Exposing the bare lens seems a bad idea for an edc light. Acrylic is really soft, and would scratch easily. If it has a polished surface, it can be buffed with something like Polywatch, but the “matte” surface would be ruined.
At least it still allows enthusiasts to put the carclo + glass lens, but in a flashlight that costs 30$, it rises the price by a significant ammount
Bad change.
They changed to a floodier optic that also removes the ability to easily switch the optics? Not happy with that change. Hopefully the light that I have on the way is still with the old optics.
Lumintop seems to have a track record of random undocumented changes. I was really planning on buying another FW3A with FA3 emitters, but if Lumintop is starting their shit already I won’t bother. I’m getting 10 SST20 FD2s from Bluesword anyway, I can just swap them in myself.
Not happy about this. I hope my copper edition that I already PAID for will come with a CARCLO optic.
Carclo optic and glass, the second equal or more important than the first.
Not gonna say bait and switch, buuuuut…
Considering the page even still says “Optic: Standard TIR Carclo 10511 (matte)”.
Changing out an advertised part of the product without telling people after orders have been placed is literally a bait and switch…
I don’t know how much bargaining power Neal has with Lumintop, but maybe he can convince them to stop screwing up a good design with their usual “chabuduo” crap.
I will probably get a second light in some time and I would definitely like to have it with Carclo and glass too!!!
I know it can be changed after, but I’d rather have it as the original one!
After seeing TK’s comment above, I think I can stand that half a gram in my pocket, specially if it “only” blends colour a little bit better!
So…I ain’t sure if this was a good decision… 
Kaidomain has 20mm x 1mm AR coated lenses. Can they at least confirm what we are getting so that we can order the necessary parts to get the light back to “standard” form??
The FW3A lens is larger than that. 23mm by 1.5mm.
djozz, have you been happy with the sapphire lens in your FW3A? Any issues with it being too fragile or reduced transmittance?
Closest to that size is a 22.7mm x 2mm & 22mm x 1.5mm. Could fit with the right o-ring combination.
I have no experience with these sites, but here are some possible options I found:
Yeah, this is a bad move on Lumintop’s part. They’ve gone and changed something without consulting the BLF/TLF team and made it worse. They probably shouldn’t be doing things like that after working so closely with everyone to manufacture this device as close to enthusiast spec as possible. They haven’t even rolled all of the versions out yet and we’re already seeing changes like this.
Wonder if there’ll be a “cancel preorder” option before the 24th (shipping). I really want the FA3, but I really don’t want different optics picked for arbitrary reasons.
I wouldn’t go that far myself, but I do totally understand if you’re upset about getting the ol’ switcharoo. Personally I’ll be happy as long as I can still get some glass and a Carclo for it included in the package.
I am sure they might be able to save a dollar or more with the new part and also reduce complexity. From an OEM point of view, this is a smart move.
Now, back to us consumers - can we leave a comment when ordering and get the “old” option back, somehow? Because this lens size seems difficult to purchase…
Agreed. I’d even prefer to pay a couple dollars more to retain the original parts.