Fenix E1 pics n beamshots

Head, standard Fenix style reflector, bezzle and lense. AR coat was good on this sample. 1 of my P1's was visibly lacking AR coating.


Driver Board: Has "L0" printed on, is it the same driver as the L0/P? Electrical contact ring around the circumference.


Inside Body. Spring to keep good tention with head and prevent battery rattle. Wished they designed the P1 like this.


Rings galore. Over exposed shot shows the outer rings.


Under exposed shot shows the inner rings.


Side shot.

The new E1 Fenix "Saturn"! :laughing:

What happened to the reflector? Haste to market it? Whats with the rings in the beam? Someone just screwed up with this model. The rest of the Fenix line is great. But something went wrong with this one.

If they only made the reflector fit..

just what i say, the reflector and emitter fit is terrible, but nobody else seem to mention it.

I have most of FENIX lights, and i love the way the emitter and the reflector fit perfect, until now.

regards.

hi guys, as u can see the pic i took which shows the rings are about 3 inches from wall.

considering the level of output the E1 gives, at a distance of say 3 meters, the only part of the beam u would be using is the central spot. the outer rings are very dim at that distance.
However if u plan to use the E1 in close range work like say 1 meter, the rings might be a little bother.

I have been using the original CMG Infinity Ultra for work in old m113, sm1 n other armour. i have to say at times the IU simply did not provide enough output.
I find the output of the E1 a good improvement for close range, and i dont even notice the rings when concentrating on work.

x2x3x2 said:

hi guys, as u can see the pic i took which shows the rings are about 3 inches from wall.

considering the level of output the E1 gives, at a distance of say 3 meters, the only part of the beam u would be using is the central spot. the outer rings are very dim at that distance.
However if u plan to use the E1 in close range work like say 1 meter, the rings might be a little bother.

I have been using the original CMG Infinity Ultra for work in old m113, sm1 n other armour. i have to say at times the IU simply did not provide enough output.
I find the output of the E1 a good improvement for close range, and i dont even notice the rings when concentrating on work.

Click to expand...

Yea but jeese, the L0P is fantastic...I wear it around my neck and it is just great. (The L0P is what we begged the Arc company to do years ago...and it`s in my opinion way better than an Arc dependability wise, as it has a spring at the bottom to prevent crushing the board...something that kills the Arc`s after a while. This is, in my opinion, why the Arc`s are so expensive...Arc knows they will to replace many of them under their warranty). The E1 is an example of a great idea (great regulation and twice as bright as an Arc)...screwed up by something so simple. I was planning to buy one. But I just can`t till they get it right.

I mentioned about the hole in the reflector being large when I first saw the E1. No one seemed to pay me any mind tho. Some of the rings look like they're due to the space between the reflector and the edge of the bezel, and the bezel itself (every little space from the end of the reflector to the end of the bezel will show, especially if the reflector isn't deep enough to direct the light to avoide those spots). I'm pretty sure the dark ring is caused by the dark space between the reflector and bezel.

@Badbeams

Haven't tried an L0P yet, i might like it even more than the E1 even.
But for now, just ordered a Huntlight FT01. I cant justify paying $33 on the L0P compared to the performance of FT01 at $29.

Anyway the E1 provides non-blinding light for close work and P1 throws great and both are pocketable. Dont see myself needing the L0P. Both E1 and P1 have great regulation, not so good on the L0P. Soon i will have the Huntlight FT01 for outdoor stuff, complete my needs... for now

Also, u can make the E1 work "tactical" like clickie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLV76-KagvU

anyone of you tried the tle-10 drop-in from terralux (btw - it's great if you're not white wall hunting) ? both, the e1 and the tle-10, use a nichia rigel led which is not designed to be focused.

anyway, once you try to focus the light, you will soon notice that the best compromise between throw, smooth output and beam color is achieved by leaving a little gap between the led and the reflector.



that's a picture of my minimag using a tle-10 drop-in. you may notice the small gap between the led and the reflector - it'll put out a rather smooth beam, slightly yellowish in color.

so, reflector placement on the e1 seems to be as good as possible and the grooves help to smooth out the beam. IMHO it's a small price to pay, for using a much more efficient led... i'm looking forward to receiving the e1s i ordered

chris

x2x3x2 said:

Also, u can make the E1 work "tactical" like clickie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLV76-KagvU

Click to expand...

You labeled that video as a P1... It should be E1

ChrisA said:

anyone of you tried the tle-10 drop-in from terralux (btw - it's great if you're not white wall hunting) ? both, the e1 and the tle-10, use a nichia rigel led which is not designed to be focused.

anyway, once you try to focus the light, you will soon notice that the best compromise between throw, smooth output and beam color is achieved by leaving a little gap between the led and the reflector.

that's a picture of my minimag using a tle-10 drop-in. you may notice the small gap between the led and the reflector - it'll put out a rather smooth beam, slightly yellowish in color.

so, reflector placement on the e1 seems to be as good as possible and the grooves help to smooth out the beam. IMHO it's a small price to pay, for using a much more efficient led... i'm looking forward to receiving the e1s i ordered

chris

Click to expand...

this was my biggest concern about the regel, i do have a TLE-10 and frankly
it's mostly hot spot and a gross tint. When i first saw the e-1 I noticed how much more gap the reflector had around the LED then the supplied 2XAAA and 2xAA 'flectors from terralux. I figured,, after reading a review that tint
was improved on the E-1 because of the gap and provided by fenix, and the reviews beamshot's looked not bad.
I had originally bought a TLE-10 for a solitaire mod with a Li ion 3.7 AAA, and i had done extensive mod's to several reflector's the only thing i was able to master as far as modding light's, (increasing the 'flector length by cutting section's from other reflector's and glueing them into one, changing the parabolic curve by the same method, cutting them down, shorting and lengthing the shank etc) much as i had done on my 5mm soli mod's. Nothing worked, just got a big flood.
a std soli 'flector bored out for a 5mm gives an excellent beam better then an ARC, and resistored with a 3.7 AAA a brighter beam with more throw and good spill.(just no regulation)
I suspect that fenix fixed the tint problem by making the reflector sit away from the SMD type LED (the accepted wisdom is in the TLE-10 the LED mount/slug cast the tint of it's mount from the edge's to the reflector, causing the wacky yellow blue, white ringy beam).
I wonder why fenix went with this LED?

I wonder why fenix went with this LED?

Click to expand...

because of this:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=126625

chris

ChrisA said:

because of this:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=126625

chris

Click to expand...

honestly there are good point's and bad point's, which "good" ones are you referencing for me? VDG

it can be driven harder than a 5mm led, therefore is brighter by a good margin and is more efficient than a off-the-reel luxeon... if you preselect the luxeons like peak does (the pacific is an awesome light btw), they get pretty close in performance, but fenix is avoiding that step by using nichia rigels. that's why the e1s are priced so low (and still offer an attractive roi for fenix).

tin has posted some very interesting graphs in the review section comparing a couple of e1s, a current model arc aaa and a peak pacific - IMHO you get a pretty good light for the price you pay. anyway, i will not stop using my pacifics or the arc that's been dangling on my keychain since almost 4 years. i like the e1 because it gives plenty of light, over a pretty long period of time from a single aaa cell and it's cheap enough that you may say "keep it" if your buddie wants to hand it back to you after a camping weekend.

chris

ChrisA said:

it can be driven harder than a 5mm led, therefore is brighter by a good margin and is more efficient than a off-the-reel luxeon... if you preselect the luxeons like peak does (the pacific is an awesome light btw), they get pretty close in performance, but fenix is avoiding that step by using nichia rigels. that's why the e1s are priced so low (and still offer an attractive roi for fenix).

tin has posted some very interesting graphs in the review section comparing a couple of e1s, a current model arc aaa and a peak pacific - IMHO you get a pretty good light for the price you pay. anyway, i will not stop using my pacifics or the arc that's been dangling on my keychain since almost 4 years. i like the e1 because it gives plenty of light, over a pretty long period of time from a single aaa cell and it's cheap enough that you may say "keep it" if your buddie wants to hand it back to you after a camping weekend.

chris

Click to expand...

very true. but my personal wish would be a similar spec but in a more standard 5mm LED shape. but I am sure there are technical reason's why one is not available. VDG

The Nichia Rigel has an impressive performance in terms of efficiency. As others said, it was simply not designed to be focused in a flashlight.
Having played with Rigels, I would say... do not beat Fenix too hard for the rings in the beam of the E1.

The Fenix E1 reflector is wasteful on purpose, to avoid the projection of an horrid beam (remember TLE10), but manages to produce a good quantity of lights notwithstanding, thanks to the ultra-high efficiency of the Rigel.


Anthony

FYI, if you take the smallest size GID o-rings that are being sold on BST, split them in half (make two half-hieght o-rings) they will fit around the Rigel and under the reflector, filling the gap. They don't glow for very long, but they do make for a nice effect and for improved cosmetics. No significant chage in beam quality though.

I don`t know at this point. You guy`s are doing a great job defending Fenix. It looks like crap in there. But if thats the only possible comprimise to get good run time and brightness...well maybe I`m coming down on Fenix to hard. Still...I just can`t buy one. Not yet. Keep on convincing me it`s "going to be OK" and, well maybe. But either way...it`s an embarrasment to look into the head. Guess I could turn it on before looking???? That might help.

Ken

You guy`s are doing a great job defending Fenix.

Click to expand...

it's not about defending fenix. it's about design limitations of the nichia rigel. frankly, i don't care at all what the internals of the e1 look like - it seems to work pretty well, that's enough for me...

chris