LP0 SE - Did I lose the lottery?

Please be gentle -- I'm new at this.

I just got my new LP0 SE today. It's a very nice light. But I was expecting it to have more throw than it does. I'm trying to find out if my expectations were out of line.

Flashlight Reviews and LED Modifications gives these values for the lux at one meter:

Low: 40
Med: 90
High: 247

My measurements are:

Low: 18
Med: 40
High: 116

So I'm measuring just about half what the review showed. I measured it with both a fresh Duracell alkaline and a freshly charged 900 mAh Sanyo NiMH cell. Initial light output was very nearly the same with both. I'm using one of those $30 lux meters you get on eBay, so I can't claim great precision. But measurements of other lights have been at least in the ballpark of the ones I see in the reviews.

For example, my P1 measures 1061 using the same setup. Flashlight Reviews and LED Modifications gives 950, and the LED Museum 737 for this light.

Ok, maybe the 247 lux in the review was on the high side. The Flashlight Reviews review for the plain L0P gives 183 lux and LED Museum 125. That's quite a difference, but I'm not hitting even the lowest of the two for the plain L0P.

The run time on high is a bit less than the review shows for the plain L0P, dropping to 50% in about a half hour with an alkaline cell and about 45 minutes with a 900 mAh Sanyo NiMH.

The beam is interesting -- unlike any of my other few lights (except the old-style Inova X1), the main beam is very uniform in brightness, and just about the same size as my P1's main beam.

So, should I be disappointed, should I have learned not to put too much weight on the reviews (or my own measurements), or is this just a lesson in playing the Luxeon lottery?

I've read a lot of complaints from folks wanting a lower low setting from their small light. Anybody want to trade?

c_c

I just got mine today. I took it outside just now and it gives useable light to roughly 18 feet (on high). What about you?

I'm not sure if you have a dud or not, but I would guess the throw on mine is at least 250 lux. My estimate is far from scientific, as I am just comparing it to other lights I own. Maybe you could clean the battery contacts. I have heard that helps some peoples Fenix lights (Doug from FLR had a problem with his EO).

EsthetiX said:

I just got mine today. I took it outside just now and it gives useable light to roughly 18 feet (on high). What about you?

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That really depends on what the use is. I need different levels of light for identifying raccoons, finding a lost knife, reading a reflective street sign, or a house number, and I need a lot more light when my eyes aren't used to the dark compared to when they are. That's why I'd rather work with numbers -- it's a lot less subjective. The reading of 116 lux at one meter means mine will produce a light level of about 4 lux at 18 feet, or 1 lux at about 35 feet. 1 lux is pretty dim, but you can usually see that a light is hitting something if it hits it with an intensity of 1 lux. (And you can stumble around in the full moonlight at 1/10 lux or less if your eyes are adapted.) Shining it out back off my deck shows I could see and identify a raccoon at about 35 feet, even if it had its eyes closed. (Bet I could see the eyes at 50 or 60 feet.) Not that I have any real need to. Does that mean mine is brighter than yours?

I didn't and don't mean to imply that it's not a very useful light, and my expectations may very well have been completely unreasonable. But I'm looking for really bright (that is, long throw), small, lights, and am puzzled by the big difference between my measurements and those of the reviewers.

c_c

adirondackdestroyer said:

I'm not sure if you have a dud or not, but I would guess the throw on mine is at least 250 lux. My estimate is far from scientific, as I am just comparing it to other lights I own. Maybe you could clean the battery contacts. I have heard that helps some peoples Fenix lights (Doug from FLR had a problem with his EO).

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Thanks, but I tried that. No help. There's no sign at all of any intermittent contact, and I got very consistent results with the two different cells and a second test with one of them. So I don't think that's it.

If yours is really 250, that's quite a difference -- more than 2 to 1. For comparison, my L0P SE is about 30% brighter than a 2AA Mini-Mag with the 3-LED mod, or the Inova Radiant 2AAA.

Does anybody else have a P1 and L0P SE? Do yours have about the same width main beam? Maybe my L0P SE is wider than normal.

c_c

the numbers my meter give me near exactly the same as yours curious charecter and its a good meter.that has a lot of tests that give me confidance in its results

There can be tremendous variation between light meters. https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/94232

chevrofreak said:

There can be tremendous variation between light meters. https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/94232

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True enough. The amount of difference is a bit surprising, though. Looking only at the white LED measurements, the measurements ranged from 847 to 1433. But even if the Flashlight Reviews meter was the very highest reading one and mine the very lowest, it wouldn't be enough to explain the difference between our measurements of the L0P SE. It's also interesting to note that 29 of the 31 meters read below the "official" value. Is there some systematic error in calibrating meters which are sold, or is there something wrong with the "official" reading?

Anyway, I've come to believe -- maybe wrongly -- that my meter isn't off by a gross amount. Here are readings from my other lights (lux at 1 meter):
[Sorry about the format. I can't find a way to make tabs or force the system to leave spaces where I put them, so my attempts at making a table failed.]

Light: Flashlight Reviews & LED Modifications / LED Museum / My Meas

Nuwai X-3: 1790 / 1537 / 1404(*)
Inova Radiant 3-AAA: 75 / - / 103
Mag Mini 2-AA LED: 1280 / - / 1375
Inova XO3: 1960 / - / 1614
Fenix P1: 950 / 737 / 1061

(*) Measured after sanding down the back of the lens piece to allow improved focus. Out of the box, the best I could get was 1140.

Readings were taken at 48" for low-output lights like the Radiant and 130" for the high-output lights, then extrapolated to 1 meter. (Tests of the same light at both distances show good correlation.) The beams of some are too narrow for good readings of a small hot spot at 1 meter or even 48" with my light meter. But I get better resolution at 48" for the dimmer lights.

So I get in the ballpark of the reviewers with my setup. And my results are very consistent, so I can say with high confidence which of my lights are brighter than others, and by about how much. The Flashlight Reviews and LED Modifications review shows the L0P SE to be 3.3 times brighter than the Inova Radiant 3-AAA. My measurements show it to be about 1.3 times brighter. That's not just because of the different meters.

c_c

TENMMIKE said:

the numbers my meter give me near exactly the same as yours curious charecter and its a good meter.that has a lot of tests that give me confidance in its results

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Thanks for the comment. I just posted some readings I made on other lights which show that my meter, too, is at least in the ballpark of a couple of the major reviewers.

I wonder if maybe Fenix changed the beamwidth somewhere along the way, reasoning that this light would be used more as a close-up task light rather than something for more distant spotting. The idea, after all, is to satisfy the needs of the users, not some geek with a light meter. It would be really interesting to see a good review of the units being sold now to see if there's been a significant change. I doubt that'll happen though, with the Cree version surely just around the corner. It'll be interesting to see where that one comes in.

c_c

might be a joker LED or misaligned LED affecting the central spot. My LOP SE is off center. So the hotspot isn't as intense.

I think you are expected way to much from the LOP though. That small reflector just can't focus much light even under ideal conditions.