geepondy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Moderator: Not sure if this belongs in review forum or not but I bet more people will see it if you leave it here.
Here is a comparison of the CMG Sonic versus the Arc AAA LE in a beam shot run time plot but with a caveat. I started it 8:00 on Friday night but at midnight at the 240 minute mark, both lights were still going strong while I was rapidly giving up the ghost and slipping into moon mode so I had to cheat a bit. I went to bed and let the lights continue on but with no more pictures. This Saturday afternoon, I put two more fresh batteries in both lights and let run unattended until the 270 minute mark where I then began taking pictures again. All four batteries are the Energizer Max brand and all four are from the same package and have expiration dates of 2009. The Sonic was just purchased this week while the Arc LE is of fairly new vintage I believe just before the Mag appeasement logo was changed as it still is around the rim of the head for this light. All shots were taken at the same exposure but the camera doesn't quite capture the entire essence. In retrospect, perhaps I overexposed the images a bit more then I should have. Initially the Arc has a much smaller hot spot but with more spill light in which the camera did not quite capture quite the way my eyes saw it. The Sonic has a much larger hotspot, perhaps very slightly brighter then the Arc but with little side spill outside the center hotspot. If I had to guess, I'd say the Sonic was putting out a very slightly more total light output in terms of lumens. As the runtime progressed, both lights dimmed slowly but steadily, similar to Roy's runtime plots, until between the 270 and 300 minute mark where the Sonic suddenly lost it in a big way and went into moon mode while the Arc continued its slow dim. Finally, the Arc slipped into moon mode… after nearly ten hours! Concerning moon mode, the Sonic wins in this regard. The Arc's moon mode is not even showing up in the last photo but it is there but very dim. From the batteries used on Friday night, the Sonic still had some measure of useful light left nearly 20 hours after power up before I replaced the batteries for tonight's run. By the Sonic having a measure of "useful light", I am talking about reading a watch or a newspaper at very close quarters, not for getting yourselves out of the woods.
Physically and atheistic wise, I like the Arc better. I like symmetrical cylindrical lights and the knob that constitutes the Sonic tail switch is displeasing to me. Also I find the Sonic's tail switch to turn too easily. If carrying in the pocket, I'd want to unscrew it a full turn past the off point to ensure it would not accidentally turn on. Luckily plenty of thread turns are provided for this purpose. Construction wise the Arc is more solid as well and I'm sure more water proof but the Sonic is no slouch and I'm sure will hold up well under normal circumstances. Kudos also to CMG, for putting a viable AAA LED light on the shelves of retail stores. Too me though, it's worth paying the extra for the Arc unless you desire the bigger hotspot that the Sonic provides, and the Sonic bright run time is sufficient for your needs. Can't help but still wish the Arc was flatly regulated, however.
Sonic on left, Arc on right. Time listed on each photo is of minutes from start.
Here is a comparison of the CMG Sonic versus the Arc AAA LE in a beam shot run time plot but with a caveat. I started it 8:00 on Friday night but at midnight at the 240 minute mark, both lights were still going strong while I was rapidly giving up the ghost and slipping into moon mode so I had to cheat a bit. I went to bed and let the lights continue on but with no more pictures. This Saturday afternoon, I put two more fresh batteries in both lights and let run unattended until the 270 minute mark where I then began taking pictures again. All four batteries are the Energizer Max brand and all four are from the same package and have expiration dates of 2009. The Sonic was just purchased this week while the Arc LE is of fairly new vintage I believe just before the Mag appeasement logo was changed as it still is around the rim of the head for this light. All shots were taken at the same exposure but the camera doesn't quite capture the entire essence. In retrospect, perhaps I overexposed the images a bit more then I should have. Initially the Arc has a much smaller hot spot but with more spill light in which the camera did not quite capture quite the way my eyes saw it. The Sonic has a much larger hotspot, perhaps very slightly brighter then the Arc but with little side spill outside the center hotspot. If I had to guess, I'd say the Sonic was putting out a very slightly more total light output in terms of lumens. As the runtime progressed, both lights dimmed slowly but steadily, similar to Roy's runtime plots, until between the 270 and 300 minute mark where the Sonic suddenly lost it in a big way and went into moon mode while the Arc continued its slow dim. Finally, the Arc slipped into moon mode… after nearly ten hours! Concerning moon mode, the Sonic wins in this regard. The Arc's moon mode is not even showing up in the last photo but it is there but very dim. From the batteries used on Friday night, the Sonic still had some measure of useful light left nearly 20 hours after power up before I replaced the batteries for tonight's run. By the Sonic having a measure of "useful light", I am talking about reading a watch or a newspaper at very close quarters, not for getting yourselves out of the woods.
Physically and atheistic wise, I like the Arc better. I like symmetrical cylindrical lights and the knob that constitutes the Sonic tail switch is displeasing to me. Also I find the Sonic's tail switch to turn too easily. If carrying in the pocket, I'd want to unscrew it a full turn past the off point to ensure it would not accidentally turn on. Luckily plenty of thread turns are provided for this purpose. Construction wise the Arc is more solid as well and I'm sure more water proof but the Sonic is no slouch and I'm sure will hold up well under normal circumstances. Kudos also to CMG, for putting a viable AAA LED light on the shelves of retail stores. Too me though, it's worth paying the extra for the Arc unless you desire the bigger hotspot that the Sonic provides, and the Sonic bright run time is sufficient for your needs. Can't help but still wish the Arc was flatly regulated, however.
Sonic on left, Arc on right. Time listed on each photo is of minutes from start.
