dheim
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2011
- Messages
- 97
The TK70 is a 4xD (NiMH – recommended - or Alkaline, but can run even on 3 cells, removing part of the body) torch with 3 Cree XM-L LEDs. It sounds definitely impressive on paper, but believe me, even pictures are not enough to give a real idea of how MASSIVE is the new monster light from Fenix. Big, bad, heavy, ugly and shaped exactly like something you could find behind Darth Vader's toilet in a Star Wars movie (imperial toilet sucker TS-1)... How could I not fall in love with this thing?
size comparison: from left to right, fenix TK70 (4xD), led lenser P17 (3xD), fenix TK41 (8xAA), fenix TK45 (8xAA), led lenser M14 (4xAA), AA cell
The UI is simple and user friendly, thanks to the two electronic buttons mounted just behind the cooling fins, one to switch the light ON/OFF and another to cycle modes. Double clicking the ON/OFF button activates strobe modes, that can be changed – again – with the mode button (cycling among stunning strobe, beacon and SOS). The "ordinary" modes are 4:
Beam tint is a nice cool white, with some yellow-greenish aura around the hotspot at lower modes, but less evident than on other XM-L lights. At higher modes the hotspot is so blinding that every tint disappears.
warning! the following beamshots are not really indicative of actual brightness... wall shots are dimmed to better show tint and patterns, but in real life the TK70 (as well as the other torches portrayed) is much brighter (and definitely blinding on a white wall on turbo)! outdoor shots are all but "scientific"... i can't say how far are the trees in the background, and the torches have been held in random positions during the shooting sessions (my tripod didn't work as intended, so I had to take some picture the following night, and this created some wild variability)...
turbo (2200 lm) - the beam is clearly "lobed" and irregular.
high (930 lm)
medium (300 lm)
low (20 lm) - too close for the 3 beams to converge completely
I don't own any Olight torch, so i can't directly compare the TK70 with its direct competitors (the SR90 and SR92), but i included some comparison shot with Fenix TK41 and TK45 (both potential cheaper, more practical but much less powerful alternatives) and Zebralight SC600 (that falls in a completely different category but can directly compete with the latter two in its 5 minutes turbo glory)
TK70 turbo (2200 lm), TK70 high (930 lm), TK41 turbo (800 lm), TK45 turbo (760 lm), SC600 turbo (750 lm)
the TK70 is by far the best thrower, followed by the TK41 that has got more spill but a tighter hotspot. the TK45 isn't really a flooder, particularly when compared to a real flooder like the SC600, but for sure is more oriented for short and medium range use, with its bigger and smoother hotspot
TK70 high (930 lm), TK41 turbo (800 lm), TK45 turbo (760 lm), SC600 turbo (750 lm), TK70 turbo (2200 lm)
Impressive as it is, the Fenix TK70 is a very specialized torch, that most people will never find an actual use for. A couple of these on a fixed mount can be a much cheaper alternative to high end search HIDs, but – excluding potential professional users – who does really need 2200 lumens in a 406 x 105 mm torch that weighs 1380 g loaded with 4 cells? To make things worse, Fenix does not provide any practical mean to carry it… the included shoulder strap (for submachine gun style carry) looks cheap (every similar strap can be used, anyway), and can't be directly locked to the head but needs to be hooked at the lanyard; the whole feels uncomfortably unstable and I'm still trying to find a better way to do it… for sure, at the moment there's no brighter mass produced light (at least I think…), for long range use the TK70 it's able to out-throw even the Olight SR90 (that's much easier to carry around, by the way), and it's much cheapear than other comparable lights.
Who likes brute force, even at the expense of usability will love it. And of course will use it much less than more modest but practical torches.
size comparison: from left to right, fenix TK70 (4xD), led lenser P17 (3xD), fenix TK41 (8xAA), fenix TK45 (8xAA), led lenser M14 (4xAA), AA cell
The UI is simple and user friendly, thanks to the two electronic buttons mounted just behind the cooling fins, one to switch the light ON/OFF and another to cycle modes. Double clicking the ON/OFF button activates strobe modes, that can be changed – again – with the mode button (cycling among stunning strobe, beacon and SOS). The "ordinary" modes are 4:
- Low: 20 lm (168 h). no moonlight mode, but honestly I can't imagine anyone using the TK70 to go to bathroom at night or to read a book, so less lumens would have made no sense.
- Medium: 300 lm (15 h). more than most torches on the market, and I think that an intermediate level could have been useful, but – again – this is a big caliber, not an EDC.
- High: 930 lm (4:30 h). more light than you will ever need. Period.
- Turbo: 2200 lm (!!) (1:50 h). ridiculously bright, with a throw of 720 meters… it would be insane to use it for ambience illumination, but on ceiling bounce it turns darkness into daylight, even in a large room
Beam tint is a nice cool white, with some yellow-greenish aura around the hotspot at lower modes, but less evident than on other XM-L lights. At higher modes the hotspot is so blinding that every tint disappears.
warning! the following beamshots are not really indicative of actual brightness... wall shots are dimmed to better show tint and patterns, but in real life the TK70 (as well as the other torches portrayed) is much brighter (and definitely blinding on a white wall on turbo)! outdoor shots are all but "scientific"... i can't say how far are the trees in the background, and the torches have been held in random positions during the shooting sessions (my tripod didn't work as intended, so I had to take some picture the following night, and this created some wild variability)...
turbo (2200 lm) - the beam is clearly "lobed" and irregular.
high (930 lm)
medium (300 lm)
low (20 lm) - too close for the 3 beams to converge completely
I don't own any Olight torch, so i can't directly compare the TK70 with its direct competitors (the SR90 and SR92), but i included some comparison shot with Fenix TK41 and TK45 (both potential cheaper, more practical but much less powerful alternatives) and Zebralight SC600 (that falls in a completely different category but can directly compete with the latter two in its 5 minutes turbo glory)
TK70 turbo (2200 lm), TK70 high (930 lm), TK41 turbo (800 lm), TK45 turbo (760 lm), SC600 turbo (750 lm)
the TK70 is by far the best thrower, followed by the TK41 that has got more spill but a tighter hotspot. the TK45 isn't really a flooder, particularly when compared to a real flooder like the SC600, but for sure is more oriented for short and medium range use, with its bigger and smoother hotspot
TK70 high (930 lm), TK41 turbo (800 lm), TK45 turbo (760 lm), SC600 turbo (750 lm), TK70 turbo (2200 lm)
Impressive as it is, the Fenix TK70 is a very specialized torch, that most people will never find an actual use for. A couple of these on a fixed mount can be a much cheaper alternative to high end search HIDs, but – excluding potential professional users – who does really need 2200 lumens in a 406 x 105 mm torch that weighs 1380 g loaded with 4 cells? To make things worse, Fenix does not provide any practical mean to carry it… the included shoulder strap (for submachine gun style carry) looks cheap (every similar strap can be used, anyway), and can't be directly locked to the head but needs to be hooked at the lanyard; the whole feels uncomfortably unstable and I'm still trying to find a better way to do it… for sure, at the moment there's no brighter mass produced light (at least I think…), for long range use the TK70 it's able to out-throw even the Olight SR90 (that's much easier to carry around, by the way), and it's much cheapear than other comparable lights.
Who likes brute force, even at the expense of usability will love it. And of course will use it much less than more modest but practical torches.
