Nitecore P12. Disappointing.

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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I have been looking at 2 AA type lights for a while. After sending back a Foursevens Quark pro, I decided to step up to a 18650 light. After reading a lot about this light, I decided that it might be the way to go. Well, I was wrong once…now twice.

Im not a real flashlight aficionado, so excuse my incorrect use of terms.

Ok, the good. Damn, this thing puts out a bunch of light. Moonlight mode is kind of a waste to me, but level 2 is good for most things at closer distance. Level 3 is too bright for close up work, but plenty bright for outdoor use. Level 4 is pretty amazing. I can light up my whole yard with it. I turn it on in the middle of the night and it looks like daytime. Impressive.

The UI is good. I’m not convinced that the side switch is the best method of control for me though. It has always bothered me that I have to cycle through all the modes to get the one I want. Its the same as my Fenix lights, so its annoying but not a deal breaker. Thats not limited to this light, and I knew what I was getting into. With that said, the UI does exactly what it was supposed to. The voltage indication through the side switch is pretty slick too. No need to remove a battery to check voltage, just hold the side switch, click the rear switch and release. Count the flashes.

Now the bad. I don’t buy a flashlight for gee wiz gizmos and impressive lumen numbers (although, I admit that was a factor in this purchase). I need a good beam with no “dead spots”. This light, while very bright is not brightest at the center. There seems to be 3 levels of brightness to the beam. The dimmest is the outer portion of the beam, I guess thats called the spill? Then, the brightest is a ring around the center. The center is slightly less bright than the ring. Sorry, that is unacceptable to me. If I want a dim spot in the center, ill dig out my 2D cell Maglight. It is most pronounced at longer distances, and the effect in not visible below about 3 feet. I find myself pointing the light off center so the object will be illuminated by the ring, and not the center. Very annoying. The question now is if this is a defect in a new model, or is this the way they will all be?

A bit off the subject, but I think the FL1 standard has caused as many problems as it solved. While this light blows away my Fenix L2D on paper, the Fenix wins in beam quality by a large margin. I wonder if its all about lumen count, and not so much about usability or overall quality anymore? So, I still need a light that runs on an 18650, and has a good beam with no dark spots, especially in the center. Back to Fenix? PD 35?

I’m new here, and I hope I posted in the right place. I wanted to get this info out before a bunch of people were disappointed by this light. Feel free to move my post and slap my hand….RB

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This is why I have 20 flashlights. Not one is ever good enough.

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^ Why I love the Kreisler. :slight_smile:

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I figured there was a name for it. Is that pretty common? My Fenix lights are bright at the center, and get dimmer with no “borders”. Oh well, I may send this one back too.

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Go with the Olight I-6. It has a great beam. http://www.lightmalls.com/olight-i6-cree-xm-l-t6-420-lumen-led-flashlight-2-x-cr123a-1-18650

They say it only has 400 lumin or so but it seems just as bright as other lights that supposedly have twice the lumins. Beam quality makes a difference.

It is only two modes however. High and low.

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I’m no expert but doesn’t the donut mean it isn’t focused properly? Maybe they accidentally left off the LED spacer/centerer thing that is usually there.

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Just TAKE it, man! You’re BLF’s sweetheart… :slight_smile:

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Speedsix, I need a light with a straight tube. I agree that quality is always better than quality.

I looked at some beam shots of the PD35, and some of those pictures show the same effect. I’m going to take it to work and try it in real world conditions. I’m hoping that I’m just over analyzing this. Shining it directly at a white wall will show defects that may not be visible in actual use. The problem is that I’m looking for it now.

Oh well, I’ll give it a shot. I sent one back, I can send two…RB

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Could you link us to a beamshot you’ve seen with this effect?

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There was a review of the PD35 by Flashlion that showed the same effect. The images on med and high look pretty close to mine. I could not get any decent pictures. And, for some reason my camera was not detected by my computer. Its been a bad day…lol

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This one?

Don’t really see the classic donut effect there.

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Ha ha… Yes, exactly. Seriously though, the alignment of the emitter (missing gasket) could be the cause of your ugly beam.

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Do you really want to pay for manufacturers to manually fine tune the focus on every light? Reasonable on a $200+ light, but for <$50 it's going to be DIY.

Just do it!

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The same review is here on BLF FENIX PD35 REVIEW- compact,powerful 18650 light
Note that what we see highly depends on the monitor(display) we use-different contrast,brightness,sharpness,color.I use mostly desktop PC,but I have also laptop and there the picture is quite different. GIFs support only 256 colors,so they are not the best for comparisons.They are good to see the size of the beam.
PD35’s beam looks very consistent.There’s visible darker zone in the center only on the XTAR B20 beam.
My PD35 has perfectly centered LED and one of my favorite beams.
The lights with orange peel reflector have а smoother transition from spot to spill.I have too much lights with OP reflector and personally prefer to see clearly the spot on lights that I use for medium and long range. OP reflector is good for close range EDC lights.These are just my preferences. :wink:

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Ok, I just used the light under real world conditions. I still see the ring effect under certain conditions, but its not as bad as I thought. I think the “laboratory conditions” of a white wall shows flaws that would not be noticed in a more natural environment. Is it still there? Yes. Does it make the light unusable for its intended purpose? No. It takes some of the fun out of it though. Yea, I’ll stop whining now.

So, I have been playing with it for days. I can annoy my neighbor without even opening my door. I can put it on high, and shine it right into his bathroom across the street from my living room window. A distance of over 100 ft. Lots of fun. On level 2, it lights up the room well enough to navigate without stubbing my toes. Strobe mode drives the cat crazy. He hauls buns when I turn it on.

At work, the light did very well. As an aircraft mech, I need a light that is bright enough to see to the top of the tail, but dim enough not to blind me when working up close. This light has a setting to cover all the bases. Generally, level 2 is good for most of the walk around, and level 3 is good for the tail. Level 4 is pretty amazing. Use caution around reflective (painted) surfaces though, I blinded myself a few times. Level 4 is also good when its cold. The light does get warm after a few minutes and I used it to warm up my hands.

Finding the side switch is not easy though. I’m trying to find a way to find it without looking. You can feel the lump on the switch, but that wont be possible with gloves on, and its hard to see in the dark. Its too bad they didn’t light the switch when the light was on. There is already an LED in the switch for the voltage display, maybe it could do double duty?

The voltage display is handy, I plan to use it at the beginning of the shift. Maybe Ill use 3.0 volts as the cutoff? I just checked it, and it shows 3.9 volts. It only dropped .2 volts since I put the battery in. That means that for the time it has run for testing, playing, and actual work use, it has only dropped .2 volts? Impressive. I dont know if that speaks more for the light or the Orbtronic 3400 mah battery.

Anyway, I think I’ll keep the light. I still think its a good value at $55 including shipping.

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I wanted to order Nitecore P12, but now has begun to doubt.

RB, If I understood correctly, you said that Nitecore P12 hotspot defects, just as these FENIX PD35?

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I have no doubt, PD35 is much better than the Nitecore P12 (but also more expensive).

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I’m newby on Nitecore, Phoenix etc. Previously, only buy something Convoy.

Explain me please, only P 12 is worse than PD35, or all Nitecore worse than all Fenix?

And what exactly is the difference?

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Could you elaborate? There is not much information on the Nitecore P12 available. But looking at the figures, the P12 should have the edge. Prices are better and I think it looks better.