The different lens positions aren't causing a huge difference in brightness, nor slight enough to dismiss from your notice. Basically, mounting at the closest (the zoom lens is a 1.5:1), buys you about an extra 20% more lumens. Personally, I figure most zoom lenses are at their worst, at their extremes, so I'd suggest backing off from the closest possible position, at least a little.
Since there are tons of lumens for movie viewing, many will take advantage of the quieter low lamp mode, which is plenty bright, and has an extremely long lamp life rating (5000 hours).
Low lamp will drop the brightness of the projector by approximately 24%.
HC4000 Low Power mode Turning Brilliant Color off, and lamp to low, and the Mitsubishi HC4000 projector still manages 460 lumens. That approximate percent should also hold true for all modes.
Since the HC4000 projector has a 1.5:1 zoom lens, we measured the difference in brightness betwwen full wide angle, mid-point, and full-telephoto settings on the lens. Full wide angle (the projector filling the screen from its closest distance), increases brightness by a modest 7.5%. Full telephoto decreases brightness by 9.3% compared to the mid-point.