AA Lights

I was originally planning to buy a light that used a 18650, but it's been a few months since those thoughts (a costly repair took away my flashlight money) and I now have twelve Sanyo Eneloops for my camera flash. In any case, that means I can have two sets of four for the flash, and two sets of two for a flashlight.

It makes more sense for me to buy a light that uses AAs, because I already have them, and I don't particularly want to buy two 18650s and add yet another charger to my arsenal.

The Fenix L2D Q5 is quite attractive, with its multiple output levels and low price-point.

An ideal flashlight, for me, would have multiple output levels, and a switchable red / white beam. I know it's simple to make a filter out of coloured plastic wrap, but it's clunky to need to unscrew the bezel and insert a piece of plastic every time I want to swap beam colour.

Anyhow, switchable beam colour is a boon, not a necessity. Switchable output levels, however, are very important - Choosing between a bright red/white light and an adjustable white one, I figure a dim white light'll do less damage to night-adapted vision than a bright red one.

The Proton Pro probably fits the bill for you. It's 1xAA, with variable output white (comes on high ~60lumen, and can be dimmed to very low), or can come on extremely low red, and be ramped up to bright red. It can be set to momentary operation, fstrobe/SOS, auto switch off, and more. Great UI, nice little torch.

gadgetnerd said:

The Proton Pro probably fits the bill for you. It's 1xAA, with variable output white (comes on high ~60lumen, and can be dimmed to very low), or can come on extremely low red, and be ramped up to bright red. It can be set to momentary operation, fstrobe/SOS, auto switch off, and more. Great UI, nice little torch.

Click to expand...

See, that's exactly what I want. Too bad there's no 2xAA version.

Personally, I'd prefer the longer life and slightly higher output of a 2xAA version, and the increased size would be nice too, for ease of finding / not misplacing the light.

A brief comparison: L2D Q5 @ 107 lumens = 4h, Proton Pro @"100+" lumens (According to Battery Junction) = 1.5H. Assuming "100+" is a bit above 107 lumens, runtime is about equal - You just need to have a backup battery clinking around in your pocket for the Proton Pro.

However, it's got a seriously great feature set - Too bad there's no published runtime for middle-of-the-road output, just minimum and maximum.

Of course, I can get most of the same modes and red light from a Fenix by buying a $10 red filter, but that's just another accessory filling up my pocket when it's not in use.

All in all, the 1xAA size may be a boon because I could buy two and clip one to my keyring. Definitely going to consider the Proton Pro.

Don't believe the hype about the Pro's brightness, it's more like 50-60 lm, no way known 100+. Still an excellent torch though and worth considering if 2xAA is not an absolute necessity for you Deiz.

Deiz said:

The Fenix L2D Q5 is quite attractive, with its multiple output levels and low price-point.

An ideal flashlight, for me, would have multiple output levels, and a switchable red / white beam. I know it's simple to make a filter out of coloured plastic wrap, but it's clunky to need to unscrew the bezel and insert a piece of plastic every time I want to swap beam colour.

Click to expand...

Your can get a red filter for the L2D, then your do not need to disassemble the flashlight to mount the filter.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_38&products_id=338

A 2aa light like the fenix l2d q5 is nice because of the availability of that particular cell size. Especially if you have other devices that take aa's

I'm probably super biased, but nothing beats the L2d Q5 for a AA light, maybe except the L1d.

gadgetnerd said:

Don't believe the hype about the Pro's brightness, it's more like 50-60 lm, no way known 100+. Still an excellent torch though and worth considering if 2xAA is not an absolute necessity for you Deiz.

Click to expand...

That's too bad. Not that I really need high output over 100 lumens often, but it'd be nice to be able to carry just one flashlight.

At 53 lumens, the L2D Q5 lasts 10.5 hours, and you're saying the Proton Pro only outputs 50-60 lumens, but I assume the manufacturer's 1.5 hour runtime claim still stands.

Is there something I'm missing here, or is the LED in the Fenix substantially more efficient? (10.5 vs 3 hours of the Proton Pro, when a second AA is used.)

The L2d uses 2XAA.

I'm not sure. 53 lumens is emitter lumens- OTF is probably 40ish, whereas the pro is 55ish. Even so, boosting from 3V (ish) to 3.7V (ish) is a lot more efficient than boosting from 1.5 V (ish) to 3.7V (ish).

Deiz said:

That's too bad. Not that I really need high output over 100 lumens often, but it'd be nice to be able to carry just one flashlight.

At 53 lumens, the L2D Q5 lasts 10.5 hours, and you're saying the Proton Pro only outputs 50-60 lumens, but I assume the manufacturer's 1.5 hour runtime claim still stands.

Is there something I'm missing here, or is the LED in the Fenix substantially more efficient? (10.5 vs 3 hours of the Proton Pro, when a second AA is used.)

Click to expand...

Fenix have always used pretty high efficiency drivers and the latest, generally more efficient LEDs. The other reason is that stepping up 2xAA 3V to drive the LED is more efficient and doesn't flog the batteries as hard as stepping up 1xAA 1.5V.

The Pro runtime is pretty much as advertised. It's not meant to be a photon cannon, just a very useful general purpose torch. There's a couple of very good Proton Pro reviews on CPF, have a look and it will help you decide better than I can

I've got the photon pro and a L2D rebel 100. For me the photon pro has become my go to pocket light at work. The L2D is just enough bigger to not be comfortable in the back pocket of my jeans, and the lack of a pocket clip doesn't help any. Of course the L2D is crazy bright compared to the photon, however, I just don't need that much light. The beam on the photon pro has a nice concentrated (small) hotspot that I find very useful. Of course the photon also has a red led integrated into the light, which I've on occasion found useful.

Later,
HB

I pulled the trigger on a L2D Q5.

It came down to price, accessories, and availability.

For base price, the Proton and L2D were nearly tied - I added $20 to that because I bought the red filter and diffuser tip.

Turns out Fenix Canada's really close so shipping is cheap and fast.

In any case, with the diffuser, I'll finally be able to put my desk lamp in the closet where it belongs. Wireless is the future, after all.

Congrats. You're going to love your L2D Q5.

I love mine and slept with it last night.

LED-holic said:

Congrats. You're going to love your L2D Q5.

I love mine and slept with it last night.

Click to expand...

Hahaha let me know when you have baby L2Ds i will take 1 of you

Also am looking for an AA light, single preferably. Are there any alternatives to the NID? Everyone seems to think it is holy grail of EDC. I would like to have something similar, preferably US made, and I wouldn't have to wait 6 mos or buy off of ebay to have one. Does such a beast exist?