I feel bad for Neal that he is in the middle of this. He is trying to do the right thing, and it may cost him sales. It is not fair to him, and he is probably not happy about it, just like us.
Edit: xevious, your post came in just before mine, and it seems we agree.
This was not done after the group buy. I just ordered 5 - sst20’s when they became available as my group buy commitment (as was promised) and now they will have a crap optic
Same here. My order was for an Aluminum SST-20 (Order #5214 06/13/2019). Need the Carclo Optic and Glass Lens. That is what the website showed and what I AM expecting.
I’m sorry for the issues you have to put up with from Lumintop. You are in a bad place with us. Lumintop should make it right. Thanks for the heads up too !
I mentioned it before - if the new optic was discussed before the SST20 model came out, with a, “Hey, all the SST20 models will have this optic and as of x date so will all of them”, then fine. But you place an order with the assumption that the only change will be the emitters, and then a few days later get told that there’s a difference…
If we can be assured that all preorders will have the original optic setup, then I’ll stay. If not, I’m out.
Yeah this is a major bummer. I’ve got a small stockpile of Carclo optics so I was looking forward to easy swap outs for playing with beam patterns but this completely changes that if this change is permanent.
If it is I’ll still probably get the sapphire lens but that’s far from ideal.
Not only is an all plastic optic+lens combo much more scratch prone, but the problem with the sapphire optic is that it’s less optically efficient than glass ones.
While an AR glass lens might achieve 98-99+ optical efficiency, a sapphire one might only get 90-92.
If there is absolutely nothing that Neal can do for all the (pre)orders already being made for the copper version, I'll swap all the 'cheap crap' out my FW3C version and replace it with the original pieces from my FW3A version. Then I'll have the 'downgraded' FW3A as my go to EDC 'beater flashlight' and the 'upgraded' FW3C for collecting purposes, problem solved :D
Although I truly hope that Neal can arrange with Lumintop that for everybody who already made a (pre)order for the copper version, it will effectively ship with the Carlo Optics and the AR coated glass lens, as it was stated on his website when we where making the (pre)order ... And to be honest, a shiny special copper version with 'cheaper' optics and plastic lens will not fit right, especially considering the higher price tag it comes with ;-)