Thinking of Fenix P1D Prem. Q5

burns

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Jun 11, 2009
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Hi everyone,

After doing some research I'm thinking of ordering a Fenix P1D Premium Q5 tonight. This will be the nicest light I've ever bought, my best one now is a Brinkman (from Walmart) 2x123 which is certainly outdated and kills batts. I was deciding between a 2 batt or 1 batt light, and AA or 123. I am favoring the P1D because it seems to offer the brightness of a good 2 batt light, with only (1) 123. I will be using this for everything (around the house, camping, EDC possibly on the keychain). I just think I'll end up having it with me more since it is smaller. It seems to be able to do almost everything that a bigger 2 batt light in the same price range can do from what I've read.

Do you guys think this is a good option or would you reccomend something else instead?

Also, if I go with the P1D, what is the best deal going right now on batteries?

Thanks,

Burns
 

lightsandknives

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Aug 16, 2006
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I have 2 P1D Q5s, and they're great pocket lights. My son carries one on his keychain and wouldn't consider anything else. Great combination of size and power. You'll enjoy it.
 

StarHalo

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A lot of us, myself included, started out with the P1D, so you're in good company. You'll find it's above and beyond anything available at your local store, and will send you well on your way down the path of "well if this is this good, then what comes after this.." It's also a great light to learn proper maintenance on, since there's just the one joint and o-ring, so if you haven't learned cleaning and lubing yet, now's your golden opportunity.

I haven't gotten 123s in a few months now, so I'm not sure who has the deals; but one definite piece of advice - BUY QUALITY NAME BRAND CELLS ONLY. Cheap 123s are dangerous and have resulted in more than one exploding flashlight on these boards. Sayno, Panasonic/Surefire, Duracell, Energizer are good places to start.
 

MarNav1

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+1 to above comments. I have 4 or 5 of them. If you can get a Leefbody for one, it's a great addition.
 

burns

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A leefbody is an extended body for the light, right? Why would I need this?
 

gottawearshades

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Sep 3, 2007
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It is a great light. You might want to go to batteryjuntion.com, and grab a P1D CE for $35. The difference in output between CE and Q5 is fairly small, IMO. Also, +1 on a Leef body, if you can find one.

I picked up a couple of these for gifts.
 

burns

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Jun 11, 2009
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It is a great light. You might want to go to batteryjuntion.com, and grab a P1D CE for $35. The difference in output between CE and Q5 is fairly small, IMO. Also, +1 on a Leef body, if you can find one.

I picked up a couple of these for gifts.

It looks like the CE does 135 on high/turbo, and the Q5 does 180, that seems like a big difference to me but I'm an amateur. Isn't 45 lumens a big difference?
 

StarHalo

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Isn't 45 lumens a big difference?

Not really, here's my spiel on why:

For the layman/novice flashaholic:

There are a bunch of different variables that play into "brightness", but keeping it in layman's terms, you can boil it down to the beam profile of the light and percentages.

The beam profile (how the light looks on a white wall) can make a light seem much brighter or dimmer depending on how it's arranged. A good way to visualize this is a garden hose: Let's say you turn on your garden hose spigot to 25%, and holding the hose in your hand you just let the water fall freely from the nozzle. Then you put your thumb over the nozzle - now the pressurized water streams far out and away rapidly. In which instance was there a greater amount of water? The answer is of course that there was the same amount/flow of water for both examples, the spigot was always at 25%, you merely changed how it came out of the nozzle. Conceptually, this works with light also; you can let light flow out broadly in a nearby flood, or you can compact it into a far-throwing narrow stream - the stream can seem brighter to the eye just because it goes farther and/or has a more intense beam profile.

This matters in flashlights because a light that's a "thrower" will always seem brighter than a "flooder". A good example would be if you had a Maglite that was perfectly focused for a nice, intense hotspot. You note how bright this looks on a white wall, then remove the head from the Mag entirely and shine it at the wall again - now the wall is completely dim. In which configuration did the Mag output more lumens? Again, it was the same, the light bulb put out the exact same amount of light for each test.

So now that we know the eye can be easily fooled just by how a flashlight throws light, we must devise a way to gauge *total output*, not just the output in one small area. This test is called ceiling bounce.

When you shine a flashlight at the ceiling of a darkened room, the room as you see it is now lit only by the *total output* of that light - you've removed the element of beam profile and can now see, at least roughly, how much light is being emitted. The test goes something like this; Standing in a pitch black room with two flashlights you want to compare, you shine the first light at the ceiling - you have to shine it in such a way that you can't see the end of the flashlight itself or the beam profile, so pointing it up next to your ear works nicely. Now you're seeing the room lit by the total output of that light. Next, close your eyes, turn off or cover light one and switch to light two, and open your eyes - is the room brighter or dimmer? The answer will reveal which light has more *lumens* regardless of *throw*. (This method works very quickly and decisively when the two lights are more than 20% disparate, below that and you may need to view the room for a full minute or so and then switch lights to catch the tiny discrepancies.)

And speaking of percentages, they're something you have to take into consideration when looking a lumen numbers. Let's say you're outdoors on a moonless night, and you turn on a 180 lumen light; it will appear very bright and you'll be able to light your way easily. So then you increase your light output to 220 lumens, that's just a little bit brighter, enough that you notice a marginal difference. But here's the kicker - let's say in the same situation, you instead have only a 1 lumen keychain light; on fully-dark adjusted eyes, this is actually "about right" for getting around, and you can navigate fine. But then you increase your light output to 2 lumens, and WOW, that's much brighter, what a difference! Why is 1 vs 2 such a profound difference over 180 vs 220? Percentages - 220 is only 22% brighter than 180, so that's a small difference. But 2 is TWICE/100% over 1, so there's literally twice as much light. Tiny number differences make big perceived differences at the low end of the scale, but not at all on the upper end.
 

Rexlion

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The Leef body enables you to take the twisty interface P1D and turn it into a clicky tailswitch interface. Some people don't care for twisties. I kind of like them.

I almost bought a P1D as my first little EDC light, but didn't want to spend quite that much starting out. And I didn't think I would mind a single mode twist light instead of the 2 mode P1D. So I bought a Romisen RC-C3 Q5 from Shiningbeam.com. Well, I liked the Romisen very well, but I realized after a short while that a low mode was really quite useful and the Romisen lacked that. I'm mostly carrying a Nitecore D10 now. The D10 and EX10 let one choose between twist on-off and push-piston on-off... plus variable ramping between low and high, and shortcuts to either low or high, and knurling that feels great in the hand. But some days I still use the Romisen. :grin2: I don't have a clip for the D10 yet, but the Romisen can be clipped to my belt loop or inside my waistband, etc.

I still think the P1D is a nice choice, though.
 

Crenshaw

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P1D starter here!

only problem is someone lost it for me...:ohgeez: and im getting around to buying another one, thank god i have a spare leef body

Crenshaw
 

Mr_Light

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I EDCed a P1D with Leef Body for quite a while, but using an rcr123 battery it lost it's low mode. I don't know if later driver versions work better with RCR123s. I now EDC a Quark 123 using AW RCR123 cells.
 

Nos

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more or less my 1st Cree light draw me to cpf. Guess what, of course it was a P1D CE

meanwhile i lost it, found it ~6 month later, modded it with a R2 from on of the 1st batches and resold it :crazy:

Its still up to date, survived 1xx drops and i keep hearing month by month that this light is the best he ever bought :twothumbs

small, bright, reliable .... 4 what more can you ask ;)
 

Woods Walker

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It is a great light. You might want to go to batteryjuntion.com, and grab a P1D CE for $35. The difference in output between CE and Q5 is fairly small, IMO. Also, +1 on a Leef body, if you can find one.

I picked up a couple of these for gifts.

Wow for that money I could toss one in my daypack and not care about it. :twothumbs Maybe next week if the sale is still on I will get one.
 

325addict

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My first serious LED-light was.... indeed, a P1D Q5.

For EDCing, I think it's a little on the thick side. I prefer an AAA-light for this purpose.

The size/brightness-ratio of the P1D is really amazing, and beyond comparison for me to date. You'll be instantly heavily impressed by the amount of light this little one throws out :twothumbs

It has very usable settings, including a 16 hour running low if I remember right. Indeed, the decision to go for a ONE cell light is a wise one, things cannot go wrong easily as long as you buy REPUTABLE brand batteries....

Yes, it is tempting indeed to go the cheap route and buy Chinese crap... DON'T DO IT!!


Timmo.
 

burns

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Jun 11, 2009
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I bought the P1D CE for $35. I like it, and honestly I'm glad I only spent $35. I took the extra $15 and bought my wife an E01 in purple for her keychain. I like the light. It's bright and handy and I like how small it is.
 

tabetha

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Apr 12, 2009
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I have 2 x P1D CE, one a Q5 version.
The lower rated one has a dimpled reflector, and is 130Lumen(?), the 180lumen Q5 has a smooth reflector.
For me the smooth reflector is no good, and despite all the "extra" lumens, you really are hard put to tell the difference, so I conclude the dimpled reflector makes much better/efficient use of the light, certainly the beam is vastly better on dimpled reflector, so going to swap the heads/reflectors over so dimpled and 180 Lumen should be even better.
This was my first "proper" torch, and would defo buy another if needed, beam,spill,throw as awsome considering it's size.
tabetha
 

burns

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Jun 11, 2009
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I have 2 x P1D CE, one a Q5 version.
The lower rated one has a dimpled reflector, and is 130Lumen(?), the 180lumen Q5 has a smooth reflector.
For me the smooth reflector is no good, and despite all the "extra" lumens, you really are hard put to tell the difference, so I conclude the dimpled reflector makes much better/efficient use of the light, certainly the beam is vastly better on dimpled reflector, so going to swap the heads/reflectors over so dimpled and 180 Lumen should be even better.
This was my first "proper" torch, and would defo buy another if needed, beam,spill,throw as awsome considering it's size.
tabetha

Thanks for the input. I really like this light - so much that I'm thinking of buying another as a gift for my dad. I was thinking about getting the Q5, but after reading your comments I'm thinking (again) that I did the right thing by just spending $35 and getting the CE. So I will likely get another CE for my dad.
 
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