SF Saint vs ZL H51

[yowzer]

I've been looking for a new headlamp for night hikes for a while now. I want something with a fairly floody beam with enough throw to see a ways forward when route finding cross country or on rough trails. The light I've been using for this purpose is showing its age and isn't floody enough to make me happy at short range (Mammut TXlite; very nice design, but... luxeon 1. NEED something better). The Saint seems like a good choice for my needs and wants now that some of the early beam pattern issues have been worked out, but I've been holding off until the also very attractive H51 was released.

So... anybody have it already and a Saint? How do the beams compare? Or, for that matter, how does the H51's XP-G-powered beam compare to the XP-E in a SC50?

 

[red02]

What beam issues? How were they resolved?

 

[yowzer]

What beam issues? How were they resolved?

Lots of prismatic artifacts from the lens, and a beam that's a funky looking big square with concave sides. The former has reportedly been fixed, and I doubt the later's an issue outdoors.

 

[red02]

I'll tell you what I can about the Saint eventhough I don't have the H51. I have plenty of spot based lights that will outthrow to supplement the Saint and I suspect that the H51 is not floody enough for me as the reflector looks deep. The H31 beamshots are pretty much identical to the Quark Mini I think.

I can tell you from experience that, the beam is perfect for outside and good to ok for inside depending on your mood. The beam is really the shape of a parallelogram and not a square. It spreads at about a 40 degree angle from both horizontal and vertical direction. At about 2+m (about 8ft) it lights up a horizontal length of about 1.5+/-m. At 3+m its very floody and lights paths very well.

Surefire rates it to 50m?, but I think its useful to around 30-35 or so with some light reaching out to 40-50m. It throws perfectly well enough for me, but I think the H51 will outthrow it due to the higher max and reflectored setup.

 

[Shorty66]

I think that both lights would suit me in terms of beam-shape and light output and there would be no real winner by these terms.
But as the h51 is a lot more compact and lighter and it will be great to use handheld i think thats the much more versatile headlamp.

I ordered the h51.

 

[Solscud007]

I picked up a Minimus, I wonder how much bulkier is the saint in comparison?

I have the Zebra 1xcr123 and like its tiny size, but the minimus feels nicer.

 

[Zenster]

I think that both lights would suit me in terms of beam-shape and light output and there would be no real winner by these terms.
But as the h51 is a lot more compact and lighter and it will be great to use handheld i think thats the much more versatile headlamp.

I ordered the h51.

But the Saint specs out at much longer runtimes.

So what could be totally cool would be if a modder made up a "wired" dummy AA unit that could be put into the H51 and run the power wire down to a single D cell belt pack.
Runtimes then would be in the "holy crap" range.

I could even see ZL offering the option where they could sell the setup with a dedicated drilled cap with seal that would still allow it to be waterproof, and the D cell (even 2xD cell) belt unit as a package.

That would prove to be a heckuva a system to beat for a caver who wanted hellacious runtimes, and put a dent in Saint sales at the same time.

Think about it; a D cell H51 would have a runtime, on high, of 5.5 hours.
At it's "H2" setting (100 lumens), over 12 hours.
Double those numbers if you used a 2xD cell pack.
That could be some serious caving (and those are just alkaline numbers, not lithium).

 

[red02]

The Saint also has infinitely variable adjustment where every level is current controlled, twisty switch (which is probably functionally and reliability wise superior to the electronic swtich), great heatsinking. On high it barely gets warm. IMO a much more robust headlamp.

Regarding bulk, if your talking about the battery pack its noticeable but its not bulky. Of course you give up the option of carrying the Saint as a pocket light with it attached, but thats why its detachable. I'm on my second cr123 and this light is making me reconsider my decision to standardize on AAs, which something I'd never thought I'd do...

 

[psychbeat]

But the Saint specs out at much longer runtimes.

So what could be totally cool would be if a modder made up a "wired" dummy AA unit that could be put into the H51 and run the power wire down to a single D cell belt pack.
Runtimes then would be in the "holy crap" range.

I could even see ZL offering the option where they could sell the setup with a dedicated drilled cap with seal that would still allow it to be waterproof, and the D cell (even 2xD cell) belt unit as a package.

That would prove to be a heckuva a system to beat for a caver who wanted hellacious runtimes, and put a dent in Saint sales at the same time.

Think about it; a D cell H51 would have a runtime, on high, of 5.5 hours.
At it's "H2" setting (100 lumens), over 12 hours.
Double those numbers if you used a 2xD cell pack.
That could be some serious caving (and those are just alkaline numbers, not lithium).

or they could just make the 18650 version already ;)

that would do 2hrs on a brighter high and the weight of anAW2600
is probably 1/4 of 2 alky D cells.

just sayin..