Fenix flashlight question

KarlMaldensNose

KarlMaldensNose

Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
1,342
Not sure if this is the correct forum, but...

I've made up my mind on a Fenix pd20. Since this is my first 'newer' light in ages I'm pretty clueless regarding lumens. Simple question: Even though I don't think those ancient Maglights are measured/rated in lumens, could someone nevertheless give me an approximate lumen value for what a maglight powered by 2 "AA" batteries would put out? I'm trying to determine what kind of difference in illumination I should expect by upgrading from that 2X "AA" Mag to the pd20. Thanks.
 
purely speculating here, but based on having owned an old AA incan maglight, id say they are at 20-30 lumens.

the difference should be pretty drastic.
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Not sure if this is the correct forum, but...

I've made up my mind on a Fenix pd20. Since this is my first 'newer' light in ages I'm pretty clueless regarding lumens. Simple question: Even though I don't think those ancient Maglights are measured/rated in lumens, could someone nevertheless give me an approximate lumen value for what a maglight powered by 2 "AA" batteries would put out? I'm trying to determine what kind of difference in illumination I should expect by upgrading from that 2X "AA" Mag to the pd20. Thanks.
Click to expand...
One place where you can get an idea is www.flashlightreviews.com, where the author compares all lights in the same lightbox. The numbers are not lumens, but they are directly comparable.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglight_minimag.htm

Throw: 29.73
Total: 5.80

Compared to Fenix L2D-CE (P4 Cree) rated at 135lumens

Throw: 54.58
Total: 88.00

The "total output" pretty closely approximates the difference in overall lumens, so if 135 lumens on a Fenix L2DCE is 88, then the AA minimag will be around 9 lumens on the same scale. Having used both lights, I think that difference is about right - the minimag has about as much output as the L2DCE on LOW. It's more focused, but the output is actually less.

The PD20 is over 150 lumens I think with its Q5 Cree lamp, so it will be a night and day difference. It is AT LEAST 10X brighter on max, and most likely 20X brighter within a minute, since the minimag will rapidly lose brightness while the Fenix with its current regulation will not waver.
 
One thing to note about lumens and brightness is that your eyes see brightness on a logarithmic (curved) scale, so a light that has twice or ten times the lumens will not look twice or ten times as bright to your eyes. That said, you will notice a HUGE difference between a MagLite and PD20. The smoothness of the beam alone will sell you on Fenix and similar lights for forever.

I made a video recently showing a 4D MagLite vs. a Fenix TK40. The lights are not even remotely close in power or functions, but it should give you an idea of what a crappy incandescent (bulb) beam looks like compared to a smoothed out LED beam.

Fenix TK40 Video

I also happen to know a great place to buy your PD20. They even have an exclusive discount for BF members. :D
 
storl said:
One thing to note about lumens and brightness is that your eyes see brightness on a logarithmic (curved) scale, so a light that has twice or ten times the lumens will not look twice or ten times as bright to your eyes. That said, you will notice a HUGE difference between a MagLite and PD20. The smoothness of the beam alone will sell you on Fenix and similar lights for forever.

I made a video recently showing a 4D MagLite vs. a Fenix TK40. The lights are not even remotely close in power or functions, but it should give you an idea of what a crappy incandescent (bulb) beam looks like compared to a smoothed out LED beam.

Fenix TK40 Video

I also happen to know a great place to buy your PD20. They even have an exclusive discount for BF members. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah but swap out that incandesent for a Malcov LED head and watch that Maglite toss out around 700 lumens. Lets see your fenix beat that :D
 
MutedRaccoon said:
Yeah but swap out that incandesent for a Malcov LED head and watch that Maglite toss out around 700 lumens. Lets see your fenix beat that :D
Click to expand...

It does. :)

I'm assuming you are referring to the Malkoff drop in that uses an SSC P7 LED. It's a great product, but the P7 is not as bright as the CREE MC-E that the TK40 uses.

I'm not trying to knock Malkoff's work by any means. He makes some very cool items and I am seriously looking into becoming a dealer for his stuff. The problem with a lot of the Mag drop ins using the new quad die LEDs is that Mag reflectors were not made for those kind of LEDs, so they do not collect the lights as effectively. That said, I did have a Mag with a P7 in it and it was a lot of fun to use.
 
storl said:
It does. :)

I'm assuming you are referring to the Malkoff drop in that uses an SSC P7 LED. It's a great product, but the P7 is not as bright as the CREE MC-E that the TK40 uses.

I'm not trying to knock Malkoff's work by any means. He makes some very cool items and I am seriously looking into becoming a dealer for his stuff. The problem with a lot of the Mag drop ins using the new quad die LEDs is that Mag reflectors were not made for those kind of LEDs, so they do not collect the lights as effectively. That said, I did have a Mag with a P7 in it and it was a lot of fun to use.
Click to expand...

Are you using one of his reflectors? And yes I was talking about Malkoff, I just in my late night stupor mixed Mikov and Malkoff together...Which actually wouldn't be a bad thing to mix together...a Malkoff flashlight with a Mikov blade...hmmm...

I purchased a P7 and a reflector together and its been my favorite night time toy ever sense. Though I made the mistake one time while a friend was looking for his keys in my car at night to turn it on pointing at the floor about 3 feet away...its a tad to bright for that!
 
storl said:
One thing to note about lumens and brightness is that your eyes see brightness on a logarithmic (curved) scale, so a light that has twice or ten times the lumens will not look twice or ten times as bright to your eyes. That said, you will notice a HUGE difference between a MagLite and PD20. The smoothness of the beam alone will sell you on Fenix and similar lights for forever.

I made a video recently showing a 4D MagLite vs. a Fenix TK40. The lights are not even remotely close in power or functions, but it should give you an idea of what a crappy incandescent (bulb) beam looks like compared to a smoothed out LED beam.

Fenix TK40 Video

I also happen to know a great place to buy your PD20. They even have an exclusive discount for BF members. :D
Click to expand...

I'd grab a Fenix from your site in a second were it based in Canada. Also, I've been looking for blank ferro rods for a while. Lemme know if you ever figure out how to somehow make customs and duty a non-issue;) for your northerly neighbours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top