Tint has a lot to do with the way that light travels through misty saturated air. The whiter the light, the more reflection that will be created under these types of conditions. You might want to try a warmer tint XML and see how well that works for you rather than swapping the type of emitter. Dont expect miracles but there should definitely be a very noticeable improvement.
Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences under these conditions and trying different tints.
Ive had my eye on a used huge pro series Celestron for some time but just cant justify it.
Having lived close to Lick Observatory for several years (then - the worlds second largest optical) Ive had my fill of astounding star gazing; often accompanied by a full symphony orchestra, wine and cheese.
Today, this accompanies me on all my outdoor travels:
I really like the R5 it's like a mini XML. If you push it to 2 amps the corona is the same brightness as the XML at 3 amps only smaller. Sometimes a huge wall of light isn't necessary and this is were the XPG excels, the more I use them the more I like them.
So - people have told me that Cree Q5 is great for aspheric thrower and I have 2 different ones that throw very far at about .7 and .85 amps.
Is the R2 and R5 just a variation of Cree Q5 with a small forward projecting die great for throw OR are the R@ and R5 a different die , or merely a bin or variation of a Cree Q5 ?
What I'm getting at is the best for aspheric throw- NOT for Lumens.
Seems I read that the R2 does get brighter all the way up to 2 amps, where the Q5 doesn't get much brighter above 1.5 amps or so.
Does the XR-E R2 have a small die that has the angle of light projecting forward like the XP E-Q5 and works just as well in aspherics but brighter and better ?
For those of you looking for a true XR-E R2 WG, DealExtreme seems to be selling the real deal: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/cree-xr-e-r2-wg-emitter-on-premium-star-15943
