Zebralight SC600w IV Plus

[holygeez03]

Took my Plus with me into the Grand Canyon a couple weeks ago... I didn't do any serious night hiking, but when I did use it after dark and early morning, it was a fantastic trail light... no "tunnel vision" from a pronounced hotspot and it lit up the distance and the ground right in front of me really well.

I used my trusty H52Fw a LOT inside the cabin, but occasionally I used the Plus indoors on super low modes and it performed admirably there as well.

 

[EricJames]

Was the highest output of the IV Plus always 2300 lumens?

I could have sworn it was a different value a few months ago. But when I ordered mine today I noticed the number rounded to 2300. Anybody have a clue?

 

[holygeez03]

The first post in this thread mentions 2460 lumens, but that was when it was very first announced... the ZL spreadsheet in an early post shows 2440 I believe... I feel like the website may have stated 2400 during the pre-order, but I could be wrong... If so, they must fee that 2300 is a more accurate measurement... it's all negligible anyway.

 

[18650]

The first post in this thread mentions 2460 lumens, but that was when it was very first announced... the ZL spreadsheet in an early post shows 2440 I believe... I feel like the website may have stated 2400 during the pre-order, but I could be wrong... If so, they must fee that 2300 is a more accurate measurement... it's all negligible anyway.

It's embarrassing for nearly half a year to pass since the release date with the runtime specs remaining blank on their web site.

 

[brightnorm]

I have several recent Zebralights but I'm passing on this one because I prefer the "brighter" cool whites. I'm willing to sacrifice truer CRI for brightness. Call me troglodyte!

Brightnorm

 

[Keitho]

It's embarrassing for nearly half a year to pass since the release date with the runtime specs remaining blank on their web site.

I agree. It feels like ZL might have had some turnover in a couple of positions, and some tasks that used to get done are just not being done anymore. It is too bad.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Okay, so I broke down and ordered a SC600w MkIV Plus. It should make a good compliment to my MkIV HI.

Anyway, I was looking at the specs, and it claims 2300 lumens. Assuming that is accurate (is it?), is that over-driving the LED? From the specsheet of the XHP50.2, it seems like the max output is about 1800 LED lumens at a current of 1.5A or 3A (depending on whether you use it 12v or 6v).

I thought Zebralight never over-drives their lights. Is this the first one to do that? Or am I wrong about it over-driving?

I'm used to over-driving in budget lights, so I'm not too concerned. But this appears to be a departure for Zebralight. Factoring in some loss in the lens and reflector, this is probably around 50% brighter than the 50.2 has for its spec.

I must be missing something....

 

[twistedraven]

50.2 can put out way more lumens than that. It's not being driven that, that hard.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

50.2 can put out way more lumens than that. It's not being driven that, that hard.

I must be reading the 50.2 Cree specs wrong. They list a J2 bin (the highest for a 80 CRI emitter) at 700mA (12v) produces 1040-1151 lumens (depending on junction temp). If you look at the output graph, it tops out at 1500mA (Cree lists this as maximum current) where the LED puts out 180% of nominal. That is, 1872-2072 lumens.

Okay, my rough guess was a bit wrong before, but that's still less than the 2300 lumens Zebralight claims, and it doesn't take into account lens and reflector losses.

I have no doubt that the 50.2 can be pushed a lot higher, but that appears to be over-driving it out of spec.

Am I reading an out-of-date specsheet? Is the bin Zebralight is using higher than the J2?

 

[twistedraven]

No you're most likely reading it right, but Cree always rates their LEDs output real low.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I just received my SC600w MkIV Plus, and here are my initial reactions.

Very bright! I measure about 2700 lumens on max, right after turning it on with a fresh Sony VTC6 cell. This is higher than the 2300 lumens listed in the specs, so I'm rather surprised. I didn't measure it at 30 seconds, but perhaps it dims to 2300 lumens at that point? Has anyone done a proper output measurement of this light?

It gets hot on max quite quickly, and noticeably starts to decrease in output after about a minute. However, it didn't drop as much as I expected. I haven't measured what it stabilizes at, but it seems much brighter than what the SC600w MkIV HI stabilizes at. Good to know, because I intend to use it as a bicycle light on the H2b setting (which I measure at 730 lumens), and it should be well regulated considering the breeze it will get.

The outputs I measure on other modes are closer to spec: H1 is 2700, H2a is 1200, H2b is 730, H2c is 290, M1 is 150, M2a is 75.

CCT is 4400K. I might measure this slightly warmer than reality, but for reference I measure it 200K cooler than my SC600w MkIV HI. It's a decent neutral tint.

Beam is fine for real-world use, but it's not very pretty for white-wall hunters. Traditional domed Cree emitter look: white hot-spot, yellowish/greenish corona, and cool/purplish spill. By contrast, the SC600w MkIV HI has a fantastic even tint. I don't think the uneven tint will be an issue for outdoor use, as it's pretty common in all Cree emitters except for the HI variant. It's not bad, it's just not a Nichia 219 kind of beam.

It's about as floody as I expected. A bit more floody than traditional Zebralights (SC62/64, SC52/53, etc). Which is good, since I wanted a floody light with good regulation and efficiency to use as a bicycle light. I'm tired of replacing the battery every hour on my current light because it has dimmed too much (BLF A6).

When it's dark, I'll give it a good workout. Damn these long summer days!

Oh, for shipping time to Canada via EMS, it took 8 days to arrive. Zebralight took a couple of days after ordering before shipping, so I think it was 10 or 11 days total. No duty, taxes, or brokerage fees; same as every other light I've bought directly from Zebralight.

 

[NPL]

Are people still happy with their sc600w plus? For high CRI lovers, does the light leave you longing for better CRI?

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Are people still happy with their sc600w plus? For high CRI lovers, does the light leave you longing for better CRI?

I'm still very happy with mine. I use it several times a week, as a bike light. High CRI really isn't my concern as a bike light; output and efficiency are what I'm after. It exceeds at that.

I don't think the tint is bad, but just about anything less than 90 CRI is going to bother people demanding Nichia 219 tints.

 

[NPL]

Thanks WalkIntoTheLight.

I am very tempted by an Emisar D4S and the Zebralight SC600W Plus seems like a great contender with better efficiency. They are both very different lights, but if I am not mistaken, the XHP50 die is about the same size as 4 XP-L Hi/219C.

 

[GadgetGeek]

Hi all. Been out of the loop for a while but received an SC600w IV Plus today. Very happy with it so far.

Can anyone recommend a holster/case for it? Thanks

 

[Lou Minescence]

Hi all. Been out of the loop for a while but received an SC600w IV Plus today. Very happy with it so far.

Can anyone recommend a holster/case for it? Thanks

What are you doing posting at 2:40 AM ? did your SC600w keep you awake ?

I am using the Jetbeam Mini holster for my SC600.

 

[GadgetGeek]

What are you doing posting at 2:40 AM ? did your SC600w keep you awake ?

I am using the Jetbeam Mini holster for my SC600.

I'm a night owl. Thanks for the suggestion. I have a start now.

 

[Q732]

Hi all. Been out of the loop for a while but received an SC600w IV Plus today. Very happy with it so far.

Can anyone recommend a holster/case for it? Thanks

I use a Raine horizontal knife sheath for mine. Model # is 004H. It fits perfect in that. Pretty much forget you are even carrying it.

 

[GadgetGeek]

I use a Raine horizontal knife sheath for mine. Model # is 004H. It fits perfect in that. Pretty much forget you are even carrying it.

Thanks. Will check it out as well.

 

[Hondo]

Check out what this guy can make you:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?449018-HDS-Systems-EDC-Holsters-1

He can fit any light, knife, gun, phone.... you get the idea. Mine's plain black, but if multi-color with a skull with glowing tritium eyes is your thing, he is your man.