaikka.fi/linkki?scale=4000&text=test&srs=EPSG%3A3067&y=6713708&x=509929&lang=fi


Here I tested my black TK22. No problem lighting up forrest line at 170m across water on turbo.

 

[blackFFM]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

Amazing finish! Looks really good. Would like to see this on a PD35 or some other lights. The TK22 is just not my type of light.

 

[phantom23]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral

Looks like such a sweet light. My only reservations are that I myself prefer the smaller diameter heads that the xp-g/xp-g2 lights can provide. It's why I'm still waiting on the eventual TK11 or TK15 true replacement. Now when we get a TK(16?) with a neutral xp-g2 and this same loss-less op reflector.... then we'll talk

The problemwith this lossless reflector is that it's not really lossless. It may not compromise the overall brightness but compromises throw like any other OP reflector so XP-G2 wouldn't throw any better than XP-G. Here are two pics from German taschenlampen-forum made by user 'cockroach', TK21 (left) versus TK22 (right):

And gif:

On paper TK21 has 468lm and 11,5 klux/1m, TK22 650 lumens and 13,8 klux/1m. But as you can see above TK22 indeed appears brighter but hotspot is wider but not more intensive at all. Throw is the same! So calles "lossless" reflector wasted all 180 lumens.

It looks even worse with XM-L2 emitter. Here's a clip from youtube with TK22 XM-L vs. XM-L2:



At 4:47 when whte balance stabilizes, you can see that XM-L2 version has even more diffused and significantly less intensive hotspot. It should be the other way round - Fenix claims that XM-L2 version has almost 5 klux/1m more!

 

[lumen aeternum]

Re: Fenix TK-22 Special Edt neutral runtime tests

well it used to be that runtime "specs" were determined going down to 50% of initial brighness. now ansi fl1 was specifically formulated to make the lights look better on paper. it's down to 10% i think.

all flashlights with buck-only drivers behave that way. fall out of regulation quickly. you can mitigate that by getting a better cell like LG's D1 charged at 4.35v. should keep it running longer in regulation.

or get a buck/boost like zebralight or armytek with FULL regulation. these give FLAT regulation even as the voltage goes down...

But does any other brand have the beam pattern of the TK22? It is exactly what I want. If I could get more runtime at turbo or more brightness that would be good.