Well, thanks to Charlie, my A2 arrived today. Needless to say, I've been playing with it. My initial reaction before even turning it on was it's size. Compared to my E2 body - E2E bezel combination, this puppy is huge. It's longer and fatter. The bezel is significantly larger as well.
Putting those downers aside, I fired this bad-boy up along with the E2. Right of the bat, the A2 is whiter and appears to be brighter also. I don't like the fact the LEDS stay on in high-power mode. I would have expected the LEDS would turn off. I'll chaulk this up to a design flaw. All leaving those LEDS on during high-power mode does is screw up the beam at close range. On this particular A2, the beam quality is not as good as any of my E2 lights. It's about as round, however is ringing at close range pointing at a blank wall.
I can't comment on run-time yet, since I'm still testing. I'll post some results later tonight or tomorrow. Will I keep the A2? Don't know, the jury is still out.
Update #1: The A2 and E2 have each been running for 30-minutes now. The A2 is noticably whiter than the E2. The E2 is warm while holding it, however the A2 is HOT and I mean HOT. There's no way to hold this in you hand for more than a few seconds. The bezel is even HOTTER, to the point where it could be classified as a fire hazard in my opinion
Update #2: I always wondered about the "hazing" of the reflector that took place with all of my E2/E2E lights when left on for a long duration. Most of the time, it always goes away after the light cools, however it always made for a "cloudy" look while the light was on once this conditions occurred. As I speak, that condition has occurred again on the E2, however the A2 is burning without any of this "cloudy or hazy" film on the reflector or lens.
Update #3: This is very interesting to say the least. Just to set the groundwork, my test started at 21:30. As I'm typing, it's 22:15. My E2 had the MN03 HOLA in there. It not a new lamp and has about 2-hours of usage on it. At 22:12, the A2 dropped right into moon-mode, without any gradual drop-off. It was like someone threw a switch. At that level it became much dimmer than the E2 which is still burning fairly brightly. At 22:14, the A2 jumped back up to bright-mode again, burning as brightly as when the test first started. One minute later, at 22:15 (this is what made my log this update) the A2 dropped down to moon mode again. It is currently 22:18. The A2 is quite a bit dimmer than the E2-MN03. Both the A2 and the E2 are now too HOT to hold. The reflector on the E2 is cloudy, and appears to have a film on it. The A2 reflector is crystal clear, just as it was when the test started.
Update #4 FINAL UPDATE: It's now 22:30 and this will be the final update, simply because the A2 is exhusted, while the E2 is burning with plenty of light to perform most tasks. The incandescent bulb of the A2 is just about out, to the point where the LEDS projecting on the wall at 4-feet away have taken over any visible beam from the incandescent bulb. The A2 is now cooling off to the touch, while the E2 is still quite WARM, but not unbarable.
I guess you folks will need to draw your own conclusions and decide for yourselves as to whether or not the A2 is for you. Quite honestly, I don't see the A2 staying in my collection. It's too large to carry and for the type of work that I use a light for, does not provide any added benefits. I question it's durability and it's ability to handle moisture. It's clip and the way it mounts is the same as the E2E, which we all know is a big cause of mositure entering the body. I prefer the size and the seal of the E2, plus the roundness of E2 body. I never did care for those flat-spots found in the E2E/E2O and now the A2.
If nothing else, I hope this was informative for those of you thinking of purchasing the A2. I'm certainly glad I had the opportunity to perform this test.
Putting those downers aside, I fired this bad-boy up along with the E2. Right of the bat, the A2 is whiter and appears to be brighter also. I don't like the fact the LEDS stay on in high-power mode. I would have expected the LEDS would turn off. I'll chaulk this up to a design flaw. All leaving those LEDS on during high-power mode does is screw up the beam at close range. On this particular A2, the beam quality is not as good as any of my E2 lights. It's about as round, however is ringing at close range pointing at a blank wall.
I can't comment on run-time yet, since I'm still testing. I'll post some results later tonight or tomorrow. Will I keep the A2? Don't know, the jury is still out.
Update #1: The A2 and E2 have each been running for 30-minutes now. The A2 is noticably whiter than the E2. The E2 is warm while holding it, however the A2 is HOT and I mean HOT. There's no way to hold this in you hand for more than a few seconds. The bezel is even HOTTER, to the point where it could be classified as a fire hazard in my opinion
Update #2: I always wondered about the "hazing" of the reflector that took place with all of my E2/E2E lights when left on for a long duration. Most of the time, it always goes away after the light cools, however it always made for a "cloudy" look while the light was on once this conditions occurred. As I speak, that condition has occurred again on the E2, however the A2 is burning without any of this "cloudy or hazy" film on the reflector or lens.
Update #3: This is very interesting to say the least. Just to set the groundwork, my test started at 21:30. As I'm typing, it's 22:15. My E2 had the MN03 HOLA in there. It not a new lamp and has about 2-hours of usage on it. At 22:12, the A2 dropped right into moon-mode, without any gradual drop-off. It was like someone threw a switch. At that level it became much dimmer than the E2 which is still burning fairly brightly. At 22:14, the A2 jumped back up to bright-mode again, burning as brightly as when the test first started. One minute later, at 22:15 (this is what made my log this update) the A2 dropped down to moon mode again. It is currently 22:18. The A2 is quite a bit dimmer than the E2-MN03. Both the A2 and the E2 are now too HOT to hold. The reflector on the E2 is cloudy, and appears to have a film on it. The A2 reflector is crystal clear, just as it was when the test started.
Update #4 FINAL UPDATE: It's now 22:30 and this will be the final update, simply because the A2 is exhusted, while the E2 is burning with plenty of light to perform most tasks. The incandescent bulb of the A2 is just about out, to the point where the LEDS projecting on the wall at 4-feet away have taken over any visible beam from the incandescent bulb. The A2 is now cooling off to the touch, while the E2 is still quite WARM, but not unbarable.
I guess you folks will need to draw your own conclusions and decide for yourselves as to whether or not the A2 is for you. Quite honestly, I don't see the A2 staying in my collection. It's too large to carry and for the type of work that I use a light for, does not provide any added benefits. I question it's durability and it's ability to handle moisture. It's clip and the way it mounts is the same as the E2E, which we all know is a big cause of mositure entering the body. I prefer the size and the seal of the E2, plus the roundness of E2 body. I never did care for those flat-spots found in the E2E/E2O and now the A2.
If nothing else, I hope this was informative for those of you thinking of purchasing the A2. I'm certainly glad I had the opportunity to perform this test.
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