I pulled this particular LED from an old RC heli controller, so I have no way to know what the datasheet is. Adafruit sells IR led's for 50mA max continuance so I figured I'd play it safe until my 100mA rated arrive in the mail.
I checked the intensity just using a cell phone camera and estimated how it looked compared to a working TV remote. The only issue I can't figure out is why the intensity is lower through the transistor, when it should be significantly greater.