CMG Reactor - Green cast

here are a couple of responses about CMG Reactor's reputed "PUKE Green" cast:

First I was very impressed with this refreshingly very frank and honest answer from DarkGear:

QUOTE:
From : Randy Domingo < @darkgear.com>
Subject : Re: Darkgear.com - Contact Message
Date : Wed, 14 May 2003 05:39:29 -0700
Vincent,

Thanks for your inquiry. Unfortunately CMG has no control over the tinting variation of the Luxeon Star(LS) LED produced by Lumileds. Most Reactors are still unfavorable tinted and usually green. Other companies hand select LS LEDs for brightness and whiteness therefore quadrupling or more the price. If you are looking for a great EDC LS product I would recommend Arc or Surefire. If you want an emergency light for the drawer or glovebox the Reactor would be great for that especially at this price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Best regards,
Randy

At 10:31 AM 5/13/03 -0700, you wrote:
The following information was just submitted via the Darkgear.com Contact Form.

>First Name: Vincent
>
>Dear DarkGear,
>
>I am very interested in the CMG Reactor - especially at >your current (fabulous) sale price of $17.
>
>However I need to know if CMG have overcome the ill reputed "puke GREEN" color cast of the LED even with Alkaline AAs - or if you would be willing to please inspect the one I order to avoid this color cast?
UNQUOTE


I also wrote E-mail to CMG directly and got this equally impressive very quick reply:

QUOTE:
From : "Julie Moncrieff" < @cmgequipment.com>
Subject : Re: CMG Reactor green Color cast?
Date : Wed, 14 May 2003 12:16:56 -0500
Unfortunately, the "true white" claims are based on claims from the LED
manufacturer, and
as it turns out, the spectrum of color is quite varied, and it is out of our
control at the moment to bin only the "true white" units. Most units will
have a greenish "halo" that is barely visible during actual use of the
light. However, if it is greenish throughout, you may return it to us, I
can try to find one that is a much truer white.

Julie
CMG Equipment
www.cmgequipment.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "V T"
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 12:06 PM
Subject: CMG Reactor green Color cast?


> Dear CMG Equipment,
>
> I am particularly interested in the Reactor 2AA flashlight.
>
> However I have read several reports of a green cast of the Reactor LED.
>
> Is is simply the luck of the draw as Luxeon LEDs can and do vary in color?
> Or were those samples of earlier QC on CMG Reactors?
>
> If I were to purchase a current new CMG Reactor am I likely to get one
with
> a green cast?
> If I do, is there anything I can do to have it rectified?
UNQUOTE

I just received a Reactor 3 for review and it has a "greenish" tint luxeon inside.

The first reactor I got (first version) was pure white and super bright, but had a crack in the casing and had to be sent back. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif The second was REALLY green - returned and exchanged for a purplish one.

Funny, but the digital camera registers both the purplish and the greenish luxeons as "green" and gives them green halos...

I look at it this way - incandescents have a yellowish tint, LEDs a bluish, and [corrected terminology] commonplace luxeons usually a greenish tint. You're eyes get used to the color tint pretty quickly in normal use. At least with the greenish luxeons there isn't as much "blue shift" so red objects look close to their actual color.

[ QUOTE ]
Quickbeam said:

I look at it this way - incandescents have a yellowish tint, LEDs a bluish, and unbinned luxeons usually a greenish tint. You're eyes get used to the color tint pretty quickly in normal use. At least with the greenish luxeons there isn't as much "blue shift" so red objects look close to their actual color.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, the Lixeon Stars in the two Reactors I've cut open were binned (as I suspect all are), both were P1JW. Green, but bright (and probably most important) with 'the right' Vf for DD use.

I too think that the actual color is fine for all but the most demanding uses (and users....). Neat part, all in all.

Doug Owen

Does anyone know if the madmax or badboy modules are whiter?

BigMac, they are absolutely whiter.

dat2zips stuff blows me away with how bright and white
they are. hell, out of 7 i've personally seen, only one had any noticable green tint, and you'd have to be pretty damn spoiled and compare to a REALLY white one to notice.

after handling maybe a dozen or so CMGs reactors in the store, and try every single one of them, they were so completely green, that even if i was giving them a reasonable doubt compensation, there's no way i could call them white. bright, cheap, but not white.

that said, i imagine that your bang for your buck is going to be one of the fine drop in modules that you can buy right now, and put into a housing that suits your needs.

i think for my next couple, for bulletproof no fail options, i'm looking towards a pr2 (everled) drop in replacement that would fit into a resin bodied completely waterproof dive quality light, and feed it some lithiums, so that i know i have a bomb proof backup light "no matter what"...

My first Reactor had that "rotten dog urine green" color to its beam, but my second Reactor (with the detent upgrade) and my Reactor-3 have that snow-white color to their beams.
I'm guessing that CMG was a victim of the "Luxeon Lottery" and really couldn't pick & choose their bins.

We test EVERY one of those lights that goes through here. James (my 11 year old son)loads them all up and checks them just for grins. Most have a slight yellowish tint. I can't recall any green/blues as of late.