Well I'll kick off with the first thread in this section.
I recently brought a new torch for myself, I'd never really spent a decent amount on a torch, and we had some good stuff coming up this year so I thought it was finally worth the expense. I set my budget at £50 and looked around to see what I could get for that. I finally settled on the Fenix LD41 after a lot of looking around.
When I first took it out of the box, I was surprised at how light it was without batteries, definitely lighter than it's equivalent in the Lensar range. However the build quality feels good, the body is metal and the buttons are rubber and feel quite well made. The lens is plastic, but seems to be well made as well. It comes with a wrist strap and some spare rubber covers for the buttons so if you do break the rubber covers over the buttons, you can replace it quite easily by undoing the 4 screws. It also comes with a belt holder (which I've already lost!)
It has two buttons, one is a simple on and off and the second cycles through the brightness modes (it has 4) and also if you press and hold it does a strobe effect (For attracting attention) and also an emergency 'SOS' signal if you continue to hold it. It runs on 4 AA batteries which clip in nicely to the battery holder.
Fenix claim 520 lumens for this torch. I've never been one for taking these things as gospel, but is is very bright for a 4AA powered torch, definitely brighter than a Lensar P14 which was the other torch I had my eye on. However the down side of its brightness is it does eat batteries, and I mean it really eats them. Even Duracell Ultra are hard pushed to do more than 1 1/2 hours on the maximum brightness - fenix claim 2 hours, but I've never achieved this. You can run the batteries longer, the torch simply drops down to the next brightness level and carries on working until it gets to the third level down when it will start warning you the batteries are nearly depleted by flashing every few minutes. From full to totally depleted you can get about 5 or 6 hours out of a set of batteries, but the last few hours of that are on the second dimmest mode which is not great for seeing around with, and certainly no good for taking pictures.
For taking pictures with this torch is great, it lights the scenes evenly and penetrates into the distance well. However it can be a bit too bright for smaller places, and chalk tunnels are a nightmare as it just glares back. However it does have 4 brightness modes so you can usually find a setting which works adequately. There is no spot/flood adjustment on this torch, the lens is fixed as a compromise between the two. This suits me fine, and is OK for most things I find.
All in all it's a well made torch, and I think for £49 which is what I paid, it's a bit of a bargain really for how bright and small it is. It's a slightly unusual shape which to start with feels a little odd, but after a week or two of using it underground I've just got used to. It seems to be durable, I've dropped it a few times now and it's stood up well. The batteries can be a bit fiddly to get out of the battery holder as it clips them in quite tightly. It doesn't rattle when you lightpaint with it, which some of these torches do.
I would throughly recommend one of these to anyone looking for a 4AA sized torch for around £50 - you would be hard pushed to find one which is a lot better in my opinion. I will try and do some beam shots when I get a chance so you can see for yourself how powerful it is. Any of my threads posted since about March have been lit with this torch if you wish to see how well it does for photographs - in particular my Drakelow pictures show it off quite well in the larger areas.
Hope this is of help to at least some of you.
Maniac.
I recently brought a new torch for myself, I'd never really spent a decent amount on a torch, and we had some good stuff coming up this year so I thought it was finally worth the expense. I set my budget at £50 and looked around to see what I could get for that. I finally settled on the Fenix LD41 after a lot of looking around.
When I first took it out of the box, I was surprised at how light it was without batteries, definitely lighter than it's equivalent in the Lensar range. However the build quality feels good, the body is metal and the buttons are rubber and feel quite well made. The lens is plastic, but seems to be well made as well. It comes with a wrist strap and some spare rubber covers for the buttons so if you do break the rubber covers over the buttons, you can replace it quite easily by undoing the 4 screws. It also comes with a belt holder (which I've already lost!)
It has two buttons, one is a simple on and off and the second cycles through the brightness modes (it has 4) and also if you press and hold it does a strobe effect (For attracting attention) and also an emergency 'SOS' signal if you continue to hold it. It runs on 4 AA batteries which clip in nicely to the battery holder.
Fenix claim 520 lumens for this torch. I've never been one for taking these things as gospel, but is is very bright for a 4AA powered torch, definitely brighter than a Lensar P14 which was the other torch I had my eye on. However the down side of its brightness is it does eat batteries, and I mean it really eats them. Even Duracell Ultra are hard pushed to do more than 1 1/2 hours on the maximum brightness - fenix claim 2 hours, but I've never achieved this. You can run the batteries longer, the torch simply drops down to the next brightness level and carries on working until it gets to the third level down when it will start warning you the batteries are nearly depleted by flashing every few minutes. From full to totally depleted you can get about 5 or 6 hours out of a set of batteries, but the last few hours of that are on the second dimmest mode which is not great for seeing around with, and certainly no good for taking pictures.
For taking pictures with this torch is great, it lights the scenes evenly and penetrates into the distance well. However it can be a bit too bright for smaller places, and chalk tunnels are a nightmare as it just glares back. However it does have 4 brightness modes so you can usually find a setting which works adequately. There is no spot/flood adjustment on this torch, the lens is fixed as a compromise between the two. This suits me fine, and is OK for most things I find.
All in all it's a well made torch, and I think for £49 which is what I paid, it's a bit of a bargain really for how bright and small it is. It's a slightly unusual shape which to start with feels a little odd, but after a week or two of using it underground I've just got used to. It seems to be durable, I've dropped it a few times now and it's stood up well. The batteries can be a bit fiddly to get out of the battery holder as it clips them in quite tightly. It doesn't rattle when you lightpaint with it, which some of these torches do.
I would throughly recommend one of these to anyone looking for a 4AA sized torch for around £50 - you would be hard pushed to find one which is a lot better in my opinion. I will try and do some beam shots when I get a chance so you can see for yourself how powerful it is. Any of my threads posted since about March have been lit with this torch if you wish to see how well it does for photographs - in particular my Drakelow pictures show it off quite well in the larger areas.
Hope this is of help to at least some of you.
Maniac.
Last edited by a moderator:
