Fenix LD30 Flashlight Review

Fenix LD30 Flashlight Review

The Fenix LD30 flashlight is an 18650 light with an interesting Fenix optic, and a dual switch interface.  Read on!


Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Fenix LD30 Flashlight product page.

Versions

Just one version.  Two kits though.  One has a battery, one has no battery.

Price

The no-battery option is $64.95.  The with-battery kit is $79.95, so it’s clear that the no-battery option is the better choice.


Short Review

The LD30 is very flashlighty, and I love flashlighty lights.  Silly as it may be.  I don’t love the tint of the SST-40, and I think the interface could be improved.  I’d like to even see an e-switch only version.  But overall I really like the LD30.

Long Review

The Big Table

Fenix LD30
Emitter: Luminus SST-40
Price in USD at publication time: $64.95
Cell: 1×18650
Turbo Runtime High Runtime
LVP? Switch Warning
Switch Type: Both
Quiescent Current (A):
On-Board Charging? Yes (On-Cell)
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?
Claimed Lumens (lm) 1600
Measured Lumens (at 30s) 1706 (106.6% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m) 205
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) 412lux @ 5.048m = 10499cd
Throw (Calculated) (m) 204.9 (100% of claim)^
All my Fenix reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer:  Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

  • Fenix LD30 Flashlight
  • Nylon pouch
  • Lanyard
  • Spare o-ring
  • Manual and paperwork

My package also included an 18650 with built-in charging.

Package and Manual

Standard Fenix package and colors.

The manual’s pretty good, too.

Build Quality and Disassembly

As I said, the LD30 is very flashlighty.  It’s hard to explain exactly why, but overall the feel in hand of the LD30 is just great.

The body doesn’t have traditional knurling.  Instead, it has ridges, which provide a grip to prevent the light from slipping out of your hand.

The switch has some nice detailing, too – the trim matches the bezel.

Inside the light, the head has no springs – just a small pad.  The tail end has a spring and is held together by a circlip.  So this would be very hard to disassemble since the split-ring tool you need will have to be as long as the barrel.  The tailcap doesn’t come off by unscrewing.

The threads are thick and square-cut and properly lubed.  They’re also anodized, so aside from the mechanical tail switch, it’s possible to further lock the light out by loosening the head a bit.

The trim isn’t copper.  It’s some metal-coated bronze colored.

Size and Comps

Officially, the LD30 is

Size:
Length: 4.3” (109mm)
Body: 0.9” (21.5mm)
Head: 1.0” (25.4mm)

Weight: 2.1 oz. (59g) excluding battery

It’s a very nicely sized light.  Just if all the length from the mechanical switch was gone… this would be a great sized 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Retention and Carry

Included with the LD30 is a nylon pouch, in which the light can fit bezel up or down.  The clip doesn’t really get in the way.

Next is the pocket clip.  This is a bi-directional friction fit clip, which is a type of clip I typically hate.  These most often offer the worst of both worlds.  This clip isn’t much of an exception to that, but it’s long enough to be slightly usable…  I’d strongly prefer a one-direction clip.  The clip offers a few attachment points for the included lanyard.

A stronger point for the lanyard, however, is the holes in the tailcap.  Two holes on both sides.

As shown in the Fenix documentation, the pocket clip does allow the use of the LD30 as a hatlight, but the balance would likely be wrong.

Power and Runtime

The LD30 runs on a single 18650 cell.  Fenix included the cell below, a 3500mAh micro-USB charging 18650.

It can be purchased with the package but adds $15 to the price.  If you have a charger at your disposal, spending $15 on this cell wouldn’t be a good use of your funds.

This is a button-top cell.

Runtime on Turbo.  Stepdown from 1800ish lumens to 800, then steadying off at 1200 or so after the temperature regulates.  The stepdowns based on voltage end in the lowest mode, and from what I can tell, never shut off.  There is a switch warning, however.

High at 850 lumens is extremely well regulated and runs for almost 2 hours.  That’s a great performance, and something many users often look for.

Charging

The LD30 doesn’t have on-board charging, but the cell Fenix included does.  So here’s a single test of that cell.  Charging is around 0.7A and takes around 5.5h.

When the light is turned on, the indicating switch shows the cell capacity for around 5 seconds:

Steady Green: Saturated. (ie, “Charged”)
Green Flashes: Sufficient.
Steady Red: Low
Red Flashes: Insufficient.

Modes and Currents

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps
Turbo 1600 1h30m 1706 4.40
High 800 1h55m 877 1.47
Med 350 5h30m 346 0.53
Low 150 17h30m 139 0.20
Eco 30 70h30m 25 0.03

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM in any mode.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms5ms2ms1ms0.5ms0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

The LD30 is a dual switch light.  The tail switch is an on/off mechanical switch.  If this is in the off position, there is no parasitic drain.  It’s very clicky, like all mechanical switches.

The second switch is an indicating e-switch on the head.  This switch can not control on/off – if the mechanical switch is on, then the light is on in some mode, period.

Here’s a UI table!

State Action Result
Off Click Tail Switch (TS) On (mode memory)
Off Tap TS Momentary (mode memory)
Off Any Action, Side Switch (SS) No action
TS On Click SS Mode advance (Eco>L>M>H>Turbo)
TS On Hold SS Strobe
Strobe Click SOS>Strobe
Strobe Hold SS On (mode memory)

LED and Beam

In the LD30 is a Luminus SST-40.  I can’t see the temperature mentioned on the Fenix website, but ultimately it’s a bit green.

It does use a variation of the Fenix optic seen in the E18R and E16 (which I love).

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

  • Love the build, and the build quality
  • Output bests specifications
  • UI is dead simple and allows one to effectively use this as a “one mode light” (ie never change the mode with the side switch?  Light is always in that mode).

What I don’t like

  • SST-40 tint is not good

Notes

  • This light was provided by Fenix for review. I was not paid to write this review.
  • This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
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11 thoughts on “Fenix LD30 Flashlight Review”

  1. Thanks for the review. Do you think this light could do duty as a bicycle light? I’m thinking of picking it up as my edc and I’m wondering if it could handle occasional bike duty as well. My main concerns is if it has enough throw to see adequately ahead going 20-25mph and not so much spill that it blinds oncoming traffic. What do you think?

    1. Could work? Sure, almost certainly. Especially for occasional bike use. It’s a fairly tight beam so as far as non-dedicated-bike-lights go, it’s probably no worse than any other. I don’t think the spill will blind oncoming traffic.

      1. Thank you. Seems like it should be good enough. I’m coming from a Niterider minewt x2 150 lumen light that’s 8-10 years old and never really left me wanting so I imagine even if the LD30 isn’t the ideal bike light, it should do ok for me. Lights sure have come a long way since I got that Niterider!

  2. That battery costs about 25$ if you buy it by itself. And so do batteries with comparable MAH. So going from 65(without battery) to 80$ (with battery) is actually a good value. You’re going to save 10$ if you purchase a battery of comparable quality on your own.

  3. Thanks for the comprehensive and meaningful review. Most useful, thanks for the excellent photos and graphs. Appreciate the comments. Finished my first camp with the Fenix LD30. I like the double clip. Although a bit heavy, with a firm brimmed cap it serves well as a campsite head lamp. I also clip it to my dog’s harness for night walks to compliment my Fenix HL40R headlamp. Two nights on medium as a head lamp (and some time on low for dog walks and reading) and it was still flashing green at lights out. Wicked bright when you want it to be!

  4. Hi, thanks for posting your review. I would have a special need and like to ask for your view.
    I have a GoPro 8 on a headmount when running. This unfortunately takes the space for a Petzl Headlamp. I need the lamp when I run at night and when I want to record video.

    So here my question: is there an option to mount the LD30 to the side of a GoPro headmount?

    Thanks

    1. I really don’t know the answer to this. Probably your best bet will be some kind of 3d printed mount for this scenario.

  5. Pingback: Fenix E30R Flashlight Review - ZeroAir Reviews

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