Review Fenix FD30

Thanks for this nice review with some awesome pictures !! :+1:
Greets
Carsten

Thanks for the beam shots. Unusual for a zoomy that the zoom beam has spill, but that may help give it a niche market.

Thanks for the review - the beamshot comparisons are especially useful for this light! I don’t normally go for cool white lights, but the adjustable beam on this one is tempting. I didn’t realise how the continuously-rotating beam adjustment worked - another place your review was especially helpful - but now I understand it, I consider it a really nice bit of design work from Fenix.

I notice there’s no 5 minute stepdown in your runtime chart, unlike the UC35 I have, and you mention that the FD30 thermally regulates at 65°C. Would you be able to show us a runtime chart without fan cooling, to see what the thermal regulation does?

Far from a zoomie.
It’s just a regular reflector light that can retract part of the reflector to provide only spill.

A zoomie will take the spill and focuses it forward.
This flashlight takes the regular hotspot and turns it completely into wide spill.

The opposite of a zoomie :stuck_out_tongue:

Really like the looks of this, thanks for the review!

Of course, many zoomie designs lose a lot of lumens when zoomed to a spot, because the lack of a reflector means that any light which doesn’t hit the lens directly is wasted.

People tend not to notice that, though, because the sheer tightness of a zoomie’s focus means that the remaining light is so concentrated that it overcomes the losses and achieves higher lux in spite of them.

I think there’s a niche for the FD30, especially with Fenix quality backing it up. I suspect that the FD30 would be more comfortable to use in the medium-to-spot zone whilst walking around than a zoomie set to a corresponding focus would be, because the FD30’s spill would help you avoid tripping over things, but you’d still have a bit of throw to work with, too. There probably wouldn’t be much difference between the two in the floody-to-medium zone, though.

Thank you for the review. I would not personally buy this light, but I know a couple of friends who would be very interested in a flood/zoomie type of light and based on your review, it seems to be a quality light that can do both, so will be a great recommendation.

It’s not fair to compare an expensive flashlight like a fenix to a crappy $7 zoomie.
Obviously a cheap aspheric flashlight will have an ugly beam and loose many lumens when focused.

If you compare it to REAL quality flashlights in the same price range a TIR optic is far better than a reflector and does NOT lose lumens when focusing.

Well, which flashlight in the one inch class from LED Lenser can we use for a comparison?

Nothing wrong with comparing designs, price notwithstanding.

I’ll have to take your word for that one. I haven’t seen a TIR-based spot to flood tube light that takes 18650, and I walked away from the LED Lenser AA / AAA ones when they told people that using NiMH might damage the light. In this day and age, if your AA-based design can’t cope with NiMH, I consider it defective.

Has the TIR-based state of the art moved on from that? I’d be interested again if it has.

One inch head size?
Idk about their head sizes, I just have a P5r.2 which has only 270lm but 240m throw which is more than most 18650 reflector flashlights. And it uses a 14500 battery.
1/4 the lumens but more throw? Clearly it is not “losing” lumens, it is “focusing” them forward.

What’s great about this is that the battery lasts almost 4h on max, unlike reflector flashlights which only reach 200m+ when on turbo and only lasts an hour or so.

Its not that easy. You mean this model? Led Lenser test german

I like Zweibrüder because the company is german based (solingen) and they also give honest lumen ratings and i bought the F1R as you can see in my review but in my mind you cant compare those lights or better said both systems have its advantages. Your LED Lenser is pretty large for a 14500 light and those TIR zoom lenses give you artifacts and rings as you can see in the review. Yes the cd value of the LED Lenser is higher but the Fenix dont waste its lumens, the lumens are still there as spill which is important to many people. I like reflector lights with both spot and spill because you can realize and track objects much better compared to a tiny spot without any spill. Sure, the LED Lenser can do it for 4 hours but the Fenix can do 4h30 @ high which is 350 lumens. The other thing is the LED lenser is very dimm when zoomed out because it only has 270 Lumens and according to the review in my link the beam is not as wide as the Fenix in the flood setting. Overall i would prefer the Fenix because of the reasons i mentioned but its a matter of what you want and expect from a light. The Fenix has 10K cd and the LED Lenser has 11K, thats not that much of a difference.

It is important to compare lights with similar head sizes because a larger head will result in more throw. Imagine the Fenix FD30 system in a larger light and a bit more lumens.

So this looks like “artifacts and rings” to you??

yes, the one on the right. I was refering to the pictures in the review (link).

Danke - tolles Review

Nice review and many thanks for the copious beamshots :+1: I’ve been waiting to see someone post those.

Certainly not your typical zoomie but in a good way. I’m liking it and might even give it a try when the budget allows.

Phil

Nice review and interesting beamshots.

In “spot” mode you get a narrow spill with spot. In “flood” mode you get a wide spill with almost no spot.

This beam pattern reminds me of recent Coast flashlights.

Many recent model Coast zoomies use a TIR optic and LED mounted on a post very similar to LED Lensers. The one-piece optic consists of two elements: an outer TIR reflector, and inner aspheric lens. On LED Lensers, the focal point of both elements is in roughly the same place, so that in spot mode you get near maximum possible throw with very little spill.

Coast chose to go a different route: They placed the focus of the inner aspheric lens at a different point than the focus of the outer TIR. The result is “spot” mode looks a lot like the FD30: some (but not much) throw, surrounded by narrow spill. “Flood” mode is a very wide completely uniform circle with no hotspot.

Thanks for that information about the coast light. Yes in spot mode the light is similar to a normal “throwy” reflector light. In flood mode the whole beam gets wider, there are some artefacts but its not a big deal. However in the middle position you get a slight “ring”, i guess you cant avoid that but the middle position makes no sense to me. The TIR lens has the advantage of a very bright spot. Its a matter of what you need and prefer. If you want candela at any cost and a very bright spot without spill the Led Lenser TIR Zoom System is better.

Very nice pics, I believe I just might have to get one of these. The concept is sound, your beamshots show that it does indeed work and work surprisingly well, the execution is done in a way that seems very easy to use in the field.

Fenix lights are expensive, but they do bring a lot to the table.

Well done! :slight_smile:

Thank you very much Dale. I liked the FD30, the wheel is maybe a bit to stiff for one handed operation but its possible. I have to say that i gave my light away for a passaround (german forum) and there were mixed reactions to this light. Some noted that the spill size didnt increase by much but i disagree, my beamshots and the spill gif animation shows that there is a good increase in flood, at least in my mind. The lumen ratings are very conservative as well, i like that.