Lumens on quark x AA2 vs ...?

Hi...question from new flash guy.
Its about Lumens and differences between two lights...
Bought a Quark X AA2 as my first, and fairly happy with its 280 stated lumens.
I compared it my son's new Jetbeam BA20, which says 270 lumens.
I understand the "at the LED" vs "out the front" thing, but...
The Jetbeam and the Quark are VERY close in brightness...which is fine, because I wouldn't have expected to see much of a diff between 270 and 280.

But then today, I read a review by Selfbuilt, says that the Quark is closer to 400 by his measurements???
So what gives?

I've seen the "4 times the Lumens for double the brightness rule"...but would have expected to see more of a difference.

Is there not much of a difference btwn 270 and 400? What would I have to get to notice a difference?

Had planned on a 700-800 for my next one, but...just confused now.

help is appreciated! If I'm missing a thread which explains, I'll gladly read it!
thanks,
JD

:huh:

The FourSevens lights are rated in ANSI lumens, which is "Lumens after 3 minutes with the included batteries." So alkalines give you crappy output. NiMHs give much nicer high power lighting - this alone might explain the difference.

Thanks, but running Eneloops all around,,, shouldn't be an issue...

jdhermit said:

Thanks, but running Eneloops all around,,, shouldn't be an issue...

Click to expand...

If they're both rated on alkaleaks and have the same benefit of NiMHs, they'll shift about the same amount too. I forgot that that JetBeam runs on NiMHs.

You won't see much difference between 270 and 400 lumens indoors during the day, aside from that, the Jetbeam most likely has a tighter beam over the Quark's XM-L emitter, making it look more intense by the eye. Take both outside at night for a true comparison, bearing in mind that the Quark is trying to put more light in the area directly in front of you, whereas the Jetbeam is trying to light things farther away.