NEW Zebralight H603d, H603c, H603w shoot out

Collins

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
73
Looking forward for reviews and a shoot out on these three new Zebralight Flood headlamps H603d, H603c, and H603w.
 

saypat

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
424
are these out? I always wanted the H602W, it is my dream light. Now an H603W?
 

geokite

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Messages
187
Pre-ordered the H603d, can't wait. My H602 is my most used headlight, so the better tint will be nice.
 

LimuHead

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 22, 2016
Messages
36
Looking forward for reviews and a shoot out on these three new Zebralight Flood headlamps H603d, H603c, and H603w.
Any idea how the H603's differ from the H602's? More lumens? Longer run times?

I really like my H602w. It's wide beam with no hot-spot makes it perfect for reading and close-up work. It's also great for lighting up a room (like a 100 watt bulb!) with ceiling bounce.

I like it so much that I really want to be tempted by the latest/greatest ZL H603.

Anyone with information please let us know!
 

Collins

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
73
I'm back to deciding between flood and floody. I like the idea of full flood no hotspot as I mostly do close up work like working on computers and working on car. And since the Zebralight sits off-center, I didn't want to have an off-center hotspot or the bouncing ball effect.

But with pure flood, I've seen some comparison videos and at times looks like the center can be a little dark when looking at something that is further away in the middle than things that are to the left and right. And that got me to thinking if I was working on my car and dropped a bolt 2 feet down a gap in the engine bay. If looking at that 2 foot deep gap with pure flood would mean looking at a black hole compared to using a floody headlamp?
 

LimuHead

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 22, 2016
Messages
36
.

But with pure flood, I've seen some comparison videos and at times looks like the center can be a little dark when looking at something that is further away in the middle than things that are to the left and right. And that got me to thinking if I was working on my car and dropped a bolt 2 feet down a gap in the engine bay. If looking at that 2 foot deep gap with pure flood would mean looking at a black hole compared to using a floody headlamp?

2 feet should be no problem.

You can always go to a higher output if you need to. That's one of the things I love best about the H602 - lower lumens when needed and a big bang of light when necessary.
 

Tre_Asay

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
398
Location
Caldwell Idaho
I agree, I preordered the h603c already. The h502c is still one of my favorite lights and perfect for close up work. I take the hi cri over 200 more lumens any day because I always use lower outputs anyways and the difference in a few hours of runtime / 20% lumens will not be noticable in a flashlight that gets a change of batteries once or twice a month.

Our eyes are much better than all but the super high end cameras at dealing with brightness differences. Our eyes can see brighter and dimmer areas at the same time very well.

The reason I checked ZL today was because my friends are planning to bike the hiawatha trail which runs through train tunnels that are very dark. I thought that a high output ZL headlamp would be nice seeing as most of the others wont have anything better than the 50 lumen 3AAA LED headlamps.
Sadly I have a family reunion planned for the same weekend so I will not be able to attend the biking trip.
 

davidt1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
1,907
I'm back to deciding between flood and floody. I like the idea of full flood no hotspot as I mostly do close up work like working on computers and working on car. And since the Zebralight sits off-center, I didn't want to have an off-center hotspot or the bouncing ball effect.

But with pure flood, I've seen some comparison videos and at times looks like the center can be a little dark when looking at something that is further away in the middle than things that are to the left and right. And that got me to thinking if I was working on my car and dropped a bolt 2 feet down a gap in the engine bay. If looking at that 2 foot deep gap with pure flood would mean looking at a black hole compared to using a floody headlamp?

I was thinking about that same black hole effect that you spoke of. 120 degree flood is way too diffused and result in a lot wasted lumens. Man, I miss the H501 with the 80 degree beam. My H502w is good out to about 3 ft on high. The problem with close-up work is my eyes are often distracted by all that wasted peripheral lumens. Yep, the objects and surface closer to you will reflect all that light at your eyes while the thing you are trying to look at further away will appear super dim.
 
Last edited:

insanefred

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
453
I'm back to deciding between flood and floody. I like the idea of full flood no hotspot as I mostly do close up work like working on computers and working on car. And since the Zebralight sits off-center, I didn't want to have an off-center hotspot or the bouncing ball effect.

But with pure flood, I've seen some comparison videos and at times looks like the center can be a little dark when looking at something that is further away in the middle than things that are to the left and right. And that got me to thinking if I was working on my car and dropped a bolt 2 feet down a gap in the engine bay. If looking at that 2 foot deep gap with pure flood would mean looking at a black hole compared to using a floody headlamp?


That's why you have to get two, one flood for most of the close up tasks and one with a spot when you drop your bolt. :kiss:
 

Tre_Asay

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
398
Location
Caldwell Idaho
Where did you hear that?

Anyways it looks like these headlamps don't have a pocket clip. I will probably keep the h603c in the headband and edc the h502c with a pocket clip.
 

Glock27

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
484
Location
Central Missouri
603's on 2nd page of Headlight section state 7/15 expected ship date. 603's on first page still show 6/30. Either some models will be here 2 weeks earlier then the rest or date wasn't updated on some.

G27
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
I'm seeing Pre-order. Shipping starts on 7/15/2016 on every page.
 

Collins

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
73
I was thinking about that same black hole effect that you spoke of. 120 degree flood is way too diffused and result in a lot wasted lumens. Man, I miss the H501 with the 80 degree beam. My H502w is good out to about 3 ft on high. The problem with close-up work is my eyes are often distracted by all that wasted peripheral lumens. Yep, the objects and surface closer to you will reflect all that light at your eyes while the thing you are trying to look at further away will appear super dim.

I work on cars sometimes that you have to look like crevices, etc. and wondered if the all flood to leave the crevices too dark. Or when looking around the room and the peripherals are brighter than the center of what you are looking at.

I wish Zebralight did their headlamps with the lens in the center. I know they put the lend on the end so some could use it like a flashlight and headlamp. But I say most people use their headlamp on their head all of the time. And I wouldn't mind a line of neutral white flood and floody with the lens in the center.

I figured full flood wouldn't be a problem with it off-centered sense there isn't a hotspot in the middle. But with the Floody, does the hot spot look off-centered? Like when looking at a wall, does the hot spot look like it's sitting off to the side?

That was the reason I had looked at going full flood so that I didn't have to worry about an off-centered hot spot being annoying.
 

davidt1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
1,907
Don't worry about the light not being right between the eyes. If that was a big problem, nobody would be buying these angle headlamps. But if you are still worried, there are plenty traditional headlamps to buy from. As for which beam profile works best for you, only you can decide that. What I did was I bought the H52w which is not floody. Then I put on a diffuser to get that floody beam, kind of like the ZL frosted lens.
 
Last edited:

tech25

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
1,285
Location
Near the Big Apple
I never had an issue with the H51fw hotspot off to the side, not sure about the H600 series being that they are longer. I don't think they will cause an issue, though.
 

Collins

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
73
I never had an issue with the H51fw hotspot off to the side, not sure about the H600 series being that they are longer. I don't think they will cause an issue, though.

Are you saying you don't notice an off-center hotspot?

I've got a cheap AAA headlamp that is pretty much just spot. It's the crappy kind from the local stores. And I moved it slightly off center and it was pretty annoying. Hopefully it's not noticeable with the 600 series floody.
 

mico

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 12, 2016
Messages
36
Okay, I'm in:

H603c High CRI Flood Neutral White 18650 Headlamp
I adore the spotless.
 

tech25

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
1,285
Location
Near the Big Apple
Are you saying you don't notice an off-center hotspot?

I've got a cheap AAA headlamp that is pretty much just spot. It's the crappy kind from the local stores. And I moved it slightly off center and it was pretty annoying. Hopefully it's not noticeable with the 600 series floody.

The H51fw has an XPG. Since its the floody version, there is a blended hotspot nothing like the defined cutoff of the spot on my energizer headlamp. When I move my head around with the light on, there is a hotspot that moves but for most people its so well blended with the spill that they won't notice/be bothered by it.

The H600F series have either the XML or XHP35 both of which has a bigger hotspot combined with a diffused lens- this combination should really spread out the hotspot so as not to have a sharp cutoff like a spot beam much better then my headlamp and having the beam a few inches off center should not be noticeable at all.
 
Top