[Dominik]

LedLenser – my unfavorite company selling lamps without stabilization, at highly inflated prices. If Chinese people learned of tricking specifications, it must have been exactly from them . H7 is already a rather not new design, but there was no occasion to acquaint more close .



Some marketing data
Diode 1 x Cree 3W
Reach up to 150 m
Lumens: 140
Power supply: 3 x AAA
Energy reserve : 4,5 Wh
Switch-key: on the head
The kit includes: protective cover, batteries
Plastic casing
Shining time: up to 75 hours.
Weight with batteries : 120 g
Mains charger : included
Price : 70 $



Impressions

Small overall dimensions, tidy make, a little bit dispersed control - the switch is on the head and the potentiometer is on the battery compartment. Zoom operates smoothly and is not apt to change by itself the focal length as it happens in most Chinese torches. The charging port built on the cable indicates the destination of the equipment for frequent use.



The contents of the head conforms with the manufacturer’s declarations – this is Cree XR-E .



The head positioning system itself is rather delicate and, at intensive use, may finish its life before the headlamp gets old morally. A positive component visible in the photo is the aluminium back of the head which serves as a heat sink; at last, the little lamp is advertised as 3W so there is something for cooling down. Now, it would be appropriate to to get inside .



4 screws later... Led fitted on the heat sink , with power supply wires soldered from below and the and the momentary switch – this is the complete content of the head. If you only wish to see what is inside, I warn you at the very beginning that putting the gasket at its appropriate place is a very time consuming task . Anyway, the head is well sealed and a rain should not do any harm to it.

Power supply.

The manufacturer declares the energy reserve of 4,5Wh - what, for the power supply from 3 NiMH cells results in capacity of 1250mAh what, for a cell of the size AAA, is a very optimistic value since the real specification here is 900mAh.



The gold plated contacts, well matched closure, nicely touched up construction. Somewhere under the bottom, there must be hidden the driver; so start to work;-).



And here it is :



Unfortunately, the manufacturer took care for purchase of chips without any markings; so we won’t get any information from its catalogue note.

Driver in hand, so let’s look what these lumens come from .

LedLenser H7    (3 industrial-type cells, NiMH 3,796V at no load)
         V-In    I-in    P-In    I-led    V-led   P-led   Eff.
High    3,56V  196,7mA  0,745W   195,5mA  3,363V  0,658W  88,3%
Mid     3,73V  149,2mA  0,557W   131,4mA  3,229V  0,424W  76,2%
Low     3,78V   19,5mA  0,070W    11,6mA  3,131V  0,036W  52,2%

Not too high current as for declared 140 lumens, Cree XR-E Q5 supplied in such way will provide circa 60 lumens only To be sure, I’ve turned the potentiometer beyond the range limited with the knob on the casing but it has changed nothing .

Somebody will ask, for sure, how I have established High/Mid/Low in a headlamp provided with infinitely variable power control; rather easily: to the right, to the left and in the centre .



Regarding the result, this is nothing peculiar; Tikka XP / XP2 supplied from the same source has almost identical results; however, nobody tries to sell it as a 140 lumen lamp. But they wished so they’ll get...

How does it light...

Continuous zoom, infinitely variable brightness adjustment => heaps of combinations . For the beginning, a few photos after some time:



While in the concentrated mode and the High preset, no difference is actually visible, for the wide mode, the slowly decreasing amount of light is visible better. The same comparison presents even more interestingly when done for the mode Mid, i.e. 1/2 lever.




After 60 minutes, the mode ceases to exist, i.e. it will be in another position of the variable resistor.

In comparison with another little thing that have been just within a hand reach; 1xAA only, but the amount of the lumens emitted is in conformity with that declared - Fenix MC10 .

Led Lenser H7 - high/spot (delared 140 lumens) vs fenix MC10 – high (declared 125 lumens)



Led Lenser H7 - mid/spot vs fenix MC10 – mid (declared 50 lumens)



Led Lenser H7 - low/spot vs fenix MC10 – low (declared 5 lumens)




Led Lenser H7 - high (delared 140 lumens) vs Black Diamond Storm – high (declared 100 lumens).




I have to admit one thing: they can design optics in Germany. Similarly as in the case of Mammut TX1, a well focussing lens not “spoiling” any light for sides illumination makes it possible for H7 to compete with stronger headlamps without any problem. If you take into consideration the central point and its nearest surrounding, it looks nice but, as a user of headlamps, I decidedly prefer to see the whole surrounding. In such case, the wide mode should be applied but – something for something else - you will loose then the range .

Led Lenser H7 - high/wide (delared 140 lumens) vs fenix MC10 – high (declared 125 lumens)


To summarise, H7 may be summed up rather shortly: It is a bit expensive, it is made nicely, the functions are interesting but, referring to light output it may have a throw, but it doesn’t have the real power .