Calling all G2-and-A2 owners

OutdoorIdiot

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(Background: I own a G2 and am thinking of getting an A2...)

Has anyone directly compared (or would any kind soul be willing to directly compare) the incandescent beams of their G2 and A2?

It has already been pointed out to me a while ago that the A2 (claimed 50 lumens) is brighter than the G2 (claimed 65 lumens), and indeed the figures at www.flashlightreviews.com bear this out.

The flashlightreviews figures are:

G2: Output=52, Throw=60
A2: Output=58, Throw=45

Which makes me think the beam of the A2 is significantly more "floody" than the G2 (since, even though it is a bit brighter, it throws significantly less).

Just wondering if everyone that has both lights feels that these figures reflect their own experiences, or whether the A2 generally is more "throwy" than these figures suggest. I've read posts of people being very happy with the throw of their A2s, so was just wondering whether these figures could be an anomoly.

Thanks in advance.
 

beezaur

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The difference is pretty minimal at peak brightness.

After a few minutes the A2 is brighter because it is regulated. The A2 generally has a slightly "artifacty" beam in the periphery because of the cutouts for the LEDs, but it is whiter than the (P60) G2 beam.

One performance aspect, which is good or bad depending on your point of view, is that the A2 goes dead rather suddenly. The G2 dims gradually, so you are less likely to get into trouble with it. But then after the A2 incan goes dead you still have many hours of LED light left.

The shapes of the beams are comparable, basically the same for all practical purposes.

Scott
 

Topper

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I assume you want the P60 in the G2? Both G2 and A2 with fresh cells not a throw question, say a yard or so off the white wall kinda thing?? I can do that in a bit (got to find stuff first) if thats what you want then hollar back and I can do that no problem for an eyeball kinda test. Let me know if I am following you correctly.
Topper :)
 

OutdoorIdiot

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Thank you for your kind offer, Topper.

Yes, I should have stated the G2 with P60 lamp assembly.

A beamshot would be very useful indeed to get an idea of how the light is spread, thank you. My own applications mean that I'm more interested in throw, so relative illumination at a fair distance (say 20m) would be perfect, but anything you can put together would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Edit: Just realised you probably weren't offering a beamshot (don't know why I got that impression!).

I was hoping that people that have both lights to hand wouldn't mind just giving them a quick blast on an object at a distance to see if there was a noticeable difference in throw.

Thank you.
 
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OutdoorIdiot

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Just noticed your reply, sorry Scott.

So would you say that throw is about the same?
 

SCblur

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I have both also, and have compared them at length myself. Here is the take on my G2 and A2. The G2 is noticeable brighter at first, and also throws farther. The sidespill on my G2 is brighter and diminishes more gradually, thus making it look brighter overall than my A2. On the flipside, the hotspot on the A2 is oval (optimized for throw) and concentrated, with a dimmer sidespill. To my eyes, my A2 doesn't seem to overtake the G2 in brightness until about fifteen minutes of use, maybe twenty.

Some people have said that the A2 is brighter than a fresh-batter G2, but that has not been my experience. I would say, my A2 is about 85% as bright as a brand new G2. Now, don't confuse brightness with whiteness, because it IS WHITER than the G2 beam at all times, and the high color temperature can make it feel much brighter.

The A2 has become a real world light for me. It doesn't win any white wall competitions, but in everyday use, it performs exceptionally. I would be happy to take some side by side shots for you as soon as it gets dark here. I'll be home about 10:30pm (U.S. west coast) tonight, and will take some shots in the dark for you to compare them with.
 

carrot

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My G2 has a perfect "pinpoint" round shaped beam. The A2 has a more jellybean shaped beam, but it looks pure white, and since I'm testing using a G2 with partially depleted batteries, the G2 is noticeably yellow in comparison.

At the same distance of about one meter, the A2 has a bigger hotspot. I won't be able to do better throw tests until nightfall... and from the looks of things outside, that might take a few hours. Sorry, can't take pictures, I'm beamshot-impaired.

Edit: Unlike SCblur, I cannot tell a difference between the brightness of the sidespill.
 

OutdoorIdiot

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Thanks SCBlur, Carrot, Leukos.

Interesting points about whiteness. Regarding beam-shape, I'm not too bothered if it isn't round, or has some artifacts - it will very much be a real-use light if I get one.

Looking at the link from Leukos, they do indeed seem to be very equivalent, for practical purposes.

Thanks for your offer of beamshots SCBlur, but I think that could be a lot of effort, plus it seems the difference is so minimal (at a distance) that there is probably no substitute for the naked eye.

Carrot / SCBlur et al, I'll happily take you up on your offers to give them a quick throw comparison when it gets dark. I'll take your word for it on any observations! It's dark here (almost 1am), and I'm going to have to leave very soon.

I look forward to seeing what's happened to this thread in the morning,

Thanks.
 

carrot

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I just walked around with the A2 and G2 for a bit. The G2 definitely throws better, and so anything I aim at with the G2 is a little brighter, even though it appears the G2's batteries have run down to the point where the A2 is of equal or greater brightness. But the difference seems pretty negligible to me, and certainly does not seem like a deal breaker in any case.
 

logarithmic

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My A2 has a decent enough range, but it seems to do better close up. Also, after the first 10 minutes of incan light you can start seeing the LED light around the outside of the incan beam on your target (if they are colored that is). I find it distracting sometimes.
 

SCblur

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Pictures like I promised

Here are those pictures I said I'd take. I put some new batteries in the G2, and the A2 has had about fifteen minutes of use on the current set. My camera is a point and shoot with no manual options, so these are only good for comparing brightness relative to one another. I would have taken some outdoor shots of throw for you if I had a camera with manual settings, but this is all I could do. I took some shots at varying distances so you could get a feel for the overall beam shape and sidespill pattern compared to one another. you can see that the A2 has a larger sidespill, with a brighter donut around the outside of the beam, whereas the G2 has a more uniform beam pattern overall. These pictures make it painfully obvious how much WHITER the A2 beam is compared to the G2, even when the G2 is on new batteries, and the A2 is fifteen minutes into its burn time. These won't really give you a real world comparison for throw or outdoor use, but you can see how they compare to one another, so that if you own the G2, you get an idea of the A2's performance relative to that.

*my A2 has white LED's, FYI, G2 has a P60, both LA's are new, used SF batteries on both, from the same box.


compare_005.jpg

compare_002.jpg

compare_003.jpg

compare_004.jpg

compare_001.jpg


Hope these were helpful, thanks for giving me an excuse to play with my lights. ;)
 
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OutdoorIdiot

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I was a bit tired last night when responding to earlier posts and so probably didn't acknowledge all the detail in them. There's a lot of detail which has given me unexpected food for thought, thank you.

Those beamshots are great, SCBlur. They give a very good idea of how the light is being apportioned, so to speak. They also show how wonderfully white the A2's light is. Those, combined with Carrot's description about throw, give me a very good feel for what to expect. Thanks for your efforts, chaps, and for remembering!
 

SCblur

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Thanks Grox, it's always fun to get the camera out and take pictures of flashlights. I don't need much of an excuse really.

Grox said:
Great post SCblur. The A2 is a wonderful light! :)
 
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