Zebralight H600, H600w, H600F, H600Fw Mk III XHP35

maitre

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Just got the email from Zebralight announcing the new H600 Mk III headlamps with XHP35 emitters!

My H600 has been malfunctioning so I pre-ordered the H600w Mk III which is going to be a nice ~375 lumen upgrade and in the neutral tint too.

How many of you are also getting one?
 
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twistedraven

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I ordered 2 4500k ones just to have better chances of getting one with satisfactory tint; will return the one with inferior tint, or both if both suck.
 

maitre

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I ordered 2 4500k ones just to have better chances of getting one with satisfactory tint; will return the one with inferior tint, or both if both suck.

I'm not too picky (or experienced) when it comes to tint - as long as it's "not cool", I'm usually happy with it. What do you look for in terms of tint? Would getting a high CRI model solve any tint issues?
 

twistedraven

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Basically I look for lack of green or magenta shift, and lack of tint variation from hotspot to spill. I'm not too sure if higher CRI models would be better in having less tint shift or not, but they would certainly render colors better.
 

lampeDépêche

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So should I buy one of these and replace my beloved H600w MkII?

I'm not yet seeing the argument for it. Same size, not significantly different output.

Different emitter, but I haven't yet heard why that's enough reason.

They say the input voltage will be 2.7-6.0. But they *don't* say it's okay to run 2xCR123 cells in it. (Probably because it wouldn't support turbo). I wonder if it would be safe on lower levels? (I have run my H600w MkII on a single CR123 w/ a spacer. Fine for L and M levels.)

I will probably buy it some time. But I'd love to hear someone make an argument that I *need* it.
 

Lumencrazy

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So should I buy one of these and replace my beloved H600w MkII?

I'm not yet seeing the argument for it. Same size, not significantly different output.

Different emitter, but I haven't yet heard why that's enough reason.

They say the input voltage will be 2.7-6.0. But they *don't* say it's okay to run 2xCR123 cells in it. (Probably because it wouldn't support turbo). I wonder if it would be safe on lower levels? (I have run my H600w MkII on a single CR123 w/ a spacer. Fine for L and M levels.)

I will probably buy it some time. But I'd love to hear someone make an argument that I *need* it.

There have been literally hundreds of Marketing studies aimed at understanding what motivates people to buy. The word new has the biggest impact by far. This light is new.
 

scs

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So should I buy one of these and replace my beloved H600w MkII?

I'm not yet seeing the argument for it. Same size, not significantly different output.

Different emitter, but I haven't yet heard why that's enough reason.

They say the input voltage will be 2.7-6.0. But they *don't* say it's okay to run 2xCR123 cells in it. (Probably because it wouldn't support turbo). I wonder if it would be safe on lower levels? (I have run my H600w MkII on a single CR123 w/ a spacer. Fine for L and M levels.)

I will probably buy it some time. But I'd love to hear someone make an argument that I *need* it.

You don't.
 

lampeDépêche

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There have been literally hundreds of Marketing studies aimed at understanding what motivates people to buy. The word new has the biggest impact by far. This light is new.

Thanks, LC. But that's an explanation of why it's buyers *will* buy it, not an argument for why they *should* buy it.

I realize we all fall for snake-oil--I'm not immune myself. But that observation doesn't answer my question.

The H600 MkIII will be a great light, if it is at least as good as the H600 MkII--which has proven itself to be an insanely great light for several years now.

My question was: is the Mk III a significantly *better* light than the Mk II?
 

maitre

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I am upgrading from the 1st gen H600 (cool white/750lm) to the H600w Mk III (neutral white/1126lm). Getting the colour temperature I want and a 376 lumen boost is definitely a significant upgrade to me.

The difference between the Mk II and III is not so great. My personal upgrade criteria is a 50% increase in output, 50% increase in runtime, or a significant reduction of weight (unlikely since these lamps are relatively lightweight already).

Wait for the Mk IV.
 

Beacon of Light

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I run all of my 18650 lights with 16430 cells and a dummy cell since I only use low levels and never need turbo or 100 lumens lol. I rarely use more than 10 lumens at all.
 

Lumencrazy

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I run all of my 18650 lights with 16430 cells and a dummy cell since I only use low levels and never need turbo or 100 lumens lol. I rarely use more than 10 lumens at all.

Inside a tent at night I have my H600Fc III High CRI Floody Neutral White set on the lowest setting. Even low 1 is enough to step outside when nature calls. My batteriy lasts forever. The high settings must be for those who are really terrified of the dark or camp under a streetlamp at a well-develped camp site. When in a survival situation having a high-lumen battery burner is a poor tactical choice. It will soon get very dark.
 

AngryDaddyBird

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Those new ZL look good! ZL is my favorite Headlamps and recently gave my Brother my H600w MKII. Only reason was I wanted to try the Armytek Wizard pro v3 XHP50 warm but have been regretting it! I love the Wizard. Great light but just miss my never failed H600w. Oh well I guess its a good reason to buy a new one. I miss the UI most of all.
 

Beacon of Light

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How many gramms you win this way?

I was hoping you meant grammys ::bows 3 times::

Seriously though, I just try to find new reasons to use my abundance of RCR123 cells. I have a bunch of 18650 cells from old laptop battery packs but I want to get every last bit of useable energy out of the RCR123s as they will fail sooner than the 18650s.
 

tex.proud

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I was looking for a ZL headlamp. This could have been the one. I have however, an AT XHP50 headlamp that this really doesn't compare to. I'm not a hater, and not affiliated with AT. I'm just a man that already has something that has made me reconsider the new ZL option. I have compared run times and lumen levels between the new ZL headlamp and the latest offering from ArmyTek. I'll be keeping my AT for now. Hate all you wan't. Check it out! Then come to me with an issue.

Tex.Proud
 

eraursls1984

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I was looking for a ZL headlamp. This could have been the one. I have however, an AT XHP50 headlamp that this really doesn't compare to. I'm not a hater, and not affiliated with AT. I'm just a man that already has something that has made me reconsider the new ZL option. I have compared run times and lumen levels between the new ZL headlamp and the latest offering from ArmyTek. I'll be keeping my AT for now. Hate all you wan't. Check it out! Then come to me with an issue.

Tex.Proud
I bought an Armytek headlamp and planned to buy more until I got. It's completely different than what they advertised, and they just say don't buy from their authorized dealers. I won't buy another from that company after my bad experience with them, and the way they handled the situation.
 

sidecross

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I use my ZebraLight headlamp below 150 lumens, and I appreciate the power reserve of a 18650 battery.
 

AussieRanga

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Apr 13, 2010
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I was looking for a ZL headlamp. This could have been the one. I have however, an AT XHP50 headlamp that this really doesn't compare to. I'm not a hater, and not affiliated with AT. I'm just a man that already has something that has made me reconsider the new ZL option. I have compared run times and lumen levels between the new ZL headlamp and the latest offering from ArmyTek. I'll be keeping my AT for now. Hate all you wan't. Check it out! Then come to me with an issue.

Tex.Proud

Really doesn't compare to? By that do you mean, reliable products from an honest manufacturer VS questionable (with repeated reports here) quality control, occasionaly mispackaged lights from a manufacturer with suspect intent as to how they market their country of manufacturing?

When you realize you're comparing LED lumens VS OTF it soon becomes clear that the output between the two really isn't that different and at those levels the amount of heat generated severly limits runtime so arguing superiority based on a few extra lumens at the cost of WAY more heat with nothing but convection as a means of heat dissapation is flawed reasoning. I have seen many reports about the new XHP 50 AT light getting insanely hot in little to no time at all. They claim it has thermal protection but the reports say it isn't very effective unlike the PID implemented on ZL models. But who am I to stop you wearing something potentially dangerous on the most important part of your body ;)

There's a reason you don't see any marketing fluff, constant sales and *limited* editions, *special* etitions etc from ZL and that is because ZL don't need the crap to sell their lights.
It's OK though! When you realize you dropped your money on a marketing mirage instead of an actually solid product, the ZL's will still be the same price and you can thank me when you pick one up and realize for X amount of time, you were wrong :thumbsup:


EDIT: For the record, I'm not anti AT - I have a V2.5 Predator Pro and apart from the fact the lens scratched easily, even with a microfibre cloth (took a while to realize they installed the lens the wrong way), it was a good light for it's time. That has now been replaced by a light far smaller and about 50% brighter but I digress. If they upped their game in a LOT of areas they would do much better with fewer reasons for criticizm. At the heart of the problem however is their seemingly deliberate deception by claiming they are a Canadian MANUFACTURER even though they have never been able to provide evidence of such manufacturing plant there. They even go as far as insulting customers who call them out on the fact they claim that so boldly when finding that they are really manufactured in China is nowhere near as easy. Call a spade a spade. It's a Chinese light, just like almost every other one.
 
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twistedraven

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Oct 22, 2014
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The first and only Armytek I have is the Predator LE. Only after about 2 days the tail cap switch or driver-- I can't tell-- became faulty and the light now flickers and behaves erratically. Its hotspot is messy and the throw is nowhere close to advertise. I'm still waiting for them to release the XHP-35 HI models so I can turn mine in and possibly get it replaced with one of those.

At one point in time, it seems like Armytek has had some real winners. The Predator/Viking 2.5 models were highly highly recommended, with build quality rivaling or at times passing even Zebralight and Surefire (according to Vinh). The Wizard had high regards as well. These latest products from Armytek aren't quite up to snuff though. I'm hoping it was early manufacturing issues, and that their later batches of the new models will alleviate the issues.
 

sovereign

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Mar 3, 2004
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Just received a shipping notification for a H600w Mk III. Any reason not to buy a NCR18650GA? Curious because this is not the cell listed by ZL in the related items.
 
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