NEW FEATURES OF THE NEW ZEBRALIGHT H51

theshoelacebandit

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I just received my new version h51 (all levels current regulated). The first thing I noticed as soon as I turned it on was that there is a much more dramatic difference between h1 and h2. I have read of some complaining about there being little to no difference between the two in older versions. It appears that this has been addressed in the newest one. With the older one it was hard to determine which level you were in. Now there is an obvious difference. I use the same eneloop battery in both lights to make sure it wasn't just a battery thing.Second the the new h51 appears to have a low battery indicator similar to the h502. Different in that it flashes about every 10 seconds instead of 80 seconds after you turn the light off. I measured the voltage with my meter and it looks like when the voltage is below 1.03v the indicator is activated. It flashes on its lowest setting until in my case the battery recovered to above 1.03v. I suppose this may not be a new feature but looked and could not find any mention of it. The older h51 I used to test the high settings was not mine. I gave it back so I wasnt able to test this on his.
 

theshoelacebandit

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Do you think they updated the driver to make H1 brighter?
I actually was wondering the same thing. I didn't think to test it when I had both lights. I should be able to get the light back today or tomorrow. I'll do some tests and get back to you with the answer.
 

carbonita

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Thanks for taking the time to share out the h51 current regulated version info -- the low battery indicator is useful. I'm looking for a trail running headlamp, and am converging to the h51 or h502.

I actually was wondering the same thing. I didn't think to test it when I had both lights. I should be able to get the light back today or tomorrow. I'll do some tests and get back to you with the answer.
 

theshoelacebandit

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Thanks for taking the time to share out the h51 current regulated version info -- the low battery indicator is useful. I'm looking for a trail running headlamp, and am converging to the h51 or h502.
I to struggled between the H51 and the H502. They both are very good lights and one day I will probably have both. I've been waiting for Going Gear to do one of there outstanding reviews for the H502 on YouTube. Hopefully a comparison between H51 and the H502. I decided to get the H51 first because its a good all around use light with the spill spot. The H502 would be better for close to medium distances because of the flood. I wanted something with more throw. There are people here who use the H502 for running and are happy with it. I use the H51 for longboarding and it gives me good light 50+ yards down the trail. I also edc the H51 which is another reason for wanting something that has some throw. What I really wanted was the H51 with a cree xml. Zebealight told me there are no plans for that in the near future. If and when they release the H52, if thats what they will call it, I'll give the H51 to my wife and get the other for myself. :D :nana:
 

carbonita

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I was presuming current regulated vs PWM. From the zebralight googleDocs, the former is now current on sc51w as well, but oddly not the sc51
 

carbonita

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Update: SC51 now ( 20:50pacific 23jul3012 ) marked as current regulated. The symmetry is lovely. ;)
 

markr6

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Is this true? The consensus seemed to be that it didn't have enough throw for running.

I can't believe anyone would be using this for running. Maybe on some familiar, smooth pavement but the throw just isn't there. I was in my backyard testing my new H502 last night and came to the conclusion I would have to keep it in high mode to get enough throw for running/hiking. Not practical with <1hr before killing the battery. AWESOME light for other close-up tasks though with a silky smooth flood.
 

theshoelacebandit

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Do you think they updated the driver to make H1 brighter?
I finely found some time to compare the Order one with.the newest one. I tested both lights side by side with fresh eneloop batteries. Then switched the batteries between the two and tested again. The new one appeares to a little bit brighter on h1 but not a lot. In fact it could just be the two different batches of led's. I don't have a meter to measure the brightness of the lights. The color of the two were slightly different as well making it even harder to tell which was brighter with the naked eye. They are both the cool white models. I'm not sure of the age of the led would affect color and brightness. So long story short, yes h1 appeared brighter on the newer one but there are a few reasons why that could be.
 

theshoelacebandit

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I'm not sure what happened with my last two posts. I can't edit them with my phone so I'll fix them when I get to a computer. :rant:
 
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theshoelacebandit

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I didnt intend to mislead anyone. If I did, I apologise. Being that you have the light I would say you should know better than I do. My statement was based on reviews that I had read when I was trying to decide between the two lights. People were debating if it had enough throw. One post stated that it gave 20 meters of good light. Others said that it wasn't bright enough. I agree that it in order to have enough light it would probably burn through the battery quite fast. I guess it would depend on how far you were going to run and how long you would need the light. I personally like the spill spot better. I feel its more versatile.
 

theshoelacebandit

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Every time I try to reply with a quote to markr6 it keeps posting only part of his quote and none if what I typed. My apologies to all who have to sift through those garbage posts.
 

theshoelacebandit

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I'd like to see these upgraded w the new XP-G2 ;) !!!!In neutral and/or hiCRI of course
Sweet. This was the first I herd of the XP-G2. Looks great and would be a great upgrade to the H51. It gives me something to look forward to. I wonder if there is a way to mod current H51 with the XP-G2 when it becomes available.
 

Beacon of Light

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What exactly is XP-G2? Never heard of it. Hope they redo the H51 and H31 with it if it is an improvement and also update the UI to be like the H502.

Shoelacebandit: Did you try to test the battery indicator test in the H51 v2.0 by clicking quickly from off 4 times and see how many times it flashes (1 flash is low and 4 flashes is fully charged). Seems like if they added the low battery indicator, they might as well have added the battery tester.
 
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