Review Fenix FD30

[daninho]

@Enderman

@Phlogiston

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.

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?