Zebralight SC600Fd III Plus - XHP50

[fnsooner]

Anyone interested?

Not interested. Mostly because it is a 600 variant. When they start trickin' out the SC63 though, I hope they make different decisions like using a clear lens and getting that color temp down. That said, an SC63 with 95 CRI and a 5000K color temp with a clear lens would be hard to ignore.

I think I will be setting on the sidelines for most of 2016. Maybe I have reached my saturation point.

 

[Tachead]

I love the high CRI and temp although a 4000-4500K option would be nice too but, I dont get the frosted lens? Why would anyone want a frosted lens on such a large light? I can see using a frosted on a headlamp or a smaller light like the SC5F but, it seams weird on a 18650 light. For me, floody beam profiles are great for working at low to medium range but, for that not that many lumens are needed really and a much smaller and lighter light like the SC32 or SC5 could do it. I think an orange peel reflector and normal lens would have made this light more desirable. Now, if they put this emitter in the H600Fd/c MKIII it would be even better then it already is with the even higher CRI. Mind you, it is pretty great already.

I would like to see a H600Fc MKIII with a 4000-4500K 95CRI version of this emitter. I would buy that for sure. It would be a perfect complement to my new H600Fd MKIII.

 

[KeepingItLight]

I love the high CRI and temp although a 4000-4500K option would be nice too but, I dont get the frosted lens? ... Now, if they put this emitter in the H600Fd/c MKIII it would be even better then it already is with the even higher CRI. Mind you, it is pretty great already.

I could not agree more about putting this high-CRI emitter in a headlamp! Be it flashlight or headlamp, however, 90+ CRI models like this one are bound to be my favorite ZebraLights yet!

As others have pointed out, the XHP50 and XHP70 have been known to produce a dark cross in their beams at close ranges. The primary reason for using a frosted lens is probably to eliminate this. Another reason for using a frosted lens is to reduce any tint shifts present in the corona and spill. I do not know about the XHP50, but the XM-L2 and XP-L frequently exhibit green coronas and purple spills. A frosted lens should help to blend those out.

Among others, flashlight reviewer selfbuilt has often stated his preference for a diffuser on the lights he uses outside. Compared to a frosted lens, of course, the big advantage of a diffuser is that you can take it off when you need more throw. Here are the remarks selfbuilt made in his review of the Eagletac G25C2-II.

I personally use diffused lights a lot, especially for walking the dog at night. With a traditional beam, I tend to find myself distracted and tracking the hotspot (i.e., the "follow-the-bouncing-ball" effect). With a good diffuser, I can pay proper attention to what my dog is doing, and what is in the local environment. But when you hear a sudden sound off in the distance, a screwed-on style diffuser cover is a handicap to seeing what is going on. So while I may like a good diffuser, I also like having the option of decent throw at a flick of the finger – as this diffuser cover allows. :twothumbs

[Emphasis added]

For the way I usually use a flashlight, I, too, tend to prefer the wider hot spot and brighter spill given by a diffuser or frosted lens.

 

[TCY]

Yesterday I watched the Armytek 2016 shotshow video by goinggear and thought I need one of those 1600 ANSI lumen pocket thrower just for fun. Now that I see this.. maybe next time Armytek. ZL please come and take my money!

 

[KeepingItLight]

I was impressed by the Armytek light myself. One of the flashlights shown in the video uses the Cree XHP35 emitter. Armytek, therefore, must have developed its own 12-volt driver.

For me, however, neutral tint and high-CRI trumps everything else. If I can get 900-1000 lumens with 90+ CRI, I don't need anything more out of a compact flooder like this.

 

[TCY]

I was impressed by the Armytek light myself. One of the flashlights shown in the video uses the Cree XHP35 emitter. Armytek, therefore, must have developed its own 12-volt driver.

For me, however, neutral tint and high-CRI trumps everything else. If I can get 900-1000 lumens with 90+ CRI, I don't need anything more out of a compact flooder like this.

Same here. NW and 93 minimum CRI is just way too hard for me to resist. ZL is trying to set the new milestone here.

 

[Tachead]

I was impressed by the Armytek light myself. One of the flashlights shown in the video uses the Cree XHP35 emitter. Armytek, therefore, must have developed its own 12-volt driver.

For me, however, neutral tint and high-CRI trumps everything else. If I can get 900-1000 lumens with 90+ CRI, I don't need anything more out of a compact flooder like this.

+1

 

[TCY]

For those of you who are waiting for a SC63 housed variant with clear lens, I have some bad news.

I just bugged ZL customer service, and their reply is that the electronic components is currently too big for the SC63 body to house. They will try to shrink the driver so they fit into the SC63 later this year or next year but this is not a guaranteed success.

As for the clear lens, ZL says that clear lens don't work well with XHP50s. I wonder if they can figure something out to make clear lens work as well like what Nitecore did with the EC4S?

 

[TCY]

Some further intel. Yes I bugged them twice today.

ZL will only see if they can make the SC63 version work if the SC600Fd III Plus is "released successfully". Good sales record?

Regarding brightness & beam distance, I asked them that are we expecting ~10M-20M maximum throw for the SC600Fd III Plus just like ZL's frosted lens headlight line, and the answer is that the SC600Fd III Plus is much brighter even with frosted lens equipped. Based on this I'm assuming that they will set the turbo to some 2000 lumens and we will see a wall of light. A wall of neutral white and 93+CRI light.

Just shut up and take my money.

 

[richardcpf]

Does plus stands for the + we will see on the beam? :nana:

 

[fnsooner]

For those of you who are waiting for a SC63 housed variant with clear lens, I have some bad news.

I just bugged ZL customer service, and their reply is that the electronic components is currently too big for the SC63 body to house. They will try to shrink the driver so they fit into the SC63 later this year or next year but this is not a guaranteed success.

As for the clear lens, ZL says that clear lens don't work well with XHP50s. I wonder if they can figure something out to make clear lens work as well like what Nitecore did with the EC4S?

Thanks for the heads up. I have the SC600w MK III HI coming in the next few weeks. This will give me the opportunity to see if I can adjust to the size. I carried a first generation SC600w for over a year and came to the conclusion that it was just too big to carry every day and swore off of it and embraced the SC6x series. The SC600 MK III is quite a bit shorter than the original SC600 and is the same length as the SC62w I have carried lately. Maybe I can adapt. I will probably sit back and see how things shake out.

I will just have to slum it with my new SC600w MK III HI and SC63w.:shakehead

 

[scs]

ZL will only see if they can make the SC63 version work if the SC600Fd III Plus is "released successfully". Good sales record?

Give and take, both ways.
ZL has to make them good first, though.
Then we buy.
Then ZL makes some more and something even better.
Then we buy some more.
And so on.

It's on ZL to break this cycle, should they produce a fail.

 

[twistedraven]

Did you ask about the potential for XHP35 hi cri version? Iirc, the xhp35 has 90+ cri options as well, but since the dies are butted together, it doesn't suffer from any artifacts.

2000 lumens sounds yummy btw.

 

[Tac Gunner]

I have been considering getting my first Zebralight and this may just be it. I love the xhp50 p60 I have. Orange peel reflector and driven at 3 amps makes for a nice floody pocket rocket. This will be great

 

[TCY]

Did you ask about the potential for XHP35 hi cri version? Iirc, the xhp35 has 90+ cri options as well, but since the dies are butted together, it doesn't suffer from any artifacts.

2000 lumens sounds yummy btw.

If I remember correctly ZL does have intentions for a SC63W/SC600W MK3 90+CRI version. I read this in the other SC600 MK3 thread, but I can't remember which page it was.

 

[TCY]

Give and take, both ways.
ZL has to make them good first, though.
Then we buy.
Then ZL makes some more and something even better.
Then we buy some more.
And so on.

It's on ZL to break this cycle, should they produce a fail.

ZL has been making superb flashlights so far and I doubt this one will disappoint.

 

[recDNA]

5000k HI CRI perfect for me. Would prefer normal lens. XHP is floody anyway. Never the less I will buy one unless reviews are terrible. I have always wanted a small, high output, HI CRI flashlight. I would also prefer this setup in the more pocketable sc63 format.

 

[jak]

Wow, 37 posts into this thread and not a single complaint about pogopins or unprotected cells. Hope I didn't jinx it.

@TCY Kudos to you for contacting them (TWICE in 1 day) and getting answers! I wish ZL had (and utilized) a Twitter feed or something for connecting with customers and fans.

 

[snowlover91]

For those of you who are waiting for a SC63 housed variant with clear lens, I have some bad news.

I just bugged ZL customer service, and their reply is that the electronic components is currently too big for the SC63 body to house. They will try to shrink the driver so they fit into the SC63 later this year or next year but this is not a guaranteed success.

As for the clear lens, ZL says that clear lens don't work well with XHP50s. I wonder if they can figure something out to make clear lens work as well like what Nitecore did with the EC4S?

According to what they had told me the plans for the SC63 are to release a floody version (4K and 5k tint) next using the XHP35 and then a high CRI of 90+ for the SC63, using the xhp35 also. I don't think they will use the xhp50 in the SC63 right now as it seems like they'll stick with the xhp35 for their other models also.

 

[snowlover91]

5000k HI CRI perfect for me. Would prefer normal lens. XHP is floody anyway. Never the less I will buy one unless reviews are terrible. I have always wanted a small, high output, HI CRI flashlight. I would also prefer this setup in the more pocketable sc63 format.

If they release the SC63c/d models with 4000k and 5000k using the xhp35 and 90+ CRI I'll buy a couple. They probably won't until spring or summer but I really hope they decide to release these variants.