Led Lenser P7.2 pics & thoughts

Hello everyone
Since I don't have the equipment nor the knowledge to write an actual review, and there is not a thread about the light including beamshots on the internet that I know of, I thought I could come up with this to help those who are interested in this neat little P7.2.
As English is not my native language, and I'm certainly not good at it, my apologies.
Pic heavy..



Some specs:
I believe the body material is type II anodized with a thickness of 20 micron. 1M impact resistant
My p7.2 came in a nice gift box, but i accidently ruined a corner of it as you can see.

The light is well built, from both the looks of it and the feel in your palm.










Size comparison: Maglite XL50, Led Lenser P7.2, Energizer 2 D-CELL


Beamshot comparison:
XL50, 2M



Led Lenser P7.2, 2M



Please note that the beams are much brighter in the reality. In low mode both the XL50(25 lumens) and p7.2(40 lumens) project very useful beam. Turns out that I'm also a newbie in the world of photography..photos were taken using a Canon sx210 IS, with default settings.

Led Lenser p7.2-flood, boost, 320 lumens

High, 250 lumens

Low, 40 lumens



throw, boost, 320 lumens, 20M

high, 250 lumens, 20M

Low, 40 lumens, 20M


flood, boost, 320 lumens, 3M

high, 250 lumens, 3M

low, 40 lumens, 3M


throw, boost, 320 lumens, 3M

high, 250 lumens, 3M


low, 40 lumens, 3M


Maglite XL50- high, 104 lumens, 3M

low, 25 lumens, 3M

Xl50, high, 104 lumens, 40M

low, 25 lumens, 40M


P7.2, throw, boost, 320 lumens, 40M

throw, high, 250 lumens, 40M

throw, low, 40 lumens, 40M


Maglite XL50 (left, high, 104 lumens) and p7.2(right, boost, 320 lumens)


The one thing I like about p7.2 is its neutural white tint, especially in throwy focusing mode. Looks almost identical to sunlight. On the other hand, XL50 has a cool white tint, which I don't find very appealing.

pros:
great focusing system(AFS)
looks cool
well built
lanyard
tailstand
AAA (relatively cheap and easy to source)
large tail switch, easy to operate with gloves on

cons:
not type III HA
not regulated
no throw&spill at the same time
AAA (relatively "bad" power source compared to 18650, CR123 etc)
Led Lenser forbids users to put anything but alkaline cells into the light for circuit and LED protection (many people put ni-mh and lithium cells into it with no problem at all though.)
not IPX-8



Overall, LL p7.2 is a well built light, more than enough for "normal" people. It delivers great lumen output for general household use, and is a nice choice as a workhorse flashlight with easy to replace AAA cells. However, for flashaholics who needs their lights available in perfect condition whenever they want with regulated circuit, full water-proofness and stunning lumen output achieved by appropriate power source , p7.2 is probably not good enough. But if you want a little light with a cool focus system to impress your "normal" friends, this is the light to go.

Thanks. Nice set of photos. I am a fan of LL lights. Love the flood to throw option - very versatile.

I am a fan of Led Lenser but if a non flashaholic was thinking of buying one i would say do not waste your money and buy something better.The deal breaker for me is the lack of regulation and i am constantly walking away from these lights when sometimes i am finding them on offer at 25% of retail in the trade stores.

Many thanks for pics:thumbsup: i am a fan of lensers too,in fact my daily use in work is a t7 and when i decide a change i have been weighing this p7.2 up.9P14 just a tad too big for pocketing/ease of use. I get free batteries in work so thats no issue,also like the size of light in hand(t7),zoom is very handy too for me.See they have not addressed any anti roll still without using wrist strap to hold it(not ideal).
Cost is a down side,but i have had more than my moneys worth so far with t7.....water proof no issue as no water in work to drop it in.Lenser could have done III HA this time around as i find the II a little on soft side when dropped.

ven said:

Many thanks for pics:thumbsup: i am a fan of lensers too,in fact my daily use in work is a t7 and when i decide a change i have been weighing this p7.2 up.9P14 just a tad too big for pocketing/ease of use. I get free batteries in work so thats no issue,also like the size of light in hand(t7),zoom is very handy too for me.See they have not addressed any anti roll still without using wrist strap to hold it(not ideal).
Cost is a down side,but i have had more than my moneys worth so far with t7.....water proof no issue as no water in work to drop it in.Lenser could have done III HA this time around as i find the II a little on soft side when dropped.

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I agree. No Type III HA, resistor based direct drive circuit and the price tag are things that drive flashaholics away from LL lights. And they do roll like wheels

LL F1 has all the flashaholic properties though, but its burntime is pathetic from what i read from posts.

mcnair55 said:

I am a fan of Led Lenser but if a non flashaholic was thinking of buying one i would say do not waste your money and buy something better.The deal breaker for me is the lack of regulation and i am constantly walking away from these lights when sometimes i am finding them on offer at 25% of retail in the trade stores.

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For all we know non flashaholics don't even know brands like Fenix and SureFire, they tend to think Maglites are miracles like i used to

Vesper said:

Thanks. Nice set of photos. I am a fan of LL lights. Love the flood to throw option - very versatile.

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Agreed. I went out with non flashaholic friends last light with my p7.2, they were so impressed they kept playing with it for 20 minutes, and they yelled HOLY CRAP I WANT ONE right after they discovered the focusing system hehe.

TCY said:

For all we know non flashaholics don't even know brands like Fenix and SureFire, they tend to think Maglites are miracles like i used to

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Correct they have no idea but the big players in the retail/trade outlets have discovered there is a big market for a decent quality Led light.So today in the UK you can visit most trade stores and Tesco etc and walk out with something decent.I have made it a bit of a game buying these odd ball makes like Refrackta-Defender-Nightsearcher etc and guess what they perform great and cost a few quid compared to brands like Fenix etc.

I still buy the good stuff but still enjoy these cheaper lights and at least if they refuse to work i can easily get my money back but to date no issues.A mate bought 6 Tesco lights on offer for work for the same price as a Led Lenser off the tool vans and believe it or not is still on number one after 2 years,all the black has worn off but works a treat still.

mcnair55 said:

Correct they have no idea but the big players in the retail/trade outlets have discovered there is a big market for a decent quality Led light.So today in the UK you can visit most trade stores and Tesco etc and walk out with something decent.I have made it a bit of a game buying these odd ball makes like Refrackta-Defender-Nightsearcher etc and guess what they perform great and cost a few quid compared to brands like Fenix etc.

I still buy the good stuff but still enjoy these cheaper lights and at least if they refuse to work i can easily get my money back but to date no issues.A mate bought 6 Tesco lights on offer for work for the same price as a Led Lenser off the tool vans and believe it or not is still on number one after 2 years,all the black has worn off but works a treat still.

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If those lights are available almost everywhere that's probably a different story. It seems like nobody cares about good quality flashlights here in Sydney, even someone do they want to scrape every single dough from you. I bought my Maglite XL50 a year ago in a huge retail store and they only had Mags. From what i know XL50 costs something like $25 in the US, but I had to pay 70 AUD for mine..imagine a Fenix PD35 available in this store and they want something like 130 AUD for it. "normal" lights are available in stores like the big Energizer 2 D-cell i got for 35 AUD, but it only gives 74 lumens and has a totally unaccpetable purple tint(i mean HORRIBLE purple tint) and a weird beam pattern, and this is the kind of light general public can get access to effortless in Sydney. If they want something really decent, they will have to pay almost double the price from a retail store, or order it from the UK of somewhere else. Personally i got my p7.2 from a UK dealer, and i believe that's what many flashaholics do here when they want a nice light. (I waited for almost 3 weeks for the light, as AusPost is lazy)

To be honest I am completely shocked these are still not regulated.

I have also not been impressed with the durability in a working environment. When used as a tool the electronics give up after a relatively short amount of time, especially taking into account the price which is usually horrendously high.

It's unfortunate because I genuinely like the flood/spot function. It's not half as bad as people give it credit for.

TCY said:

From what i know XL50 costs something like $25 in the US, but I had to pay 70 AUD for mine..imagine a Fenix PD35 available in this store and they want something like 130 AUD for it. "normal" lights are available in stores like the big Energizer 2 D-cell i got for 35 AUD, but it only gives 74 lumens and has a totally unaccpetable purple tint(i mean HORRIBLE purple tint) and a weird beam pattern, and this is the kind of light general public can get access to effortless in Sydney.

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Bunnings is beginning to stock Fenix lights at almost the same rate as online stores. So far they only stock the HL10/30 headlamps, but they're $38 and $65 respecively. Granted that's about 30% more than you can buy them from Fenix-Store, but this is instant access to your light. No waiting, no hoping it comes tomorrow or in two weeks. You go in, pay your money and walk out with a decent headlamp. I'd imagine that if the sales of those continue you will see other Fenix lights make their way onto their shelves at competitive rates.

There are also several online retailers in Australia that sell quality lights at competitive rates. Torchworld is one I have used several times to source lights I want, and when you take into account the time it takes to get stuff from the US, the extra few dollars to have it here in two days is well worth it buying from the local guys.

**** Smith sell the Varta (Rayovac) Indestrucable lights for a few dollars more than what they pay in the US. You can get the 2xAA version for under $20 with batteries, and it's a half decent light for both the flashaholic and non-flashaholic alike. I've got one of each of the Indestructable series and have found a purpose for them in my collection. If anything, they're great loner lights as people can't break them and they're stupidly easy to use, plus they're cheap enough to replace if they get lost or misplaced.

jellydonut said:

To be honest I am completely shocked these are still not regulated.

I have also not been impressed with the durability in a working environment. When used as a tool the electronics give up after a relatively short amount of time, especially taking into account the price which is usually horrendously high.

It's unfortunate because I genuinely like the flood/spot function. It's not half as bad as people give it credit for.

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I think the M series are regulated lights. P series are..pathetic series

And yes MANY people like LL's focusing system but end up getting something else because they are not regulated, not waterproof etc.

Jash said:

Bunnings is beginning to stock Fenix lights at almost the same rate as online stores. So far they only stock the HL10/30 headlamps, but they're $38 and $65 respecively. Granted that's about 30% more than you can buy them from Fenix-Store, but this is instant access to your light. No waiting, no hoping it comes tomorrow or in two weeks. You go in, pay your money and walk out with a decent headlamp. I'd imagine that if the sales of those continue you will see other Fenix lights make their way onto their shelves at competitive rates.

There are also several online retailers in Australia that sell quality lights at competitive rates. Torchworld is one I have used several times to source lights I want, and when you take into account the time it takes to get stuff from the US, the extra few dollars to have it here in two days is well worth it buying from the local guys.

**** Smith sell the Varta (Rayovac) Indestrucable lights for a few dollars more than what they pay in the US. You can get the 2xAA version for under $20 with batteries, and it's a half decent light for both the flashaholic and non-flashaholic alike. I've got one of each of the Indestructable series and have found a purpose for them in my collection. If anything, they're great loner lights as people can't break them and they're stupidly easy to use, plus they're cheap enough to replace if they get lost or misplaced.

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Glad to hear that Bunnings are catching up. I do hope one day Aussies can get instant access to all the decent lights. And i agree that it is better to pay an extra few bucks to get the light you want in one or two days instead of three weeks

Good torch, really wide beam!

A question regarding the lens. Have you noticed with other lenser models that the lens leaks some light to decoration ring? Is it a drawback from extending the wide end of the zoom, or is it new designed feature to leak some light through lens on the red decoration ring? slight intensity loss can be seen with sealing bounce when zooming. Nevertheless this is by far the widest beam i have seen on lensers


The thing that bothers me is that i assumed 7.2 is not resistor regulated any more, but it still is. Thing that is the most tricky one is how can the led survive as there are zero resistance measured (measured from the cartridge connections that connects to the button) when button is pressed all the way? People do use high end rechargeables on it, like on P7's, and those are well capable of driving destructive current to led. How can it survive?

I took a photo of it. But just can not find a way to attach it here..

R_finland said:

The thing that bothers me is that i assumed 7.2 is not resistor regulated any more, but it still is. Thing that is the most tricky one is how can the led survive as there are zero resistance measured (measured from the cartridge connections that connects to the button) when button is pressed all the way? People do use high end rechargeables on it, like on P7's, and those are well capable of driving destructive current to led. How can it survive?

I took a photo of it. But just can not find a way to attach it here..

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Try hosting the photo on a site like postimage.

I don't think it is a good idea to drive the LED without a resistor even when you take into account the internal resistance of alkaline batteries. Perhaps there is resistance along the circuit somewhere. In the wires going to LED maybe? What was the resistance for all the other modes?

Hi Floppy

Measured resistances were 1.8 and 24.5. Button pressed down it was 0.1 ohms. Next I loaded holder with 1.4A load and got 4 volts to the connector pins (800 mah eneloops perhaps around 3/4 charged). I'm not sure what is the led exactly that P7.2 uses. What i searched from Cree's datasheets i think it is 1,5A/3.1V (continuous/hot) rated. Curiosity woke up with this, so need to feed 1A constant current to the led through holder contacts some day and see how many volts will my power supply shows then.

At least, with eneloops, brightness difference between announced high and boost mode seems not to be so big that my conclusion by far is that led is not being overdriven with eneloops. Actually with freash alkalinens, behaviour seems to be equal.

R_finland said:

I took a photo of it. But just can not find a way to attach it here..

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Sticky Posting photos .

Norm

TCY said:

cons:
no throw&spill at the same time

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Now this is good joke! The biggest problem is, when You are blinded, by to strong throw (bright hot spot), when You are trying to read something from small distance, even at lowest light-power (Fenix E40 have this problem). So ... "no throw&spill at the same time" is a VERY GOOD THING (because You will be not blinded !)

TCY said:

cons:
not regulated

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Regulated = constant brightness ?
Yes ... brightness is not constant, but there is no any PWM flickering (and this is good), and the accu isn't tortured by high current at the end of energy (stabilizers strongly boost current when the battery is low).

So brightness stabilisation have cons and pros.

R_finland said:

Good torch, really wide beam!

A question regarding the lens. Have you noticed with other lenser models that the lens leaks some light to decoration ring? Is it a drawback from extending the wide end of the zoom, or is it new designed feature to leak some light through lens on the red decoration ring? slight intensity loss can be seen with sealing bounce when zooming. Nevertheless this is by far the widest beam i have seen on lensers


The thing that bothers me is that i assumed 7.2 is not resistor regulated any more, but it still is. Thing that is the most tricky one is how can the led survive as there are zero resistance measured (measured from the cartridge connections that connects to the button) when button is pressed all the way? People do use high end rechargeables on it, like on P7's, and those are well capable of driving destructive current to led. How can it survive?

I took a photo of it. But just can not find a way to attach it here..

Click to expand...

Yes P7.2's little red dots on its body do light up a bit when you turn the light on, I reckon it is intended to do so but I do not have any evidence to support it.

For the led toughness issue, Led Lenser warns its customer not to use batteries like ni-mh rechargeables or lithium batts, only non-recharageable alkalines. Before I reveive my P7.2 I did some research around CPF and other forums, and I found out that most direct-drive-based LL lights rely on the steep voltage discharge curve of alkaline batts to prevent overdrive the LED, ie as you alkaline batts get old, (direct drive)LED will be less stressed and works in a more relaxed state. On the other hand, ni-mh rechargeables have 0.3V less initial voltage but a much stabler voltage discharge curve, so your LED will work slightly harder(than alkaline batts powered) as batts drain. Although many LL users report that they put ni-mh rechargeables in their P7 or P-whatever for years without any issue(me too!), I still believe that the voltage discharge difference will cause a certain degree of luminous decay. Besides, I don't think the LED inside P7.2 is fully driven or over driven.

...But that's just me guessing in a VERY non-peorfessional perspective(and I mean it mate, I'm "unenlightened".). I'm not even sure if I'm answering your question or not. Hope it helps though.

Kyle_PL said:

Now this is good joke! The biggest problem is, when You are blinded, by to strong throw (bright hot spot), when You are trying to read something from small distance, even at lowest light-power (Fenix E40 have this problem). So ... "no throw&spill at the same time" is a VERY GOOD THING (because You will be not blinded !)

Regulated = constant brightness ?
Yes ... brightness is not constant, but there is no any PWM flickering (and this is good), and the accu isn't tortured by high current at the end of energy (stabilizers strongly boost current when the battery is low).

So brightness stabilisation have cons and pros.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Honestly before I got my P7.2, like you, I assumed that "only throw/only spill" would be an extremelly good thing on a flashlight and I absolutely adore the idea. However after some real life events I found out that I do need some spill light when I'm "throwing" light on objects, and occasionally I want some throwy beam when observing things around me. The possibility of blind yourself of loss of night vision is one of the reasons I ordered Nitecore P12 over Fenix PD35, as P12 has a 1 lumen firefly mode. But hey, this kind of problem can be easily solved by a diffuser, and it is hardly a problem to many flashlight users out there. That is only my personal preference, and I respect your opinion.

As a person who suffered from constantly dimming incandescent flashlights in childhood, I'm pretty confident to say that electrical regulation is a must have feature in modern LED flashlights, and its pros greatly outweight its cons. But again that is only my personal preference, and I respect your opinion.