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Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Jan 18, 2013 11:09 am
by submassabielle
Thanks to WNS, I am considering buying an extra light for a trip this summer. I have used the PT Corona before and have liked it pretty well. However, I noticed that the Fenix HL30 is rated for higher lumens but is no more expensive. Does anyone have any experience with the Fenix HL30 and/or how it compares to the Corona (run-time, brightness/flood)?

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Jan 20, 2013 10:00 pm
by BenS
I don't have any personal experience with either light, but it seems like the corona would be better to me. It just depends on what you like in a headlamp. For $10 more you could get a fenix hp11 and not have to worry about it though.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Jan 21, 2013 8:56 am
by wyandottecaver
I used my corona as a main light until getting the HP10. The HP30 looks like it would compare favorably with the Corona for a lot less weight.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Jan 21, 2013 11:23 pm
by Cheryl Jones
wyandottecaver wrote:I used my corona as a main light until getting the HP10. The HP30 looks like it would compare favorably with the Corona for a lot less weight.


Is there any idea of the difference in beam spread? (I wish this would become a standard spec listed for all lights, at specified distances!)

Cheryl

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Jan 22, 2013 7:32 am
by potholer
Beamshape can be fairly hard to quantify in simple terms.

If talking about the width of a flood beam, is the 'correct' angle the angle where the light drops to a particular intensity relative to the beam centre (which means two flood beams which were identical outside the central area would be given quite different angles if one had even a fairly small centre bias), or a particular absolute intensity at a given distance (which makes beam angle dependent on power level), or something else?

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Aug 22, 2013 8:17 pm
by The Seeker
For anyone who may become interested in the Fenix HL30 here is a link to a fantastic review of that headlamp: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... %282xAA%29

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Aug 26, 2013 6:46 pm
by metempsychosis
Although I have not used either of the two headlamps mentioned, I recently purchased a Fenix HP25 and have been very fond of it. I have only used it in four caves so far, all of which were dry caves, but it has an IPX-6 rating. I haven't had to change the batteries that came with it yet (standard throwaway AA batteries), but I also find that it's perfectly bright enough on its second-lowest flood setting (45 lumens); I either amp up the flood or use the spot light when I want to peer long and far, and it feels plenty bright even though the flood and spot each only provide up to 180 lumens separately (spot and flood are controlled by two different buttons). I also like that it comes with a 4 lumen flood option which I generally use when camping or when I am having to sit in a cave and want a little bit of light and to save battery power. It appears to be much sturdier than the HP11 and can take a beating as I've already taken it through some tight squeezes and scraped my helmet through. So far, so good, but I won't know until I start going through some really wet caves with it.

Here's a link to the light for more information on the specs.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Aug 30, 2013 7:22 am
by potholer
I have been quite impressed with my HP25 - it's great to see a mainstream manufacturer make a headlamp with two proper LEDs and decent control, although I haven't used it underground (my existing cave light is firmly fixed to my helmet, and has similar outputs but more control).

As a surface headtorch, the main niggle is the need to hold a button down to turn a beam on, rather than just to press a button, something I thought at first I would get used to, but which hasn't happened yet.
Possibly that's situation-dependent - where I was camping this summer, there's a petrol (gas) lantern in the main communal area, so at night headtorches are normally off except when actually doing something (chopping/bringing wood from the pile, getting water from a collection barrel, eating, filling cups from a kettle, etc) so headtorches get turned on and off frequently rather than left on from dusk to bedtime.

Otherwise the only things I really miss are a lower power spot setting to allow a beam blend with relatively little spot in (my favourite mix for walking), and a low battery warning to avoid running 4xNiMH cells beyond the point where one cell was exhausted.
Generally, I'd prefer a 3-cell light to a 4-cell one, since with 3 cells, being kind to NiMH cells pretty much comes for free, but I guess I could just run my HP25 with a dummy cell.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Aug 30, 2013 1:00 pm
by Shane S
Ordered mine today. HP25. You can find them new on ebay for 65. I'll see how it goes and post after a few trips. :bananabat:

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Sep 3, 2013 11:53 pm
by metempsychosis
As a follow-up on my HP25 post: I recently used it in a pit that involved rappelling and ascending in a moderate waterfall (not gushing water, but closer to torrential rain). After rappelling in water for about 30 seconds I ascended back up, and about a minute or so in the light seemed to suddenly cut off. It was not until I tried turning it back on that I noticed the light had not cut off, but had gone into an incredibly low-light setting which I could not alter--the only option was turning it off or running it on its lowest setting. It was checked when I arrived back up for water damage, but it appeared fine to a friend who has experience making his own headlamps, so we chocked it off as possible low battery. However, I had changed the batteries the previous day and had only about 5 hours of run time used on them at a low setting, so it shouldn't have been a battery issue. About 30 minutes later, without changing the battery, I approached a new cave and turned on the light, having no issues to speak of. I brought spare batteries with me just in case, but for the 40 or so minutes that I was using my light, no problems occurred, signaling to me that it may not have been an issue with battery life.

That being said, keep in mind that even with an IPX-6 rating, it may not be as water worthy as I had hoped for. I look forward to hearing anyone else's experiences on using this lamp on wet caving trips.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Sep 5, 2013 10:32 am
by potholer
Irrespective of the waterproofing of the casing of a light, it would be interesting to know which lights would be expected to fail straight away and which to work (albeit with possible long-term corrosion) if the casing did leak.

Some electronics may be be more protected (lacquer, silicone, etc), some circuits may be intrinsically more tolerant of being wet even if unprotected (less chance of malfunctioning due to stray relatively high-impedance connections being formed).

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Sep 7, 2013 11:04 am
by Cody JW
When dealing with Fenix lights, The HP 10 and HP 20 both have the better IPX-8 rating . As far as The HP 25 goes , it would be real nice if it had a split tilt to the head. I have to tilt the head down a few clicks for the flood to get the desired light around my feet but when doing so the spot also tilts down. A more desired optic for caving would be to have the flood tilted down and the spot looking forward. I have been in communication with their marketing dept in China and they tell me they plan to release another new headlamp this fall. They will be sending me one to review. I think a company like Fenix could make a real nice light if they charged a little more than the 70 dollars for the current headlamps but still have a price point less than premium cave specific lights. More lumens, heavier cord and IPX -8 or better. They already have a great spot on their LD 41 handheld that runs off 4AAs at 520 Lumens for over 2 hours on the high setting. If they could use that spot and a flood that allowed a better spread of light around the feet I feel they would have a nice package for caving at an affordable price. They are a large company that does business globally but I suspect they do not have any cavers in their design dept. I have mentioned on another forum that I think it is strange that us cavers have lights in the 70 dollar price range ( Apex and Fenix) and premium lights that cost several hundred or more ( Scurion, Nora , El Speleo ect.) and not much in the in between price. It seems there is a void in the market. Zebra makes very nice bright lights for the money, but they are single optic . I am referring to a dual optic headlamp style light.

Re: Fenix HL30 R5 vs. PT Corona

PostPosted: Sep 9, 2013 1:05 pm
by ohiocaver
I've used a Fenix as my tactical light for over a year and am quite happy with it - especially battery life. This is the light some of the NPS rangers use...which is where I got turned on to it.