Zebralight is going to come out with flashlights! part 2

TooManyGizmos said:

...

I wish the 18650 would hurry and come out ... that should be an ideal light.

Click to expand...

Absolutely, if they can use this design to shave 2-3cm or so off the typical length of an 18650 light it will be a sure winner. I'm looking for it in AA as well. I'm hoping. like their headlamp design. that it works extremely well as a design for all the different power sources.

:party::party::party:

Update: Ooops!!! I think GG may have messed up and sent me shipping notice for the wrong order... I hope not, i want the SC30!

Is there any news about the H51? Any specs? I'm really hoping they keep the H501's flood but add some throw to it. Can someone post a wide beamshot of the SC30 showing its flood?

Pavius said:

Is there any news about the H51? Any specs? I'm really hoping they keep the H501's flood but add some throw to it.

Click to expand...

And I really want a pure-throw version of the H501. :)

Actually...scratch that. I want a dual-emitter version of the H501 that has one optic for 80º flood, and one optic for 7º spot (or the tightest spot possible, if 7º is not do-able). Like this:



The emitters share the same driver...choose flood or spot on demand, but not both at once.

The emitters share the same heatsink...which is larger than in the H501...so perhaps they can be driven slightly brighter.

And...perhaps the switch could be moved to the side of the head, so we can turn the light on, change levels, and rotate the angle all in the same smooth pinching motion.

I would pay $100 for that zebralight headlamp, in a heartbeat.

Anyone else want one?

-Jeff

nice idea. very doable in my mind. and wouldnt make it too long either.

how about the swiveling head. side clicky. and slightly frosted lense cover built-in on the side of the light.. you know when pointing straight up it would be a normal flashlight.. when turned into h501 90degree light, there would be built in diffusor for flood.

i once drew a sketch of a module that one could screw on top of the battery tube. you could choose to screw it to look like normal flashlight or as 90deg anglelight.

or maybe a throwy h501 with reflector but a sliding diffusor you could just slide in and out infront of the lense.. throwy or slide the hidden inside the body diffusor infront of the lense for smooth flood. (and maybe sold different colors.. like red diff etc)

or just simply led lenser type spot to flood setup ..only via screwing the bezel tighter or looser. (romisen n29?)

or how about thrower led on bottom end of the light and the floody one on other end.

or just an anglelight that one could screw in or lock in any direction of square box. each side of the box would have different desing. one would have a window for all flood. one side would have a red diffusor. one side would have a thrower aspehric lense or something. and one side would be either be lock-out setting or reserved for clicky.

hmm.. what other crazy ideas i might come up now that clock is past midnite. hahah

(i still want warm tint sideclicky tiny edc worthy light)

Pavius said:

Can someone post a wide beamshot of the SC30 showing its flood?

Click to expand...

Check out my review of the SC30 (w/beamshots):
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=257321

Cheers,
Tim

uplite said:

And I really want a pure-throw version of the H501. :)

Actually...scratch that. I want a dual-emitter version of the H501 that has one optic for 80º flood, and one optic for 7º spot (or the tightest spot possible, if 7º is not do-able). Like this:

The emitters share the same driver...choose flood or spot on demand, but not both at once.

The emitters share the same heatsink...which is larger than in the H501...so perhaps they can be driven slightly brighter.

And...perhaps the switch could be moved to the side of the head, so we can turn the light on, change levels, and rotate the angle all in the same smooth pinching motion.

I would pay $100 for that zebralight headlamp, in a heartbeat.

Anyone else want one?

-Jeff

Click to expand...

I LIKE THAT!

I've been racking my brain to understand how these thing's UI works.

Can someone please explain in detail how they work... ?

Thanks,
Ryan

P.S. - How would these compare to the Quark 123 R5 lights? They're more like Fenix UI which I like, but until I understand the ZL's UI, I can't really make a fair choice.

FliGuyRyan said:

I've been racking my brain to understand how these thing's UI works.

Can someone please explain in detail how they work... ?

Thanks,
Ryan

P.S. - How would these compare to the Quark 123 R5 lights? They're more like Fenix UI which I like, but until I understand the ZL's UI, I can't really make a fair choice.

Click to expand...

Quoted from TurboBB's review:

"UI
The SC30's UI is nearly identical to the H501 in it's basic mode in that there are 3 levels (L, M, H) you can cycle through, where it greatly differs is when you double-click it while on.

From off:
- short click brings the light into instant H
- a long click (1/4 second) brings the light into instant L
- click and hold to cycle from L to H

From on:
- short click turns off the light
- click and hold to cycle from L to H (this is regardless if which level you're currently in, it'll always cycle from L to H)
- double-clicking will toggle it between the low or high for that level. So let's say these levels are:

L1 = Low Low
L2 = Low
L3 = Low Medium
L4 = Medium
L5 = Medium High
L6 = High

Double click at:
L to set it at L1 or L2
M to set it at L3 or L4
H to set it at L5 or L6

So you can therefore customize your light to any combination of:
-- L1,L3,L5 -- L1,L3,L6 -- L1,L4,L5 -- L1,L4,L6 --
-- L2,L3,L5 -- L2,L3,L6 -- L2,L4,L5 -- L2,L4,L6 --

Brilliant! This really gives the light some flexibility of programming without having to go through a ramping sequence. It's so straightforward that anyone should be able to program it very easily. Each step is in memory as soon as you toggle it so in case you accidentally overshoot the level you want to program, you need not worry about restarting it as with some lights I've read about."

It doesn't take long to get used to this UI and in fact it has become my favorite UI in the last few days using it, it is very versatile.

Here it is next to a Quark 123 mini for size reference.

@ olrac

NEAT! What did you do to make the light that color?

white balance setting on the camera?

It was just the bad incandescent lighting and no flash, the mini is plain Ti and the Zebra is natural HA.

lol, ok. I thought you had colored them somehow. They look very cool in that copper color (esepcially the Quark).

olrac,

Thank you for the explanation. I find some irony in the fact that you have a comparison shot between the Quark 123 and the ZL.

These are the two lights I'm trying to decide between. How do they compare?

I believe having to "lock it out" would be a hassle. I really like the Fenix-style UI that the Quark has (correct?). How is the R5 in the Quark vs the LED in the ZL?

Thanks,
RC

P.S. I'm not trying to make this into a Quark discussion...

FliGuyRyan said:

I believe having to "lock it out" would be a hassle. I really like the Fenix-style UI that the Quark has...

Click to expand...

Both the SC30 and the q-mini need a little twist to lock or unlock the light.

The big difference in UI is that once the zebralight is unlocked, you can change levels quickly and reliably with the side switch, with just one finger.

With the q-mini, you have to keep on twisting to get the level you want. And it might mode-skip over the level you wanted, so you have to keep twisting, twisting, twisting...

SC30 ftw.

-Jeff

I too was trying to make the same decision between the MiNi and the ZL. I am very happy with the ZL. These may not be important to you but they are differences that mattered to me:

The ZL does not roll away, even with the clip removed. The ZL has a low-low, this I use a great deal. The biggest point: I am more comfortable with the thumb side switch. I run at night and occasionally use a light for this. The side switch is much easier to use while bouncing down a trail or road.

I give the ZL a slight turn of the tail cap to lock it out when I am not going to use it. No parasitic drain that way either (although it is very low drain anyway). So there is no negative to the switch for me.

The Mini is smaller by a bit and 4Sevens makes quality stuff so you can't go wrong with either...buy both, I probably will at some point.

Edit: Oh, I almost forgot, I think the UI is my favorite of the dozens I have used.

From an owner of a MiNi 123 R5, MiNi 123 Q3 and ZL SC30, if I had to choose just one, I would go for the ZL. Or ZL neutral that is coming out if that is your thing. I miss the hidden strobes and such, but this is one of those "I can't not have this in my collection" lights.

FliGuyRyan said:

olrac,
I believe having to "lock it out" would be a hassle. I really like the Fenix-style UI that the Quark has (correct?). How is the R5 in the Quark vs the LED in the ZL?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't really describe the quark mini's UI as fenix like. The regular quarks are more fenix-like though.

I got my SC30 today! :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

This is one amazing light, feels like almost as big a break through as their headlamps were (are).

It is SMALL, but with the side button it really fits well in the hand and works great.

It's hard to describe how incredible this light seems, because it's mostly a collection of subjective attributes of a tactile, ergonomic, size, and what not. I'll buy it in the other battery formats, but I think the CR123 size just might be the best for this light. I'll also buy neutral tint as soon as available from our CPF dealers. To me it's that good!

:hitit:

RC Having both and if I had to choose it would be no contest, Zebralight definitely. The Quark Mini a great light, but the Zebralight has a level of sophistication that I have not seen in any other light. It has just the right amount of flexibility in lighting levels without the user requiring a PhD in electronics, honestly I can't find anything bad to say about it. I can't think of any other light at this point that I would rather EDC. And for me the fins are not too sharp edged.

FliGuyRyan said:

olrac,

Thank you for the explanation. I find some irony in the fact that you have a comparison shot between the Quark 123 and the ZL.

These are the two lights I'm trying to decide between. How do they compare?

I believe having to "lock it out" would be a hassle. I really like the Fenix-style UI that the Quark has (correct?). How is the R5 in the Quark vs the LED in the ZL?

Thanks,
RC

P.S. I'm not trying to make this into a Quark discussion...

Click to expand...

P.S. The lockout is not a big deal, you can lock it back in one handed, but in truth I am pocket carrying it without locking it out and have not had any accidental turn on issues so far.

all this talk about the SC30 really makes me wish they would bring out the AA version soon.