ZebraLight H600(w) XM-L 750 Lm

[Beaker]

Okay, I'm going to ask a dumb question here... Why would anyone need 750L from a headlamp? Admittedly I'm not a caver or anything like that,.

You answered your own question there :-)

For most caving, a light output of 100-200 lumens is actually more than enough, but if you're caving in *big* caves, or doing cave photography, a light with that much output isn't at all unreasonable.

For some droolworthy examples, check out http://mulucaves.org/ -- these guys are using Scurions, a purpose-built caving light with up to 1500 lumen output.

[JA(me)S]

Are there pictures available?

No known pics yet... but using my imagination, I'd think it will look something like the H51 - just a bigger version (or like a headlamp version of the SC60).

- Jas.

[robostudent5000]

For most caving, a light output of 100-200 lumens is actually more than enough, but if you're caving in *big* caves, or doing cave photography, a light with that much output isn't at all unreasonable.

For some droolworthy examples, check out http://mulucaves.org/ -- these guys are using Scurions, a purpose-built caving light with up to 1500 lumen output.

those are some amazing pics!

[LED_Thrift]

Okay, I'm going to ask a dumb question here... Why would anyone need 750L from a headlamp?

I've done two activities that could actually use a lot more light than I had available. Mountain biking, where your max speed on the downhills is proportionally dependant on how bright your light(s) are. I was going down trails slower than I would have during the day because my PrincetonTec headlamp didn't have enough throw. The same is true with backcountry skiing, although with the nice white reflective snow I don't know if I would need the full 750 lumens, just more than I had at the time.

I've also been caving and wanted more light, but not to the extent that biking or skiing made me want more. I've never been to really big rooms. The main criteria for caving lights is rugged reliability.

[HIDblue]

Anyone have any updates on the H600??? I'm really looking forward to this one and the anticipation is killin' me...

[psychbeat]

does anyone know if MAX high mode will have a 5 min stepdown like the Spark?

I HATE this "feature" personally... its a bummer when it steps down while descending
a gnarly trail at night or other times you really need all of the light you can get.

[Mathiashogevold]

Any updates?
Im really looking forward for this!

[joanne]

Okay, I'm going to ask a dumb question here... Why would anyone need 750L from a headlamp?

Admittedly I'm not a caver or anything like that, but I do use headlamps a lot for camping and household uses as well, but I find the 169L H1 setting of my H51w to be plenty bright for all of my needs. What's more, the more power output of a headlamp, the worse the tunnel vision effect for me.

Just seems like overkill to me.

You are quite right that it would be overkill for most applications.

Then there are some of us who could use that much light during our less sane activities. While I haven't been in a cave for many years, I regularly explore old mines. When dropping a shaft for the first time it would be really great to have a feel for just how deep it is and its condition further down.



At this point I'm only about 50 feet down a 250 foot drop.






I'm only about 1/2 down this incline. The speck of light at the top right is my exploring buddy at the top of the incline.

I certainly wouldn't want 750L all the time but it would be nice to have it available.

Joanne

[DisrupTer911]

Not to get off topic but where do you find abandoned mines like those?

[varuscelli]

Not to get off topic but where do you find abandoned mines like those?

The same place where you find all the archived CPF messages from eons past.

Well...that's what I heard.

Actually, those are some pretty cool mine shafts. Love it. I could see 750L coming in pretty handy in that environment, even if only for short bursts at a time.

[joanne]

Not to get off topic but where do you find abandoned mines like those?

Those photos are all from southern Nevada. We have a lot of old mines out in the desert and they tend to be in pretty good condition. I have a lot of photos on my website http://www.asolidfoundation.com/mines/mine_home.htm if you are interested. The Delamar page is one of the best. The Sultan is pretty cool too.

Joanne

[pjandyho]

Wish I could visit one of the mines in my life.

[psychbeat]

If these have the 5min auto level down I'll probably pass.
I already have the st6 460nw so...
I dont really have an excuse to "upgrade".
Although, the zebra form factor will probably be less floppy.

Hmmmmm

[leaftye]

Wow, Spark just got some serious competition.

Okay, I'm going to ask a dumb question here... Why would anyone need 750L from a headlamp?

When I click my light on and see a mountain lion or bear within 30 feet of where I lie, I want a MUCH brighter light setting when I go to scare it off so I can make sure it's long gone.



So my dumb question...would this work with a pair of CR123's instead of a 18650?

[Glock27]

So my dumb question...would this work with a pair of CR123's instead of a 18650?

Nope. I wouldn't unless I had a spare one. 2*CR123 would be at least 50% over voltage. Has anyone tried it either in an SC600 or SC60?

G27

[B0wz3r]

Pics snipped to shorten post.

You are quite right that it would be overkill for most applications.

Then there are some of us who could use that much light during our less sane activities. While I haven't been in a cave for many years, I regularly explore old mines. When dropping a shaft for the first time it would be really great to have a feel for just how deep it is and its condition further down.

At this point I'm only about 50 feet down a 250 foot drop.

I'm only about 1/2 down this incline. The speck of light at the top right is my exploring buddy at the top of the incline.

I certainly wouldn't want 750L all the time but it would be nice to have it available.

Joanne

I went camping for a week at Lava Beds National Monument with my wife and kids a few weeks ago, and did some real caving for the first time in my life. The entire place there is honeycombed with old lava tubes. I had a blast actually...

Now that I've done that, I can see why you'd want a super bright light, but not necessarily a headlamp... In sections where I had to go on hands and knees, or belly crawl, the M2 setting on my ST5-190NW was plenty of light. But, in sections where you were walking, or stepping over stones or clambering over boulders and the like, my headlamp gave me bad tunnel vision. I stumbled several times because I couldn't see the texture of the floor of the cave, and so it looked flat to me instead of the highly irregular and broken surface that it actually had.

I solved this problem by angling my Spark up a little higher so it lit up the roof of the cave pretty well, which was very useful as most of the tubes there have ceilings covered in lava-cicles, and they can hurt like a b***h if you bang into one. I put my Zebralight SC50w+ on a lanyard around my wrist and used it as a walking light; the lower angle helped me see the surfaces in the caves much better and I had almost no missteps after that.

I also found that when we came into a big chamber or larger open space, I needed a much throwier light to see into/across the chamber. My Q123^2 XPG-R4 is certainly not a dedicated thrower, but it did well enough for me in that situation that I could see across any chamber we encountered, and down long shafts and the like. And yeah, it would have been nice if it had been something brighter, but my point is that it worked far better for me in my hand in that usage situation than on my head. Head mounting just takes too much important information away that makes a difference in my comfort and safety. So a super bright headlamp is still overkill for me, but I sure would like to go back for another trip there with a new 2x18650 XML handheld light!!!

[Szemhazai]

I have only one question in mind... How it will work ? Spark ST-6NW output on generic Blue TrustFire / Sanyo 2400 is only 400 lumens instead of 450 and is getting hot pretty fast

[varuscelli]

I have only one question in mind... How it will work ? Spark ST-6NW output on generic Blue TrustFire / Sanyo 2400 is only 400 lumens instead of 450 and is getting hot pretty fast

I'm no expert in this sort of thing, but I have a feeling that heat management could be an issue if the unit is used on its highest setting more than a couple of minutes at a time.

I now have an SC600 and have played with it on it's highest setting, and it gets pretty hot when left on that setting for more than a minute or two -- very noticeably so when the unit is held in hand.

The SC600 uses the Cree XM-L LED, which is the same that's listed for the H600/H600w. I don't see anything listed as far as weight or length for the H600, so I don't know if there are any indicators of much design change from other ZebraLight headlamps. Maybe the body design will be much like the H60...? But I never used the H60, so I have no idea how well it handled heat, either. Maybe an H60 user can comment.

I wonder if they've done anything innovative as far as heatsinking or body design to help dissipate heat.

My belief is that, from a practical standpoint, the use of such lights on the highest settings is probably intended to be brief and as needed but not necessarily indefinite use on high. Otherwise, I think lots of heat buildup is probably inevitable.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how the H600 performs.

[psychbeat]

hmm maybe since its pretty chilly at night here but my
NW460 never gets all that hot. def a little warm but nothing
compared to my high powered p60 lights. I think most
mainstream manufacturers - even small ones like Spark & Zebra
are pretty conservative. I think if they mounted the LED directly
to small copper heatsinks they could hit 3amps without any
harm. obviously you would need to be using a top quality
18650 such as a Panasonic NCR or one of the rebranded ones
(KalliesKustom, AW ,Redilast ect)

who cares if the emitter only lasts ~5 years?!

[plengqui]

Okay, I'm going to ask a dumb question here... Why would anyone need 750L from a headlamp?

Orienteering at night. Then you basically want portable daylight.
This is a video of some hundred runners wearing 1000-3000lm headlamps setting off into the dark forrests of Sweden:

[Changchung]

Orienteering at night. Then you basically want portable daylight.
This is a video of some hundred runners wearing 1000-3000lm headlamps setting off into the dark forrests of Sweden:
[video=[/video]

I like this video, I will like to see those runners in the forest...

Cool, I find some...

[B0wz3r]

Orienteering at night. Then you basically want portable daylight.
This is a video of some hundred runners wearing 1000-3000lm headlamps setting off into the dark forrests of Sweden:

That's just insane!!!

[VC CH]

Are there pictures available?

curious

[Zenbaas]

Hopefully this gets released soon!

[insanefred]

I'd like to hear some kind of announcement soon, my spouse said she will buy me a hand lamp for my birthday. Or, I'll just end up getting the sparks ST6-460NW.

[spelunkik]

Did they just push back the arrival date of the 600w on their product comparison spreadsheet?? Now it seems only the cool white version will be debuting this month. I was waiting on the 600w before making a headlamp purchase decision, but if they are going to make me wait even longer now than I already have then screw it, I'm going with the Spark 460nw!! Zebralight, you just lost some business...

[davidt1]

Due to the location of the lens and other things, the H600 and the 460NW are two very different lights, apples and oranges. Whatever light you buy, buy it for the right reasons/uses.

[B0wz3r]

Due to the location of the lens and other things, the H600 and the 460NW are two very different lights, apples and oranges. Whatever light you buy, buy it for the right reasons/uses.

Agreed. I've found that I've come to use my Spark ST5 -190NW and my ZL H51w for pretty much completely different purposes. They have very different beam profiles. My Spark is much floodier than my H51w, so I tend to use it for things like task work, reading, etc., whereas I tend to use my H51w for things like biking, hiking, and the like. Of course, the ST6 series is supposed to be throw oriented, and the new ZL's will be flood oriented, but the point is the same. Each one will have different characteristics, so your purchase is best made based on your usage needs, rather than availability.

[spelunkik]

Maybe this is just my lack of light knowledge, but it is my perception that they are VERY much the same light. Yes, there are many minor differences, but essentially they are much more alike than a Princeton Tec Apex vs. 460NW. The PT Apex is my current lamp, and I'm looking for more light in a more waterproof package for caving. Both the Spark and Zebralight fit those criteria. It has gotten to the point where I am extremely desiring more light, and I simply have no intention of waiting much longer than I already have. My research leads me to believe that both the 460nw and 600w would be acceptable by my standards, so I would be happy with either one. I was just hoping to have the benefit of a choice. I'll wait for the cool white version of the 600 to come out, but I think I will prefer the neutral color of the Spark.

[RCantor]

Don't compromise on tint. You will be sorry as long as you own the light. The Spark 460NW is a great light but I often wish I had one more setting at 2x the lm. When you're in true wilderness as opposed to trails and you come into a clearing you need to see a lot further ahead to evaluate your route. Also, if you're walking over moss that is sometimes on solid ground and sometimes seamlessly transitions to covering small, wet, slippery logs (which is where neutral is *really* important) you need more light than when walking on trails. Similarly, if you're looking for specific flora/fungi you need way more light than just seeing what you're walking over. You have to see details at 30 - 50 feet or more or searching will be very tedious & time consuming.