H502 with 80 degree beam

[varuscelli]

Full disclosure; I have never used a ZL HL with and 80 degree beam.

Don't worry. On the flip side, I think there are a number of people who voted in the poll who haven't used the H502 with 120 degree beam, either. A certain percentage of the discussion and voting seems to be based on speculation and having used one or the other but not both. :shrug:

 

[ulfheonar]

I dont own zebra yet but i wanted to buy h502w for its high xml output and good driver runtime . but ive been thinking since , I dont that much 120 degrees , would rather like to have 80-90 and have some more throw (still flood ) I think im now going with h31fw , the f model to not have that hot spot , dont care to have less throw than h31w , at least it will have more than h502 , modes and runtimes are good too . , so yes I wish there will be a model with xml + aa/cr123 + reflector + 80-90 degrees . the good thing is there is a model for everyone, just not all updated/ upgraded lol .

 

[Bolster]

I've been switching off between H501w and H502c at work (recently, several weeks of contracting work which finishes up around 9pm outside) and I'll have to give the award to the H502c for my work. The H501w is very good, and if it were all I owned I'd be happy. But the H502c edges it out due to:
(1) the larger beam pattern, which is very useful when doing handwork with tools; and
(2) the better variety of midlevel modes, which allow me to dial in max illumination based on time till quit.
(3) overall less adjustment needed. Less fiddling with aim.
Honorable mention goes to:
(4) being able to test the battery before starting the job.
(5) beam being wide enough that two of us can work cooperatively in it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the H501w, but the H502 is now my preferred headlamp for work. As always, use dictates design. If I were using a headlamp for walking at night I'd not choose the H502.

There are lots of "night walkers" on this forum which explains the skewing of preference toward a narrower more throwy beam, which servers hikers better.

But let's not raise a campaign to modify the H502 away from its wide angle glory; it's very useful for its specific purpose. If the H502 is "too wide" for you, try an H51f which has a 90 degree beam and a "directional" flood.

 

[RedForest UK]

There are lots of "night walkers" on this forum which explains the skewing of preference toward a narrower more throwy beam, which servers hikers better.

Good point, I think you've got something there.

 

[peterharvey73]

We should say that the narrow and throwy beams are good for night walking etc.
While the wide and floody beams are good for close up work etc...

 

[south_aussie_hiker]

For those who can't see past why you would want the H502 in an 80 degree, given that the H502 is plenty bright enough anyway... I want an 80 degree beam because my work involves close proximity to others, and a 120 degree beam is going to shine in their eyes.

I want the brightness of the H502.
I want the efficiency of the H502.
I want the UI and 13 modes of the H502.

But I want the beam narrower so I'm not blinding people sitting across from me, or colleagues when working at night. 80 degrees is just manageable without blinding others.

 

[f22shift]

i have used an h501 80 deg and a spark sd6 120 something or ruther. the reason for a smaller degree beam is to see farther making it more versatile. yes the output as a whole is bigger but you are lighting up objects very close to you.
imagine holding a white picture frame and shining a flashlight through it. you can have a 500lumen flood or a 10lumen narrow beam. which can you see through? it's a bit of an exaggeration but to make a point. i think over 80 deg is overkill and actually lower what you can potentially see farther by lighting up what is nearer. and 80 deg at close range is still nice and floody for close tasks. 120 is fine for only close tasks imo. 80 is good for close and walking/hiking.

 

[davidt1]

I am glad CPF has not become like an Amazon fan club review where the most glowing review of a product is given the most votes by the herd and anyone who dares to say anything bad about said product is shot down. CPF is better than that, as it should be.

 

[Bolster]

I am glad CPF has not become like an Amazon fan club review where the most glowing review of a product is given the most votes by the herd and anyone who dares to say anything bad about said product is shot down. CPF is better than that, as it should be.

.

The "bad" part about the H502 is NOT its beam spread, which is excellent for certain purposes. The reason I don't hop on board the campaign against the H502's 120 degree beam, is that I have different uses for the light than others, and the extra beam width is excellent for me. I'm perfectly willing to criticize ZL for: water ingress, lack of screw-in bezel, galacial repair times, underwhelming communication.

What's getting old, for me, is that headlamps at CPF must be forever judged on the basis of "night hiking," or "all around use," and this determines whether they're "good" or "bad." Excuse me for being in the minority, but some of us have other uses for headlamps than hiking at night, or needing a jack-of-all-trades headlamp. I remain confused why people buy the all-flood H502, then castigate it for lacking sufficient throw. Imagine a photographer buying an extreme wide-angle lens, then complaining he can't zoom in on details with it. "It's completely worthless for taking portraits or telephoto shots," he says.

If there were no H51 or H51f available, I'd consider it a valid criticism. But when you have a comprehensive lineup of beam spreads from ZL, I find the animosity directed at this very useful, very wide H502 incomprehensible.

Call me a fanboi if you will. What I'm fan of is a 120 beam, whether it's from ZL or Spark, these wide beams are exceedingly useful for production and work. I'm happy all you night-hikers have so many choices for your needs. We working stiffs who need wide floods have fewer choices. But it seems there's a campaign afoot, to influence ZL to narrow the beam of the H502, and if you narrowers win, then widers like me, lose.

So why not allow a specialty headlamp to exist for those of us who need it, rather than hector it out of existence. A little tolerance, please.

 

[gunga]

Well said bolster. While I voted for 80 degree, I think an alternate model with 80 degree beam would be a good companion piece rather than replacement. That way people can have both (or a screw in lense for more throw)

 

[TooNice]

@Bolster: Sorry for the OT-ness, but since you have used both a 'w' and 'c' version of a Zebralight, do you have an opinion on what might be favoured amongst "night walkers"?

 

[yowzer]

I have the original H50, which is something like 120 degrees. Compared to the 501, the 50 is better at lighting up a whole room if I set down it somewhere, but as a headlamp, the narrower beam of the 501 is much more useful, even for close up things like reading in my tent at night. This is the only reason why I'm holding off on a 502d... Now, if they make a 51Fd...

 

[markr6]

The "bad" part about the H502 is NOT its beam spread, which is excellent for certain purposes.

True. I was a bit disappointed at first since I was stubborn and wanted it to be an all-purpose lamp for hiking and closeup tasks while camping. I finally eased up and accepted the fact that each light has it's uses. It's great to have both (H51 and H502). Just yesterday I had to replace my kitchen faucet...I HATE doing this on a sink already installed in such a tight space. In this case, my H502 was the perfect choice lighting up the entire undersink area. Of course, my LD10 tailstanding in the corner would have been just fine. And then later I was detailing my Jeep and ran into the night. Again, a perfect use for the H502 and another reason why I decided not to sell it.

 

[eh4]

Has anyone tried a doughnut shaped piece of tape or opaque paper over the lens yet? -To see if the 80-90 deg version is better... For their purposes.
If I had an H502 that's what I'd do, first with paper and then with black gorilla tape if I liked the result.
My guess is that a 9mm thin walled brass tube would make a nice punch (maybe with a little judicious sanding of the cutting edge) to approximate a hole for 80-90 degree flood.

If I'm not mistaken the 501 wasted the same light that would be wasted by the doughnut hole tape mod of the H502.

Personally I can hardly wait to get an H502c, I'll probably trick it out with a magnet, a hook, and some kind of grippy/clampy accessory to make it even more of a portable lamp/work light, money being the limiting factor of course.
However, in the mean time my H51Fc is excellent for the 90 degree lighting tasks, better than pure flood in my opinion for general purpose because it gives a good "floody" while still sending most of the light in the direction that my head is pointing.