Zebralight H600Fd Mk IV: Zapping the Green Tint

The H600Fd Mk IV I received from Zebralight has a noticeable green tint.

It's not clear to me if the tint is an artifact of the LED type that the light uses, or whether the tint is a factor of losing the tint lottery.

In any case, I am a tint snob. Which means I'm conscious of tint when using the light. Typically, I use it for much of the day and night. It is the main source of artificial light here.

I am also a tint slob. I don't let the tint get to me. I imagine the daylight coming out of the lamp is like sunlight filtered through a verdant leaf canopy.

Now, magenta filters out green. A while back I got some filters from Lee and from Rosco. Links in this thread to how to get a swatch book of filters no longer work. Below are updated links.

Flipping through the Lee swatch book, I found:

Bingo!

I cut off a piece of Quarter Minus Green/magenta film, trimmed it to attach to headlamp lens, attached with my favorite method of using parafilm, and voila! tint was mostly subdued. Whites now appeared...well, white.

BF (before filtering): peering into light, green tint was apparent, especially when catching the light from edge of lens

AF: Light appears mostly white.

Lee Swatch Book

Roscoe Swatch Books are no longer available directly from Rosco. This Rosco page will direct you to dealers, or just search on these terms Rosco swatch book

Update
The filter color is a light magenta. That is why it is called a "Quarter Minus." There is also a "Half Minus." Still, it is slight overkill in this scenario. What is really needed is an "Eighth Minus." The "Quarter Minus" filter eliminated the green tint, replacing it with just a hint of magenta tint. An improvement, but still not there.

I used a pin from the sewing kit to remedy the overshooting of the goal. Tiny holes poked in the magenta filter allow a better balance of magenta versus green. To quote Goldilocks, the beam now seems just right.

Right on, I have some LEE Zircon filters coming my way for my SC600w IV Plus.

Is the Parafilm a double-sided tape? Could you send a picture of how the filter sits on the lens?

I bought a big piece of this a while back.

Rosco Roscolux 1/8 Minus Green, 20x24" #279

Absolutely amazing results, but I don't like the janky setup of taping on a piece of plastic or wedging it in there. Wish there was a better way.

Maybe something like this? https://www.staples.ca/en/Scotch-Glue-Stick-5-68g/product_18842_1-CA_1_20001

It's photo safe so I doubt it would harm the lens.

likethevegetable said:

Is the Parafilm a double-sided tape? Could you send a picture of how the filter sits on the lens?

Click to expand...

Parafilm is like a cross between the wax paper and the plastic wrap found in a kitchen. It's used in laboratories to seal things like test tubes and flasks.

It can be stretched and it sticks to itself. The heat from the light may shrink it, but that usually doesn't compromise its ability to hold the filter in place. If I want to remove and replace the filter, I just start with a new piece of parafilm.

Parafilm will not leave a mark on the headlamp and takes little time to apply, so it's good for experimenting. In practice, I leave it on for long periods of time without incident.

Parafilm is translucent, but not clear. Stretching it thin increases transparency. It will soften the beam edges, and increase the beam angle; it diffuses the light. Since it sticks to glass once it's been "activated" by stretching it, it works well for shaping the beam, say by placing a circular ring of parafilm on the outer edge of the lens.

I put the filter on the lens and then took a piece of parafilm a few inches long and placed it over the filter and around the head of the lamp.

Incidentally, another way to attach the filter is to take a piece of parafilm the size of the lens and stick it on the lens. Then stick the filter onto the parafilm. This gives a neat appearance.The downside is that sooner or later -- and it may be much later -- the filter will detach from the film unless you glue it to the film. But if it's done right, this method is more appealing and will allow a filter to be glued on without getting glue on the lens.

Buy parafilm on Amazon. Or PM me your address and I'll mail you some.

Light on

Light off

Picture taken with flash from camera

Don't be thrown off by the clumpy appearance of the parafilm in the pictures. I quickly threw this setup together, and since it worked, I left it on. Next time I remove and replace the filter I'll take a little more time to ensure the parafilm sits evenly on the filter.

markr6 said:

I bought a big piece of this a while back.

Rosco Roscolux 1/8 Minus Green, 20x24" #279

Absolutely amazing results, but I don't like the janky setup of taping on a piece of plastic or wedging it in there. Wish there was a better way.

Click to expand...

It would be nice if Zebralight attached a piece of this kind of filter on the inside of the lens. Or better yet, tinted the lens glass the same way the Rosco plastic filter film is tinted with magenta.

Thanks for the description and offer to ship... looks a little too weird for my liking.. and this is coming from a guy who has made a diffuser from this:

mobi said:

It would be nice if Zebralight attached a piece of this kind of filter on the inside of the lens. Or better yet, tinted the lens glass the same way the Rosco plastic filter film is tinted with magenta.

Click to expand...

Usually these types of filters reduces the output OTF around 15%, and that's not good for marketing purposes, so they wouldn't do it. But if I were the OP, I would just ask for an exchange through Zebralight and ask them to select the tint. I have no patience for filters, unfortunately.

Sometimes what you want in a ZebraLight can't be realized without a filter...

I want the output and beam shape of the Plus with the tint of the HI...

The tint of the HI is really something special, but the narrower hotspot might not be for everyone. I get what you say.

Mr. LED said:

But if I were the OP, I would just ask for an exchange through Zebralight and ask them to select the tint. I have no patience for filters, unfortunately.

Click to expand...

My workhorse Mk III was barely working. Having served me valiantly, I gave it one extreme mission too many. I needed a replacement immediately. I could have bought another Mk III, but wanted all the features of the Mk IV.

Furthermore, a comment on one of the other forums here had me concerned that every LED emitter of the type in the light generally has a green tint.

I was hoping someone else with an H600Fd would chime in on this thread and mention their tint is fine. Because I would like to recommend this light to others without having to add that the only way to fix the green tint is to filter. Like you, most of us would like a light out of the box with minimal or no tint.