Two L1s: Identical Outside. Very Different Beams

Just a quick note to show the very different beams on my two new L1s. Sorry, but pics are using a Nikon Coolpix S4, and on my older laptop I'm not pleased with color rendition. Hopefully the slight difference here will be more noticeable to you. Both lights are on fresh SF primaries, and pics are against my flat white garage wall, about 2 feet away, resting on garbage bin.

S/N A11425 is on the left, and has a (cooler?) slightly pink tint.
S/N A12771 is on the right, and has a (warmer?), slightly yellowish tint. Even very slightly green on some surfaces. I prefer this beam.

What causes this variation, and which do YOU prefer?

Here they are on low:


And on high:

Can't say which one I prefer but what you're seeing is normal LED variation. Even with tighter binned Cree XR-E's, there is still a bit of variation from light to light.

That's just the nature or LEDs. You'll find warm/cool/yellow/green/blue/etc tints from LED to LED, even of the same type.

A "bad" (not pure-white) tint seems to cause a lot of grief to some users. Personally I can only ever notice these differences when shining the light on a white wall. Fortunately this isn't a problem as I have never bought a light to use on white walls. Once I'm actually using the light I'm generally far too concerned with what I'm illuminating to notice the subtleties of the off-white light produced by the LED.

Regards,
Tempest

Which one do YOU prefer is the question. Nearly every LED has a distinctive tint when compared side-by-side with another. You don't notice it too much in actual use.

Use them both for a few days, both indoors and out, and see what one agrees with you more would be my advice....................

Thanks. Neither one bothers me, but the difference was enough to notice when not even side by side. I've PM'd Milky in hopes of getting one modded. Just wondering which one would remain more marketable if kept stock and which one to let go to a mod. I'm leaning toward modding the "pink" one.

PseudoFed, your camera white balance was set to Auto white balance for these pictures, so they are not showing the colours accurately, because on Auto white balance the camera adjusts the colour to simulate a white lightsource.

To show the led tints accurately - in comparison to white light - set the camera white balance to 'daylight'. This would give us a better idea of your cause for concern.

Colin.

Ganp said:

PseudoFed, your camera white balance was set to Auto white balance for these pictures, so they are not showing the colours accurately, because on Auto white balance the camera adjusts the colour to simulate a white lightsource.

To show the led tints accurately - in comparison to white light - set the camera white balance to 'daylight'. This would give us a better idea of your cause for concern.

Colin.

Click to expand...

Colin, will do! I believe even this camera has that capability, so I'll do just that. Will be tomorrow at least, and then I'll replace the pics. Thanks for the tip!

That beam on the left looks significantly less bright than the one on the right on both low and high. Some here really like a light with a LOW low so that might be more "valuable" to many here on CPF. I would keep the one on the right also though and would be bummed out also about that left one. Less about the tint and more about the lack of briteness. I know there are variations in LEDs but that seems a bit drastic.

litetube said:

That beam on the left looks significantly less bright than the one on the right on both low and high. Some here really like a light with a LOW low so that might be more "valuable" to many here on CPF. I would keep the one on the right also though and would be bummed out also about that left one. Less about the tint and more about the lack of briteness. I know there are variations in LEDs but that seems a bit drastic.

Click to expand...

Your'e right it does. I'll put in fresh batts to be sure (I'm using fresh SF batts in each from packaging, but one could be older?), when I take the new pics after setting my white balance to daylight.

The beam on the right has a larger hotspot, cooler on low but whiter on high. I prefer the tint on the right beam, for me that would be kept original.

Your LEDs are from different tint bins. For some users it really bugs them about tint, but for others they don't care or they actually like the advantages of a certain tint.

the beam on the right seems much brighter. is this a tint issue or is there a difference in output (lumens)?:thinking:

i wonder how would a test of 10 L1 or any other brand name lights fair...