Zebralight SC600w IV Plus

[Tachead]

The MKIV HI scares me since user measurements show output much lower than spec

Keep in mind that home built light boxes accuracy can be all over the place. Not to mention throwier HI lights often are harder to accurately measure. Also, notice not a single person that I have seen on any forum has sent one back due to output and everyone loves them:thinking:.

 

[recDNA]

Keep in mind that home built light boxes accuracy can be all over the place. Not to mention throwier HI lights often are harder to accurately measure. Also, notice not a single person that I have seen on any forum has sent one back due to output and everyone loves them:thinking:.

I'm certain my eyes can't tell 1100 from 1400 lumens but if I am paying for 1400 I want 1400.

 

[Tachead]

I'm certain my eyes can't tell 1100 from 1400 lumens but if I am paying for 1400 I want 1400.

Oh I agree but, you can't take random home built light boxes measurements as gospel. The only persons I know to be proven very accurate is Selfbuilt. Remember, these are not professionally calibrated intergrating spheres we are talking about here.

 

[Tachead]

I considered a bunch of choices, but eventually ordered a 600w MkIV HI. I don't regret it. I was concerned it might be too throwy for a general-purpose light, but it's not. It has a large, bright spill, and the hot spot is not too small. The corona is very gradual, so you don't get any tunnel effect.

Outdoors, the extra throw (compared to the usual very floody Zebralights) really helps. I used to carry an additional C8 for throw, but I think I won't bother most of the time, now. The HI is not nearly as throwy as a C8, of course, but it throws well-enough for most purposes.

Thanks for the insight:thumbsup:.

I am probably going to get one eventually but, will use it for an outdoor light to add a little throw(when needed) to my H600Fc&d MKIII headlamps. I already have the SC64c and SC64w for general purpose lights. I am going to sell my SC600w MKIV Plus(XHP50.2) as although it is a lot brighter and has a larger hotspot, it doesn't offer enough of a difference in beam profile over the 64's and I prefer their size for EDC.

 

[zengaya]

Hello all! Jus mesured current in Hi mode. Its 6,4 Amps(!). Yesterday while walking the flashs light worked on Hi mode ~25 minutes, then step down. 3500 Sanyo 18650 battery full charged. The weather was -5C and wind. Flashlight was warm, but not hot. I think, ~ 35-45 C. Hard to tell, but i think, it was not pid power down. So the flashlight can be used full time in Hi mode, if the temperature outside 0c or lower And runtime is short. Powerfull light.

 

[JStraus]

Thanks for the insight:thumbsup:.

I am probably going to get one eventually but, will use it for an outdoor light to add a little throw(when needed) to my H600Fc&d MKIII headlamps. I already have the SC64c and SC64w for general purpose lights. I am going to sell my SC600w MKIV Plus(XHP50.2) as although it is a lot brighter and has a larger hotspot, it doesn't offer enough of a difference in beam profile over the 64's and I prefer their size for EDC.

I's love to hear your impressions between the 64c and 64w. I sold a 63w and got the 64c. I never got to mess with the 63w and 64c side by side but the temp seemed about the same. I like the beam pattern of the 64c better than the 63. And of course the programmability.

If you have time, it would be nice to hear a quick comparison between the 64c and 64w for output, beam, and tint!

 

[Tachead]

I's love to hear your impressions between the 64c and 64w. I sold a 63w and got the 64c. I never got to mess with the 63w and 64c side by side but the temp seemed about the same. I like the beam pattern of the 64c better than the 63. And of course the programmability.

If you have time, it would be nice to hear a quick comparison between the 64c and 64w for output, beam, and tint!

Sure man, just give me a day or two more to test the 64w as I just got it yesterday.

 

[SmeepyBeeper]

Sure man, just give me a day or two more to test the 64w as I just got it yesterday.

I'm also really interested, I'm going to be choosing between these two shortly as my first real light.

 

[Derek Dean]

Hello all! Jus mesured current in Hi mode. Its 6,4 Amps(!). Yesterday while walking the flashs light worked on Hi mode ~25 minutes, then step down. 3500 Sanyo 18650 battery full charged. The weather was -5C and wind. Flashlight was warm, but not hot. I think, ~ 35-45 C. Hard to tell, but i think, it was not pid power down. So the flashlight can be used full time in Hi mode, if the temperature outside 0c or lower And runtime is short. Powerfull light.

zengaya, welcome to the forum : )

 

[holygeez03]

For those interested... I ordered my MKIV Plus on December 10th and according to USPS tracking, it should arrive today.

 

[dmsoule]

For those interested... I ordered my MKIV Plus on December 10th and according to USPS tracking, it should arrive today.

Yes, interested. I ordered January 10th, so I will not expect my mk iv plus until mid-February, unfortunately. Enjoy yours and share your impressions if you wish.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Yes, interested. I ordered January 10th, so I will not expect my mk iv plus until mid-February, unfortunately. Enjoy yours and share your impressions if you wish.

When I emailed Zebralight about wait times, I was told there was a 3-4 week backlog until units were shipped out. That was end of Dec. Maybe they've caught up with stock a bit since then.

 

[Keitho]

I's love to hear your impressions between the 64c and 64w. I sold a 63w and got the 64c. I never got to mess with the 63w and 64c side by side but the temp seemed about the same. I like the beam pattern of the 64c better than the 63. And of course the programmability.

If you have time, it would be nice to hear a quick comparison between the 64c and 64w for output, beam, and tint!

Not exactly what you asked for, but I have the SC63w, and jumped at the SC64c when it was announced. I'll start by saying that, by themselves, both are great; if you gave me one or the other by themselves and asked me to guess which you gave me, it would be very hard for me to tell. Beam patterns are identical.

Side by side, the SC64c is a little dimmer and warmer. Due to the color temp and CRI, reds, browns, and greens look less washed out and more pleasing to my eyes. Again, differences are subtle, and only really noticable when side by side.

For me, the more I use flashlights, the more I find myself ignoring lumen numbers, and selecting lights only with the exact color temp and CRI that I want. Fwiw, YMMV, yadda yadda--best of luck!

 

[Tachead]

I's love to hear your impressions between the 64c and 64w. I sold a 63w and got the 64c. I never got to mess with the 63w and 64c side by side but the temp seemed about the same. I like the beam pattern of the 64c better than the 63. And of course the programmability.

If you have time, it would be nice to hear a quick comparison between the 64c and 64w for output, beam, and tint!

Sorry, I forgot to tell you I gave a comparison in the Official Zebralight Thread. Post #1540.

 

[scs]

I just found these beamshots of the D4 and am extremely impressed.
http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/threads/2-emisar-d1-und-5-emisar-d4.58828/
http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/t...ld-3x-emisar-d4-zebras-eagtac-nitecore.58515/ Post #4

The D4 beam is what I hoped the SC600 MK 4 Plus would have, but it is not to be. Its wild tint shift across its beam is another disappointment.
Perhaps ZL would look into TIR optics and multiple emitters in single 18650 lights in the future.

 

[Tachead]

I just found these beamshots of the D4 and am extremely impressed.
http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/threads/2-emisar-d1-und-5-emisar-d4.58828/
http://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/t...ld-3x-emisar-d4-zebras-eagtac-nitecore.58515/ Post #4

The D4 beam is what I hoped the SC600 MK 4 Plus would have, but it is not to be. Its wild tint shift across its beam is another disappointment.
Perhaps ZL would look into TIR optics and multiple emitters in single 18650 lights in the future.

Those beamshots don't show the SC600w MKIV Plus or am I missing something?

Of course the Plus would have different beam profile as it is a reflector mounted Cree and one of the new fully phosphor coated ones to boot(which are widely know to have a more off coloured corona). The Plus's tint shift across the beam is only slightly worse then your average Cree's and doesnt really matter much in actual use(especially outdoors). Quads are hugely inefficient and so are TIR optics so, I doubt you will ever see ZL do a similar light as efficiency is one of their things. It is a trade off really, the D4 gets hot and steps down crazy fast(less then 15 seconds) and gets terrible runtimes due to its quad emitter design and inefficient driver. The TIR optic is also stealing around 15% of its output and has very little throw. The Plus on the other hand heats up slowly comparatively and will run for minutes in use even on H1. It also gets crazy long runtimes(5.1 hours at 358 lumens) and outputs 98-99% of its light due to the efficient reflector and AR coated glass design. You just have to decide if tint consistency across the beam alone is worth giving up all the benefits a ZL offers(there are many in addition to the much better thermal performance and efficiency).

Honestly, if ZL was going to try and improve their beam quality, I would just like to see them throw a single high CRI Nichia 144A in one of these.

 

[NPL]

Those beamshots don't show the SC600w MKIV Plus or am I missing something?

Of course the Plus would have different beam profile as it is a reflector mounted Cree and one of the new fully phosphor coated ones to boot(which are widely know to have a more off coloured corona). The Plus's tint shift across the beam is only slightly worse then your average Cree's and doesnt really matter much in actual use(especially outdoors). Quads are hugely inefficient and so are TIR optics so, I doubt you will ever see ZL do a similar light as efficiency is one of their things. It is a trade off really, the D4 gets hot and steps down crazy fast(less then 15 seconds) and gets terrible runtimes due to its quad emitter design and inefficient driver. The TIR optic is also stealing around 15% of its output and has very little throw. The Plus on the other hand heats up slowly comparatively and will run for minutes in use even on H1. It also gets crazy long runtimes(5.1 hours at 358 lumens) and outputs 98-99% of its light due to the efficient reflector and AR coated glass design. You just have to decide if tint consistency across the beam alone is worth giving up all the benefits a ZL offers(there are many in addition to the much better thermal performance and efficiency).

Honestly, if ZL was going to try and improve their beam quality, I would just like to see them throw a single high CRI Nichia 144A in one of these.

How are quads ineficient? I thought running more LEDs make a light more efficient because the lumen efficiency is better at lower outputs. So running four LEDs at 1/4 output per LED is more efficient than running a single LED at equivalent total output.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

How are quads ineficient? I thought running more LEDs make a light more efficient because the lumen efficiency is better at lower outputs. So running four LEDs at 1/4 output per LED is more efficient than running a single LED at equivalent total output.

The quads I have use FET drivers, and so does the D4 I think. Maybe that's what he meant by saying they're inefficient.

But yeah, I don't see why you couldn't use a better driver in a quad to get good efficiency.

 

[holygeez03]

Unfortunately the MKIV Plus isn't as amazing as I hoped thus far, relative to my SC62w that it's replacing for "yard duty"... the temp/tint is not overly "colored", but the shift between hotspot, corona, and spill is more annoying than I expected based on the beamshots... it's probably worse for me right now due to the snow on the ground.

The much bigger hotspot certainly makes it better for yard duty and after using it for a long time, going back to the SC62w will probably be more notable, but I'm not as surprised/impressed as I hoped I would be.

Despite all of the comparison photos, I was still surprised by how small the light is... that being said, I wish Zebralight would let the SC600 be a little bigger and use a head/reflector that better suits the XHP50 emitter.

I have considered trying the HI and deciding which I like better, but I am pretty sure the narrow beam profile will annoy me even more for my planned usage. The regular SC600w MKIV might be what I am looking for, but that is getting even closer to my SC62w specs...

 

[scs]

Those beamshots don't show the SC600w MKIV Plus or am I missing something?

Of course the Plus would have different beam profile as it is a reflector mounted Cree and one of the new fully phosphor coated ones to boot(which are widely know to have a more off coloured corona). The Plus's tint shift across the beam is only slightly worse then your average Cree's and doesnt really matter much in actual use(especially outdoors). Quads are hugely inefficient and so are TIR optics so, I doubt you will ever see ZL do a similar light as efficiency is one of their things. It is a trade off really, the D4 gets hot and steps down crazy fast(less then 15 seconds) and gets terrible runtimes due to its quad emitter design and inefficient driver. The TIR optic is also stealing around 15% of its output and has very little throw. The Plus on the other hand heats up slowly comparatively and will run for minutes in use even on H1. It also gets crazy long runtimes(5.1 hours at 358 lumens) and outputs 98-99% of its light due to the efficient reflector and AR coated glass design. You just have to decide if tint consistency across the beam alone is worth giving up all the benefits a ZL offers(there are many in addition to the much better thermal performance and efficiency).

Honestly, if ZL was going to try and improve their beam quality, I would just like to see them throw a single high CRI Nichia 144A in one of these.

Firstly, beamshots of the plus by itself and in direct comparison with other lights and other ZL models have been floating around. Secondly, that huge beamshot collection over at TLF includes many ZLs with new emitters, so I have a very good idea of what the plus's beam pattern looks like relative to the others.

Of course TIRs produce a different beam pattern than a reflector; that's elementary and obvious. However, with the right combination of reflector and emitter, a beam very close if not almost identical to that of the D4 can be had. Just look at the Acebeam EC50 Gen 2. Before you state the obvious again, yes I know that uses the 70 series emitter as opposed to the 50 series in the ZLs.

When the plus was first introduced, and I saw that it paired a relatively large emitter in a small reflector, I hoped that it would have a beam similar to that of the Acebeam. Turns out It doesn't. And like you say, the plus's beam isn't markedly different from the 63 and 64s.

BTW, I'm not saying the D4 is "better" than the plus. I know the inherent inefficiency of the D4's driver. I wouldn't choose the D4 either for that reason.