How is a Red/Orange Lux really like?

Hi!
I was at some point (and still am ) considering getting a Red/Orange LuxIII due to its high lumen ratings.
However I have realised that I've never really seen one. The pictures that I've seen so far lead me to believe that it emmits a yellow hotspot. But does it really do that, or the yellow color I've seen in photos is due to the intensity of the hotspot? Is it yellow as I have thought or is it in truth orange (as the name would suggest )?

Thanks

I've done a couple R/O mods and both were pretty danged bright. My first one was a basic Mag 3D. It was bright, but the colored Luxes in Mag reflectors leave me a bit... I don't know... unimpressed. I mean, I just don't get much enjoyment out of an itty bitty hotspot with a colored star. I prefer them in smaller hosts.

My current favorite small host is the Sam's Element. I have a green, royal blue and red orange. While the royal blue is my favorite, the red orange is certainly intense. I don't see any pronounced yellow spot or spots on my beam, just intense orang-ish red throughout. For whatever reason, the hotspot of my red-orange is the largest of any of my luxes and I think that may be why it gets the highest lumen ratings... I know they are supposed to be capable of 180 or 190 lumens or whatever but if you have, say, a TW0J running direct and you expect a red-orange to be nearly twice as bright for general use, you'll probably be disappointed.

The larger spot of the R/O's in a standard reflector is dur the the three dimentional characteristics of the die. The blue and greens only emit light from the top surface. The R/O on the other hand is an inverted trapazoidal shape. Light is given off on the top and on the sides. I had a R/O in a 'D' M@G running at about 1.65A.. WOW it was intense!!!!. It is now at home in a custom jobbie running regulated at 1.0A and mated with a IMS22mm reflector. It dosent focus as tight as the others, BUT it IS BRIGHT.

Jeff

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/87754

Wow Jeff... I think you out did yourself with that 4 Lux Mag!

Cy, does your red/orange really have that much of a yellow hotspot or is that just a camera artifact? Neither of mine looked anything like that.

tvodrd showed me a red/orange lux mod he made that was rated at over 100 lumens. It definately leaned toward the orange side (not a rich cherry red) but did not have a yellow hotspot like in the pic above.

Remember that the eye is less sensitive to this wavelength and that color recognition will be horrible if you are trying to use the light as a general purpose bright torch- even though these are "brighter" you can tell what's going on a lot easier with white.

Here's a beamshot from 15 feet. This is in a Sam's Club Element host and it is running on NiMH cells. The orange in the middle is a camera artifact... from the edge of the spill beam through the corona and the hotspot, the same color is throughout. For comparison, on the bottom is a stock Element with a choice RW0H star. Notice how much wider the hotspot is on the R/O and how nearly the entire wall is illuminated.

The yellow in the hotspot is indeed a camera artifact. Digital cameras have red, green, and blue photosites. The R/O will mainly charge the red photosites, but due to the intense brightness, light will bleed over into the surrounding green and blue pixels (most likely green), resulting in a shift to yellow for the brighter parts.

The color is exactly the same in all parts of the beam (up until the point where your eyes start to burn in from the intense brightness, and you start seeing spots that change the color of things)

BTW - here's my R/O Lux III in a Mag reflector, running at 1.4A regulated:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=83732

Here's a pic from that thread.

cratz2's photo is the closest to what mine resembled. I'd say they are the color of car brake lights.

thanks for the nice explaination evens...

mine is flat too bright to look into, even in daylight.

Thanks a lot for all the pics and clarifications

Evan, when you mention your eyes starting to burn from looking at the light, you do mean looking at the beam on the wall, right? Mine is direct driven on three AAA cells and even with the beam on a white wall from maybe five feet, just looking at the reflection makes my eyes hurt.

You weren't saying you were looking into the reflector while the light was on, were you? If so, you are a better man that I am... and soon to be a blinder man that I am.

cratz,

I was definitely looking at the reflection from the wall. I have momentarily flashed the light while looking directly at it, and experienced spots for several minutes just from the fraction of a second of exposure. I would NOT recommend looking directly at the beam for any period of time - These multi-watt LEDs are getting so powerful that you actually do begin to risk eye damage from direct exposure, especially the single color LEDs - royal blue is the most dangerous.

These multi-watt LEDs are getting so powerful that you actually do begin to risk eye damage from direct exposure, especially the single color LEDs - royal blue is the most dangerous.

Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY! Some of them are CRAZY bright!