Thanks gchart for these very interesting runtime graphs.
I wonder how a primary lithium would behave: if any of the "super-reviewers" has one at hand, I'd like to see it too on a graph.
I have bought a couple of E3A as gifts (and will buy more when I find a super deal), and plan to include a primary lithium in the gift, for people who don't have rechargeables and a charger.
OTOH, here are the result of a few attempts to improve the beam, since I didn't like the beam irregularities from the stock pebbled optic (though only visible in "white-wall hunting"). I've tried the following lenses from Yajiamei Store:
Smooth lenses:
20°: strong color shift
45°: OK but strange beam shape, slightly squared
90°: very visible central dark spot
Frosted lenses (they call them "Shamian"):
20°, 30° and 60°: all OK, no color shift, very smooth transition between central area and spill. I'll probably stick to 20 or 30 degrees, not much difference between both anyway.
90°: central area is darker and more purple.
In conclusion, if you like smooth beams without significant color shift, do your E3A a favor by replacing its pebbled lens with a 20-30° Shamian one, or 60° if you like a more "wall of light" beam.
Unfortunately I was not able to take nice beamshots like some of you do, my attempts did not do justice to the beam improvement, but my eyes do see the difference.
Emitter efficiency is probably part of it. The E3A he tested was neutral white, but not high CRI. The E2A is 95 CRI. That should cost it around 30% efficiency.
It’s more than that, though. Zeroair’s graph for the E2A shows about 50 lumens/W on medium and 63 lumens/W on high.
His E3A graph works out to around 120 lumens/W.
Even considering the SST-20’s are not the most efficient emitter around, I would have expected them to be able to achieve over 80 lumens per W on high with a comparable driver. And a stepdown should not be needed at all on the E2A when running on AA batteries. It seems to use the same logic as with 14500 batteries.
I have an E2A and am happy with it - the size and hand feel are great, and the optic they use makes a superb beam profile in my opinion. It’s not the light to get if you need maximum output or runtime, though. It’s a good light that would be great if they improve the driver.
What color temps are the various versions available on Skilhunt’s Amazon page? They don’t even say if netural or cool white. I ordered the high-CRI version as I’m sure that won’t annoy me. But if there’s a significant color or lumens difference I might need a second one! Right?
According to the product description on Skilhunt's website, only the slate blue version is HAIII. This is why I always chose this color when ordering the ones I have.
Too bad they don't offer the new colors with the same anodization quality.
Just received an orange E3A. What should I say… Everything is the same as my old slate blue one. Same tint, same beam, same quality. The orange is great. Minimal brighter than the Sofirn orange, but otherwise very similar.
I said don’t quote me!