Anti-Reflection Coating Comparison (Multi-color AR!)

I got a ZebraLight SC63 but I missed that nice flash of color I got from my original sc600 with AR-coating. After talking to ZebraLight I found out that the sc600 mk3 still has the AR-coating, and then I saw the high intensity version...

Boy am I glad I went for the HI version!

I've never seen a two-tone AR-coating color ring before! It starts pink at the edge before fading purple then almost blue before the light hits you:




Maybe it's caused by the warmer tint of the HI emitter, but all my other lights with AR-coating are just one constant color at the edges:

V11R

Original SC600

Klarus MiX6

TN36-UT

an AR coating is basically a liquid prism that has been baked onto the lens. Certain base chemicals make most light AR coatings like purple when you look at the lens angled in some light. OP the AR coating actually is not what is making that color difference in the tint it is mainly a result of the steel bezel ring, also the OP reflector contributes to it a bit as does how high or how low the emitter sits at the bottom of the reflector. Looking at my own HI I notice the top of the reflector that meets the bezel is perfectly smooth that also causes artifacts and tint differences. The AR coating on my MkIII HI has a nice good quality evenly applied light purple color to it but it in no way affects the beam tint.

So what you are seeing is actually the result of a couple different things. First is the lights insanely high output, second is how that output is handled by the OP reflector, third the top lip of the reflector is perfectly smooth, fourth and biggest reason for what you are seeing is the steel bezel ring.

The beam out of your HI looks actually beautiful. Unfortunately my MkIII HI has none of these artifacts or tint shifts after seeing your photo I kinda wish it did
EDIT to add- the edge of the lens is NOT coated its bare. This indeed can also cause the effects you are seeing especially with such high output.

Using OP as both "original poster" and "orange peel" in the same sentence made my heat hurt :laughing:

Thanks for all the info, I didn't realize that ring could be different on the same model of light!

lol sorry I should have stated orange peel. Yes beam profiles and beam tint/artifacts can absolutely vary greatly in some models of lights. Orange peel reflectors are meant to smooth things out especially in very high output LED lights and they do. But the OP reflectors dont help much when it comes to focusing the beam. Lights with OP reflectors the emitter must be at a specific height in the center at the bottom of the reflector. To high or to low results in odd beam profiles and tint shifting the first batch of the Thrunite CW TN4A is a perfect example of this its hot spot and corona tint shifts yellow to green it looks as if the two colors are "boiling" together in the corona if the light. TN took care of this in later batches by changing the height placement of the emitter.

In a OP reflector light of such high out put as the MkIII HI just the slightest thing being off by the slightest margin can cause a lot of artifacts and tint shifts. Tried to replicate the original posters issues with my MkIII HI and just couldnt do it. The beam out of my copy is near halogen yellow all the way across the profile and artifact free. I actually like the tint shifts around the edge of the beam of the OP's light its actually beautiful to look at. Cannot complain though guess I got lucky and ZL just got everything right on my copy.

I mentioned it before but Ill say it again because I never see this mentioned whenever theres a tint shift or artifact issue around the outer edge of a beam profile. These AR coated lenses in all these LED lights are indeed AR coated on both sides BUT the edge of the lens is totally untreated and raw. Most of the time this is not an issue as the edge of these lenses is usually properly seated and sealed in. If not properly seated and sealed in either by manufacturing defect or poor design the raw untreated edge allows light to pass through the edge and out the front which can cause lots of strange tint issues as the untreated raw edge refracts light unevenly.

My day job is Im an optician. I sell and fill eyeglass prescriptions I work with no less than 16 different brands of AR coatings. Ive seen refractive problems caused by the raw untreated edges of very thick prescription lenses. That being said Im going to stick to believing the OP's tint issue is caused by the emitter sitting to high or to low even be it by half a millimeter and the steel bezel.