Petzl Zoom or Petzl Myolite (only bulb) ?

[alexnego]

Hello! What to chose between Petzl Zoom and Petzl Myolite (no LED's) for long distance throw? For short or medium distance I have a Tikka and Tikka XP. So, have somebody tested both headlamp? I intend to use rechargeable cells. Please comment also the beam quality and size of bezel if cares. Weight is not so big problem for me. Until now no experience with incandescent bulbs. Somme difference between halogen and xenon (life, brightness)?
10x !

[Tjin]

i used to have a Zoom, i absolutely hate it! It's huge and heavy, compaired to the led headlights. My luxeon (head)lights, out perfoms the zoom easily on all sections.

[Meduza]

If you want real rechargable incad brightness... you need to look at Silva.
The Petzl headlights will be nowhere as bright as silva, but on the other hand...
Silva costs a lot more

Silva 480:
http://www.silva.se/outdoor/products/hea_480.htm

Silva headlights overview:
http://www.silva.se/outdoor/products/head_start.htm

[simonsays]

The beam quality of my Petzl Zoom is just awful, loads of rings, holes and artifacts. It doesnt seem to matter how its focussed, the result seems to be pretty poor. You also have to decide how to power it, either using the big 4.5v square battery (Sorry, dont remember the reference number) which gives you half way decent battery life but costs a bomb to replace *or* using the supplied adaptor with 3 AA cells. Cheaper to run but you'll find yourself wanting to change batteries every hour or so.

Whilst I dont use my Zoom anymore it did see 5 years of fairly rough service and never really let me down as such beyond having to replace the bulb a couple of times. The copper strips that form the circuit do seem to tarnish fairly easily and benefit from being cleaned on a regular basis.

I dont own a Myolite so cant help you with that one.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Simon

[yellow]

the older Zoom just sucks. I ve never seen a model where the output was good on the longer run.
the Zoom Zora (the model with the 4 AA holder) is not better in output, but the electrical contacts are better.
--> both models, if received CHEAP, are great hosts for self-made LED headlamps, as offering much space for heatsinks and electronics.
(normal zoom offers enough space to inset a holder for 5 AAs)

the Myolites have a greatly impoved output (orange peeled reflector!) and give a nice beam. Maybe they are slightly better at distances the led models do not reach.
But overall there is nothing that speaks for anything other than the XP models in the Petzl line!

halogen or xenon?
Generally, normal flashlight bulbs with xenon or argon filling tend to give a much whiter light, imho.

[OutdoorIdiot]

I was brought up using the Petzl Zoom, and currently have both a Petzl Myo 3, and a Petzl Tikka XP. Here are some thoughts:

The Petzl Zoom was great in it's day. It had a lousy beam, but it was very robust and reliable and helped countless climbers get safely around the hills at night. However, these days, there are certainly better options. I wouldn't get another one, and haven't used my old one for years, and probably will not ever do so again. I tried the halogen upgrade bulb in the Zoom. It seemed a tiny bit brighter, but only for a short while, before the alkaline battery just couldn't drive it properly.

The Petzl Myo 3 incandescent (same reflector as the Myolite you mention, but with a more powerful bulb) is a significant improvement over the Zoom. The beam is still quite poor in terms of rings, holes and artifacts, but the partial dimpling of the reflector do make it much better than the Zoom. However, I was a bit disappointed with the long-range usefulness of the xenon beam. The bulb isn't exactly bright for a 6-volt xenon bulb. When focussed tight, it can throw a bit further than the Tikka XP's boost mode, but by the time it has been focussed enough to do that, it is a very narrow beam. I find myself scanning around the countryside with the thin beam, trying to piece together the visual information. Frankly, in practical terms, the temporary boost mode of the Tikka XP is often just as useful as the slightly more penetrating beam of the Myo.

And since you are thinking about the less powerful Myolite, and you are intending to use NiMH (less voltage than alkaline), you will probably be even more disappointed than I was with my more powerful Myo 3. I expect the only real advantage of the Myolite over the Tikka XP might be in fog or mist, when the beam will cut through a bit better. But for that bonus, you will be sacrificing a lot of runtime. On the plus side, the function is great. The Myo series bezels are smaller and lighter than the Zoom, and the operation is easy, even when wearing gloves.

So one answer is: If you are choosing between the Petzl Zoom and the Petzl Myolite, I would go for the Myolite.

Another answer is: If you are wanting the Myolite to offer much better long-range route finding at night than your Tikka XP on boost mode, then I think you will be disappointed. If possible, I would try one out before you buy it, because I really don't think you will be impressed. Don't get me wrong - I think my Myo 3 is a really great hybrid headlamp and I like it a lot. It's just that the Tikka XP is also really great, and the incandescent beams of the Myo / Myolite range don't offer as much practical advantage over the XP as I was hoping for.

[mrme]

The zoom has a smooth reflector, which would allow it to throw to impressive distances if the bulb wasn't so lousy. I tried souping one up by installing a bulb base that could handle some heat and a brighter bulb, but the reflector melted. The throw was amazing while it lasted.

The Myo lights seem like the best compromise between throw and beam quality. Most of my lights are BD, which have rather poor throw because the reflector is so textured. The profile of the Myo allows for a really deep reflector, which also helps.

As was mentioned, if you are after throw then you really should consider the real meal deal Myo instead of the Myolite. I am a little curious why you don't want the model with LEDs. I bought 2 Myos that don't have LEDs in them intending to canibalize them for projects. They work too nicely to part them out, but not nice enough that they see much use. I would definitley get the one with LEDs if I were to get another one. In fact, if you are interested, I would sell you one of my Myos. Or perhaps we could make some sort of trade. Drop me PM.

Good luck.

[snowleopard]

OutdoorIdiot has it right on the Zoom -- reliable, good in its day, but there are many far better nowadays.
I'd add that it is very heavy compared to modern LED headlamps. Especially for a long trip I'd use the flat 4.5V batteries and carry two spares (weighty overkill).
Using the flat 4.5V battery and doing some sort of LED conversion could give a pretty long runtime.
--Walter

[defblade]

Zoom is near useless by today's standards (well, CPF standards anyway!).... I've had mine for years and years, replaced wiring and elastic along the way. The halogen lamp was just about better enough to make it useful, but also noticably shortened battery life.

Just converted it to LED using the inards of an Ultrafire 1watt luxon and it's already better, but will probably mostly use it as a car work lamp - I mainly did the mod to see if I could produce something that works before getting more ambitious

[alexnego]

Thanks for all the info guys....specialy for outdooridiot ! I'm going to get the Myolite that i'd look into modding it to run with 4 NiMH (designed for 3),a slight overvoltage in order to burn brighter.
What say you ?

[mrme]

Thanks for all the info guys....specialy for outdooridiot ! I'm going to get the Myolite that i'd look into modding it to run with 4 NiMH (designed for 3),a slight overvoltage in order to burn brighter.
What say you ?

Just get a regular 4 AA Myo. You could put a Myolite bulb in it and watch it fry with 4 AA's, but you will have the regualr bulbs that came with the light. The Myo is not a mod friendly headlamp. It is not held together with screws, so plan on breaking plastic to get it apart and using lots of epoxy to get it back together if you try and mod it.

[Lucero]

Late to find this thread, but I do own a MyoBelt 5. Different from the Myolite, for sure.

Love it for the various LED levels and the long life from the 4C rechargeable NiMh that I use. The 6v Halogen bulb leaves a bit to be desired, however, it is adequate for camp use. That's been my primary usage of this setup. I use a carabiner and clip the battery pack to my belt loop and make dinner, play poker, walk to the restroom, etc. handsfree.

It's also been useful for BBQing at home in the backyard, taking out the trash for the weekly collection, spelunking in my garage. I have owned this for 3 years and it has seen very light duty - with no failures.

Regarding that ultra expensive light referenced above, I have a feeling that something with equal output can be made and attached to the headstrap of the MyoBelt. That's my winter project so the light is ready for camp again next spring.

Lucero