Fenix LD20 R5 Beam Question

Hello, newbie here with a question. I recently purchased an LD20 (R5). I really like the build quality, and the light itself. One thing I am curious about is the beam profile.

There is a small, perfectly centered and shaped , round dimmer area in the very center of the beam. Maybe it is 10% of the main beam diameter. I've seen one or two beamshot pictures of this version that don't show this - though it may be difficult for a camera to pick this up due to brightness. This version has a smooth reflector (no dimples) which may be causing this somewhat due to focusing/chip mounting/etc.

I'm just curious if this is a defect with this particular light, or is it normal. If it's normal I am OK with it, though I don't have anything to judge it against.

Any thoughts from others who have this version of the LD20?

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago. It seems that this is very common, most people do have a hole of some sort, some people have a really bad dark donut hole, mine only had a slightly dimmer patch in the middle of the beam, and some really lucky people got a proper hotspot with no hole. If it bothers you return it to the dealer

Don't worry about it. In no way would that be an issue in real world use. I have some with a donut hole and others without. Once away from a white wall they all look the same.

It does have donut hole. I find that it really bothers me in real world use. At this point, I sell or send back any lights that have noticable donut hole. It seems most manufacturers have figured a way around this isue with OP reflectors and better designed reflectors because I have purchased only one light with donut hole in the last 6 months or so (A Thrunite Neutron with the newly redesigned reflector that now has the worst beam I've ever seen).

Hi there. I just got my LD20 R5 last Friday night. Never really noticed it until I looked real close and made sure that the flashlight is perfectly still and against a perfectly even colored wall. Now that I notice it, I notice it. I seriously doubt it will affect any real world visibility though. At least to my noob eyes. I don't know if I would go thru the hassle of returning it or selling it because of that. Although, yours may be a lot worse than mine.

Anyways, I hope that you find one that doesn't have it!

Johnny

mod Your beam

As is commonly known for since the Fenix' are build with the 2-parts bezel, You can mod the beam.
Just move the 2 parts of the bezel slightly and try to get "Your" beam.

Agreed, there is only a small level of useful modding - just a few degrees of tilting - but if it helps ...
When it was too much and the beam got worse finally, just screw everything together fully, like it was before.

... thick rubber band around both parts to have a grip and tilt.
There is some material on the threads, so that the normal positionin of the head for the level choice remains intact afterwards.

Yes, thanks for the help. I looked at it again last night, and it's not really that noticeable. Actually it's just a slightly dimmer small "spot" in the dead center of the hotspot, rather than an actual donut per se.

It's not really a big deal to me, since after more searching I see that it is not uncommon with the XP-G and the deep smooth reflector. I've also read quite a few posts concerning this about other quality brands/models, for that matter.

Funny thing I found in my searching was a beamshot of an older maglite with a BAD donut. I've had several of those over the years, and come to think of it, they had some very uneven beam profiles and I never cared then.