LD10 ring in the hotspot normal?

Just got my first Fenix and is the LD10 R4 for about 2 weeks. I start to notice that that is a ring around the hotspot. Not terrible but since I started noticing it, it seems to be more and more obvious.

This is taken at 1/500


This one at 1/250



Both are shot at about 5.5'.

I know it is not very obvious but if you look at them closely, you can see the center of the hot spot is darker than the outer part. It is more obvious looking at the real thing than the photo.

This is my first Fenix and I have no experience of it before and want some opinion if this is normal. I saw some reviews on LD20 and LD10 on this site and the hotspots on those photos seems perfectly even light in the hotspot.

I have just got a LD10 R4. So far very impressed with its brightness (the turbo is brighter than my Quark AA regular running on a 14500), but the smoothness of the beam didn't look as good as expected.

I'll have a look tonight to see if I can spot any irregularities in the beam and report back soon.

There are a lot of guys here on CPF that knows about this much better than I do but I think it's pretty common with the XP-G emitter.
I recieved my LD25 today and it has a similar hotspot. It will give a little bit less throw I guess but in allround use I don't think it will affect the lights performance very much. There is nothing wrong with your light.
Enjoy it!

Hmmm. According to these 2 posts I found this morning.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3522561&postcount=3
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3522582&postcount=4
They seems to think it is normal and is the way it is.

Is there a way to get the orange peel reflector and whether it is an easy swap between them. I was not aware that Fenix makes 2 version of the light.

I don't believe you'll find a simple "swap" solution for changing reflectors short of buying a different light.

See post 70 in the review thread for the LD10/LD20 for an explanation of why Fenix has chosen a smooth reflector and they don't apparently plan on providing orange peel reflectors in these lights going forward.

I use my LD10 for a wide variety of purposes. I can't say that I've ever thought about the doughnut appearance while actually using the light.

But yes, there's clearly a brighter outer component of the hotspot that is easily seen when shining the light at a white wall. Since I don't often need to stare at beamshots on white walls in the dark, this doesn't trouble me. Sure I'd love for the hotspot to be more even, but I bought the light knowing about the nature of the output because the runtime and overall illumination output was more important to me. If instead a really even hotspot or a floodier light was my primary requirement, I'd surely have bought something else.

Here in Finland the only LD10 R4 version for sale seems to be OP, or atleast thats what is says in the description.

Edit:
It is sad that most big manufacturers are sacrificing tint, throw and beam quality for more lumens, while not extending runtimes.

I've just checked mine and although I wouldn't say it has a doughnut hotspot, there is a noticeable bit missing in the very centre of the hotspot which is darker.

It only bothers me when I look for it, but the brightness and throw of this torch make up for it. Mine has a SMO reflector. Overall a great torch despite this imperfect hotspot.

tandem said:

... If instead a really even hotspot or a floodier light was my primary requirement, I'd surely have bought something else.

Click to expand...

Balancing all the facts, I like the LD10 R4. However, is there something out there that has a even hotspot but everything else being equal to the LD10 R4? I really don't want to have anything bigger, longer, or heavier than the LD10 but won't mind a narrower beam with a even hotspot. What would have been your choice if you had to pick something with an even hotspot in this category?

I have the Quark AA regular and this has a very even, softer-edged hotspot which blends into the spill unlike the LD10 which has a very sharp edged hotspot. If I had to pick one of them it would be the Quark even though it is not quite as bright (even using 14500).

aau007 said:

Balancing all the facts, I like the LD10 R4. However, is there something out there that has a even hotspot but everything else being equal to the LD10 R4? I really don't want to have anything bigger, longer, or heavier than the LD10 but won't mind a narrower beam with a even hotspot. What would have been your choice if you had to pick something with an even hotspot in this category?

Click to expand...

LD10 Q5? Let me guess you chose the R4 due to the 'latest and greatest, brightest LED available'? I did so don't think you're the only one if you did.

Thinking back I would probably have preferred the Q5 simply for the increase in throw. I have my LF2XT for my close range light, so ideally I'd like a throwy-ish EDC too. I ended up getting a Quark turbo, and while I'm happy with the light overall, it has a MAJOR donut hole in the beam, it gets worse the closer you get to something. It really does show up in real world use whereas I don't seem to notice the difference with the LD10 - probably due to me viewing things further with the Turbo than the LD10, thus the hole is accentuated a little. If it were not a limited LED colour temp I probably would not use it and simply settle for an LD25.

Basically the Turbo (XP-G) achieves a similar throw to that of an XR/P-E in the same sized reflector as an LD10. Put them in the same or similar sized reflector and I think almost always the XR/P-E will throw further.

LEDburn said:

LD10 Q5? Let me guess you chose the R4 due to the 'latest and greatest, brightest LED available'? I did so don't think you're the only one if you did.

Click to expand...

I actually ordered the Q5 but received the R4. Given the first Fenix, I decided to open the package and tested it out instead of just returning it. There were no seal on the package so I could always put it back in for return if I did not like it. I wanted the throw of the Q5 but after testing the R4, the throw is acceptable to me. I then decided not to exchange it since I don't want to pay for the return shipping and wait another 2 weeks. Does the Q5 have the rough reflector for a even hotspot?

My LD20+ (XR-E Q5) has an OP reflector.

Hole in the beam is normal for this latest version of the light (xpg r4)

The LD25 I just got today has a bit of a donut ring as well. The more bizarre thing is I can make out some sort of shape/texture in the dimmer center of the hotspot. I'm going to wait until tonight to take a better look at it when it's darker and I can test it outside.

Just arrived today, an LD10 with the XPG R4 LED. And yes indeed, it does have a faint / bright ring around the hotspot. If that misnomer is allowed as a description.

It's a more impressive torch than I expected it to be. Work colleagues liked the bang for yer buck aspect, with such a small device emitting a decent dollop of illumination. Battery runtime wasn't as curtailed as I expected either, which was also a pleasant surprise. (Let it run on max, until nearly dead).


Anyway, the halo effect didn't bother me in the least. Couldn't see it.

But now I've read your post.

So it does now.

I have both the LD10 Q5 with the OP reflector and the R4 with the SMO reflector. The Q5 is my favorite with it's nice hotspot and even spill. From memory it's completely free of rings or artifacts. Not so for the R4. I find the bright ring to be distracting in real world use.

Anyone have a Q5 smo they want to trade for my R4?

Alright. I am glad about 2 things. 1) I am not crazy about the donut ring. 2) I did not get a defective light.

Reading from one of the links provided, one of the reasons Fenix switched to the smooth reflector because of "heat" to the op reflector? I am suprised that Fenix cannot mediate between the heat and donut. Does that mean the Q5 will have reflector heat problem during prolonged usage? Or the R4 generates more heat than the Q5 and thus have to switch to the smooth reflector but is ok with the Q5 and op reflector? I can tell you, I left the turbo on for over half an hour last night and the entire light felt warm to the touch, obviously much warmer toward the top.

Does that also mean the LD20 R4 is going to have the same donut ring?

I found out last night that the dim center is most obvious from say about 5' to around 30'. Below 5', the light is so close and so bright that you can't tell and beyond 30', the whole hotspot starts to dim down that you can't really tell there is a donut.

That is normal for XP-G emitters, no idea why XP-Es don't exhibit the same thing. (at least not from what I've seen.) They're probably using it with a reflector designed for an XP-E, which does have the same radiation pattern, but the XP-E has a tighter focus due to the smaller die.

I wonder if it's just an optical illusion, though? One way to test it would be to sample the brightness of the image in the center of the beam and at the edges of the hotspot, using Adobe Photoshop or something similar, and see whether the pixels are actually darker in the center. It's possible our brains are just saying it's darker in the center because we're all used to seeing beamshots that get brighter all the way to the center, whereas perhaps the brightness in this beamshot levels-off towards the center.