Zebralight H600F and H600Fw (Projected Shipping March 30, 2012) -- Photos Added

[Changchung]

I noticed that the photos of the H600F and H600Fw on the ZebraLight website seem to be shots of previous versions of the H600. I guess they used stock images since they don't seem to show the diffusion filter. They'll probably change that on the site at some point, but for the moment they are not exact photos of the actual lamps.

So, here are a a couple of images showing the H600 (left) and the H600Fw (right).

Thanks for share... You have both??? I hate you... Hahaha just kinding... Look like the anodized is a little different right?


SFMI4UT

 

[varuscelli]

Changchung -- yeah, I decided to get the H600FW. I've owned the H600 for a few months now and I had planned for my next headlamp to be the H502. I've also got an H501w that I've been using for about a year and I wanted something that filled the gap between the H501w and H600. Since the H502 has taken so long to be released, I thought the H600Fw might be a nice "in between" headlamp.

Yes, there's definitely a color difference in anodizing between the two that I have (different batches, though...that's often to be expected). The H600Fw I received is definitely a lighter color.

 

[Changchung]

Changchung -- yeah, I decided to get the H600FW. I've owned the H600 for a few months now and I had planned for my next headlamp to be the H502. I've also got an H501w that I've been using for about a year and I wanted something that filled the gap between the H501w and H600. Since the H502 has taken so long to be released, I thought the H600Fw might be a nice "in between" headlamp.

Yes, there's definitely a color difference in anodizing between the two that I have (different batches, though...that's often to be expected). The H600Fw I received is definitely a lighter color.

I bought the H600w instead the F version cuz I can add some scotch magic tape and make it flood... I really like it already, my next zebras will be the H51r, H51 and THANK YOU after read your thread about it the H502


SFMI4UT

 

[Changchung]

I know that some of you guys dosent have just a zebralight, show us your H600 and collection here;

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/321756


SFMI4UT

 

[aquaholik]

varuscelli:

Thank you so much for the beamshots. I've read the 19 pages thread on the H600 and saw your beamshot of the H501 vs the SC600 and the SC600 vs the H600 also. Unfortunately I still need your help before deciding on the H600w or H600Fw.

Prior to reading about the H600 and visiting the zebralight website, I saw their spec of 12 degrees spot+spill for the H600. A little trigonometry and I got the beam spread at 8ft(from a 12 degree spread) to be roughly 1.68ft in diameter. Looking at my 12 inch square tiles on the floor from 8ft away, a circular beam of 1.68ft barely covers it. That is a bit narrow for my 8-12ft main use. But it does have a decent spill that might be just bright enough. Looking at your beamshot from 20ft away, I am guessing I might get a good spill around the hotspot. I need a hot spot of about 3ft from 8ft away.

How does the spill on the H600 compares to the Fenix HP11? Brighter or dimmer at roughly the same lumens setting. I guess compare the H600 at 361lm to the Fenix at 277 lm. Is the Fenix hotspot wider at that setting? Because if the Fenix is wider, then I can rule out the H600. If the H600 is the same or wider and the spill is a little brighter then I am sold on the H600. It will serve my need exactly, since I need the throw in deeper water sometimes. If not then let's look at the H600Fw.

Right now I am not quite happy with the width of the Fenix hp11 hot spot. I just wish I could double the width of that hot spot. I know the H600Fw should be able to do that judging from your beam shots. The question is: Is the H600Fw at 343lm brighter than the hot spot of the spotty Fenix hp11 at 133 lumens? I see that you said the H600Fw is not a true flood. That is a good thing in my book since I want most of the brightness around the center. I do not want a true 90 degree floods. I do not want all the lumens spread out over a 16ft circular diameter at a distance of 8ft. I have the energizer headlamp that almost does that and the 150-200 lumens is no where near enough spread out. So if the H600Fw at 343 lumens is as bright as the hotspot of the Fenix hp11 at 133 lm, then I am perfectly happy with that.

Lastly, I noticed the mention of AW battery but do not see a charger with the same brand. Is the Ultrafire charger from tactical LED a good charger for the AW battery?

Thank you so much for you help and hopefully I won't have to order both in order to make the decision. Right now I am leaning toward the H600w but if the hotspot on that is smaller than the Fenix hp11 then I will have to order the H600Fw instead of hope that 343 lumens is bright enough in a floody headlamp.

Edit: Looks like I will be happier with the cool white and not the neutral white. Cool white looks brighter and neutral white looks more like the MR 16 halogen lamp that I used to use.

 

[varuscelli]

aquaholik

This is the H600 on H2 (170 lumens) at 8 feet. It gives you very close to a 3 foot hotspot at 8 feet. When I step back to 12 feet, the hotspot is considerably bigger. I placed a yardstick on the mantle for reference, and the wooden marlin on the mantle is 24 inches tall.

Unfortunately, I can't do any comparisons with the Fenix HP11 since I don't have one.

If you were using the H600Fw at 8 to 12 feet, you'd have a huge area of floody light (as ZebraLight calls it, "floody" rather than "flood" with distinct differences between the two). The H600Fw wouldn't give you true flood but a very wide swath with gradual falloff toward the edges.

For chargers, I'm sold on the Pila IBC charger (I've been using one of those for about three years now).

And you're welcome -- I'm glad you're finding some of this stuff helpful in your research and decisions.

The first image below is the ORIGINAL H600 at 8 feet. H2 170 lumens (this is NOT the H600F or H600Fw). Posted in answer to aquaholik's question.

Edit: Here's the H600Fw for comparison to the H600, above. Don't be misled by either of these shots by the apparent drastic light fall-off. There's a lot more visible to the eye in the spill areas than the camera shows.

 

[aquaholik]

Sold on the H600. Hopefully order will get over here by the new moon coming up in about a week. Let me see if tactical led has everything I need. If not, any recommendation about where I can pick up light, battery, and charger? Thanks again for your help.

 

[varuscelli]

Sorry, aquaholik -- I was out for the evening didn't see your follow-up question until late. Glad you figured out a good option for all the stuff.

 

[aquaholik]

Sorry, aquaholik -- I was out for the evening didn't see your follow-up question until late. Glad you figured out a good option for all the stuff.

Went home and fired up the Fenix hp11 and surprised to find out the hotspot is only around 12 inch at 8ft and stayed pretty narrow. No wonder it is such an amazing thrower. So the h600 should work very well since I had no trouble with the fenix because of it's generous spill.

Did some more research and found out Illumination gear has everything except the battery is a rebranded Panasonic protected 3100 mAH and a cheaper charger. Going to order those eagle tac battery(2) and xtar charger tomorrow morning unless I read something really bad about the battery and charger.

Edit: Did more reading about batteries, chargers, and explosion. Illumination gear is out of Pila charger so I went ahead and order the H600, Eagle Tac batteries, and Xtar charger. Will update after next shrimping outing. Thanks again for all your help and to this forum for all the excellent infos.

 

[iron potato]

I love my H600, especially I put on a Fenix AD401 diffuser (a simple wrap of double sided tape) now I can swing outwards for normal usage while swing back for reading or up-close use :thumbsup: it's powered by non-protected Panasonic 3100mAh (I have got three Xtar chargers, WP1S, WP2 II & WP6 II)

 

[Outlander]

Will any of the AW brand batteries fit?

 

[varuscelli]

Will any of the AW brand batteries fit?

I don't think anything has changed in the design of either of these to make them any different from the previously released H600 versions. There seems to be a bunch of existing discussion in previous H600 and H600w threads about various battery fits. All I know in terms of the AW batteries is that the AW2200 works.

Here's one thread to look at:

H600 owners... battery issues? Help me out here.

 

[Outlander]

Thank you! I love this forum. Friendly folks willing to help teach new guys.

 

[varuscelli]

You're welcome, Outlander.

 

[B0wz3r]

Varuscelli, thanks for the thread and beam shots! Looks like a very nice light. I personally prefer the diffused models over the regular ones. I got some DC fix to use with my H51w last summer as I thought I'd want to be able to go back and forth, but it turns out that I never have... So my next ZL is going to be a dedicated F model. And, I agree, it would be nice if they'd use a threaded bezel and offer some optional filters. They could even do it with the fully potted construction they have. But, whatever.

As nice as this one seems, I'm going to hold off. I'm happy so far with my H51w and ST5-190nw. I still have an ST6-460nw on my wish list for use on my helmet for biking, although I suppose an H600Fw would make a good handlebar light though too!

 

[varuscelli]

Thanks, B0wz3r.

I think one of the great features of the H600F and H600Fw is the combined usefulness at close and mid range with such broadly effective diffusion, but it additionally has good overall distance range with the diffused light (great diffused range for a headlamp).

These two lamps are obviously going to be more useful than any other ZebraLight diffused model in terms of overall output when looking at how well they perform at a distance and how well they'll light things up at close to medium distances with sheer output.

When I look at using these at a distance and the terms I'd use to describe the quality of the output, I'm not sure if I'd use the term "throw" with them....but perhaps "reach" would be a better word (a matter of semantics, I guess). It's just that the diffusion doesn't allow for much throw in the vague hotspot area (at least, not compared to the non-diffused H600 or H600w).

As far as a bike handlebar light, I'm not sure that the distance performance of the H600F or Fw would be adequate. Perhaps for slow, casual night riding...but for anyone who rides with some speed, the superior throw of the H600 would make it a more likely candidate for a bike, I think. I'll have to try the H600Fw while riding and see.

 

[aquaholik]

Just got the shipment in from Illumination Gear. Man they are fast. Of course it helps that I am living in the same state as they are. Put the light on the headband and tested the beamshot from 6ft way and was very happy that it lit up four 1 ft square tile very easily with generous spill. This is EXACTLY what I need for shrimping. I was worried about the offset center nature of the headlamp but I slid it as far as it could go into the headband and did not find the beam off center at all.

I read the flowchart that you linked to and program H2 to be 270lm since that is what I want to use most of the time. However, whenever I double click, it goes into 750lm and dropping down to 420lm after 3 minutes. Leaving the light on, I double click to send it to 270lm and then double clicking it again hoping it will go into 420 lm but again it goes into turbo mode(750lm) before dropping down to 420lm after 3 minutes. Is there anyway to get it to skip turbo mode after the light has been on for 3minutes. I want to cycle between 270lm and 420lm without going into 750lm for 3 minutes.

BTW, you can feel the housing of the zebralight heats up at 750lm but after it drops to 420lm, I turn it off, remove the battery and found it just warm and not hot like the housing.

 

[B0wz3r]

Thanks, B0wz3r.

I think one of the great features of the H600F and H600Fw is the combined usefulness at close and mid range with such broadly effective diffusion, but it additionally has good overall distance range with the diffused light (great diffused range for a headlamp).

These two lamps are obviously going to be more useful than any other ZebraLight diffused model in terms of overall output when looking at how well they perform at a distance and how well they'll light things up at close to medium distances with sheer output.

When I look at using these at a distance and the terms I'd use to describe the quality of the output, I'm not sure if I'd use the term "throw" with them....but perhaps "reach" would be a better word (a matter of semantics, I guess). It's just that the diffusion doesn't allow for much throw in the vague hotspot area (at least, not compared to the non-diffused H600 or H600w).

As far as a bike handlebar light, I'm not sure that the distance performance of the H600F or Fw would be adequate. Perhaps for slow, casual night riding...but for anyone who rides with some speed, the superior throw of the H600 would make it a more likely candidate for a bike, I think. I'll have to try the H600Fw while riding and see.

Hey Varuscelli, I know we tend to think alike on headlamp issues!

The thought of using a 600Fw as a handlebar light was based on my usage pattern. I don't like to put a throwy light on my handlebar for distance; I prefer a throwy light on my helmet (I currently use my Jet III Pro ST), so I always have a good downrange beam where ever I look. I combine that with a floody light on my bars pointed low, so I get 10' - 15' of light directly in front of my bike where ever my front wheel is pointing. That set up works best for me personally. I also mounted one of my ZL brackets right under my visor, and for night riding I pop my H51w into it to use for off-bike light. I bought two of the Q123 HCRI lights last fall, and am going to experiment with mounting one on each side of my helmet instead of my little ZL. I get bad tunnel vision with a very bright headlamp beam, and I have Meniere's Syndrome so poor peripheral vision can sometimes give me vertigo. I'm hoping that side mounting will reduce the tunnel vision problem as well. I really like the warm tint of the HCRI XPG's, and I'm hoping it'll look cooler too... Clone Trooper style!

Your description of the beam pattern is very appealing... sounds like it's a great light, and I'm sorely tempted... I'd certainly want to use it for camping and the like though, and I try to stick purely with AA format lights for that. Regardless, thanks very much for your reports and all the info. I've been on a SAK kick the last few months, but am getting the light bug again, and am feeling the need for something new, and preferably crazy-bright! Thanks again!

 

[varuscelli]

Hey, B0wz3r -- I understand what you mean about your described use, and actually one of these might be a very good fit for you as a handlebar light. For putting out that broad swath of light just in front of the bike, it should work very well -- and if used with something else for throw on the helmet, as you describe, could make a really great combination. I want to test mine out that way, now that you've suggested it. :thumbsup:

 

[varuscelli]

Is there anyway to get it to skip turbo mode after the light has been on for 3minutes.

Well...I had thought there was a way to do that, but now I'm not sure. Wish I could give you the quick answer on that one, but at the moment I'm blanking on it.

I thought there was a way to do what you want using that double-click programming to set the H2 to the next to highest setting (just under turbo) so that you could use that setting without having to use turbo. (And I'm talking about that seven double click method as shown in that flowchart by CPF member samgab you referenced...which I'm linking, below.)