LukeM wrote:My guess would be that driving the LEDs at a lower max current is a cost cutting measure allowing the use of cheaper components. Not a bad consideration at all, and if bif is basically copying the Scurion design, how else could he differentiate other than with price? I would say thermal considerations, but Scurion is managing that so perhaps not. Otherwise, why not drive at the max rated current as you said?
I guess a lot depends on what the target market actually is, and that involves issues such as worst-case runtime, expected-desired max brightness, and thermal/size/construction tradeoffs.
If the idea is to have a light that can use various power sources, having power levels for which demand seems fairly limited and which might flatten such sources in short order may seem of limited desirability.
I guess with a Scurion-style programmable user interface, it's possible to have ultrahigh levels without sacrificing sensible lower power levels or increasing complexity of use since the higher levels could be hidden from normal operation, but for more common click-through-the-levels interfaces, ultrahigh levels could be annoying to click through for people who rarely use them, and having little-used levels either requires wider power steps or more power steps if keeping sensible lower power levels is desired, as it is for many people.
Personally, I like having low (as in a few lumens) levels available in a light, not simply for maximising runtime on various power sources or helping in beam blending, but because often it's just
nice to cave without excessive light - if I'm plodding up a deep entrance series in a vertical cave, I quite like being able to select a low flood level that's adequate for what I need to do, but not much more than that.
As for 'copying the scurion design', I'd wonder what there really
is to copy, unless maybe someone copied the user interface or battery power projection?
Though one has to be wary of using excessive hindsight, a machined circular alloy casing with a plastic/glass lens on the front seems a pretty non-novel and relatively obvious approach for someone looking for an alloy case and low production volume, and the idea of twin-beam lights is fairly old-school as well.