Sean, I am noticing as well that some of the units don't seem as bright as I expected. I took 4 of the latest SLS2 off the line and home with me this weekend for more testing.
I am going to test them by comparing them to a SLS1 I have here for tint, brightness, etc. I will also be dunking all 4 to see how consistent the water proofness is.
These HDs are N3K bin so they are within spec. They have a great tint (not too blue, not too green), but their brightness seems middle of the road. Earlier this week, I was seeing units that where noticably brighter. One possibility is that our last reel of LS1s was exceptionally bright. But it shouldn't be that big of a difference. Gosh, these variations are going to drive me crazy... If you get a part and it doesn't just make you say, "wow" (like most of the LS2 reports we have heard so far), then we will take care of it.
Btw, the 3 tint is actually pretty good. They do look greenish when next to the blueish 4s, but they actually are more white in real use. I think I am just use to the blue tint of our LEDs.
The bin ranking on the reels is a general rule I think. There still will be quite a bit of variation among the parts. We sort then by eye for tint. We also eyeball them for brightness, but that is more subjective. N flux is not a bad flux, but I think we got spoiled on that reel of P fluxes. If worse comes to worse, I will just stop using anything less than a P4 in the LS2 firsts. That will really reduce their availability big time. Understand that the overwealming majority of the parts we recieve our much worse than even the N3 we have been using. P4 would make these parts about as rare as the LE.
The idea here is to use the latest technology to make a bright, compact light.
I apologize if you got a SLS2 and it was dissapointing. We will take care of you. I knew the LS2 reel we were using this week was N flux. I just didn't think it would be that big of a difference. I checked each one for tint (because even though the reel says 3 tint, there are aberations on the reel) myself and that looked fine so I figured we where home free. I also took a few units and compared them to a LS1 I have last week and the LS2 was about 50% brighter. Now this week I do the same thing and they seem about the same or dimmer. Do you guys think at $125 and including the tailswitch, they are a better or worse deal than the $120 LS1 without the tailswitch? If you think they are generally a worse deal, we will lower the price and issue credits. I just want to do what is right by the CPF.
On monday I will look through our reels of HDs and see if we have anything better than the N3s. If so, I will save those out for the LS2 firsts and get back to you on how we are going to offer these.
Peter Gransee