Brightest Fenix single AA light?

There seem to be a good variety of Fenix single AA lights - special runs, limited edition, etc. Which one of these are the brightest in Turbo mode running a single AA rechargeable cell? A bit confusing.

Thanks,
Mo

I would have to guess it would be the l1d-ce . would advise picking up some protected lith-ions and a charger from fenix while youre at it. You won't regret it.


https://www.fenix-store.com/product...id=70&osCsid=cbc5e193fd314a12374ece30cebe72f3


90 lum turbo- prolly brighter with the 3.7v the lithion put out. <<<< I was mistaken- the max input of the l1d is 3.0v. The lithion puts out more than that and is ill advised! Appologies for the misinformation.

The L1D series is indeed the brightest 1AA light Fenix carries.

I know it looks confusing, but there's not really a big difference between the various runs. My Cree Q2 "special edition" head is only ~10% brighter overall than the standard head (which was a Cree P4). A custom upgrade to a Q5 emitter wouuld bump you up another ~10% or, on average (it varies quite a bit, due to wide bin ranges). Note that none of these make a big practical difference - although the Q2 came with an orange peel reflector, smoothing out the beam more.

As for the new Rebel versions, based on early reports here, and posted lumen output, I would expect the new Rebel RB80 head should be roughly comparable to the original Cree P4 head. The RB100 head (currently only available on the L2D) is likely close to the Cree Q2 head. Note that there are some minor differences in beam pattern between Rebel and Cree emitters.

Simply put, you'll be fine with any of them. To see how the Q2 L1D-CE stacks up to the current competition, you can see my review here:
LF5, Rex 2.1, LM301, DX X.1, C-LE, Fenix L1DCE-Q2, DX/Kai 5-Stage Review: RUNTIMES

moses said:

There seem to be a good variety of Fenix single AA lights - special runs, limited edition, etc. Which one of these are the brightest in Turbo mode running a single AA rechargeable cell? A bit confusing.

Thanks,
Mo

Click to expand...

The brightest single AA running on a standard rechargeable NiMH would be the L1D Rebel 100.

At least it would be if you could easily buy one.

Unfortunately, to put togeather a "L1D Rebel 100" from the Fenix store, you have to buy their 'premium' L2D Rebel 100 ($62.50) and then spend MORE money to buy an extra L1D single AA battery tube ($17.00), to convert the L2D two AA light back to an L1D single AA light.

Put the L2D Rebel 100 head on the L1D battery tube and you have the L1D Rebel 100, the brightest currently available Fenix 1 AA light.

If this seems like a big hassle, and you are wondering why not just buy a L1D Rebel directly? Good question! It's because some TOTAL IDIOT at Fenix decided to put a Rebel 80 into that light, and (so far at least), they don't seem to be yet offering an L1D R100 light (except possibly from some off-shore sources).

If it sounds like I am a little P.0.'ed by all this 'premium' crap from Fenix, that would be correct. There are 18 dollar lights from DX now selling with Rebel 100's so I don't need some clown from Fenix trying to con me into thinking this Rebel 100 is just sooooooooooo frigin rare that I should wait forever, and pay a big 'premium' to get one in my Fenix light (20 dollars more for an LED that costs about 2 dollars more).

How stupid do they think we are???

Jetbeam has announced a new light with a Rebel 100, and I would expect Lumapower and Rexlights to be right along side them soon, so if Fenix doesn't straighten out their act, then I have bought my last Fenix.

All my grumbling aside, I have to admit that the L1D with a Rebel 100 is a damn fine light though, so it still merits a 'buy' recommendation. If you can deal with the 73 dollars plus change (figuring in the 8% Fenix store CPF discount). If you don't mind jumping through some hoops, you can piece together your own "L1D Rebel 100" version, and that's the way I would go.

TrevorNasko said:

it would be the l1d-ce . would advise picking up some protected lith-ions and a charger from fenix while youre at it.

Click to expand...

you can put li-ions in a L1D CE?

Luminescent said:

All my grumbling aside, I have to admit that the L1D with a Rebel 100 is a damn fine light though, so it still merits a 'buy' recommendation. If you can deal with the 73 dollars plus change (figuring in the 8% Fenix store CPF discount), that it will cost you to piece together your own "L1D Rebel 100" version, then that's the way I would go.

Click to expand...

Another possibility is to purchase a regular L1D-CE and have it modded to a Q5. It's $56+$25+$40 (before CPF discount) at the Fenix-Store.com but the end result is the brightest L1D around. Quite a bit brighter than the Rebel 100 according to Chevrofreak's testing.

crislight01 said:

you can put li-ions in a L1D CE?

Click to expand...

Yes, but you lose all the modes. Just Turbo and Strobe are possible. Kinda stinks, actually... and is the only reason my DEX X.1 remains my pocket light.

Brightest would be the L2D Rebel 100 with the L1D body. I actually have this combination. I use it in 2AA mode because the turbo mode is soo much brighter then turbo on a single AA. But if you go li-ion, then go with L1D-CE as the rebel might not handle 3.7 or more volts. Or go with another brand for li-ion only use. For regular or rechargeable then the L1Ds.

musicalfruit said:

Another possibility is to purchase a regular L1D-CE and have it modded to a Q5. It's $56+$25+$40 (before CPF discount) at the Fenix-Store.com but the end result is the brightest L1D around. Quite a bit brighter than the Rebel 100 according to Chevrofreak's testing.

Click to expand...

Instead of spending the $65 that fenix-store charges you could use the same money to buy everything you need to swap in a Q5 yourself. You'd have a decent soldering station, solder and epoxy left over for your next swap. The R bins can't be too far away.

This is a new Jetbeam single AA flashlight with a ...

Edit: I'm wrong, it's a Q2 Cree.

Jetbeam C-LE Ver.2

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=169263

However, the JET-I MK.II R further down the page has the Rebel 100 and claims 180 lumens. Twice the price but sounds interesting.

Ah.. here's the difference:

"Direct current control circuit (without flickers). About 20% higher than MK.II X in efficiency, better heat control and regulation

Output Power: 360mA (1W+) when using AA battery, 750mA (3W) when using li-ion battery"

Looks like you have to use the Li-ion battery to get the big lumens at 750mA.

PocketBeam said:

Brightest would be the L2D Rebel 100 with the L1D body. I actually have this combination. I use it in 2AA mode because the turbo mode is soo much brighter then turbo on a single AA. But if you go li-ion, then go with L1D-CE as the rebel might not handle 3.7 or more volts. Or go with another brand for li-ion only use. For regular or rechargeable then the L1Ds.

Click to expand...

I think that the initial post was referring to standard Alkaline and NiMH rechargeable, and for these batteries, I agree that the L1D/L2D Rebel 100 is on the top of the heap right now. With either one or two standard 1.2 - 1.5 volt batteries, this light is awesome, and the option to use the 2 cell battery tube with it's longer run times in low and higher output in 'Turbo' is also really nice.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on Fenix, because their silly 'jump through the hoops' game with having to convert an L2D Rebel 100 into a L1D Rebel 100 will cause some folks who otherwise would have never noticed this useful flexibility to check it out.

As you pointed out, you are not only getting one of the brightest lights on the planet using 1 standard AA battery, you are ALSO getting probably the brightest 2 AA light on the planet at the same time

I also agree 100% with your comment that the Rebel could possibly be an issue with 3.7 volt cells, but frankly these cells should not be used in ANY L0D or L1D/L2D light even with the CREE emitters, because some of the recently manufactured CREE X-Lamp LED's also have lower Vf values which could cause problems even worse than the 'no low mode' problems reported. If you want to go with the higher voltage rechargeable Lithium cells it's best to go with the P3 style light which has a higher voltage light engine.

As far as the comments that the CREE Q5 is "Quite a bit brighter than the Rebel 100 according to Chevrofreak's testing", I would have to say that this has NOT been my experience.

Though the Q5 can noticeably beat the Rebel 80 (which should only be compared to a CREE P4), I have found that the differences between the Rebel 100 and the CREE Q5 are much smaller, and often favors the Rebel for any of several reasons:

- The 100Lumen/Watt Rating on the Rebel is the minimum spec (so the Rebel could be a little higher) and the Q5 minimum spec is only 107 lumens, so with a lucky bounce, you could get a Rebel that is brighter on any given day.

- The boost converter 'light-engines' in many lights like the slightly lower Vf of the Rebel and drives it better (not good for 'Direct Drive' at 3.7 volts though).

- To get the max lumens/watt you have to order the 'cool-white' versions of both the Rebel and CREE, but all of the higher power bin CREE's that I have seen have had colder [more blue] white balance than the Rebels. With the cooler [slightly bluer] color balance of the CREEs, you can actually end up with a paradoxical situation where the Rebel could actually look brighter, even when it is technically putting out a couple less lumens, because it's warmer white light is working more effectively with the eye. (the eye is not as sensitive to blue light).

The limited availability of the Q5 bin CREE's has created a certain 'mystique' surrounding them, but steering clear of the hype, I have found that the CREE Q5 and Rebel 100 are roughly on a par with each other, and that either one can be a fine choice if you are looking for the best performance possible.

Thanks guys. WHAT A GREAT FORUM!! Ask a question, get 9 responses. Very grateful.

Anyways, when I order a Fenix Rebel 100, how do I KNOW FOR SURE I'm getting a 100 and not a 80? Is the package sealed and labelled as such?

I have three L1T but that was a while back before all these special LEDs.

Thanks,
Mo

moses said:

when I order a Fenix Rebel 100, how do I KNOW FOR SURE I'm getting a 100 and not a 80? Is the package sealed and labelled as such?

Click to expand...

My L2D100 is labelled Premium 100 on the head.

My L1Tv2 Rebel 80 just says L1T/L2T V2.0.

Luminescent said:

As far as the comments that the CREE Q5 is "Quite a bit brighter than the Rebel 100 according to Chevrofreak's testing", I would have to say that this has NOT been my experience.
...
The limited availability of the Q5 bin CREE's has created a certain 'mystique' surrounding them, but steering clear of the hype, I have found that the CREE Q5 and Rebel 100 are roughly on a par with each other, and that either one can be a fine choice if you are looking for the best performance possible.

Click to expand...

I based my comment on Chevrofreak's output graph here.

It looks like his samples had the Q5 at ~180 lumens and the RB100 at around ~150 lumens.

The head will be labeled with the 100, and the package and instructions will note the Rebel 100 as well. Be careful as there was a eBay seller that had mismarked Rebel 100's that didn't have Rebel 100's. Fenix store is reliable and you can get a CPF discount. And there is a store in Japan (Pro-light?) that seems good for the few Rebel 100s they had.

musicalfruit said:

I based my comment on Chevrofreak's output graph here.

It looks like his samples had the Q5 at ~180 lumens and the RB100 at around ~150 lumens.

Click to expand...

I am curious to know where these 180 and 150 lumen estimates came from, since Fenix is claiming that real production Rebel 100 lights are hitting about 200 lumens.

This graph appears without any reference information in the tread you posted, and I assume that it is crosslinked from another more detailed thread with additional information, but I can't trace that graph back to this original thread, so I am not sure what the exact test conditions were.

I know that one common problem with trying to estimate 'total lumens' based on center beam lux readings with some modded lights vs. the newer lights is that these lights may have different reflectors that give very different center beam measurements.

For example, many modded lights use the original reflector, but many of the Rebel 100 models have the newer orange peel type reflector.

I think the orange peel reflector throws a much more uniform an useful beam, but the original Fenix Reflector seems to have been designed specifically by Fenix to create great looking test results at 'center beam' so their lights would get better 'throw' numbers than their competition, and it will give a higher center beam lux reading with the same total output on the emitter.

So to get accurate results with different reflectors, the lux to total lumen estimate process would have to be recalibrated for each light separately, and I know that some testers have failed to do this, but I can't be sure if this was a factor in this test without referring back to the original thread, which I can't seem to locate.

If you know which thread this graph was originally posted in, I would appreciate it if you could post the link.

Luminescent said:

...If you know which thread this graph was originally posted in, I would appreciate it if you could post the link.

Click to expand...

Just visit the link provided in musicalfruit;'s post, and note the link in the far upper right corner that brings you to the whole thread.

moses said:

Thanks guys. WHAT A GREAT FORUM!! Ask a question, get 9 responses. Very grateful.

Anyways, when I order a Fenix Rebel 100, how do I KNOW FOR SURE I'm getting a 100 and not a 80? Is the package sealed and labelled as such?

I have three L1T but that was a while back before all these special LEDs.

Thanks,
Mo

Click to expand...

Here is the link to the L2D premium Rebel 100 at www.fenix-store.com

L2D premium 100


Here is the link to the spare bodies for the L1D and other lights

Spare Fenix light bodies


You can get just the L1D body for 17 dollars or both a body AND tail cap switch for 24 dollars (for only an extra 7 bucks I would go for the full 24 dollar option so you have a spare switch in case it ever wears out).


Here is the direct link to the 24 dollar L1D body plus tailcap switch option:

Spare L1D body and tailcap


As others have already noted, Dave at the Fenix-Store is reliable and will make sure you get what you pay for, and your light should be clearly labled to prove you are getting the Rebel 100.

When you order the light, be sure to use the code CPF8 to get a nice 8% discount for being a member here.

Luminescent said:

I am curious to know where these 180 and 150 lumen estimates came from, since Fenix is claiming that real production Rebel 100 lights are hitting about 200 lumens...

Click to expand...

LOL. Wouldn't it be ugly if that's why they keep that turn on flash ? :devil:

Guess it wouldn't apply to the P3D though.

Those estimated numbers (180, 150) aren't real important, but the Q5 measuring higher does seem impressive.

I think the 150 and 180 came from actual measurement out of the flashlight and the 200 is estimated at the LED. So both are valid numbers and it is common for manufacturers to show output at the LED not actually out the light.