The Official Zebralight Thread .

[markr6]

WOW! I almost want that cooler 700! With the 3 I already had, they were so consistent that I can't believe yours is that much cooler. Thanks for the photo!

 

[Tachead]

I guess there's some small difference in the spill but nothing blue. I remember those days of purple but it's been a while. The "5000K" zebralight mentions is a joke; nowhere near that. Compared to my other 5000K lights, it's not even close, 4000K at best.

But I can say the same for my Emisar D4S Nichia 219C at 5000K. NOWHERE near that. Again, 4000K or so. But compared to the SC700d, they are very similar in tint and CRI.

I think you may be mistaking tint with CCT Mark.

Two emitters can be the exact same measured CCT but, have drastically different tints depending on where they fall in relation to the black body line. The tint lottery is real as you know.

You also have to remember there is 200-300 CCT bin variation with these Cree emitters(most emitters on the market actually) so, if ZL says 5000K(for instance)that is nominal. So, one person could get a sample at say 4850 and another could get one at say 5150. Even tint differences/lottery aside they would obviously look quite different due to the difference in CCT if compared. The CCT lottery is also real.

 

[Mr. LED]

WOW! I almost want that cooler 700! With the 3 I already had, they were so consistent that I can't believe yours is that much cooler. Thanks for the photo!

I can sell it to you, otherwise it's going back to NKON tomorrow! :sick2:

 

[Random Dan]

I just got a shipping notice for the SC64w HI and SC64c LE that I backordered on the 16th. That's much quicker than I anticipated. I will report back with tint comparison thoughts once they arrive, and then probably return or sell whichever one I like least. Or if they are both nice I'll keep them both, 'cause that's the cpf way.

 

[xevious]

I just got a shipping notice for the SC64w HI and SC64c LE that I backordered on the 16th. That's much quicker than I anticipated. I will report back with tint comparison thoughts once they arrive, and then probably return or sell whichever one I like least. Or if they are both nice I'll keep them both, 'cause that's the cpf way.

USPS tracking finally updated. On Monday, I'll get to try out the SC64c LE.

 

[gus1989]

I received my SC600 MK IV HI back in December. I love this light! Still using the default UI as it matches my SC32. It's the perfect light for taking my walks down the road and in the woods at night. Reaches out far enough, good spill, perfect tint and fits in the hand and pocket nicely. My only little nitpick is that the tail cap is just a little darker than the rest of the light. That only bothers me for a micro second when i have to recharge the battery. Great purchase.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I received my SC600 MK IV HI back in December. I love this light! Still using the default UI as it matches my SC32.

Try playing with the G6 and G7 groups, and set them up the way you like. I have a few older Zebralights, so I too want to keep the low-medium-high thing going so I don't get confused when using different lights. But, I use different systems for the G6 and G7 groups, depending on the light and the intended purpose.

For example, for a "bedside light" that I sometimes use the SC64w HI for, I set up a G7 group to be the following:

L2 - 0.06 lumens
M2 - 0.86 lumens
H2 - 2.3 lumens

The intent is that when I go to bed, I set the light so that when I do a long-press, I get a very low moonlight. But, if I'm half-asleep and screw up by either pressing too long or too short, I still get a very low mode so I don't blind myself with bright light. I could set all 3 modes to be 0.06 lumens, but I kind of like having slightly different levels even if they're all low.

As for H1, M1, and L1, I set them to modestly higher modes. Basically, levels I use indoors. So, G7 is my "indoor" mode group.

I set G6 as my "outdoor" mode group.

L2 - 7.9 lumens
M2 - 52.5 lumens
H2 - 245 lumens

Basically, those are the modes I use for walking around outdoors, giving me a good range from basic close illumination to a fairly bright level. Then I set up the other modes to be the following:

L1 - 1300 lumens
M1 - 1300 lumens
H1 - 1300 lumens

Yup, all max output. This allows me to double-click from any mode and instantly get turbo. I don't have to press&hold for a few seconds if I need max, I can get it right away.

You'll notice that the levels I normally use all have the traditional low-medium-high settings that older Zebras force you to use. But, I set them up for particular uses, indoors or outdoors.

Anyway, that's how I set my SC64w HI and SC600w IV HI up. I don't really use my SC600w HI indoors, but I set it up for consistency anyway.

The SC600w IV Plus I use on my bike is set up differently, but still similar to my outdoor group.

 

[koziy]

I haven't put as much thought into the exact lumen numbers, but I have set up G6 on all my ZL's to be a little more foolproof than how it comes. There are four main flaws in the ZL G5 UI, in my opinion, at least considering these to be EDC lights which I plan to use frequently with the lower modes. I think these were all mentioned above but I'll reiterate:

1. Off to medium involves an unavoidable, blinding flash of high output light.
2. If you mess up the timing, going from off to low can result in a blinding flash of high output light.
3. From low or medium, there is no shortcut to high; you have to cycle through low and medium modes first.
4. The UI is unique in the industry, so if you've been using other lights lately, you might make a mistake or temporarily forget how to use the ZL.

My solution is to set H1/H2 (short click) to be my low/moonlight modes and L1/L2 (long press) to be my high/turbo modes. I keep medium at the double click level.

This solves problems (1-3) by getting rid of the chances of undesired, blindingly bright light, and by giving me a shortcut to high/turbo from any level with a long press. The downside is I lose a shortcut from low to medium that doesn't involve either turning the light off or cycling through high, but I figure that's a matter of priority. If there's a situation where I need more light quickly, it's more likely to involve the need for max output than a medium mode.

It's still a pretty unique UI compared to other lights I own. I understand that some people set H2, M2 and L2 to all be the highest brightness setting, so they can double click from any level to get to turbo, solving (3) and now addressing (4) to an extent, although with sublevel mode memory, this wasn't a good solution for me, since I know I would forget to reset the sublevel before turning it off, thus negating any inherent predictability from how I set up the main levels.

 

[Random Dan]

It's still a pretty unique UI compared to other lights I own. I understand that some people set H2, M2 and L2 to all be the highest brightness setting, so they can double click from any level to get to turbo, solving (3) and now addressing (4) to an extent, although with sublevel mode memory, this wasn't a good solution for me, since I know I would forget to reset the sublevel before turning it off, thus negating any inherent predictability from how I set up the main levels.

It would be pretty great if there was an option to turn off sub-level memory.

 

[likethevegetable]

I like mapping my UI with single->low, hold->med, double->high.

I don't care for having a shortcut to high (non-tactical user, lol) and can wait the extra second when circulating from holding. To me, maintaining the loop from low->med->high from off is more important, especially if I'm handing my light over to someone. It's also nice to quickly be able to jump from high or low to the medium modes. It's second nature to me now.

I would love to see the following improvements in future UI releases:

• Add the brightest mode to the beacon rotation.
  • I and many others have pretty much zero use for beacons for regular EDC, outdoor, and work light use. The only time I access the beacon mode is by accident. Adding the highest and lowest mode (not-flashing) to the beacon rotation would free up one mode in L2..H1 and offer a shortcut to min or max.
• Add a medium brightness cycling beacon mode (200 lumens, 1.5 Hz perhaps)
• Allow user to toggle sub-mode memory.
  • If sub-mode memory disabled, always cycle L1-M1-H1 when holding or accessing directly from off. This would make L2, M2, and H2 more of a hidden mode. I don't think I'd actually use this, but others might.
• G5 to behave the same way as G6 and G7 - why not?

 

[gus1989]

I see I'll have to give this some thought about what might work best for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[koziy]

For me, shortcut to high isn't about tactical. It's more of a handy feature for outdoor use so I don't have to turn off or down the light before I can get it brighter. If I'm on a night walk or camping and there's some noise, for example a wild animal, just outside my current range that I can barely see on medium mode, whether a deer, raccoon, fox, coyote, etc., then I could lose track of whatever it is if I have to fiddle around with the flashlight too much before I get it to high., which has in fact happened to me many times.

 

[xevious]

Try playing with the G6 and G7 groups, and set them up the way you like. I have a few older Zebralights, so I too want to keep the low-medium-high thing going so I don't get confused when using different lights. But, I use different systems for the G6 and G7 groups, depending on the light and the intended purpose.

For example, for a "bedside light" that I sometimes use the SC64w HI for, I set up a G7 group to be the following:

L2 - 0.06 lumens
M2 - 0.86 lumens
H2 - 2.3 lumens

The intent is that when I go to bed, I set the light so that when I do a long-press, I get a very low moonlight. But, if I'm half-asleep and screw up by either pressing too long or too short, I still get a very low mode so I don't blind myself with bright light. I could set all 3 modes to be 0.06 lumens, but I kind of like having slightly different levels even if they're all low.

As for H1, M1, and L1, I set them to modestly higher modes. Basically, levels I use indoors. So, G7 is my "indoor" mode group.

I set G6 as my "outdoor" mode group.

L2 - 7.9 lumens
M2 - 52.5 lumens
H2 - 245 lumens

Basically, those are the modes I use for walking around outdoors, giving me a good range from basic close illumination to a fairly bright level. Then I set up the other modes to be the following:

L1 - 1300 lumens
M1 - 1300 lumens
H1 - 1300 lumens

Yup, all max output. This allows me to double-click from any mode and instantly get turbo. I don't have to press&hold for a few seconds if I need max, I can get it right away.

You'll notice that the levels I normally use all have the traditional low-medium-high settings that older Zebras force you to use. But, I set them up for particular uses, indoors or outdoors.

Anyway, that's how I set my SC64w HI and SC600w IV HI up. I don't really use my SC600w HI indoors, but I set it up for consistency anyway.

The SC600w IV Plus I use on my bike is set up differently, but still similar to my outdoor group.

Thanks for sharing this, WalkIntoTheLight. :thumbsup: I like your way of thinking.

 

[eraursls1984]

• G5 to behave the same way as G6 and G7 - why not?

For new users programming G5 (standard Zebralight UI) can be a little difficult, but can be figured out in just a few minutes. The G6/G7 is. A little harder. I think they want to make it easier for people use to their old UI, and newcomers.

What I would love to see is for G7 to have 2 sub modes for each group, L1, L2, L3, M1, M2, M3, H1, H2, H3. Then, of course, the ability to toggle sub mode memory.

 

[likethevegetable]

That would be wild, 9 modes to choose from!

At that point, I reckon' a ramping UI would work better. But who knows.

I never got around to appreciating ramping UI's, I just love knowing the exact level I'm on hah.

 

[eraursls1984]

That would be wild, 9 modes to choose from!

At that point, I reckon' a ramping UI would work better. But who knows.

I never got around to appreciating ramping UI's, I just love knowing the exact level I'm on hah.

The couple of ramping UI's were really nice. A close second to Zebralight as my favorites. If Zebralight added ramping as G8 or even replaced G7 it would be a perfect UI. I just don't see them doing that.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I prefer distinct modes, rather than ramps. The problem I have with ramps is it's either too slow to pick the level I want (if the ramp is long), or too difficult to stop at the level I want (if the ramp is quick). Some ramping lights I have do a quick stop half-way up the ramp, which only helps if I want that 50% level which I usually don't. The Narsil and Andruil ramp lights I have are too quick to pick the perfect level (and they make horrible distinct mode lights). The only advantage that ramping has is it's a bit easier to use for complete newbies, other than a single-mode light of course.

I have no problem if Zebralight wants to create a G8 group for ramping, but I certainly wouldn't want them to sacrifice G7 for it.

 

[Mr. LED]

Zebralight UI is really nice for me, but I would add shortcuts for momentary on and electronic lockout. First day I carried the H600w in my small jeans pocket, it turned on accidentally. The headlamp button seems softer to press compared to the side clicks and it's not as recessed.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Zebralight UI is really nice for me, but I would add shortcuts for momentary on and electronic lockout.

I'm not a fan of electronic lock-outs, because it's way easier to just slightly twist the tailcap for a lockout. But, they could make 5-clicks a "dummy" mode, where the light would only operate as a single-mode 50 lumen light, and automatically shut off after 1 hour. That way, you could enable dummy mode, and then hand the light to anyone. 50 lumens is bright enough for general-purpose use, and doesn't generate any heat if the light turns on in your pocket. A 1 hour shutoff would preserve the battery in case of accidental activation, or a dummy leaving the light on.

 

[xevious]

I'm not a fan of electronic lock-outs, because it's way easier to just slightly twist the tailcap for a lockout. But, they could make 5-clicks a "dummy" mode, where the light would only operate as a single-mode 50 lumen light, and automatically shut off after 1 hour. That way, you could enable dummy mode, and then hand the light to anyone. 50 lumens is bright enough for general-purpose use, and doesn't generate any heat if the light turns on in your pocket. A 1 hour shutoff would preserve the battery in case of accidental activation, or a dummy leaving the light on.

I'm with you -- I prefer a physical lockout. Many lights with them require just a very small turn of the tail cap to achieve it. No big deal at all. Electronic lockout is only necessary when physical lockout isn't possible (like with a body lacking a screw end cap).


I have received my SC64c LE today. I have to say, I'm very impressed at how small this light is. In comparison, I have a Jetbeam RRT-01 that takes an AA, and it's only half an inch shorter than the 18650 powered SC64. The tint is good, although there's a tinge of yellow green in the spot. There is definite tint deviation from spot to spill. But that's all white-wall observing. When shining on everyday objects, it looks wonderful. Better than my old SC52w.

Because of previous reports like emitter being off, having some debris stuck in it, switch slightly askew, and anodizing issues, I went over mine with a magnifier. Passed the test. Everything seems to be in order. The anodizing color nearly matches my SC52w, just a little bit darker. I'll follow-up with comparison photos later.

Not that the Zebralight cardboard box is any kind of collectible, but I would have preferred that they mail it in some kind of padded or plastic envelope. There's a big ugly USPS sticker covering most of it. I like to keep the original box. So I removed the USPS label, but it inadvertently sheared off the top layer of paper fiber from the original SC64c LE label... rendering it useless. I've contacted Zebralight and hope they can supply me with a replacement label.