ZebraLight SC600 MkII

[WilsonCQB1911]

If anyone is interested in more runtime data, since zebralight doesn't seem to have published any....

i used an AW 3400 protected cell that had been fully charged on my Pila charger a few months ago and had sat on a shelf until today. So it had likely come down a bit in capacity, but maybe not a whole lot.

I turned the light on with a single click and started my stopwatch. Light went into turbo for five minutes and then stepped down at exactly the five minute mark. It then continued to run for 2 hours 4 minutes until it stepped down again. My ZTS tester showed the battery to be under 10% of capacity.

 

[moozooh]

Sounds entirely consistent with ZL's measurements, good.

 

[tonkem]

Zebralight has added the runtimes for the Mkii on their website.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Thinking about squeezing the trigger on one of these. Anyone know who has the best price going?

Was wanting the neutral version but currently running with my duty light as my edc and it's too bulky.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

 

[tonkem]

Thinking about squeezing the trigger on one of these. Anyone know who has the best price going?

Was wanting the neutral version but currently running with my duty light as my edc and it's too bulky.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

Fairly sure that www.e2fieldgear.com has the best price. Check in the cpfmarketplace in the dealer forum for a coupon code.

 

[Johnnyt]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

Received my new sc600 MKII and been playing with it for a couple days. I am still getting used to the interface as it is my first ZL and it is growing on me. However, for me, I wish they would have reversed the functionality of the long click vs the short click. Short clicking thru low med high or holding the click to go directly to high seems much more intuitive to me than than hold clicking for l-m-h. Also I have a hard time getting just the right timing down for low. Sometimes I hold down too long and it cycles to medium. Sometimes too short and it short clicks to high which is really bad if your need is the moonlight mode. However maybe it'll be old hat soon.

My biggest disappointment with my particular light is that I am wondering if I have a bit of a loser in what many refer to as the tint lottery. The hotspot of my light is not particularly cool in color so that was quite pleasing maybe a mix of cool-neutral. However in all but the brightest mode the ring right around the hotspot does seem to have some 'mountain dew'-ness to it. It is hard to explain really as the beam does not have rings per se. But to me at least the tint of the beam in general on low and medium is just not pleasing. If I can figure out how to post a pic I may try to see if I can capture something that better explains what my eyes (or mind?) is seeing.

For brevity I am skipping a lot I like about this light but just wanted to point out these couple of things. I do not regret the purchase but was expecting to really love the output of the beam more than I do so far.

Well it's been a couple more weeks of using the mkII and I still can't seem to shake my disappointment in the greenish tint on medium and low settings. Not much I can do about it but can say something I now do not think time and use will allow me to overlook. I got the light to replace my lost eagletac d25lc2 XML CW and do appreciate the flexibility of the interface as well as the true hidden strobe as opposed to the ET. However I went ahead and just ordered a XM-L2 LC2. I look forward to comparing the tints and brightness levels.

One point I would like feedback on though is the short click going to high instead of low. Does anyone else wish the short click went to low then med then high, and for click and hold to go directly to high? That would make SO much more sense to me. Plus I have been accidentally blinded (even indirectly) by this light many times from not getting the long click timing right to enter in low and I feel my suggested interface would eliminate that. Any thoughts from other owners?

 

[Nicola]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

I agree about D25LC2 XM-L2 has a nicer tint if you compare the beams on a white wall.
I like both torches. Overall, I like SC600 better. No problems with ZL UI.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

I agree about D25LC2 XM-L2 has a nicer tint if you compare the beams on a white wall.

Do you find the reverse to be true on surfaces other than white walls then?

 

[Derek Dean]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

Well it's been a couple more weeks of using the mkII and I still can't seem to shake my disappointment in the greenish tint on medium and low settings. Not much I can do about it but can say something I now do not think time and use will allow me to overlook.

Tint is VERY important to me. I know CPF members that will buy 2 or 3 of the same light so that they pick the tint they like best and then sell the others.

Other members will find a light with the features they want and then mod it with an LED that has the tint they like.

I have that same type of obsession with tint, so I understand both of those options, however, I've found another approach that works even better for me, using inexpensive and easily available filters to get the tint very close to what's pleasing to MY eye. What's neat about this method is that it's quickly and easily reversible if you change your mind or want to sell the light.

Honestly, when I first got my Zebralight SC600, I almost sent it back for a refund because the tint freaked me out. It was green in the center and purple around the edges, yuuck! However, after playing with my filter set for a while I was able to find a filter that gets the tint pretty darn close to neutral, and I'm so glad I did, because I really love the SC600 and have used it for my night job for the last year and half.

Since then I've filtered ALL my lights and now they all have gorgeous tinted beams. Not only that, because I mainly use my Zebralight SC600 for closeup and medium range work I decided to add a light diffusing filter to even out the beam a bit more. This was easy because the filter pack comes with many different diffuser filters as well.

Of course, the SC600 bezel unscrews, which makes it easy to put the filters inside, and I think the SC600 Mark II has a press on bezel, but I have many other lights with fixed bezels, and for those I just use a small piece of double sided tape to affix the plastic filter to the outside of the glass cover, and I've never had a problem with the filters getting scratched or coming off.

If you're interested, check out this thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?320811-Changing-LED-Tint-With-Filters

By the way, I've always had a bit of trouble consistently getting the SC600 to come on in low and have blinded myself more than once, but many other folks seem to not have any trouble at all. Anyway, don't let it bother you. What I do sometimes is just put my hand over the front until it comes on, and then switch it to low if I miss and hold it to long. The other option is to just leave the light ON, in the moonlight mode, all night, bezel down, and just pick it up to use it and put it back down bezel down when your finished. Because it uses so little power in that mode, you can do that every night and not worry about running down your battery.

In any case, it's such a minor quibble for what I consider to be the best EDC light available, that I just can't fault it for that OR the tint (which is easily fixable).

Enjoy your new light .

 

[Nicola]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

Do you find the reverse to be true on surfaces other than white walls then?

No. I just don't see any noticeable (to me) difference.

 

[Cessquill]

Thinking about squeezing the trigger on one of these. Anyone know who has the best price going?

Was wanting the neutral version but currently running with my duty light as my edc and it's too bulky.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

Mine turned up this week from www.illuminationgear.com. Good price, good service and quick delivery (considering I'm not in the US).

 

[regulator]

Hi Cessquill. I got mine from them as well and fast service. They are great to deal with. I also purchased an Eagletac GX25A3 from them that I like a lot.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Think I'm going to order mine this weekend from illumination gear. E2 adds tax on and puts it out to me for $95 after SC600 discount code.

Sent from my ridiculously large Galaxy Note 2.

 

[Romo Lampkin's Cat]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

Well it's been a couple more weeks of using the mkII and I still can't seem to shake my disappointment in the greenish tint on medium and low settings. Not much I can do about it but can say something I now do not think time and use will allow me to overlook.

Time has enabled me to learn how to ignore the puke green tint.

One point I would like feedback on though is the short click going to high instead of low. Does anyone else wish the short click went to low then med then high, and for click and hold to go directly to high? That would make SO much more sense to me. Plus I have been accidentally blinded (even indirectly) by this light many times from not getting the long click timing right to enter in low and I feel my suggested interface would eliminate that. Any thoughts from other owners?

I like that the shortest click goes to the last high setting because one of the uses for this light is defense in the dark. Shining this light in anybody's face at night is sure to give them grief, and I like that to be as simple as possible: hit the switch and BLAMMO!

Regarding the UI in general, it seems to be holy writ 'round these here parts that the Zebralight UI is pure heaven, the best. Perhaps I lack experience with other lights (I confess that I do) but if this UI is heaven then the others must be pure hell, because I'm not impressed. My biggest objection is that selection of low on startup is based on the length of time I hold the switch. It sounds simple but I suspect that a lot of us have trouble with this, and I would much prefer a dual-control interface like the on the SRT-7. But I'll gladly trade the single button interface, foibles notwithstanding, for the signifcantly smaller size of the SC600. Plus, the fit and finish on the SC600 are outstanding.

I practice with my light to ensure I am well-lubed. Am I complaining? No! "Practice" is fun because I get to play with the light, and isn't playing around with the light part of the joy of having the light? Besides, flashlights are like cars. There are some things I like; there are some things I don't care about; and there are some things which really bug me. On the whole, the SC600 Mk II thrills me and I'm glad I have it. If only my car were in the world of automobiles what my SC600 is in the world of flashlights.

 

[Cessquill]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

After having mine for a couple of days, a couple of my thoughts. And this is my first foray into the world of decent flashlights, so I think I struck lucky by accident...

My main choice for initially finding the SC600 (before the mkII was out) was it's size. It sounds shallow, but I wear a Scott-e-vest Fleece 7.0 jacket, wanted to carry around a flashlight and was looking for something that fitted in one of its pockets. I could have got an AA light, but I figured I'd look for the biggest small light I could find.

A lot of researching around this forum and a few noob questions later, and here I am with a MkII, three EagleTac 3400's and a Nitecore i4 Charger. And very happy.

The interface, although a bit bewildering at first, I got used to in an evening. Quick press for high, long press for low, all that stuff. I can see why some might not like it, but after a bit of practice it's second nature.

Build quality is great. There was a tiny scuff on mine, but I'm sure there will be many more. If anything it's good for me, since it means I haven't got the remorse of putting its first scratch on it. Built like a tank.

My only gripe is the lanyard ring; however, it's more the position of it rather than its presence. Personally I will use it with a lanyard (once I find a decent one) - I spent weeks looking for this light, months waiting for its release, a pretty penny buying it, and weeks waiting for its delivery - I'm going to strap it to my wrist. However, it sticks out right where my pinky finger sits. Right in the way. I'd personally put it on the opposite side, in line with the switch (I think). I don't want it on the base, since it's handy in vertical mode. All in all though, not a huge deal.

Being new to this, I'm quite pleased that I'm not affected by the discolouration. It looks great to me when I've used it on walks.

Anybody use a good lanyard with it, and are there any decent headbands that it'll fit?

And thanks for the time and patience in helping me get into this hobby. I've all ready got my eyes on an SC52 as a round-the-house light, and I know it won't stop there...

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

My main choice for initially finding the SC600 (before the mkII was out) was it's size. It sounds shallow, but I wear a Scott-e-vest Fleece 7.0 jacket, wanted to carry around a flashlight and was looking for something that fitted in one of its pockets. I could have got an AA light, but I figured I'd look for the biggest small light I could find.

Nice mini-review and I think that choosing by size, particularly as large as you can carry without it getting in the way, is a great reason to help in choosing a light.

Maximum runtime goes up as battery capacity goes up and it's nice to see more acknowledgement of the fact that the UI is not that complicated when one takes the time to learn it.

Heck, it's no worse than learning to drive a manual transmission.

 

[gteague]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

just got mine in this afternoon. ordered from amazon. this is to hold me over until henry at hds gets his clicky production ramped up (hopefully this month) so that i can upgrade my hds from 140 to 200 lumens. i love those hds lights (i've carried one as my primary edc for the last 4 years) but they can't hold a candela (sorry!) to the new high tech lights from fenix, nitecore, and this zebralight which claims a jaw-dropping 900+ lumens and uses the 18650 instead of the 'puny' cr123 of the hds. i have my doubts about that zl600 lumens figure since i also have a nitecore ec25 at ?600+? lumens which blows it away side-by-side, but the zl600 is plenty for me coming from my 140 lumens hds.

anyway, one of my most used features of my hds, nitcore, and fenix lights is a momentary setting. in the best of my lights i can momentary low, momentary turbo, locked low, and locked turbo with just a simple sequence of button presses. i've only been playing with my new zebralight mkii for a few minutes, but i can't find a momentary mode at all. is it completely missing in action? that feature is pretty well required for a 'tactical' light.

my opinion so far is extremely favorable. despite using a battery with 3-4 times the capacity as my hds, it's only about 1/4" longer, just one ounce heavier, and has a side switch which i much prefer to a tail clicky. the hds lights, even with the flush button, will not tailstand unless you fuss about and equalize the pressure on the rubber diaphragm of the switch whereas the zebralight has an absolutely flat bottom. about the only thing the hds has over the zebralight (and most other lights) is the flexibility of the programming.

anyway, anyone have any tips on how to make up for the lack of momentary mode? or have i missed how to do it with this light?

thanks,

/guy

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

No momentary. I got used to it quickly because it is so good in so many ways. If you want the high setting just for a couple seconds click quick, then click to turn off, but not too quick in less you want to go from high to lowest. This is with an sc52 but should be the same. Practice all the functions, you never know what you might like. The battery status test is useful. There are sc52 videos that show the functions, probably sc600 mk2 videos out there too. Having a lot of light is nice.

 

[Howiezowie]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

Received my SC600 MkII today, fulfilled by Amazon, from seller named "TorchLight" (I wanted it soon, and liked that I could get this light in 2 days with Amazon Prime.) There has been some discussion about how batteries, especially protected types might fit, so I'm giving some detailed info in case it helps others.

Battery fit observations and measurements:

I only have Orbtronic protected 3400s, and happy to say that they do fit, although to remove one of them a gentle shake was required. This is because the diameter of the cell at the base is just a little wider, (I think due to the protection circuit installed back there, or just manufacturing tolerance differences.) The battery glides down all the way via gravity, but needs a very gentle "push" (just barely more than a touch,) to get the final 3mm to seat into the tube. To remove, a gentle shake is needed to dislodge that 3mm, then the battery glides out by itself. The other battery glided in and out without issue. Doing the best I can, my inexpensive digital calipers measure the diameter of the battery tube opening as approximately 18.8mm, and the widest dimension across the of that Orbtronic battery base seems a hair over 18.8 (but I don't trust the calipers much in the hundredths range too much.) Anyway, point is the batteries DO fit width-wise. Length-wise, my two batteries measure 68.8mm and 68.9mm respectively. (I imagine soldering technique etc. in manufacturing accounts for variation.)

Once the battery is seated and resting on the positive terminal, (which is a spring,) the base of battery just barely sticks out (0.35mm) from end of the tube. The positive terminal spring seems to be able to depress 2.65mm. The spring in the tail cap, which measures about 11.8mm long, protrudes 2.6mm beyond the lip of the cap. The result of all of this, in the case of my Orbtronic batteries, is that the tail cap spring will be effectively/probably depressed to maximum with the tail cap screwed down. Whether this tight fit will have any negative consequences (no pun intended,) down the road, I do not know. Speaking of the tail cap, the light came with threads lubricated, and the screw action is extremely smooth and precise.

LED tint and other observations:

The tint of the XM-L "cool white" LED, unfortunately for my tastes, has the [expected] "green" emanating around from the edge of the hotspot. The hotspot, itself, seems a rather clean white. The green tinted ring dissipates further outward into the less bright floody area, which has a purple tint. The beam tints are quite similar to my SC52 (same cool white XM-L version), although the SC52 hotspot itself seems green whereas the SC600 hotspot is "whiter". Also, in highest output settings, my SC600 has a more pronounced purple outer flood area than the SC52. That purple tint on the outside of the beam tends to accentuate the "green" appearance of the inner flood area, as the two colors contrast somewhat. I have not yet viewed outdoors, which I expect to look less jarring than a white wall/ceiling, but the tint issue is definitely noticeable indoors.

I barely notice the raised nub for the lanyard attachment ring, which others have complained about. I have large hands, which might account for the placement of that spot not bothering me much. The light is in all other respects as I expected, based on reviews and comments. Finish and quality appear excellent. Brightness modes work nicely, and as expected for Zebralight UI, although they do take some getting used to, especially the timing and duration of presses, as well documented in the forums.

Lastly, following some others' observations of the sound of button presses: While both the SC600 II and SC52 buttons have a definite tactile "click" sensation, the SC600 actually has more of an audible "click" sound, whereas the SC52 barely makes a sound. At arm's length, pressing the SC52 button I can just make out the "click", but the SC600 "click" sound is a fair bit louder and more apparent. However, for comparison, it's still softer than traditional "clicky" buttons on other lights. Personally, the sound is not an issue for me.

Those are my impressions and observations. I hope they have some use to other readers.

 

[gteague]

Re: ZebraLight SC600 MkII interface and tint observations

thanks for your impressions of this light. i ordered mine the exact same way. found out later i live only a mile or two from the distributer over in irving although the addresses for them i've seen on the forum differ from the one on the website.

anyway, i had purchased two AW 3400mah cells for a couple of nitecore lights i got recently and found out the flattop batteries would not work in those lights so i was delighted to be able to put these cells to use in the zebralight although, unlike your experience, i had to put a 'sleeve' of a cylinder of paper around the aw battery to keep it from rattling. i noticed a british gent on youtube had to do the same thing and i stole his method which works perfectly although, truthfully, the strength of the spring on each end of the cell would most likely keep it from much rattling.

i'm still trying to get familiar with the unfamiliar interface and sometimes having problems determining whether i'm on medium or low. i'm practicing trying to get it into high, med, or low from off. high and med are easy, but unless it's pitch dark i have to put a finger in front of the lens to see whether it came on in low.

this light is definitely in competition to take the place of the hds lights i've carried for years as my primary edc. the hds lights are much lower in output, use a cr123 vs 18650, and have a tailcap button vs the side button (which i much prefer), but they also have a 'momentary' mode, can be physically reconfigured (adding a larger battery compartment, for example), and the benefit of being supremely customizable with a little effort to learn the programming 'language' and jumping the hurdle of implementing it with only one button.

/guy