TK20, first impressions.

My visual background, 20/17 vision however I have 'contrast' color blindness - means that as things have more white or black in them I have a harder time telling the difference in the colors. So take what I say with a grain of salt on the beam.

Got the TK20 after a lot of reading and waiting to make sure that it was the right light. My purpose was for the BoB (Bug Out Bag) as a beefier light to go along with the Quark Mini AA I have in there now. The Quark is nice but I treat it like a delicate candle that i don't want to ruin. Since I built off of Eneloops + Solar Charger, going with AA was the right call.

TK20 came in from 4Sevens very quickly and with no issues at a great price. Yellow handled version.

Physical impressions were very positive. Beefy, great clip, feels like it can take a serious pounding, easy interface, nice sheath, etc.

Basically I was finding that everything I heard/read about the light was 100% accurate.

I took the light out tonight for the same 4 mile walk I always do. Lots of streetlamps around with pitch black areas inbetween. Hills and ditches over 400 yards in length in some spots to light up.

The beam unfortunately fell flat for me.

First off, I was not used to a warm LED. Even though I realize that the perceived lumens will be lower, to my eyes, the LED made things fairly hard to see at range. Even though the light got there, it made things less distinct. Maybe it is my eyes only but it took over half of the walk to get used to it.

The beam profile confuses me. It is very tight. Much like a Rebel Maglite in profile. In fact I compared the 2 side by side and they are almost identical. I know this is to incresae the throw however it was not putting out enough light in low or high modes to really take advantage of it IMO. Keep in mind that the streetlamps are near'ish (usually within 100 yards or so) and putting out the same 'kind' of light, could be there is some saturation which is unfairly compromising the beam.

This tight hot spot also made up close work poor. The spill ended up being really nice in that 5' - 20' range however the hotspot became distracting due to it being so much brighter and distinct.

I tried to 'not' compare the TK20 to my E2DL however it was hard not to (although unfair).

Comparing it in throw to the E2DL you notice that the hotspot is half as big on the TK20. I think this is where is really fell flat. Since it does not have the lumens to back it up, I think they should have made it a <100 yard light and increased the hotspot in diameter. Unless you know what you are looking for or if you already found it, using the light to search would be annoying. Unlike the E2DL which has a nicely sized hotspot which allows for you to search more effectively.

So I tried comparing it to my D10.

The D10 was overall a better light to my eyes. It is not a warm version (one of the older variable models).

Up close the D10 has a much better spill/blend where it is nicer to use in that <20 yard mark.

Another note on the light is that the inductor whine on high is very noticable. The whine it puts out is clearly audible from a few feet away and up close in hand it gets annoying although it is something you would get used to over time.

As for the TK20 beam I think the best fix would be to double (at least) the size of the hotspot and give up on the advertised 150 yards that it is supposed to throw to. Even if the light reaches that far, it is not useable to my eyes at least. This would also fix the up close issue where the beam is just too segmented to really make it useful up close.

To be fair, I am seeing the value of the warm LEDs but only indoors so far. Comparing it to the D10 in a room full of pictures you can clearly see that the warm LED shows colors far more naturally. Outdoors though it does not work well for me and my eyes (so far at least).

The light will not go to waste, the plan is to give it to my father in law who will love it. It really is too bad though, I honestly like everything about it except the beam profile and the aubile whine it makes in high.

Jida said:

Physical impressions were very positive. Beefy, great clip, feels like it can take a serious pounding, easy interface, nice sheath, etc.

Basically I was finding that everything I heard/read about the light was 100% accurate.
................

The beam unfortunately fell flat for me.

First off, I was not used to a warm LED. Even though I realize that the perceived lumens will be lower, to my eyes, the LED made things fairly hard to see at range. Even though the light got there, it made things less distinct.

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This is pretty much how I felt about my TK20. I have no colour vision problems at all but the thing just seemed to paint everything out in the bush an orangey yellowy rust colour which made things even less contrasting than I saw with my cooler beams and it also made them much dimmer looking. If that's what warm/neutral leds have to offer then I'm utterly unconvinced about the outdoor enhancement thing. My TK20 might have made trees and grass a nice pretty warm colour but it did nothing to enhance outdoor vision for me at all when compared to my other torches. I'd actually buy the torch again if it came in a cool led but not as it is now.

That's interesting about the TK20 whine. Mine makes it too sometimes, but it is so quiet that I can honestly only hear it when I'm the only person in a closed room and there is absolutely no background noise whatsoever. If I'm outdoors, I cannot hear it at all unless the head of my TK20 is touching my ear.

Mine only makes the whine sometimes in high mode. It never whines in low mode. Maybe I got lucky!

I'm fully convinced that the value of LED CRI depends on the eyes of the flashlight's user. Some people can see the difference with warm/neutral LEDs or even incandescents, while others swear that their cool white LEDs are better in the wild. I honestly think that it's different for everyone and ideally you just have to try out each flashlight in its intended environment before buying it. I had the opportunity to do that so I knew that the neutral white LED of the TK20 would appeal to my eyes and that it sure does.

As for the throw versus flood, you're right the TK20 is a throw light. There is no doubt about that. The TK21, announced at the 2010 SHOT Show, will have an XP-G LED in it so that probably will make the beam more floody while decreasing the throw. I wanted a throw light so that's why I bought my TK20 with the XR-E LED in it before it was discontinued and replaced with the TK21. Unfortunately, the TK21 really has been overlooked since the TK45 was also announced at the 2010 SHOT Show.

Thanks for posting your opinions though even though they are very different than my own. I absolutely *love* my TK20 and I can't put it down.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about my one's whine and fairly pronounced preflash.

Despite the fact that I hated mine (simply because of the light that came out of it), it still had the best fit and finish and operational smoothness of any torch I've ever felt. I can only imagine how much I'd have liked it with a cool white R5 XP-G

Agree with the opinions, I think it is very subjective.

I am still confused on its purpose as a thrower. I think they over shot the range it should be effective at and with this, they took away some other great uses it could have been perfect for.

I am sitting here staring at it on the desk and everything in me 'wants' to love it. I will try it again tonight on the walk and see if my opinion changes at all. Will also bring the D10 and the E2DL along to see if I am over praising their virtues.

I don't have the whine, at least that I can hear, and I don't mind the tint. However I do think my TK20 is vastly under powered. I would rather have a white tinted R2 or R4 than a under powered warm tint.

It will be interesting to see if this light gets updated and what Fenix decides to do with it. There are a number of people who love this light.

Bill

The whine that comes from mine is only there in high mode. It is a very distinct 'weeeeeeeee' sound that is very easy to hear across the room.

Wonder if I got a flakey one?

That's odd, on high mode I am always very impressed with the power and throw of my TK20. To me the neutral tint seems to make it even brighter at a distance, you lose some of the percieved brightness of the light and its easier on the eyes, but to me that actually means that the beam is much more penetrating and allows me to see more not less either close up or at a distance.. I would have to agree that this light was not designed for close up use though.

Which is why I think making the hotspot wider would help tremendously. Like I said, going to take it out tonight. Maybe I was just getting tunnel vision due to the small hotspot and it was messing with my feelings on the light.

I will also go down to one of the unlit football fields and try it out there. Since the streetlamps are the same hue'ish I may be discounting the output.

I honestly can't believe that I am not loving this thing. After all the reading, reviews and such I was completely convinced that it was going to be more than satisfiying.

Yeah, but remember than the wider the hotspot, the less the throw, as this was designed as a tough outdoor light and so already uses a big head it seems a waste not to use that size to give it a great throw. I do agree that a floodier version of the TK20 would also be great however, and hopefully the TK21 will provide that in the future.

I also think that you will be more impressed where there is no ambient light, the similar coloured streetlights do seem to make it appear dimmer compared to more starkly contrasted cool white lights. Hopefully this will be the case.

Here's a neat video that shows one of the other advantages to the TK20 or any other neutral white LED light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFjlCIaihXc

In inclement weather, the neutral and warm LEDs cut through snow and rain much better than cool white LEDs. That may not be much of an advantage if you're not outside in the winter time though.

Jida said:

I honestly can't believe that I am not loving this thing. After all the reading, reviews and such I was completely convinced that it was going to be more than satisfiying.

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Like I said, CRI is not noticed by everyone. All of our eyes are calibrated differently. If cool white LEDs are what you prefer, then just get a TK40 and call it a day.

There are some very nice lights that I thought about buying in the past, but when I saw them in person I was very disappointed and passed on them. That just happens sometimes.

Locoboy5150 said:

Like I said, CRI is not noticed by everyone. All of our eyes are calibrated differently. .

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TK20's not a higher CRI light is it? As far as I knew it was just tinted a different colour?

What tint bin is the TK20 anyway? All I've seen stated is that it's supposed to be "neutral white", but the various shots I've come across make it look like it's firmly on the warmer side of neutral. Of course it's rather hard to tell due to camera differences...

Just got back from the walk. Took the TK20, the D10 and the E2DL.

First thing, I was a bit deluded on my mental comparison. Side by side during use the TK20 can keep up better than I thought.

The tint is why I just was not appreciating the beam at all.

I also went out into the pitch black fiedl and ran all 3 lights at various distances.

Figured out why the beam bothers me. With the E2DL the hotpsot is roughly 4x as much coverage. When you start to lift the light up from the ground you have a very nice hotspot to use as the spill quickly becomes useless.

With the TK20 you very quickly lose the spill and then all you have is a very tiny hotspot to use.

The transition from spill to only hotspot on the E2DL = great
The transition from spill to only hotspot on the TK20 = not great

When comparing the light to the D10 for up close tasks, one after the other, the TK20 is just fine for lighting up nearby things. The hotpost is too tight and not as pleasant as the D10 but it work fine.

Onc again, it was the tint that was messing with my perceptions.

Overall, I will stick to my assessment that it needs a bigger hotspot and that the whine is pretty loud. I will back off though on the tint/range/power comments since comparing it side by side with lights that do things well, it did pretty good.

If you think that the TK20 has too tight of a hotspot for you use, then definitely avoid lights with aspheric lenses. The TK20 is a complete flood light compared to those things!

If you really want to see the benefits of the neutral LED, then take all those same lights out into a dark wooded area with lots of trees. Then shine all the lights at the trees, particularly the trunks. At least with my eyes, the brown color of tree trunks is totally washed out and looks putrid with any of my cool white LED lights, while it looks perfect with my TK20. Also, note the surface textures and how they appear to you with the various lights. It's hard to describe in words, but the cool white LEDs just make everything look flat and dull compared to neutral or warm LEDs or incandescent lights. With my TK20, everything just looks alive, while my cool white LEDs make everything look dull and lifeless.

But, those are just how my eyes see things. As always, your mileage may vary.

JaguarDave-in-Oz said:

TK20's not a higher CRI light is it? As far as I knew it was just tinted a different colour?

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I don't know, but according to Fenix's website the color temperature is 4000K.

The places I walk are covered by various trees. I cannot disagree that if you are shining directly at a tree from say 20' the TK20 makes the tree look very good.

The E2DL and D10 both light the same trees up but a little less naturally.

Thing is, my use is for the BoB, not bird watching

I can see myself getting used to the temp of the beam and really appreciating how well it makes things appear *IF* the hotspot was just wider.

There are some palm trees I like to shine my lights at. Usually from about 25-75 yards away or so. With the TK20 I can see about 70% of the palm top regardless of range. With the other lights, even the D10 closer, the entire top is lit up.

So I think that I can back off on the thoughts around the tint after last night,... just not the beam profile which I think is not useful.

The TK20 i bought this week is my first foray into the world of good torches but i have to admit i hate the tint

I much prefer the bluer colour produced by my MagLED 3D which just seems more 'LEDish' to me and i think it is a purer looking light - the yellowy of the warm TK20 reminds me of the bad days of cheep incans (and my incan Mag 5d)

Otherwise i love my TK20, the beam pattern doesn't bother me too much.

I don't think the beam pattern would bother me if I never got a E2DL. It has kind of spoiled me to what a beam pattern 'can' be like.

Jida said:

I don't think the beam pattern would bother me if I never got a E2DL. It has kind of spoiled me to what a beam pattern 'can' be like.

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I know exactly what you mean. Ever since I got my Fenix TK40 I've come to the conclusion that there is no other flashlight beam pattern that is more "perfect" for my use. It's a flat out gorgeous mix of flood and throw that makes me giddy every time I turn it on. I sure hope that there is another light that has a "better" beam pattern for me, but so far I haven't found it.

Actually, the tight hot spot of the TK20 was one of the reasons why I bought it recently. I just don't have any throw lights and thus I wanted something different. That tight beam pattern and the neutral white LED were unlike anything else in my collection.