Zebralight SC5 and SC5w First Impressions

===UPDATE BELOW===

My SC5w showed up in the mail today. Here's my first impression so far. Please share yours!

Here's what's awesome about it:

• It's really bright on my mere Eneloop Pro!
• It's the design a single AA light deserves -I like it much better than the ribbed look of the SC52s, which looks quite bulbous.
• Fantastic build and LED positioning
• Grippy and comfortable form-factor with a perfect click to the switch

Here's what's not awesome about it:

• This particular specimen seems to have a less then subtle tint problem. Upon shining it on the wall, my co-worker commented "Oh cool! It looks like a Gobstopper." referring to the purple pupil and green iris on display. Ironically, the flood/spill is one of the best neutral whites I've seen from Zebralight. No joke though, it looks like a monster's eyeball. While that's kinda neat, I'm gonna have to exchange it.
  
  
  

Other observations:

• The battery indicator seems to do its first blast on max brightness, and the subsequent bursts are at a lower level.
• The prongs that replace the single spring are a nice touch.
• The pocket clip is serious about becoming one with your pocket. It clings tightly. That could be good or frustrating I imagine.

I'm think I'm going to enjoy carrying/using this light. I just am bummed that I have to send it back and wait for another one because of the tint.

===UPDATE===

I finally got around to sending my light back. (It pays to live close to Zebralight; I shipped it back on a Monday and got my replacement on Wednesday!)

Here's the result:

• Without question, this tint is the best tint of all my lights. It makes every previous Zebralight "W" lights look ultra-warm. I am impressed.
• I think Zebralight is stepping up their customer service. They actually called me, like, on the telephone, to confirm my shipping address. (I had original light shipped to me at work, but billing address is my home.)

Like I said above, I'm going to enjoy using this light. I will still keep my SC62w in my pocket for EDC, but I will use this for anything else. It's a keeper!

Hmmm interesting regarding the tint, how close was the beamshot taken? What level of brightness is that at and does it disappear at lower/higher modes? Do you have any other lights to compare it to that are rated in the 400-600 lumen range and if so how does it compare? Mine arrives tomorrow and I'm hoping the tint is good on my copy, sorry to hear yours wasn't as good as hoped

snowlover91 said:

Hmmm interesting regarding the tint, how close was the beamshot taken? What level of brightness is that at and does it disappear at lower/higher modes? Do you have any other lights to compare it to that are rated in the 400-600 lumen range and if so how does it compare? Mine arrives tomorrow and I'm hoping the tint is good on my copy, sorry to hear yours wasn't as good as hoped

Click to expand...

It's noticeable at any distance over a meter, at any brightness level. I'll try to post a comparison with my SC62w and SC62d tonight. (The exposure on that first beamshot was adjusted so that the imperfection shows up.)

Did you order cool white or a neutral (w)? Do share your results. If other Gobstoppers are reported in the next day or 2, I may exchange mine for cool white.

I ordered the neutral version and have a few other neutral lights to compare it to, my EA41w by Nitecore and then a SC32w with nearly perfect tint. I also have a Nichia 219 P60 drop in so I can use it as a reference point. Btw when comparing my SC32w with my Nichia 219 they are almost identical in tint so when you get a good neutral ZL it compares quite favorably to the Nichia 219 in my experience. I also have a SC62w on the way so I can compare it as well, the SC5w should arrive tomorrow evening and after work I should be able to post some thoughts on it and hopefully pictures as well.

Anyone try sticking a 14500 in their SC5/SC5w yet?

It would be awesome if doing so upped the output to 800 lumens or so.

Fireclaw18 said:

Anyone try sticking a 14500 in their SC5/SC5w yet?

It would be awesome if doing so upped the output to 800 lumens or so.

Click to expand...

It will probably do that... for about 0.003 seconds.

jak said:

No joke though, it looks like a monster's eyeball. While that's kinda neat, I'm gonna have to exchange it.tint.

Click to expand...

G-ZUS already Zebralight!! Where the hell are you getting your emitters from? I guess from the trunk of a Cadillac DeVille in a back alley of Detroit somewhere...dime a dozen.

Tired of this stuff. Still not giving up on you, though!

markr6 said:

G-ZUS already Zebralight!! Where the hell are you getting your emitters from? I guess from the trunk of a Cadillac DeVille in a back alley of Detroit somewhere...dime a dozen.

Click to expand...

I wonder if this is a LED with bad tint, or an AR coating that is causing bad tint? Probably more the LED in this case, since it's the spot. But I have a few lights with purple spill, and I think that may be the coatings fault.

Mine should arrive in a few minutes, right before work of course. Hopefully I'll have enough time to test it out briefly before work, if I do I'll post some initial thoughts about it. It's hard to wait lol!

First impressions before going to work, tint is PERFECT and comparable to my Nichia 219. Brightness is up there for sure I don't have a way to measure it but compared with other similar lights on the same settings it is comparable, at least 400 lumens IMO. Anodizing is flawless and threads are very smooth. Impressed with my copy and I'll post some pictures and further updates tonight with beam shots as well!

snowlover91 said:

First impressions before going to work, tint is PERFECT and comparable to my Nichia 219. Brightness is up there for sure I don't have a way to measure it but compared with other similar lights on the same settings it is comparable, at least 400 lumens IMO. Anodizing is flawless and threads are very smooth. Impressed with my copy and I'll post some pictures and further updates tonight with beam shots as well!

Click to expand...

Good deal!! I'll have to wait until Sunday for mine. I really hope it's a keeper.

Had a chance to more thoroughly test out the SC5w tonight and must say this light is quite impressive, more to follow about this below! Unfortunately I do not have a SC52w to compare this to; however I will say the tint on this light is probably one of the best neutral whites I have in my collection and is just as good as my Nichia 219 which is pretty impressive. First of all a few pics of the light, anodizing is very good and is an olive grey color. Tail cap threads are smooth and the o-ring seems to provide a good seal although I have not tested it underwater. I did also test the runtime on the 500 lumen setting and came up with 3 mins and 2 seconds before stepping down. It must have some type of thermal sensor or safety built in because when I tried to turn it off and back on in turbo it still came on at the 300 lumen step down mode but after cooling for around 30 seconds or so it would turn on to turbo once again. Heat sinking is excellent as the whole light, not just the head, warmed up to be quite warm but not unbearable.






Next I took a few pictures of the updated tail cap spring design. Instead of one larger spring it now appears as if they've used several small springs with a smooth round disc on the end. I'm not sure why the change but I must say I like it better as these discs are very smooth and do not scratch the bottom of any batteries tested.




Last but certainly not least, a few beam shots! The first one is simply to give you an idea of the tint while the next two are used to give you an idea of the brightness of this light. Since it is rated at 500 lumens on high I thought I would compare it to my Nitecore SRT5 which uses 18650 batteries and is rated at 700 lumens on high. Both pics were taken with the exact same settings and shutter speed. Based on this alone I would estimate the output of the SC5w to be a solid 400+ lumens as it compares quite favorably to my other lights in this lumen range such as my Nichia 219 drop in rated for 500 lumens and my SRT5 rated at 700 (probably more like 500-550 on 18650 batteries).

Nice tint! I don't have any white walls to use for beam shots so this was the best I could do, a white wooden door.

ZL SC5w

Nitecore SRT5

This is really an interesting light. Will get one soon as it is available in our area. Thanks for sharibg

I just started using zebralights. I have the H502W and SC52W this may have to be my next light from them. UI is great one you learn it and build quality is really good too. Thanks info on it.

Nice shots snowlover.

Got mine an hour ago. Wasn't expecting it until Monday, so no AA cells with me today. First impressions? It's beefy. More stout than I envisioned. Same bezel diameter as my HDS 325 which got carried today. Sanded the clip down to get rid of the mirror finish. Centered emitter, button has a good feel. The smooth reflector has my hopes up for a bit of throw, I'll know tonight.

scout24 said:

Got mine an hour ago. Wasn't expecting it until Monday, so no AA cells with me today. First impressions? It's beefy. More stout than I envisioned. Same bezel diameter as my HDS 325 which got carried today. Sanded the clip down to get rid of the mirror finish. Centered emitter, button has a good feel. The smooth reflector has my hopes up for a bit of throw, I'll know tonight.

Click to expand...

Would you mind posting a side-by-side photo of those 2 lights - and underexposed so you can see some detail in the hotspots?

I'll do what I can...

thanks for posting tailcap pictures snowlover91. I love that new tailcap design - I'm guess it's to minimize resistance with the high amp draw needed to do 500 lumen from an envelop. cool idea.

"...500 lumen from an envelop. cool idea"


You're Darn Tootin it's a Cool Idea!

You need to Patent that!

Sorry - I couldn't resist...
-Chuck