Which reveals more? Quark aa^2 in NEUTRAL or COOL white?

So, I need a new 2xAA... and I'm gonna go for a quark tactical series. I'm wondering what will be more revealing at night, the cool white at 206 lumens or the neutral white at 190 lumens? I'm leaning towards neutral white here. I think warm white might be too dim at 150 lumens. Also, are these OTF or emitter lumens?
thanks,
will

Its all subjective. I like the colours better on the NW but the beam has become floodier and so loses a bit of punch at range but becoming even more useful up close.

Good to know. I think the NW looks a bit better. I don't really like floodier lights, but I guess it could be worth it. The beam also looks smoother on the NW, which I like.

I would go for the nw

Another option too if you want more throw is to get the XP-E Q3 5A (or B?) head. Very similar to current NW color temp /w more throw and a little less output.

Can I get that as a standard option with the tactical driver? Or do I have to buy the head separately? Also, again, are these OTF or emitter lumens?

I definately prefer the NW. Much more "life" like color. The cooler the tint, the more 2 dimensional everything appears.

Quark lumens are OTF.

Cool. So compared to my fenix ld20 "180" lumens it should be a lot brighter, right? Fenix uses emitter lumens?

I bought the neutral white
52.44 shipped :twothumbs

It will be brighter, but you may not be able to notice. It takes a lot of lumen increase, almost twice, before you'll really be able to tell the difference. Our eyes perceive light logarithmically. It takes a 4 times increase in lumens to visually see something as twice as bright. Most people can't perceive a 20 or 30 lumen increase. And it depends on the emitter and relflector also. I have the same light you just got and it makes a nice, wide beam with a natural looking tint. I like it. For $20 more you can get a 1xAA tube. With a 14500 it will be just as bright as with 2 AA's.

It's true that your eyes and ears measure logarithmically, but the thing is that at a distance the brightness change becomes more noticeable. It's like a camera CCD looking at a laser-above a certain power level up close a laser that is 200mW and one that is 400mW will look almost the same. But if you shine them farther away and the CCD is no longer saturated, you can see the difference much more clearly. But I think the 7% decrease in output here will be matched by the better color performance.

I have one of the new Quark AA2 XPG neutral whites. To my eyes, the neutral white looks better; it seems more contrasty on what I shine it on so it gives better depth perception. I don't notice any difference in brightness between it and my Quark AA2 R2, although the R2 has a tighter more defined hot spot and throws better.

One caveat is that my neutral one definitely has a greenish cast to it. I can see it when white wall hunting, but it's not nearly as noticeable outdoors during actual use. Still, it just looks odd to me... perhaps it's the fact I know it has that greenish cast to it, but I can't help but get this feeling that things don't look quite right under its beam. It is still an excellent light though, I just prefer warmer neutrals, like the Q35A, which is easily my favorite tint, so I prefer my Jet-III Pro over the Quark.

I am looking around for a good headlamp now, and planning on a Zebralight, they have Q45B's in their neutral whites, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that one compares.

The moral of the story is that while the Quarks are good lights, a good value for the money, with the current neutral batch you've got a big IF in the tint lottery... so if you know what tint you want, then you might want to consider another brand that uses a specific emitter that will give you a tint closer to what you want to have.

wyager said:

I'm wondering what will be more revealing at night...

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Depends on what you're trying to reveal. Cool white tends to be brighter with more sharply defined contrast while neutral or warm tints tend to have better color rendering.

B0wz3r said:

One caveat is that my neutral one definitely has a greenish cast to it.

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4Sevens is currently shipping two neutral white LEDs: 4C0 and 4D0. The 4C is slightly greenish while the 4D is slightly pinkish, and it's luck of the draw which one you get. My neutral white MiNi AA appears to be a 4D, and I like the color very much.

Of course it's no match for my high CRI Ra Clicky.

Well, I hope I get the 4D... But tell me, does the 4D0 or 4C0 correspond to what batch the LED was manufactured in? Also, how do I check which LED I have?

I'm not exactly sure on the particulars, but at some point after the manufacturing process, all LEDs are evaluated and sorted into their respective "bin". I determined that my QMiNi is a 4D simply by looking at a chart like the one posted here and just eyeballing it.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. With any luck, I should get this thing on Wednesday... USPS is god tier shipping. Cheap, reliable, and FAST.

the.Mtn.Man said:

4Sevens is currently shipping two neutral white LEDs: 4C0 and 4D0. The 4C is slightly greenish while the 4D is slightly pinkish, and it's luck of the draw which one you get. My neutral white MiNi AA appears to be a 4D, and I like the color very much.

Of course it's no match for my high CRI Ra Clicky.

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My QAA2 is clearly a 4C then; I'm sorry to say I don't really care for it. On the other hand I LOVE the tint on my Jet-III Pro so that is my main EDC. I also have an EZAAw on my keychain that also uses the same emitter.

I've looked at the Ra's and they seem like really nice lights. Maybe down the road I'll get one. Right now my priority is a Zebralight headlamp and a pair of 18650s and a charger for my Jet-III Pro.

Uh-oh! My shipping and billing addresses are different, I just got an email about it, I hope the order goes through soon :eeksign:I hate waiting for stuff to arrive!