SC600 MKIV Plus vs HI

[Tachead]

Yeah, I know... I really want to pre-order one, but I just can't decide which will be better for my use... maybe a few will ship out early!

Well, are most of your uses up close of further away? Because people have complained that the HI has too tight of a hotspot for up close tasks.

Personally, I find a floodier beam with a wider/less defined hotspot is much better for most general EDC tasks but, this is subjective of course.

 

[terjee]

For me, being sensitive to tint means I'd weigh getting a 2 or 3 deviation above a 5 ones, as pretty significant.

Two quick thoughts here:

Even if others are good, this is a lottery. I'm not sure how much of an indication others experience really is, and what's a good tint is too subjective. Even if they're happy, that doesn't guarantee you'd be happy with the same tint.

Think about manufacturing and tint binning. They probably don't set out "today we'll make some crappy tints".

My concern is that if they can move all the inventory they can make, then they'd look at each tint, and prefer dumping a LED into a 2/3-step if possible. If everything sells, that could cause a situation where all 5-step are outside the 2/3-ellipse. Otherwise they'd dump it in the better bin.

I'm *not* saying that's how it is, just that it's a concern I'd have. If they make far more that would qualify as 2/3 than they can move, this might be a non-issue.

 

[holygeez03]

I think it will come down to whether or not the Plus has at least a noticeable improvement in throw over the SC62w and as long as the step-down isn't too quick... I will probably go with the Plus... but I certainly don't want to go backwards or even laterally in terms of throw compared to my SC62w.

And as long as the Plus has good tint reports and no donut-hole...

 

[Tachead]

I think it will come down to whether or not the Plus has at least a noticeable improvement in throw over the SC62w and as long as the step-down isn't too quick... I will probably go with the Plus... but I certainly don't want to go backwards or even laterally in terms of throw compared to my SC62w.

And as long as the Plus has good tint reports and no donut-hole...

I highly doubt the Plus will throw less then your SC62w. Even though it has a larger emitter, it is in a considerably larger reflector and has almost 2.5X the output(2300 vs 930 lumens). It also has quite a bit more thermal mass and a higher efficiency emitter and driver so, at the same output it should run longer before stepping down.

 

[holygeez03]

That's what I'm hoping... and would finally tempt me to get a SC600 to add to my ZL collection.

I realize it has a lot more mass and higher efficiency, but with that much juice being pulled on H1, I would think the quick step-down could be an issue?

 

[Tachead]

May I ask why you don't just get both the HI and Plus? You could always sell your 62w to help cover the costs. And, if you absolutely hate one of the two you could return it for a refund or exchange at just the loss of a small amount of postage.

 

[Tachead]

That's what I'm hoping... and would finally tempt me to get a SC600 to add to my ZL collection.

I realize it has a lot more mass and higher efficiency, but with that much juice being pulled on H1, I would think the quick step-down could be an issue?

Yes, it will likely step down rather quickly on its highest mode just like most ZL's. I would guess less then 60 seconds.

 

[holygeez03]

I will be keeping my SC62w... it's one of my favorite lights... but it would be better served elsewhere due to its compact size... I have been looking into a SC600 for a long, long time for general backyard duty... but they never provided enough advantage over my SC62w to justify the cost... I'm hoping one of the MK IV's will change that.

I will likely try the Plus... and if for some reason it doesn't impress, or has tint, donut-hole, or step-down issues... I will return it and consider trying the HI... or just keep waiting.

 

[Tachead]

I will be keeping my SC62w... it's one of my favorite lights... but it would be better served elsewhere due to its compact size... I have been looking into a SC600 for a long, long time for general backyard duty... but they never provided enough advantage over my SC62w to justify the cost... I'm hoping one of the MK IV's will change that.

I will likely try the Plus... and if for some reason it doesn't impress, or has tint, donut-hole, or step-down issues... I will return it and consider trying the HI... or just keep waiting.

Sounds like a good plan👍

 

[holygeez03]

I will probably pre-order a Plus this week or next...

 

[holygeez03]

I'm re-activating this thread to see if anyone has more comparisons now that the lights are in the wild...

Preferably an outdoor beamshot comparison (using the same camera settings).

 

[holygeez03]

One more bump to see if we can get some good comparisons... or are users with both lights in-hand still scarce?

 

[brightnorm]

I have a SC600 Mk IV 18650 XHP35 Cool White which has a single die. Why can't that be "de-domed" for a tighter and apparently brighter beam than the neutral white (unless one prefers neutral white)?

Brightnorm
[h=1][/h]

 

[Fireclaw18]

I have a SC600 Mk IV 18650 XHP35 Cool White which has a single die. Why can't that be "de-domed" for a tighter and apparently brighter beam than the neutral white (unless one prefers neutral white)?

Brightnorm

XHP35 is a quad-die emitter, just like the XHP50.
You could try dedoming it. Sometimes dedoming produces very slightly higher throw than buying the "HI" version of an emitter. However, there are a couple problems with this:

(1) Dedomed CREE emitters almost universally have a horrible greenish tint. The HI emitters have virtually the same throw with enormously superior tint.
(2) Zebralights are incredibly hard to mod. The emitter and driver are on the same board. You can't simply desolder a couple wires, pull out the star and do the dedome. Good luck trying to dedome the emitter.

 

[recDNA]

I would really like to try the Hi version because my sc64 is too floody but I have read many people returned theirs or didn't like it.

Of course none are in stock

 

[brightnorm]

I have a MK IV HI on order from Zebralight, but it's a neutral tint. In fact, it appears that for some reason all the latest "Hi" Zebralights are neutral tint. Despite the neutral's superior CRI, I prefer cool white, which appears brighter which is important for my degraded eyesight. Also, under a 5x magnifying glass the XHP35 appears to have a single dome, but I may not have been able to see correctly.

Thanks for that detailed explanation.

Brightnorm

 

[Fireclaw18]

I have a MK IV HI on order from Zebralight, but it's a neutral tint. In fact, it appears that for some reason all the latest "Hi" Zebralights are neutral tint. Despite the neutral's superior CRI, I prefer cool white, which appears brighter which is important for my degraded eyesight. Also, under a 5x magnifying glass the XHP35 appears to have a single dome, but I may not have been able to see correctly.

Thanks for that detailed explanation.

Brightnorm

XHP has 4 dies very close together. You can see the "plus" shape showing the lines between the dies going through the center of the emitter on the pictures on pages 35 and 36 of CREE's datasheet on the XHP35.

 

[recDNA]

I have a MK IV HI on order from Zebralight, but it's a neutral tint. In fact, it appears that for some reason all the latest "Hi" Zebralights are neutral tint. Despite the neutral's superior CRI, I prefer cool white, which appears brighter which is important for my degraded eyesight. Also, under a 5x magnifying glass the XHP35 appears to have a single dome, but I may not have been able to see correctly.

Thanks for that detailed explanation.

Brightnorm

I'm waiting until the Hi is in stock to order it. I just hope I can tolerate its wider body and head in my pocket. I am used to carrying the 62 and now the 64.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I'm waiting until the Hi is in stock to order it. I just hope I can tolerate its wider body and head in my pocket. I am used to carrying the 62 and now the 64.

I find it's great for a coat pocket; not so much for pants pocket. It does carry well if you clip it to the outside of your pocket, though. Or perhaps clipped to the inside if your pockets are loose.

That said, the design of the clip, the way it sits against the body knurling, isn't so great. They have much better designs in other models, where the clip rested on a smooth part. No idea why they didn't do that with the SC600w MkIV HI.

 

[markr6]

I really like the HI. But I think too many people are overlooking the standard SC600 IV. The Plus seems too specific given the stepdown and floodiness, unless you absolutely have to have that. But he beam pattern of the SC600 IV is a nice in-between, just a good basic flashlight in general. I still contemplate it from time to time, but with an SC64w and SC600 HI, I just don't need it.