Spark SD52 Neutral White vs. H502c
First impressions:
- As you can see I own other 120 degree lights, so the wide field of view doesn't come as a surprise, but it's very pleasant to have light everywhere the eye can see.
- The 2AA SD52 and the 1AA H502c on high are close to the same brightness!
- The midrange 36 and 62 levels are where the gold's located, IMO. Decent runtimes (7.5h and 3.3h, respectively). Good long worktime with plenty of illumination for handwork. Much appreciated.
- Doubt I'll use the 142 high except to blind myself when turning it on. Many times I've used the press-and-hold to get to low, I apparently release a fraction of a second too soon and blast myself accidentally.
- Went for a walk with the H502c. Not a walking light IMO; prefer a narrower angle for that. However the bugs liked it. Very nice for examining flowers up close with the high CRI. Haven't gotten a chance to do a good comparison on the CRI yet but would like to, maybe tomorrow. Need to find some appropriately colored objects.
- The lows are a-ma-zing. So much flexibility on the low end and they're really, really dim! Looking forward to trying them out with fully dark adapted eyes.
- Battery check works as promised, very nice feature. Four flashies for a fresh Eneloop.
- The interface hides all of the nonsense. Not bothered by any strobes. Very nice UI. Also I'm getting used to the light remembering which level of L, M, or H I was in last. I'm often uncertain if I have a low or high version of the level I'm in, and must switch back and forth to orient myself. I might prefer a "no memory" feature, but can't tell yet.
- Did they redesign the cradle? Headband feels comfortable.
- I like the tint. Sort of in the sepia direction, which suits me. It's nearly indistinguishable from the H501w's tint. I take psychological comfort in the warmer tints. When working in spooky crawl spaces the warmer colors are more cheerful. Clearly the SD52 replicates a neutral tint better, but when the chips are down and I'm stuck in a tight spot, I like the reassuring smile of a warm light.
- Do I prefer the H502c to the H501w? Hmm. Hmm. I like them both. The more reasonable midlevels are a big advantage of the H502c, (the H501w made you choose between 15 and 80 lumens!) but the runtimes show no particular advantage. But -- let me answer this question after I put the high-CRI to the test. At this point I hardly feel my H501w's obsoleted. Whereas the H50 is totally obsoleted.