Hi Derek,
Sorry if I overlooked it, but could you post a before and after picture?
Thanks
GL
GL, If you look on page 6 of this thread, post #161 has a .gif animation that shows a color chart which I lit with the hot spot of my SC600 with no filter, and also with a variety of Lee filters.
Post #164 shows how the entire beam looks, both with no filter and a variety of Lee Filters. I've ended up using the Light Pink filter.
Psychbeat, I pondered exactly the same question. I had waited for the SC600
w all summer, but after reading MANY posts in other threads about folks who were disappointed with the "neutral" LED they had gotten in other brands of lights I decided to go ahead and get the cool white tint and filter it myself. No regrets.
I think it depends on a number of factors whether I would consider getting a neutral LED or a cool white and filtering it myself. For instance, what kind of track record does the brand have with providing acceptable "neutral tint" lights? ZL has a pretty good track record, Fenix...... well.........
How easy is it to get the bezel open? I prefer to have the filter
inside the front glass cover. It was easy to open the SC600, but the H600 headlamp sounds like it would be a problem.
What kind of light loss is associated with each method? Using the SC600 as an example, there seems to be a 14% loss of light between the SC600 and the SC600
w (750 lumen top end or 645 lumen top end respectively). My Light Pink Lee filter has a transmission rate of about 62%, so about 38% loss, more than double the loss of the neutral LED version..... but..... I knew that going in, and decided that the SC600 was a bright enough light that I could take that kind of a hit, and getting pretty close to exactly the tint I wanted for my EDC was worth it TO ME.
Many of the lighter filters (quarter minus green for example) have between 10% and 15% loss, so I could easily go with one of those and have a tint similar to the neutral LED, but like I said, I don't mind the loss because even now, I almost never use more than the 200 lumen setting as my high, and having a tint I REALLY like is high on my list of priorities.
In any case, if I was going to get an H600 headlamp, knowing that ZL has a good track record of acceptable neutral tints, and knowing that it would be hard to open the front cover, I'd probably opt to buy the H600w neutral tint version of that light.
If I was going to buy another SC600, I'd probably get the cool white version again and just filter it. That way I start with the brightest version, and then get to pick my own tint, and for a tint geek like me, that's the only way to go
.
If I was going to buy a Fenix light, I'd probably opt for the cool white version and simply place the filter on the outside of the front glass cover, which is exactly what I did with my LD01, because I've read to many bad reports about the Fenix neutral LEDs.