NEW Zebralight H603d, H603c, H603w shoot out

[Stefano]

My Zebra arrived.
I have tried in home in a dark room, I was afraid of nasty surprises from H603w however (at least for the moment) everything looks good, I do not see any artifact or refractive problem.
The tint is cold but I was prepared for this, also my old H602w is cold, disappointment however of H600Fc, the tint is beautiful but I would expect warmer.
My Wizard V3 is warm, the H600fc seems a delicate pink, it is not ugly but I would expect more warmer.
Comparing H603w with H600Fc the H603w seems cool withe
I need the night to give other impressions.
If I have the opportunity tonight I try to realize photos, videos and make comparison H603w vs H602w

This photo shows the beam width difference between the H603w and H600 Fc

 

[markr6]

That anodizing is the darkest I've seen yet. Pretty much black! Or is it possibly just your camera or lighting?

 

[Stefano]

Hi Markr6
It is really so.
The picture reproduces the truth.
Very different from Fc H600 I purchased with it, and also by fw H600 I bought last month
I do not know if MKIII are all so but maybe this dark color distinguishes the series 3?

 

[Stefano]

I spent about three hours with the new models.
I have brought with me into the woods H602w (XM-L2) - H603w (XHP35) - H600Fw (XM-L2) - H600Fc (Easy Withe led) and Armytek Wizard V3 (XP-L) was an interesting evening
I'm really pleased.
About H603: it is not "snake oil" as someone had written.
I have to admit even I was a little skeptical, the new led "only" 100 lumens of difference.
After trying I must say that the new H603 is much brighter, maybe not justify an upgrade, but it is a visible improvement.
The throw is slightly higher, I estimated three or four meters higher.
I made a lot of photos and video, but it will take about 24-48 hours to make visible
Edit:
I put my experiences on H600Fc and H603w here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...6-Zebralight-H602w-vs-H603w-H600Fw-vs-H600-Fc

 

[lampeDépêche]

I ordered a 603d on Tuesday afternoon; got it today (Friday) in Upstate New York, near the Canadian border. Pretty good delivery time, though I did pay the extra $3.99 for priority shipping.

I am a huge ZL fan--I love my H600w MkII, and hardly ever leave the house without my H52w in my pocket. Love the levels, the form factor, the efficiency. (Some time I'll tell you about the AAA testing I did in my H52w--it beat every other AAA light all silly. Much better run times and outputs on an AAA than any of the purpose-built AAA lights).

Anyhow--the new one is excellent, too. The emitter artefact is not a big deal to me. If I look for it, I can see it. But if I am looking *for* something else, or looking *at* something else, then I don't see it.

Still, it is a puzzle to me. Here's how I think about it; correct me if I am wrong.

If there is an image of the emitter being projected onto the wall in front of me, then there must be a *lens* or a *reflector* that is projecting that image. There is clearly no reflector, so there must be a lens. But the front glass is simply a piece of plate glass. So it must be the lens on the emitter itself, i.e. the plastic dome that is part of the XML-2 EasyWhite emitter.

But in that case, the fault is not Zebralights, but rather Cree's. How did they design a dome so ineptly that it focuses an image of the die? No other dome that I know of has that property. The fact that it is a quad-die doesn't explain it: it's not as though my Nichia 219b mule projects an image of the single die onto the wall. No; the dome is suppose to spread the light perfectly evenly throughout the entire hemisphere. And most domes do this, without projecting an image.

So I am puzzled--is there anything that ZL could have done, other than using a ground-glass diffuser lens, to avoid this artefact?

But curiosity aside, I don't think it is going to be an issue. When I am in the crawlspace underneath my house, putting up new insulation, I will be very happy to have this light, and I will not notice the artefact at all.

 

[Andrey]

If there is an image of the emitter being projected onto the wall in front of me, then there must be a *lens* or a *reflector* that is projecting that image.

A shiny edge of a bezel ring is that reflector. Paint it with a dark marker (or stick a removable tape if you like to experiment) and the artefact disappears.

 

[lampeDépêche]

A shiny edge of a bezel ring is that reflector. Paint it with a dark marker (or stick a removable tape if you like to experiment) and the artefact disappears.

Well, I'll be darned. I owe the nice folks at Cree an apology. And I have a few words for the folks at ZL.

I didn't believe you, Andrey, so I tried it with some black tape. It's librarian's book-mending tape: not only black, but also totally matte on the surface, not even the residual shine that duct tape or electrician's tape has.

I put a crude ring of librarian's tape around the bezel and the artefact was largely gone. Then, while keeping the light trained on the ceiling, I pulled the tape off. Boom, artefact back.

So now I have just covered over the bezel with some black Sharpie, because it's quick and easy. It reduces the artefact a lot, but not entirely, because the black Sharpie ink on the stainless steel is still somewhat reflective, not totally matte. What I need is some sort of quality black matte paint, plus a tiny paintbrush. And maybe I could buy all that, but then I'd need a steadier hand than I have in order to paint it on the bezel without getting it on the lens.

Hey Zebralight? You really should do something about this. This light is 95% of the way to greatness. And there must be a way to get a bezel in there that does not lead to this side-effect--like use a black anodized ring instead of a stainless ring?

You guys really work hard for excellence in your circuit-design. You are always striving to get your lights to be a millimeter shorter. I know you care about excellence. So why leave this light 5% short of excellence?

Thanks, Zebralight, in advance, for providing a permanent solution to this problem.

And thanks, Andrey, for answering my question and pointing me to a quick fix.

 

[Collins]

Try cleaning the tail contact area and the spring plate inside the cap.



This is easy to resolve by painting the shiny bezel with a black marker.

Does the 602 have a shiny bezel?

 

[Collins]

My Zebra arrived.
I have tried in home in a dark room, I was afraid of nasty surprises from H603w however (at least for the moment) everything looks good, I do not see any artifact or refractive problem.
The tint is cold but I was prepared for this, also my old H602w is cold, disappointment however of H600Fc, the tint is beautiful but I would expect warmer.
My Wizard V3 is warm, the H600fc seems a delicate pink, it is not ugly but I would expect more warmer.
Comparing H603w with H600Fc the H603w seems cool withe
I need the night to give other impressions.
If I have the opportunity tonight I try to realize photos, videos and make comparison H603w vs H602w

This photo shows the beam width difference between the H603w and H600 Fc

The 603W has the XHP35 LED. Which I've read some say doesn't have that quad shadow look on the wall like with the 603C XM-L2 Hi Cri LED.

I'm deciding between the H602W and the H603W.

 

[Robert Marley]

After owning h602w and h502w I had high expectations for the mark 3 zebralight. I just got a h600fw mk3 in the mail and am real disappointed.

Randomly flashes on h1, gets stupid hot in about 2 mins. Also light fades to very, very dim level..

I use my h602w and h502w on h1 with no issues at all.. Sure after some time they will begin to slowly drop lumens because of the heat, but it is hardly noticeable..

How long does your zebralight mk3 maintain level h1 before pid kicks in and start to lose brightness?
If it can only maintain h1 for 2 minutes what is the point?

All zebralight could do is rudely blame me for using wrong battery. They reckon you have to use only about 4 brands of battery in the new model.. Problem is I am already using 3500mah panasonics and that is one of the brands that they recommend..

I know I'm not the only person in the world having these problems with brand new mk3 zebralight. Just see page 3 of this thread.

Would have been nice of them to say that a couple of faulty lights had made it past quality control.
Instead of blaming me, their customer, for using wrong battery when I'm not.

Not feeling confident enough to go for a swap in case all the new mk3's are like mine. Zebralight think its a battery issue only.
Please chime in if your mark 3 can maintain h1 like a mark2.

After paying $20 Australian to have it ems shipped direct from zebralight China, I now have to send it back registered mail to China .. I'm guessing I'll be at least $40-$50 negative all for nothing. Thanks zebralight.

 

[StandardBattery]

After owning h602w and h502w I had high expectations for the mark 3 zebralight. I just got a h600fw mk3 in the mail and am real disappointed.
....

Hmmm, I better test mine some more. I was quite happy with mine. I don't often use H1, and only for short times when I do, in my EDC lights, but I have often in my headlamps used it quite long in the dark trying to work on an engine which is so dark it sucks all the light. The H600 series was finally enough light for some of those jobs. I recently got the H600fw mk3 XHP35 and have found it is stellar as a task light, even with the F flood lens it seemed bright enough. I also got a H603c for an indoor task light, I missed that wide beam like I got on my very first zebralight. I'll check the heat situation, it was a bit cool out when I did my initial testing.

I hope you shipping costs are less, seems like they need a better system if it costs you that much, I thought they offered 30day returns free of charge, but if shipping is complicated that ruins it. Maybe just regular registered postal mail would be good enough.

 

[Collins]

Hmmm, I better test mine some more. I was quite happy with mine. I don't often use H1, and only for short times when I do, in my EDC lights, but I have often in my headlamps used it quite long in the dark trying to work on an engine which is so dark it sucks all the light. The H600 series was finally enough light for some of those jobs. I recently got the H600fw mk3 XHP35 and have found it is stellar as a task light, even with the F flood lens it seemed bright enough. I also got a H603c for an indoor task light, I missed that wide beam like I got on my very first zebralight. I'll check the heat situation, it was a bit cool out when I did my initial testing.

I hope you shipping costs are less, seems like they need a better system if it costs you that much, I thought they offered 30day returns free of charge, but if shipping is complicated that ruins it. Maybe just regular registered postal mail would be good enough.

Which do you like better for upclose tasks, the floody or flood? I was planning on getting one for doing computer repair, working on engine, working under car, etc.

And I thought floody and flood had the same wide beam?

On flood I figured there might be a darker center when say looking around a room. Just going by pictures of others posted. And figured a floody with a brighter center wouldn't have that dark center effect when looking around.

 

[Collins]

Finally got mine. Was never really happy with the cloudy/shadowy beam of the 600Fc MkIII and loved the spotless 502, so went for this. Lovely tint.

Now, were's my sharpie?

(Quite surprised ZL would put this out with this artefact. Perhaps I've been spoilt by the 502...)

What do you mean by "clowdy/shadowy"?

I was looking at going with MkIII Floody vs. the MkIII Pure Flood. As I'd think you'd probably be able to get same brightness at lower level with the Floody. And I've read of the Pure Flood when looking around can have a dark center or "donut" with the sides being brighter than what you are looking at in the middle. Especially if you are looking around a room and so the walls to your side may be brighter than what you are looking at across the room.

 

[mico]

What do you mean by "clowdy/shadowy"?

I was looking at going with MkIII Floody vs. the MkIII Pure Flood. As I'd think you'd probably be able to get same brightness at lower level with the Floody. And I've read of the Pure Flood when looking around can have a dark center or "donut" with the sides being brighter than what you are looking at in the middle. Especially if you are looking around a room and so the walls to your side may be brighter than what you are looking at across the room.

The spill... the 'edge' of the diffuse hot spot, isn't particularly clean/even/symmetric. I don't notice outside, but inside my eyes are distracted, when I move the beam around, by unexpected less bright areas...

If a beam has a spot and a perfect spill then pointing it at a wall and jiggling it around should see a spot jiggling around in the middle of what otherwise looks a fairly similar spill. Right? My Fc isn't like this. I'm not convinced I'm not being fooled though. Fooled by the light. *

I think you have to consider your use case as the beams are very different. (Note the floody beam has a soft edge which simply fades out, it's very nice, unlike the mules, or a regular beam, that have an obvious edge, I like this too. Using a floody at lower power for close up means the fade out will get very close to your job.)

And I don't look in the middle of the 603 beam, I look around, anywhere I want - it all looks the same. (Whilst your comment about walls is obvious, it really isn't descriptive of this beam.)

The 603c is my favourite by far. The Fc is slightly warmer, perhaps my favourite tint, has throw too.

If you are not sure get the Floody.
If you know your use case, then you'll know better.

* It occurs to me that I should point out that none of these observations involve having the lamp strapped to my head, but hand held or clipped to my belt.

 

[myflashguy]

Ordered H603 today. After reading some bad reviews about H603c,d,w i hope my regular won't hv problem. I'm still hoping

 

[OnlyownEnergizer250lumen]

How was your light, myflashguy? I also just ordered a Zebralight H603w, wondering what to expect in a few days!

 

[tetradog]

I hear this quite often and it always surprises me. I've returned several lights in the past. They always responded with an RMA number within 1 day and I ship it out. I get a refund within a couple days after they receive it.

Same. The messaging interface is a tad clunky, but good service has been consistent.