Fenix MC11

yowzer

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
566
Location
Near Seattle
I picked up one of these on a whim last weekend from a CPF dealer. Haven't seen a whole lot of talk about it here, so here's a mini-review and my impressions from using it for a few days.

I like the concept of an angle light with an adjustable head angle. Compared to using a Zebralight headlamp or Sunwayman L series as a task light, it's nice to be able to sit the light down and tilt the head as needed. On the other hand, people have done nifty things with ZLs and magnets to allow anchoring them in interesting positions. Can't do that with the Fenix, which has a plastic body and tailcap. It's also quite a bit bigger than a ZL.

It comes with a metal loop that can be used to hang the light from clips or whatnot; I removed it because it kept getting in the way. With the head tilted all the way up, it makes for a nice ergonomic hand light. The entire head assembly sticks out of my pocket when it's clipped in. Nice for hands-free use when you don't want to sit the light down, not so good for carrying.

Compared to the MC10, which I also played with a bit, it has a different LED (XP-E instead of some Osram? one) and a redesigned switch -- the MC10's is a small hard plastic one with a lot of resistance that hurts my fingers, and the MC11's is more of a standard booted reverse clicky.

UI wise, it's pretty simple. Click to turn on, press and hold for a few seconds to switch modes. There are some hidden blinkenlight modes accessed by a double click instead of getting in the way of the normal ones. :thumbsup: It has last mode memory.

Advertised output levels are 3, 36 and 81 ANSI lumens from an XP-E R2, which seems pretty accurate, and is a good spacing. Another level around 10 lumens would be nice, but I also don't really care for more than 3 levels with this kind of UI.

Good run times on all levels, and a nice tint with no hint of blue. It's not neutral, but it's not super cool either. :thumbsup: Beam is a typical XP-E one, with a bright, medium-sized hot spot and large dim spill area. I think a LOP reflector would work better than the SMO it comes with, but it's not a bad beam by any means. Also comes with a flip diffuser that snaps on to the bezel. The metal head gets warm pretty quickly on high. Decent heat sinking.

All in all, I quite like the MC11. It's too bulky for pants pocket carry, but it works well in a jacket pocket and is a versatile, useful light for close to medium range needs, both hands free task lighting and general handheld flashlight use.

I might be able to get some pictures up tomorrow.
 
Last edited:

skyfire

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
1,823
Location
Los Angeles
pics would be great.

i have the mc10, and have swapped in the 90 cri XPG, and stuck a diffuser film on it, and now its one of my most used lights, even more than my h501w which is now strictly a headlamp.
i love the adjustable angle head, makes it useful in so many ways. just the other day i clipped it to my neck collar on my t-shirt while i was doing some sanding as it was getting dark. using my h501w in that way wouldnt wont so well. using my h501w on my head would work, but didnt have it on me at the time.

im glad fenix redesigned the switch, and the modes seem better spaced apart. the mc10 high and med are quite similar in output to the eyes.
 

yowzer

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
566
Location
Near Seattle
A couple of my typical poor quality pictures:

mc11_lineup.jpg

Left to Right: LD10, D10, MC11, H51w, AA

As you can see, it's pretty big for an AA light.

mc11_in_hand.jpg

My favorite grip for using it as a regular flashlight.
 
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