Hello eh4
Appreciate you bringing the F version of the H51 to our attention, but could you speak to what reppans says in post #8? If one is doing the kind of work the Op mentions, (or in my case carb rebuilds, saw sharpening, soldering) in pretty dark conditions, inside or outside would one use a lot more battery for the same degree of visibility using the H51f vs H51? You know, with the H51 putting more light where you need it. (I imagine you would give a definate yes if comparing to the H502 with it's 120 degree spread).
Regardless of your answer, is it your opinion that such work is significantly more comfortable with the H51f and thus you personally consider it worth the extra battery drain? Maybe that hotspot on H51 is pretty small at close quarters and thus pretty annoying but I have no idea. Lot of money to blow on a wrong decision. Been using the Photon headlamp with eneloops. Thanks.
Hello larcal, as for reppans comment about flood lighting; with the Zebra Lights type "F", "Fw", or Fc" you get smooth light from your peripheral to your center of vision (majority of the light is inside 90 degree cone) but you Also get a smooth transition to a Considerably Brighter central zone wherever you point the light. Imagine holding a basketball at arms length, this is about how the reflectored light's otherwise focused hot spot is diffused by the frosted lens. Some will say to get the regular model and put some diffuser tape over the lens, and that might be a good option if you are unsure, but the frosted lens is very well designed.
To me it is adequate for most tasks within 30 feet while being perfect up close and at arm's length as well as for navigating in crawl spaces, basements etc. You get a good sense of where everything is in the space.
I think it is about a perfect compromise.
All of ZL's lights using the 4000 kelvin, higher color rendering led have a "c" at the end of their name, they aren't as " bright" but that is because they aren't blasting out as much of the blue light that our eyes are super sensitive to, in trade you get more balanced light with the red end of the spectrum better represented as well as the blue and the colors in between -I can see better with this kind of light, especially small details and I can use less light, less glare, better contrast, less eyestrain, especially with little shiny metal parts, distinguishing differences in colors of metals, seeing wear, oxidation, etc.
The H1 setting is in my opinion just a stunt to show the max that the light will put out, mostly what it does is heat the light up, consume an AA in less then an hour and help sell the light.
With the AA powered floody 4000k higher color rendering lights such as H51fc the next setting down (H2) gives 3 hours and is nearly as bright visually, I find it perfect for nitpicking tiny details, and at three hours of run time I don't have to fuss with batteries very often. That setting and the 10 hour M1 setting are pretty useful work settings, I forget there is a light on my head just focus on seeing what I'm doing.
If you really need more light, enough to be put off of the "c" lights slightly lower maximum outputs then you might consider investing in the H600Fw and going with rechargeable 18650 batteries instead, that would give you 7 hours of light at about the brightest comparable AA powered light settings instead of less than an hour.
With all that said, if you are in a bright workspace peering into dark areas your eyes won't get to adjust and I doubt that you'd be very satisfied with any of the AA powered varieties.
Say you're trying to locate and jiggle a stuck piece of metal down in a dark hole on a sunny day for a couple minutes -then just get a bright reflectored light with a bright hot spot, but if you're building a clock or other delicate work in the dark for long periods of time then an "F", "Fw", or "Fc" is going to pay off...
Didn't mean to write a book, hope that is helpful.
