I guess with this low power light, it will be used at such close range that the difference of 45º versus 60º, although sounding huge, wouldn’t actually be that big of a deal. Still, 45º would be better, of course.
I just thought about the coating and the intended purpose of this light. Wouldn’t it make sense to make it a little bit more expensive and make the body out of stainless steel? Aluminium keychain lights tend to look ugly after a while.
They have said this before over a year ago (link), gone out of stock, and apparently changed their mind. I suppose at some point it will actually prove true. If they do stop offering them in the web store, then it would probably take committing to an entire production batch (I don’t know how many, but definitely more than 1000).
Currently, the 3200K, 45 degree version can not be added to the cart. The others can.
My first preference is 45 degrees, just because I’m familiar with this beam and know it’s amply floody. The useful light extends well beyond 45 degrees, that’s just roughly the angle it drops to half of the peak value. I expect the 60 degree version will only be a little bit wider than the 45 degree already is.
For what it’s worth, Don “McGizmo’s” customers talked him into offering Yuji’s in his Sapphire (basically a really well-made titanium Arc AAA), which he was reluctant to do because I gather he spent years trying different LED’s before finding one he was really happy with.
He uses the 60 degree, and is quite happy with it.
I asked Yuji in the past about options listed on their datasheets but not in the web store. The web store is only a limited selection of their products for small volume purchasers. It sounds like if a 30 degree were desired, it would have to be quoted as a commercial order, and probably would require a very large minimum quantity.
Customers aren't able to specify which bin they want, but in the past, I know it has been listed on the package.
The last warm Yuji's I got in a group buy were their F5-1 bin, which is above the BBL, but still looks excellent to me. I wouldn't call them green at all. More golden than anything.
In comparison, I have another light with a high CRI Cree XM-L2 at 3000K that looks slightly yellowish. I think of the Yuji's as "cream flavored" and the Cree as "lemon flavored."
This makes sense if you look at a chromaticity diagram. You'll see the tints above and below vary depending on the color temperature:
Below ~4000K: yellow above, orange below
~4000 to ~7000K: green above, pink below
Over ~7000K: cyan above, magenta below
All that said, try not to overthink this. All the Yuji's I've seen: from two separate batches of 3200K and one of 5600K in the 5mm, and one of 3200K in their 10W COB look excellent. I don't have the equipment to do the really nice measurements Maukka does, but I'm confident that their deviations from the BBL are fairly small, and there is minimal variation in tint across the width of the beam.
Yes, that was me :). These LEDs are way beyond any other 5mm LEDs that I have ever seen in the last two decades.
djozz is the one who deserves credit though for finding and posting about them in the first place!