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by Peter Brett - Dec. '08/Jan. '09
For more information call Christine
01444 440188
01444 440188
Yes please!
This is not to say that cheaper laser products are useless, I have always encouraged horses for courses, but it is also true that high quality tools are often better designed and made, and have a level of functionality that one would expect when one pays a higher price. The Leica Lino L2 is just such a tool. Unashamedly high quality, and excellent value for money, it is the complete package that can be bought with confidence. What makes me so sure? Using it in a few real life situations helped me to make up my mind.
The Lino L2 (pronounced Leeno, not the stuff on a 1940s kitchen floor) comes in a well-made padded nylon pouch fitted with a handle, shoulder strap and belt loop. The Lino L2 device is wrapped in its own padded protector inside the bag - its valuable look after it!
Apart from the Lino L2 itself, the pouch contains a laser target plate for outside use and for increasing the range of the laser indoors. There is also a very cunningly designed mini-tripod that is so cunning it is actually called a multi-function adaptor. It has a magnetic leg that can be attached to a steel pipe for example, and holes that can be used to hang it from a fixing in a wall. The mini-tripod is a mini-masterpiece of design and systematic forethought that helps make the Lino work well and reach its potential. The Leica designers have clearly got detailed knowledge of the problems facing their target audience and what they need to do in order to solve them. Of course it adds to the cost, but it sure beats having to improvise a mechanism of your own when actually you just want to get on with the job in hand.
Finally, there is a ball adaptor that can be held in the tripod (or a larger camera-type tripod) and used for helping the Lino L2 project a line at an angle chosen by the user. Lining up the angle of a stairway for instance.
The Lino L2 has a black plastic body with rubberised areas on top and bottom. On the top of the body are two button switches, the one controls the functions and on/off and the other controls a pulse function needed for outdoor and longer distance laser projection. On the side of the body is the laser lock. When not being used or in transit, the self-levelling laser needs to be locked in order to avoid damaging it. The user can also lock the laser at a desired angle as mentioned before.
I defy anyone to find the Lino L2 difficult to use. For many users, especially after a little experience of it, it will be possible to come into a workspace and have the projected laser lines on the walls or whatever, ready for work to begin in a matter of minutes.
The button switch works in a sequence once the laser is turned on, and a small illuminated display on the top confirms the mode. First position is the cross laser line, the second is horizontal and the third vertical. To turn the laser off, simply push the button down for a few seconds longer.
Behind a clear glass screen are the Class II lasers. They are protected from splashes and dust to IP 54 Standard so should be proof against most common working environments. The glass lens should also be able to be cleaned properly without the danger of too much scratching, unlike more common plastic lenses.
Other specs are pretty impressive too. It weighs only 320g, has a levelling accuracy of ±1mm in 5m and a laser range of 15m in indoor conditions and up to 30 m with the laser detector plate.
Why I liked working with the Lino L2 so much is that it projects a very clearly defined line onto the working surface. It is clearly so much brighter and crisper than other lasers I have used and it is here that one appreciates the difference in optical quality. It is not uncommon, in my experience of other laser products to have to search for the line in a well-lit room, or to find that the line has become diffused and inaccurate the further one goes from the instrument. Set low or even on the floor, or higher in a tripod, the vertical line will show on a floor or ceiling and the horizontal line will show on the other walls nearby. This is a huge help when laying out lines of tiles or hanging kitchen cabinets. The level has to be set just once, the laser is kept on, and the user simply follows the laser lines as projected, confident that they are level whichever walls they are on.
For some users, the amount of time saved will very quickly cover the extra cost of the Lino L2, but for me the savings on hassle are even more important.
I learned some very interesting things and some very humbling things from using the Lino L2 at home.
Firstly, it reinforced my opinion that good design and manufacture is rarely wasted. It may not always be the most popular way to go, but when it works others surely follow. Hold onto your patents!
Secondly, and more mundanely, I suspect that the builders who built my house did not have access to a spirit level, let alone a Lino L2. Using the Lino L2 to indicate the levels, the simple business of hanging some curtains over a pair of adjacent windows revealed such a disparity and led to such a compromise that I am left wondering whether my house is sliding inexorably into the sea.
Manufacturers recommended retail price £179.00 + VAT.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications