Jetbeam PA40 Neutral: impressions of the tint and beam profile.

B0wz3r · Oct 1, 2011

Hi all,

Just got my PA40 in neutral a couple of days ago, and now that I've had a couple of evenings to take it out with me on a walk, I wanted to give my thoughts on the tint. There's been a lot of discussion here about it, but not much specifically about the tint.

That said, I think this is probably the coolest 'neutral' tint I've ever seen. What's more, the tint of the beam varies by location in the beam profile, which is unusual (at least to me) in itself, because it has three distinct radii in it, rather than the normal two that most lights usually have. In addition to a tight hotspot, there is a secondary, brighter corona that surrounds the hotspot, and outside that, a traditional spill type of zone. The boundaries between each area is fairly well defined.

As for the tint, the center most hotspot is pretty much a pure snowy white. I'd say there's just a hint of blue in it. The secondary corona is yellowish, that gets slightly warmer, perhaps browner and maybe a touch greener, toward the outer boundary before the spill. And the spill area itself, definitely has a bluish cast to it. If it wasn't for the neutral-ish tint of the middle zone between the hotspot and the spill, I'd say this was a cool tinted light.

I'm going to keep the light, as it's very well built, performs quite well on eneloops, and is actually smaller than I expected. Frankly, the tint could be better. It's hardly my favorite with the blue that's in it, but for what I'll be using this light for, which will be things like taking my wife's poodle out at night, camping, emergency prep, etc., it's not a big issue for me. If this was a smaller light that would be an EDC light, or something I'd be using on my bicycle bars or on my helmet, I wouldn't be willing to accept the too-cool tint for a 'neutral'.

Just thought someone might like to know what the beam and tint of this light are like; hope someone finds this helpful.

Wiggle · Oct 1, 2011

Yes I had heard someone else mention the tint differences within the beam with the NW beam. I'm not sure what causes this exactly. I was gonna get the NW but my dealer of choice only had the CW so I went with that. The CW actaully has a pretty good tint for a CW in my opinion. My tint is pretty consistent throughout. I wonder if the phosphor coating on the NW emitters is inconsistent across the surface.

Sgt. LED · Oct 2, 2011

My neutral PA40 has none of these tint gradients like you describe.
I love mine. Would recommend this light to anyone.

I know you said you don't mind too much and will keep it but I would consider an exchange.

B0wz3r · Oct 2, 2011

Sgt. LED said:
My neutral PA40 has none of these tint gradients like you describe.
I love mine. Would recommend this light to anyone.

I know you said you don't mind too much and will keep it but I would consider an exchange.

Sarge, thanks for letting me know. I thought it was unusual to see differences in tint between one part of the beam and another. I was thinking it might be due to chromatic aberration, but now that I think about it more, even that wouldn't account for the strong differences I see in the tint.

I'll see if I can take some beam shots and post them here to see if I can show you guys what it is I'm talking about. If it really is that unusual, I will request and exchange for a different unit.

Edit:

Here; is a shot I took with my phone (sorry, but I don't have any other camera available to me, so sorry for the crappy quality), which does sort of represents what my eyes see. The brightest area in the beam there is not the hotspot, but that corona I mentioned around the hotspot. The spill area does show some blue in the shot, at least as far as I see it anyway, but it's stronger in my own perception.

On yours, do you have a three stage beam, or the regular spot and spill zones like usual?

Sgt. LED · Oct 3, 2011

Yeah I'm with you on the 3 stage part.
There's the throw and spill and wider spill lol

Deal4 · Oct 3, 2011

I know this is a thread just about the PA40, but I thought I would ask if anyone had a LD40 to compare it to. If so would they recommend one over the other?
Thanks, and sorry I'm a bit off topic here.

B0wz3r · Oct 3, 2011

Sgt. LED said:
Yeah I'm with you on the 3 stage part.
There's the throw and spill and wider spill lol

Okay, at least I know that's normal for this light then. Thanks. I've got a new shipment of eneloops coming in the mail; once they get here and I break them in, I'll run it through some paces one more time, and see what happens. I'm still not feeling like I need to return it, but the tint is definitely cooler than I would prefer. But, for what I'll be using this for, it's not as important for me as if it were going to be an EDC light.

Deal4 said:
I know this is a thread just about the PA40, but I thought I would ask if anyone had a LD40 to compare it to. If so would they recommend one over the other?
Thanks, and sorry I'm a bit off topic here.

No worries. I've seen beamshots of the LD40 and it has a traditional hotspot and single unified spill area.

Harry999 · Oct 3, 2011

Apologies for the slight OT but I have just ordered the LD40 today. Deal4 I understand another CPF member uses an Olight M30 Diffuser to get a flood beam on his LD40. I intend to test that out hopefully tomorrow when my LD40 and M30 diffuser should arrive.

I was interested in the PA40 but the reports of the neutral not being so neutral and the lower runtime on low have put me off slightly, plus I would have to have the neutral shipped internationally. I might still get one next month but it will be the cool white - the beamshots on high are very impressive.

tam17 · Oct 4, 2011

I've posted animated beamshots of PA40W's four modes in another thread and tint-wise they're the closest to my visual perception as they can be. As for the tint, judge for yourself. I think mine is true white (like it's supposed to be), not a warm white (compared to my 4.000K XP-G headlamp) and certainly not a cool white like the rest of my flashlights.

Beam profile is floody, obviously optimized for short and medium range, reflector diameter is under 40mm and it's a XM-L after all. I've devised a translucent film diffuser for indoor use (see McGyver thread, post #10).

Cheers,

Tam

roadkill1109 · Oct 4, 2011

Deal4 said:
I know this is a thread just about the PA40, but I thought I would ask if anyone had a LD40 to compare it to. If so would they recommend one over the other?
Thanks, and sorry I'm a bit off topic here.

They are almost identical, except of course for the LED and interface. But body, shape of the head, they are identical and can switch bodies and heads. Lumens-wise, the older LD40 is only 200-something while the PA40's 400+.

Please use the search function here and check out the posting here which compares the two.

Wiggle · Oct 4, 2011

Deal4 said:
I know this is a thread just about the PA40, but I thought I would ask if anyone had a LD40 to compare it to. If so would they recommend one over the other?
Thanks, and sorry I'm a bit off topic here.

Selfbuilt's Review is quite good (as usual) and has comparisons to the LD40. I only own the PA40 but it seems to come down to a couple main points.

-PA40 body is updated
-PA40 has low battery indicator
-LD40 has separate mode button (which many prefer, esp with forward clicky switch)
-PA40 has significantly more output with comparable runtime
-PA40 is floodier due to XM-L and OP reflector. Still throws ok due to biggish reflector and sheer output but not as far as the LD40.
-LD40 is only in neutral white, PA40 comes in neutral and cool.

Swedpat · Oct 4, 2011

Yesterday I received my PA 40N. I would order Fenix LD40 earlier if it had not been because of the plastic handle which I understand may be slipper. Jetbeam PA 40 with carbon fiber handle provides a good grip because of the matt carbon fiber surface. The very first impression is good, it really feels like a quality flashlight.

I drop in four brand new Sanyo Eneloop 1500 direct from the package, and try it out the first time. The beam is nice with the wide hotspot and the corona. But as mentioned before a bit unusal: hotspot is white neutral. Corona is warm yellowish followed by a blue, or maybe purple spill. The 468lm mode is very bright, similar to Malkoff M91W but with a much more intense hotspot. When I look at the lens I see it has a purple coating, and a purple color is actually visible on the reflector if looking from the side when the light is on. Therefore I wonder: is the blue/purple tint of the spill caused by the coating of the lens?
I don't know, just don't otherwise understand where that spill tint comes from.

One thing I noticed is that the battery indicator indicated for half power left already after a few minutes of use with the brand new Eneloops, should it do that?

I made a runtime test with alkalines at the 220lm mode(because I know the hightest mode demands NiMh for good result).
I used IKEA alkalines, exp, date: 2015-11-13. The light placed in a glass shining up to the ceiling, with light meter beside on the kitchen table.
The output was stable until 3 hours and ~50 minutes, at 54 min I noticed it had dropped a bit and after that it dropped fast. At 4 hours the brightness was 1/3 of initial. I am satisfied with such a result. Cheap alkalines give almost 4 hours of stable brightness at 220lm mode.

Conclusion: Jetbeam PA40 is the 4AA light I have been waited for. As usual with debatable beam characteristic at white wall, this often isn't an issue in practical use out in the field, so I don't think it will be a problem. Well; I find it isn't indoors either.
I would prefer it tailstandable, and also the modes going from low to high instead of from high to low. Apart from that it feels like a great light and really worth it's price! The very low lowest mode is good!

Regards, Patric

tam17 · Oct 5, 2011

Swedpat said:
One thing I noticed is that the battery indicator indicated for half power left already after a few minutes of use with the brand new Eneloops, should it do that?

Mine lasted for a week of intermittent use before 50% warning signal lit up, but with a difference regarding batteries: my Eneloops were charged with Sanyo MQR06 straight out of the package, and then loaded into the PA40.

Nice observations, +1

Cheers,

Tam

B0wz3r · Oct 5, 2011

Swedpat said:
Yesterday I received my PA 40W. I would order Fenix LD40 earlier if it had not been because of the plastic handle which I understand may be slipper. Jetbeam PA 40 with carbon fiber handle provides a good grip because of the matt carbon fiber surface. The very first impression is good, it really feels like a quality flashlight.

I drop in four brand new Sanyo Eneloop 1500 direct from the package, and try it out the first time. The beam is nice with the wide hotspot and the corona. But as mentioned before a bit unusal: hotspot is white neutral. Corona is warm yellowish followed by a blue, or maybe purple spill. The 468lm mode is very bright, similar to Malkoff M91W but with a much more intense hotspot. When I look at the lens I see it has a purple coating, and a purple color is actually visible on the reflector if looking from the side when the light is on. Therefore I wonder: is the blue/purple tint of the spill caused by the coating of the lens?
I don't know, just don't otherwise understand where that spill tint comes from.

One thing I noticed is that the battery indicator indicated for half power left already after a few minutes of use with the brand new Eneloops, should it do that?

I made a runtime test with alkalines at the 220lm mode(because I know the hightest mode demands NiMh for good result).
I used IKEA alkalines, exp, date: 2015-11-13. The light placed in a glass shining up to the ceiling, with light meter beside on the kitchen table.
The output was stable until 3 hours and ~50 minutes, at 54 min I noticed it had dropped a bit and after that it dropped fast. At 4 hours the brightness was 1/3 of initial. I am satisfied with such a result. Cheap alkalines give almost 4 hours of stable brightness at 220lm mode.

Conclusion: Jetbeam PA40 is the 4AA light I have been waited for. As usual with debatable beam characteristic at white wall, this often isn't an issue in practical use out in the field, so I don't think it will be a problem. Well; I find it isn't indoors either.
I would prefer it tailstandable, and also the modes going from low to high instead of from high to low. Apart from that it feels like a great light and really worth it's price! The very low lowest mode is good!

Regards, Patric

Patric, thanks for your report! It's good to know I'm not the only one who is experiencing this. From what you said, it sounds like the purple you're seeing is the anti-reflective coating on the lens. I will have to check mine and see if I can see that as well. Overall, I too am quite pleased with the light, it does definitely have a feeling of quality to it. I am just thrown off by the unusual beam profile and the variation of tint in the beam pattern.

Animalmother · Oct 5, 2011

Is the PA40 and PA40W the same brightness? Both have the same rated output. I want to get one.

Swedpat · Oct 5, 2011

Animalmother said:
Is the PA40 and PA40W the same brightness? Both have the same rated output. I want to get one.

The output is likely not the same. The "warm" surely is slightly less bright but nothing you need to take in consider, you will hardly notice the difference in practical use.

This night I brought with me the PA40W on the way to the corner shop. I crossed an unilluminated area with trees and put on the light at the highest mode. Yes, it was impressive with the wide and bright hotspot and spill. This is not a thrower but at short and medium distances it illuminates everything very well. There is some similarity to the beam of Malkoff M31/61 dropins, with the corona making the hotspot and spill floating together in a nice way. The tint difference between hotspot, corona and spill which is clearly visible against a white wall, I hardly noticed at all outdoors.
I am satisfied with my PA40W, and think you will be as well, irrespective which option you choose!

Quality · Oct 5, 2011

I've got to chime in here on the "Purpleish" color spill. I noticed that almost immediately upon using my PA40 cool white.

At first it bothered me but you can only really see it when you point it at a white wall. It doesn't actually make things look purple, thankfully. But IMO it is definitely from the coating on the lens. I wonder what the deal is with it? If you hold the light at an angle and look at the lens you can see a very distinctive purple sheen on it. Perhaps someone who knows more about the coatings lenses can tell us more about it because it seems almost deliberate.

I actually like the tint on my cool white PA40. It renders color the best out of all of my cool white flashlights.

B0wz3r · Oct 6, 2011

Hey guys, thanks for your reports. Now I know I'm not completely losing my marbles...

As Quality said, I do see a bit of blue or maybe even purple in the peripheral spill when white wall hunting, but outside in real use, I can't even see it.

I'm still of the opinion this isn't a "true" neutral, but that's just my opinion. I'm used to "neutral" lights being warmer, slightly yellowish, but I bought this light to be for outside activities like camping, hiking, caving, etc. rather than as an EDC light so I can live with it. But, it still doesn't render colors as well as a warmer emitter would.

So I'm going to keep and enjoy it.

Animalmother · Oct 6, 2011

Any magical beamshots of the neutral version?

2100 · Oct 6, 2011

I'd believe this, and also the BC40, is 3C tint.

It's the same for Xeno E03 NW 3C. But not so obvious. But it's really cool and at the upper limit, 5000k definitely. This is a *true* neutral, that's my response to a question in an earlier post up there.

I have 5A3, I like that better but some don't like Vanilla neutrals.

Jetbeam PA40 Neutral: impressions of the tint and beam profile.

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