Is the SF L2 really 100 lumens?

According to the SF website the L2 on high brightness measures at 100 lumens.

Understanding that this is not in overall throw, when compared to an incandescent, is the L2 really that much brighter than the rest of the SF LED line, and competiting 2 cell models?

That's a question I'd like an answer too as well, since I'm trying to decide between an L1 and L2. I have an L4, which is just a little bit longer than the L1 and is rated at 65 lumens - it's unfortunate the L4 is not a two stage light! The L2 is considerably longer than the L4 - why? The head looks the same size, the body is considerably longer.

Right now the L2 looks like a winner over the L1 since I already have a light about that size in the L4, and I like the 2 stage output of the L2. If it's really 100 lumens (and I have no reason to doubt Surefires' numbers - they seem to be pretty conservative) then it's even more attractive. My suspicion is the beam is tighter than the L4s', which is pretty wide.

Mike

The L2 and L4 beams are almost identical flood beams. The L2 and the L4 are different animals in that the L2 is designed to be used more on the low beam while the L4 is designed for more use at its highest setting.
If you look at the readings on flashlightreviews.com comparing the two lights, you'll see the L2 is a little brighter, though to the human eye it is not all that significant of a difference.
Mikelip, if you already have the L4, you might consider getting McGizmo's two-stage tail cap to make it similar to the L2.
The L2 is longer because its circuitry is in the "coffin" or front inch of the flashlight body. The L4 crams all of its magic in the bezel.
If you were trying to decide between the two, ask yourself which you would use more, the high beam or the low beam. I use the low beam 95% of the time so the L2 was my choice. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

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MikeLip said:
it's unfortunate the L4 is not a two stage light!

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Check out McGizmo's McE2S two-stage tailcap. Details on the McGizmo forum. I have one for my L4, and it truly completes the light.

I'd go with the L4 w/KL4 head, smaller than L2. Then you have the option of E1E body w/Mc2s w/R123 li-ion for one of the best small EDC lights.

100 lumens depends upon the luxeon lottery. I can tell you my Kl4 E2E R123 combo puts out 100+ lumens. Wbin brightness, very close to Xbin output. won the luxeon lottery on that one.

wouldnot worry too much about numbers. very few can tell flux with any certainty anyways.

well, the L2 is extremely bright, when you think about it, for example, if you use the low, in the dark and kinda stare at it, then suddenly boost it, it appears really bright! it would make me a believer that it is 100 lumens, i also compared it to my P61, so if thats 120, there is little difference that i could see, so its probably around 100. but yeah the lottery is a factor also.

its hard for my L2 not to go on high all the times since its only half a press down on the switch away /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My L4 uses less amperage than my L2 on high so the L4 would have a longer run time (than the L2 on high). So I would go with what leukos said about needing low or high power more often. My L4 and L2 look identical in output, hot spot and spill. I love both, but tend to go with the A2 more often.

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bonvivantmike said:
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MikeLip said:
it's unfortunate the L4 is not a two stage light!

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Check out McGizmo's McE2S two-stage tailcap. Details on the McGizmo forum. I have one for my L4, and it truly completes the light.

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I'll do that, thanks!

Mike

mike, the KL4/E1e w/mcgizmo two stage (mc2s) looks like the pic below. the two stage switch is internal and looks the same as Z52 LOTC.

once you get an L4, an E1E body for aprox. $30 give you a small carry factor. this setup is favored by many to be better than U2.

the other head in the pic is KL1, a 3watt

I'm just impressed that a much smaller tool is pushing so much more light than the 3-cell L6. Is that attributable to the reflector design? LED wattage? Anyone? Bueller?

Without an integrating sphere, we're just guessing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The L2 on high is 100 lumens, on low it's 15 lumens. It's a Lux-V "wall-o-light" semi-flood beam. Regulated on both high and low. Listed runtime from 2x123 cells is 60 minutes on high (realworld reports are about 50 minutes or so, pretty close).

The L4 has approximately the same beam, but is tuned for 65 lumens so it gets more runtime out of the two 123 cells (150 minutes listed).

The L6 has a bigger reflector, so will have a tighter beam, and it is running at 65 lumens off of 3x123 cells, so it will have even more runtime (240 minutes listed).

Remember that lumens is not brightness, it is the <font color="blue">amount</font> of light.

I like my L2. Pretty awesome amount of light from a pretty small light. Low is handy, and having the 100 lumens is nice too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I think the L6's brightness is under-reported. The L2's brightness on it's high setting is probably more accurately reported. I have both and the L6 and an L2, and the L6 is pretty obviously the brightest LED light I own. The L2's runtime in regulation is about 40-50 minutes on high. The L6's is ~1.5 hours. The L6 has much better thermal management, incidentally - my L2 on high gets very warm on high after a couple of minutes on high. I can barely discern this on my L6 after 30 minutes of constant use.

It is hard to judge total light output - the L2 lights up a room and the L6 is more of a spotlight. I think the L2 is really designed to run on the lower setting most of the time.

Not knocking the L2 - it's a legitimately useful light! I carry mine a lot more than I carry my L6. I use my L6 when I'm hiking at night. It's very bright, it throws very well, and it is bright for at least 2 hours. (After about 2 hours I generally change out the batteries - it's usually still pretty bright at 2 hours, but by 2.5 hours you can tell it's dimmed a lot.) Since my endurance in the woods at night is also about 2 hours, this works out well for me!

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MrBenchmark said:I think the L2 is really designed to run on the lower setting most of the time.

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Is it the heat buildup? What makes the L2 designed to run on the lower setting primarily?

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Aux said:
Is it the heat buildup? What makes the L2 designed to run on the lower setting primarily?

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This is all my opinion, but:
1. Yeah, I worry about the heat - but then again SF knows what they are doing, and I worry about a lot of silly things for no good reason. I don't doubt it's in spec. However, given the same two semiconductor devices, if one of them is obviously running cooler, well, I feel better about that. I don't worry about this excessively on the L2 - I practically never run the high beam for more than 2-3 minutes at a time anyway, so this really isn't an issue.
2. The L2's regulated runtime on high is sort short to my way of thinking - 40-50 minutes. The runtime on low is several hours. The output on low is useful in most situations where you're in the dark - it's plenty of light to light up a room or walk around. So I've found 90% of the time I'm using mine on the low setting, and only using high when I really need to light stuff up.

If you mainly need it on high, it seems like you'd use an L4, which is smaller. (Or in my case, the L6, which has a superior runtime, and lots more throw.)