Here is the link for the ones I bought. http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S004329
I bought those exact ones! I just bought 6 of them…
I had planned to buy these http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S021820
which I thought were the ones everyone had been talking about in these forums. Then the slightly more expensive ones ($3.10) showed up on their website with the info on their page that said these were the best so I ordered them instead.
For what it’s worth, I ordered two different 28mmx2mm lens from KD a little over a year ago, and one type had a “green” AR coating while the other had a “purple” AR coating. Both types were flawless; they perfectly matched the diameter and thickness of the stock lens, and I couldnt perceive any tint shift between the two. I’ll try to find some links to them tonight.
One thing I notice is that many of these sites seem to carry each others merchandise with a slight mark up. So I can never tell when I am buying from the original vendor and when I am buying from a wholesaler or middle man. I did a search on Alibaba and found a very similar coated lens that sold for $2 each and I thought had the letters KD somewhere in the description. But it seemed too complicated to buy and unsure of shipping, etc plus they didn’t take paypal.
I found this post very helpful lenses bezels etc compared Many thanks to lilkevin715 for the effort put into the review.
For what it’s worth I ended up buying the Kaidomain AR Lenses 28mm x 2.0mm as best value for me. They are supplied in a air-lite packet wrapped individually in bubble wrap then taped on each side so you can drop them into the Solarforce host easily without touching the lens at all. I’ve replaced the standar lenses on all my Solarforce heads/bezels.
Can you see any difference from the plain glass in the OTF lumens? Did it change the tint of the light at all?
The 3 KD AR lenses arrived. I can’t tell by looking at them that there is a coating on them. I did hold one up to a light and if I wiggle the lens a little I think I can see a little blue or green reflection but it isn’t a full tint on the lens. After installing one it look totally clear when I stare into the head of the flashlight (light off of course). I can’t perceive any more light coming OTF. The only difference I can detect is the hot spot is a little less defined on the XM-L drop in (SMO reflectors) with the AR lens than it was with the clear lens. I would have thought it should be more defined with the AR lens.
I’ll install the other two tomorrow and see if there is any change in my other flashlights.
I
You aren’t supposed to be able to perceive the difference, so that’s fine.
(Ignoring what you mentioned about the hotspot that is. I’d check that your reflector is snugged onto the pill)
Well I’m going to have a serious problem. I have more Solarforce L2 series flashlights than I have AR coated lenses. So if I lose track of which head has an AR lens I won’t know which is which and forever be replacing what I think are glass lenses (but really AR lenses) with new AR lenses!!! Any suggestions how to keep track?
Heheheh. Sure, an actual AR coated lens has a very visible color cast when you look at the reflections in it. You’ll never mistake an uncoated one for a coated one or vice versa. Take a look at the OP in this thread for reference: P60 Kaidoman AR coated glass - Recommended! Pics inside
IIRC the trick is certainly to tilt the lens and look at reflections at a steep angle. Some AR coated lenses will be purple, some green.
Heheheh. Sure, an actual AR coated lens has a very visible color cast when you look at the reflections in it. You’ll never mistake an uncoated one for a coated one or vice versa. Take a look at the OP in this thread for reference: P60 Kaidoman AR coated glass - Recommended! Pics inside
IIRC the trick is certainly to tilt the lens and look at reflections at a steep angle. Some AR coated lenses will be purple, some green.
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I don’t know if it is my bad old eyes or if I got taken by KD but I’m not sure I see any tint. It seems like it has a coating of something and at a certain angle I think I see green, But….
It does soften the edge of the hot spot in SMO reflector lights, not totally but you can see the difference.
Hmm.
- Is it possible that there is a clear protective coating still attached to the lens? That might explain the lack of a tinted/colored reflection and it would certainly explain softening the hotspot!
- Make sure when you look for the colored/tinted reflection you are looking at a reflected light source, not just a reflection of a picture or your hand or something.
- Maybe have someone else check it if you don’t entirely trust your eyes - but I think that you’d be able to tell.
- Many high end lenses in equipment are multicoated (multilayer coated / MLC), so you can find one to compare it with if you haven’t seen this sort of thing in person. Photography gear, binoculars, etc.
In addition to Slewflash’s thread which I linked above, these two links have some pics of the tinted reflection:
http://www.harisingh.com/newsOpticalARCoating.htm
Have you tried looking at a reflection from a light source? Also, is the lens visibly cloudy/murky while the light is on?
—EDIT— Wight beat me to it :8)
Didn’t change the tint noticeably, slightly more OTF lumens I suppose but I wasn’t comparing it to itself if you see what I mean.
The big difference is that when looking into the drop-in there looks to be no lens visible - compared to a standard lens.
OK that helps. When I look directly into the lens it does look like there is no lens, while in my old lens I see reflections. If I shine a dim light into the lens while in the head the LED die does look green while when done with regular lens the LED die looks white.
One good thing about the coated lens is it doesn’t catch lint. I usually put my light into a pocket and when I take it out the old plain glass lens would be covered in lint. The coated lens catches very little lint. Nice side benefit.
Has anyone ordered these coated lenses directly? It says the company brand is KD. Do you think it is Kaidomain? I can’t figure out if I would be required to buy a min of 5 or a min of 300,000! I would like to try them if I only have to buy 5 or 10 at $1 each. Has anyone done business with this company or have any experience with these lenses?
AR coated lens does not come with a brand, the important thing is the quality.
Try the lens we offer, with double AR coated, and fits Solarforce and Surefire flashlights fine.
http://intl-outdoor.com/28mm-ar-coated-glass-lens-p-840.html
Sorry I forgot to put in the link.