My new surefire LX2 40 lumens on low???

Flashlight Dave · Jul 25, 2011

I recently received my new LX2. I decided to do a Ceiling bounce comparing it to other lights. The light on low seems to me to be brighter than 15 lumens and with the Ceiling bounce I concluded that it was closer to 30 to 40 lumens.

Anyone know?

Brasso · Jul 25, 2011

I don't know what it is, but it's a lot more than 15 lumens. When Surefire gives lumens, it means the absolute least lumens you will get for variances in emitters.

pjandyho · Jul 25, 2011

So now you experienced what we meant by Surefire lumen. I always felt that Surefire lights seem to be brighter than advertised. I have about 30 pieces and all of them are brighter than what is stated. On the downside, it might not be good too as I sometimes find myself wishing for a lower low. That's why I love the T1A Titan so much.

Moonshadow · Jul 26, 2011

My LX2 is exactly the same: I also reckon around 30 Lumens on low, as opposed to the advertised 15.

It's more than just Surefire Lumens though: if the high were equally brighter than specified, it would be less of a problem. 200 / 15 Lumens would be a ratio of 13:1, but on a luxmeter I made the ratio less than 10:1. In other words, the low is brighter by a larger margin than high. The chosen levels actually work quite well outdoors, but I would definitely prefer a significantly lower low.

leon2245 · Jul 26, 2011

In other words, the low is brighter by a larger margin than high. The chosen levels actually work quite well outdoors, but I would definitely prefer a significantly lower low.

^too bad all manufacturers couldn't just agree to one set of industry standards when publishing lumen & runtime specs, so you don't have to adjust from surefire to ansi to "chinese" lumens etc. or guess to what percentage of initial output a runtime is good for.

fat chance.

pjandyho · Jul 26, 2011

leon2245 said:
In other words, the low is brighter by a larger margin than high. The chosen levels actually work quite well outdoors, but I would definitely prefer a significantly lower low.

^too bad all manufacturers couldn't just agree to one set of industry standards when publishing lumen & runtime specs, so you don't have to adjust from surefire to ansi to "chinese" lumens etc. or guess to what percentage of initial output a runtime is good for.

fat chance.

I don't think it would be possible for all manufacturers to adhere to ANSI ratings. ANSI requires the light to be switched on for 3 minutes before a reading can be taken. Not all lights do that. Just take HDS for example, their lights are designed to give you 200 lumen on burst for 40 secs and thereafter cut down on output to 163 lumen to preserve battery power. And the new Zebralight SC600 is designed to give you 750 lumen and then cut down to 500 lumen at the 3 minute mark for thermal cooling. So is the 4Sevens Preon ReVO. How then can one give an accurate ANSI reading?

Moonshadow · Jul 26, 2011

Yes, it's fairly complicated, especially when the lights are perhaps designed to mess with the standards (e.g. stepping down just after the 3-minute measurement point).

I can understand differences between manufacturers, as they may use different measurement methods, but it would be nice if the ratings were at least consistent within one manufacturer, and for goodness' sake for the same light !. Surefire claim that the high on the LX2 is 13x brighter than low, when in fact the actual difference is perhaps half that.

leon2245 · Jul 26, 2011

pjandyho said:
leon said:

^too bad all manufacturers couldn't just agree to one set of industry standards when publishing lumen & runtime specs, so you don't have to adjust from surefire to ansi to "chinese" lumens etc. or guess to what percentage of initial output a runtime is good for.

fat chance.

Click to expand...

I don't think it would be possible for all manufacturers to adhere to ANSI ratings. ANSI requires the light to be switched on for 3 minutes before a reading can be taken. Not all lights do that. Just take HDS for example, their lights are designed to give you 200 lumen on burst for 40 secs and thereafter cut down on output to 163 lumen to preserve battery power. And the new Zebralight SC600 is designed to give you 750 lumen and then cut down to 500 lumen at the 3 minute mark for thermal cooling. So is the 4Sevens Preon ReVO. How then can one give an accurate ANSI reading?

If the preons etc. do not comprise an extreme minority anyway, maybe these models also have other levels that are capable of being measured by ansi ratings? If so, I would grant their 30 second show-off modes & only their 30 second show-off modes an "ansi exemption", & they could still conform.

pjandyho · Jul 26, 2011

leon2245 said:
If the preons etc. do not comprise an extreme minority anyway, maybe these models also have other levels that are capable of being measured by ansi ratings? If so, I would grant their 30 second show-off modes & only their 30 second show-off modes an "ansi exemption", & they could still conform.

Well, both HDS and Preon ReVO (running lithium AA) retain output consistency after the cut down throughout the entire battery life. Don't think it would make a difference whether the measurements are ANSI or not. Not sure about Zebralight SC600 though.

rmteo · Jul 26, 2011

Lumens ratings are like horsepower ratings for automobiles - they indicate output but tell you little to nothing about the performance of the device, yet the naive buying public is obsessed with them. So the organisations (ANSI for flashlights, SAE for automobiles) that support the industries oblige by providing them in order to sell product.

pjandyho · Jul 26, 2011

rmteo said:
Lumens ratings are like horsepower ratings for automobiles - they indicate output but tell you little to nothing about the performance of the device, yet the naive buying public is obsessed with them. So the organisations (ANSI for flashlights, SAE for automobiles) that support the industries oblige by providing them in order to sell product.

Agreed. What is more important is the lux and beam profile. What the general public don't know is that sometimes a light with lower lumen rating could actually out-throw one with a higher rating and appear visually to be brighter. I have learned over the time never to be too bothered by lumen output anymore, but it is still fun using lumen number to convince the average Joe without delving into a deeper degree of explanation.

My new surefire LX2 40 lumens on low???

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