Well, I finally bought a Zebralight SC51w. It's my first flashlight purchase since I got my high CRI HDS Clicky last summer mostly because I couldn't see how any light could compete with the HDS for EDC rotation. Yeah, I know, talk about unfair comparison (SC51w vs HDS Clicky), but in reality, the SC51w compares pretty well.
Here are my early thoughts in no particular order:
-Fit and finish are perfect. Threads and O-ring came lubed and tailcap is very smooth going on and coming off. No dust on the inside of the lens, no flaws in the AR coating.
-Based on my experience with the H501w (which I love, btw), I was expecting the SC51 to feel light and toy-like in my hand. Instead, it's actually quite heavy for it's size, so I was pleasantly surprised. The light has a good heft to it and feels very solid. There's no battery rattle or wiggle in the switch. Very nice.
-The beam is very nice. Large hot spot with relatively bright spill. The ratio between hotspot and spill is very nice and I like that they blend into each other rather than having the hotspot edges sharply defined. The tint almost exactly matches my neutral Quark, so I imagine it's roughly a 5A. It's less pink than my H501w, but I think that's because my H501w is on the really pink side of the 5A tint.
-Emitter isn't perfectly centered in the reflector, but it doesn't seem to matter as far as the beam is concerned. Hotspot appears perfectly centered and there are no artifacts in the beam at all that I can see.
-Clip is sturdy and has a curve at the end that makes it a comfortable place to put my thumb. Not as comfy if I'm using my thumb on the clicky, but tolerable. The light is about perfectly shaped to hold like a pencil, but I would have preferred knurling instead of the groves on the head. Knurling makes it more comfortable to maneuver than the sharp edges of the grooves since the grooves seem to catch on the edges of my finger nails or calluses.
-I do like how I can file my nails on the tailcap.
-I do not like the ease of accidental activation. I know I can lock out the tailcap, but I don't want to have to. I would prefer if the light had either a more recessed switch or perhaps required a double-click or a click+hold to turn on.
-The much touted UI is pretty nice. I'm a little annoyed that the delay when turning off or recognizing a single click is longer than on my H501w. I keep turning the light on High when I want Low because I'm used to the shorter delay on the H501w.
-The level separation between Low1 and Low2 is nice. Same with Med1 and Med2. I can barely see a difference between High2 and High3. Would be better if High2 was around 50 or 60 lumens so that the 120 lumen High3 would be worth using.
-The .18L of Low2 is noticeably brighter than the .2L moon-mode of my Quark. I wish they were both about half as bright. Still, better than nothing.
-The PWM of Low2 is noticeable if I'm specifically looking for it, but I don't notice it during regular use.
-I like that the strobe is nice signaling strobe and not some nauseating tactical strobe (4Hz vs :sick2
. I'll never use it, but it's kind of fun and well hidden in the UI. I'll certainly never turn it on by accident.
I think that about covers it.
There's no chance that it will replace my High CRI HDS Clicky as my any-time-I'm-wearing-a-belt-light, but it's perfect for around the house, especially at night when I can clip it to my boxers (the HDS Clicky would pull my boxers down if I tried the same thing with it).
If I didn't already have an H501w, the H51Fw probably would have been a more utilitarian purchase than the SC51w, but since I plan to use this as a flashlight and not a task light, the split second it takes to discover and correct the orientation of an angle-headed light really annoys me once the novelty of the light wears off.
So, in conclusion, this is an awesome little light, even when compared against other awesome lights. I especially like the fact that I can just hand it to someone and tell them "hold the switch and let go when it's bright enough for you" as opposed to the lecture about half-presses or double-clicks my other lights require when loaning them to a non-flashaholic. This feature also means that it would likely be an excellent gift for a non-flashaholic if they could be taught to lock out the tailcap when not in use.
Definitely worth the price, even if this is the only light I purchase all year.
Okay, I'm done.
--flatline
Here are my early thoughts in no particular order:
-Fit and finish are perfect. Threads and O-ring came lubed and tailcap is very smooth going on and coming off. No dust on the inside of the lens, no flaws in the AR coating.
-Based on my experience with the H501w (which I love, btw), I was expecting the SC51 to feel light and toy-like in my hand. Instead, it's actually quite heavy for it's size, so I was pleasantly surprised. The light has a good heft to it and feels very solid. There's no battery rattle or wiggle in the switch. Very nice.
-The beam is very nice. Large hot spot with relatively bright spill. The ratio between hotspot and spill is very nice and I like that they blend into each other rather than having the hotspot edges sharply defined. The tint almost exactly matches my neutral Quark, so I imagine it's roughly a 5A. It's less pink than my H501w, but I think that's because my H501w is on the really pink side of the 5A tint.
-Emitter isn't perfectly centered in the reflector, but it doesn't seem to matter as far as the beam is concerned. Hotspot appears perfectly centered and there are no artifacts in the beam at all that I can see.
-Clip is sturdy and has a curve at the end that makes it a comfortable place to put my thumb. Not as comfy if I'm using my thumb on the clicky, but tolerable. The light is about perfectly shaped to hold like a pencil, but I would have preferred knurling instead of the groves on the head. Knurling makes it more comfortable to maneuver than the sharp edges of the grooves since the grooves seem to catch on the edges of my finger nails or calluses.
-I do like how I can file my nails on the tailcap.
-I do not like the ease of accidental activation. I know I can lock out the tailcap, but I don't want to have to. I would prefer if the light had either a more recessed switch or perhaps required a double-click or a click+hold to turn on.
-The much touted UI is pretty nice. I'm a little annoyed that the delay when turning off or recognizing a single click is longer than on my H501w. I keep turning the light on High when I want Low because I'm used to the shorter delay on the H501w.
-The level separation between Low1 and Low2 is nice. Same with Med1 and Med2. I can barely see a difference between High2 and High3. Would be better if High2 was around 50 or 60 lumens so that the 120 lumen High3 would be worth using.
-The .18L of Low2 is noticeably brighter than the .2L moon-mode of my Quark. I wish they were both about half as bright. Still, better than nothing.
-The PWM of Low2 is noticeable if I'm specifically looking for it, but I don't notice it during regular use.
-I like that the strobe is nice signaling strobe and not some nauseating tactical strobe (4Hz vs :sick2
. I'll never use it, but it's kind of fun and well hidden in the UI. I'll certainly never turn it on by accident.I think that about covers it.
There's no chance that it will replace my High CRI HDS Clicky as my any-time-I'm-wearing-a-belt-light, but it's perfect for around the house, especially at night when I can clip it to my boxers (the HDS Clicky would pull my boxers down if I tried the same thing with it).
If I didn't already have an H501w, the H51Fw probably would have been a more utilitarian purchase than the SC51w, but since I plan to use this as a flashlight and not a task light, the split second it takes to discover and correct the orientation of an angle-headed light really annoys me once the novelty of the light wears off.
So, in conclusion, this is an awesome little light, even when compared against other awesome lights. I especially like the fact that I can just hand it to someone and tell them "hold the switch and let go when it's bright enough for you" as opposed to the lecture about half-presses or double-clicks my other lights require when loaning them to a non-flashaholic. This feature also means that it would likely be an excellent gift for a non-flashaholic if they could be taught to lock out the tailcap when not in use.
Definitely worth the price, even if this is the only light I purchase all year.
Okay, I'm done.
--flatline
I have the CW version, the SC51, but I got a SC60w to have a warm tint version and it also is an outstanding light. It really turned me on to warm tints and I think the rest of the lights I can manage to buy will be warm, or at least neutral tints. I always have either the SC51 or 60w with me. Always. Glad you like yours! I developed the habit of locking out my tailcaps, and can do it pretty quickly, and with one hand, before they go in my pocket. Like everyone else that has got themselves a ZL, it would be my only complaint about them. But then it seems like there's really few lights that don't have some minor annoyance about them anyway. 
