Zebralight H53c and H53Fc headlights on product spec sheet

It seems a new generation of Zebralight 1AA headlamps are arriving sometime soon, if their product comparison spreadsheet is anything to go by.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...dit?hl=en&authkey=CNqP6KIC&pref=2&pli=1#gid=0

There are limited details available, but in comparison to the H52 variants, a lower price of US$59 and loss of support for 14500 Li-ion batteries are two major changes. No word on performance figures but I guess the new SC5c II flashlight gives an indication.

By smaller, I wonder if they mean shorter. Pogo pins at the tail? Smaller head? Maybe both? Hope they're still potted.

Loss of 14500 support is an interesting change!

I can hardly imagine where they'll find room to reduce the size. I hope they don't have to make any durability compromises.

stephenk said:

Loss of 14500 support is an interesting change!

Click to expand...

Look at what they claim for Eneloop performance on the SC5c II, though. Really impressive.

I've been waiting for this since the SC5w came out

Great! I'll take one

iamlucky13 said:

I can hardly imagine where they'll find room to reduce the size. I hope they don't have to make any durability compromises.



Look at what they claim for Eneloop performance on the SC5c II, though. Really impressive.

Click to expand...

Eneloop Pro.

Ignore me I'm stupid

scs said:

Eneloop Pro.

Click to expand...

True, but looking at HKJ's discharge curves, the regular Eneloops hold fairly close to the Pro for voltage under high loads, so I'd expect at the highest modes, they can still achieve the same maximum output, just for a shorter time.

However, the curves don't look to be quite proportionately the same, so while a regular Eneloop has just shy of 80% of the capacity of the Pro nominally, at 3 A, runtime might be closer to 70%.

H53c is the headlamp I've been waiting for. I think 90+ CRI lights should become the new standard for all lights. Glad Zebralight is not afraid to sacrifice some lumens for better quality light. Loved the H52w, and this looks like the perfect evolution of that light.

I just got good news from ZL's spokeswoman: the H53c will use a spring on the tailcap, not pogo-pins.

The reason why this matters to me is that the spring in the H52 allows you to feed it on AAA cells without any modifications or spacers.

And the H53c will work the same way. That's several billion more cells that it can make light from, just by dropping it in and screwing down the cap.

I don't want to rehearse the issue of springs vs. pogo-pins in the other ZL lights. When it comes to the SC600 series, I think there are good arguments on both sides. But with the 18650 cell, there is no other cell of a similar length that you could use if the light had springs in place of the pins. So the use of pogo-pins does not immediately lose out on the handy versatility of feeding multiple cell-sizes.

In the AA format, on the other hand, the ability to use AAAs is a huge benefit (even if they don't support the highest output levels, or not for long). So in that case, it seems to me that the case for preferring springs to pins is much stronger.

Been waiting a looooong time for a successor to my H52Fw, which is my EDC and most used light by a wide margin... I hope the H53Fc maintains a removable clip, has a slimmed down head (like the old H501), and has AA specs that are better than the H52 w/14500.

Same here. Contact Zebralight and let them know what you want. Without customer feedback, who knows what they are going to do.

A >=1minute high mode would be nice. Even if to just get that "0.9" off paper. I just don't use mine much for that reason; it's the H600w 95% of the time for me.

Grrrr....
I got my hopes up last week, because ZL's email to me about springs and pins also included the suggestion that they might open pre-orders for the H53 in "about a week". So I was hoping that by the end of this week it might be up. Nope.

You'd think that someone who has been a ZL fan for as many years as I have, would know by now that their release dates are always behind.
Ah well, live and learn (again).

Pre-order is up... no pics though... still praying that the clip will be "deep carry" like their previous AA headlamps... output isn't phenomenal, so I will probably wait for a H53Fw with more output and deep carry clip... the perfect EDC!

PLEASE ZEBRALIGHT!

When you consider that it's a 90+ CRI LED being powered from a NiMH, I think around 300 lumens is pretty amazing. Other 90+ CRI non-lithium AA lights only get to like 150lumens.

They might've been able to drive the LED extremely hard to get 500 or so lumens, but considering the small amount of thermal mass these hosts have, the PID would probably bring it down to the 300 lumens within less than a minute.

Beacons added finally. Previously only available on 18650 lights. Yay. Now I need to know if they keep the swiveling clip, which I find very useful.