My SC600w Mk IV Plus showed up last night. I am mostly comparing to my previous EDC the Zebralight SC600 Mk II (not L, just II).
My Mk II brightest was 900Lm, the Plus does 2300Lm. The Plus is very noticeably brighter. That works out to 2.56 times brighter. The 900 used to wow people so this will super wow them I am sure.
The Plus gets very hot. Even putting your hand in front of the beam for bit will make the hand get very hot. I have to pull my hand back after a bit. And I used a IR thermometer and saw 122F-125F top temps while hand holding in room temps. This felt way to hot to hand hold. See this chart -
http://www.todayifoundout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/third-degree-burns.png So I turn it on at H1, then held it on, let it loop through modes six times and released on Low, five times. Even doing this to reduce the PID it still feels too hot. I wonder if I messed up somehow?
My Mk II used to get hot, but not this hot and not as fast. Obviously the Plus is pulling more power. But also the plus has less mass in the head area. When empty the Plus is much lighter, especially in the head area, than the Mk II. The Mk II has more mass to dump heat into. The Plus has heat fins cut into the head. But without a fan blowing over the fins, I feel the fins are almost useless. In fact when I hand carry, 1/3 of the fins are covered up. This will trap air which will insulate. At the very least the fin gaps don't let my hand carry away heat as well. Maybe they slow down my hand heating up the light, but I would have preferred a beefier head without fins like the Mk II had. Also with battery and the way I carry, the weight difference is not noticeable.
The tint shift is barely noticeable on the plus. I doubt a non-flashaholic would even seen it if you asked them about it. The tint shift is much better than the Mk II. I am very happy with the tint, and the tiny amount of tint shift (almost none). It is a non-issue.
Some more quick comparisons with the Mk II. The plus has much darker grey, almost black, anodizing. The clip is darker now as well. It is nice that the PID temp can now be programmed a bit. The Plus now has G6 and G7 modes so now any light level can be in any position. And now it is much easier to get into strobe/flash/beacon modes. It is worth noting that the lowest low on the Plus (0.2) is much brighter than lowest low on the Mk II (0.02).
The Plus throws farther than the MK II, but that is kind of expected with 2300 lumens versus the older 900 lumens. But for all that power it doesn't throw much farther. This is because the LED is bigger on the Plus and the Plus has a rougher orange peel. So the hot spot is much larger, but also has a smoother transition. With that said, the Plus can light things up well at 100 yards or 100 meters. If you need more than that, or you really want to wow with a pin point beam, then try maybe the HI model or another company.
I need to carry this for a week or so to add more thoughts. So far I am happy, except for the heat. But I would rather have heat then a lower max brightness. Just wish the head was beefier like the old heads.