# Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video, Stress Tests, & runtimes.



## mhanlen (Aug 26, 2013)

Spark SG3-CW & SG5-CW Review







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Ok, let me first thank Spark for sending me these lights for review. To be honest I had no idea I'd be getting these lights. They came 2 weeks after I sent them an email inquiry about reviews, and they said they'd send me a video and then a bike light for review. I sent them my address, and that was it- until these showed up on the door step. 

And second, here is a full video review of the light. You'll see the lights in action, and see some extreme stress tests later in the video. Including the light being frozen.







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​ Needless to say I was excited, because, up until this point all I had were 2 cheap headlamps from eBay. Let me also mention, I was a little unprepared for these battery wise. I do have three Trustfire flame 14500s I purchased earlier this year and 4 unused Ultrafire “1000 mah” 16340s that I got for $2.50 at a Wallbuys sale 3 months ago. 



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​ ​ Finally a light to use them on! I was going to apologize for not having any CR123As to test out the SG3 on, but as you'll see later in the review that it really doesn't matter at this point. I don't have a lot of spare cash to waste on CR123as right now, and the ones I could afford would take several weeks to get here.




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​...On to the reviews. And since these lights are sort of kindred spirits, they will be combined into one review. Otherwise it'd be two reviews with a lot of copy and pasting. 


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​ ​ Basically it goes like this. According to the specs the SG3 (71mm long, 24mm diameter) is a slightly smaller light with a slightly higher output but shorter runtimes. It uses either CR123As or 16340s. The SG5 is a slightly taller (81mm long) and skinnier light that can take: alkalines, lithium primaries, 14500s, and Nimh. They both come with nearly identical sets of accessories. The light, a removable stainless steel clip, a headband, a velcro securing strap, a super nice velvety bag, and some basic instructions, and a nice box with magnet. I think they retail for about $60ish. That put's it within similar pricepoints by Xtar and Zebralight. I'd like to have those other lights for comparisons, but it's not a perfect world right?


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​ ​ ​ What else do these lights have in common? Well other than the dimensions they're identical cosmetically. Specs say they're made from a class III hard anodized aluminum alloy. I have no reason to doubt that, as they seem resistant to scratches- after having subjected them to filth, dirt, and rusty nails during the photo shoot in an abandoned house. They were also thrown inside a backpack with a bunch of other lights I brought along on a bike ride to the house. 








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​ ​ ​ Rounding out the exterior is a Schott ultra-clear glass lens, and a carbon fiber tube that surrounds the main battery tube. I know it's subjective, but these lights look pretty nice. They have nice rounded curves, and look almost like some sort of classic military light. The knurling around the tail cap and the lens is aggressive and tactile. I like it! And it should also be noted that Spark makes a lens with reflectors for both of these lights, so if the beam is too floody for you they are swappable. Expect to use a pair of pliers to remove the lens though, because they're tightened too much for hand removal. And yes, this light is about as floody as you can get, as you can see in the video.


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You can keep the clip on or remove it. Unfortunately you can only put it on one way. So if you're using it as a clip light on an exterior pocket, you'll have to use it upside down. I chalk this up to a minor annoyance, and there's not much you can do about it without a redesign of the light. For some, this sort of thing is a deal breaker- not for me though. This clip is serious too, and it takes a bit of forcing to go on the tube. It isn't cheap, thin, or easily malleable. Assume that taking it on and off repeatedly will leave some wear on the clip depression on the tube. This isn't a knock on the finish, because it seems the anodizing holds up well to something that would rub off the finish on pretty much any other light.




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​ Ok, so what about the tail cap and the switch? Well the tail cap allows the light to tail stand, but only on a relatively flat surface. If I could suggest an improvement to the Spark design team, maybe make the flat area a bit larger on the next revision to aid in better tail-standing? While the diameters of the tail caps on both lights are slightly different they both tail stand about equally well.




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​ ​ ​ The switch? It appears identical on both lights. It's a thick rubber boot with the spark logo. It's electronic, so there's no click.




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​ ​ ​ What about inside the light? Spark says in the instructions that it recommends you do not take apart the light. I will agree with this on Spark, as you'll see later in the review. Complete disassebly of the light is nearly impossible without permanently damaging the electronics. It's like taking apart an iphone. Anyway, on the negative end of the tube the tail spring looks like it's gold plated. It's thick and makes good contact with the batteries, on both lights. On the positive end of the tube, it looks like a flat PCB, so there seems to be no mechanical mechanism employed for reverse polarity. 








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​ ​ ​ Well this is what the instructions say verbatim... “_Insert Battery. Insert positive end of battery first, towards head of flashlight. Then tighten the tail cap. Mis-placingof battery will not cause any damage because reverse polarity function is embedded_.” 




Cool right? More on that later. Keep reading. Now lets throw a battery in both lights and see how the UI works. Sounds like a good idea! The user interface is pretty simple and identical on both lights. 


Click once to turn it on. Now that it's on, select a mode by pressing and holding the button. The light will then ramp to each of the 4 main modes, in order from lowest to highest. The are as follows: Min, Med1, Med2, and Max. When it hits the mode you like let go and it's saved. So when you turn it off and turn it back on it uses that last mode it was on. Nice and simple. If you'd like to change modes... Hold the button on the current mode, and it will revert back to min and ramp through all the modes again. I dig this more than if it were to go to the next mode. In addition to the 4 regular modes there's one called “Super” You can access this mode if the flashlight is off or on, by doing a steady double click. The absolute best part? Since the manual doesn't state it, and because I haven't inadvertently accessed it, there are NO BLINKIES. I can hardly believe it and I love it. Ok five modes total. What do they output and how long?


Here are the manufacturer specs for both lights. Unfortunately it does not specify which battery chemistry these outputs and run-times are good for. I am going to assume they're for Li-ion. The manual says simply this light uses an XM-L emitter. I'm pretty sure it's an XM-L2 because it looks different than all my other XM-L emitters. And having done the “running water trick” PWM is not detected on any mode. 

​SG5-CW Manufacturer Specs. (reviewed)

Super- 280 lumen at .9 hours.

Max- 110 lumens at 2.8 hours
Med2- 40 lumens at 9 hours
Med1- 8 lumens at 32 hours

Min- 1 lumen at 10 days

SG5-NW Manufacturer specs. (not reviewed)

Super- 260 lumens at .9 hours
Max- 100 lumens at 2.8 hours
Med2- 30 lumens at 9 hours
Med1- 6 lumens at 32 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 10 days





SG5-CW output on Eneloops.
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​  SG5 output on 14500s.

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SG3-CW Manufacturer Specs (reviewed)

Super- 380 lumen at .8 hours.
Max- 200 lumens at 1.8 hours
Med2- 70 lumens at 6 hours
Med1- 10 lumens at 30 hours
Min- 1 lumen at 12 days


SG3-NW (not reviewed)

Super- 350 lumen at .8 hours.

Max- 180 lumens at 1.8 hours

Med2- 60 lumens at 6 hours

Med1- 8 lumens at 30 hours

Min- 1 lumen at 12 days





Spark SG3-CW output on Ultrafire "1000 mah"

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​ Ok, so I do not have a light meter so I won't be able to give exact light outputs. But I do have some comparison beam shots of other lights. These first group of pics have the lights at about 1 foot from a white wall.





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​ ​ Here are the higher outputs on a faster shutter speed. The image is darker to better illustrate output and to highlight the beam patterns.



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​ ​ Settings are the same on all shots. First is the control. The 1st two were taken with the lights about even with the camera lens. Then I moved them closer to the wall to illustrate the beam patterns. The Spark seems easily much brighter. I would estimate Sparks claim of 260 lumens not too far off, if we use the 117 lumen Fenix as a benchmark. I apologize, but beam shots are all I have until I purchase a light meter.



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​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Ok how about the runtimes? Well those I can test, and provide you with visual proof on how long they run and if the output in light is continuous or it tapers off. I present to you my output progression charts. These shots are taken at regular intervals with identical camera settings. Some of the longer runtimes I had to take irregularly as my schedule permits, as there is no way I can take pictures at regular intervals over the course of 12 days or even 30 hours. To accomplish this, I had set up a camera and tripod on a ledge in my stairwell. For this test I just turn on the light and leave it run for at least the manufacturer rated specs. The light is not turned off for any of these tests unless specifically noted.



Within each chart all camera settings stay the same. If I start at at 1.8f, 1/100 sec, 400 iso on the first pic in say High Mode, the last and all inbetween pics on high mode are 1.8f, 1/100, and 400 iso. Sometimes on lower or higher modes I will adjust the camera settings for the entire chart so you can see the difference better. For the extremely technical, sometimes I did not press the button exactly on time- the times posted can vary by up to five minutes but rarely more than or or two. Please note the camera specs on each chart.


Ok one more thing before we get to these charts. You'll notice that I do not have run times posted for the SG3 currently. Well there is a good reason for that. Remember earlier when I said I'd explain the reverse polarity protection in greater detail? Well I decided to take Spark up on this claim, and threw the battery in backward on the SG3. Prior to this I had made sure the light operated correctly, which you can see in the video, and even took some output beamshots, so what you see is what I had accomplished before I did the test. So I threw in the battery and after screwing down the tail cap it lit up like in turbo mode. I unscrewed it immediately, and just for the heck of it I did it again for a brief second and unscrewed it. Since the manual stated it had reverse polarity protection and I didn't see mechanical evidence of it, I had assumed it was built in. I guess that's not the case, because now the light now only operates in two modes... and maybe some sort of Super mode. The thing is, I have no idea which modes it left and which are no longer there. The UI operates identically but now with fewer modes. After doing this I decided it was not a good idea to test this out on the SG5, if I wanted to play it safe. I had no idea if my light was defective and didn't have this mode or if the information in the manual is incorrect for all the SG3s. Anyway please be very careful when putting a battery in the light. Do not put it in backwards. Double and triple check.


Well after this set-back I decided that I'd conduct additional stress tests for the partially working light, since it's already sort of bunk. But that's later on.


Anyway. So what about the runtimes on the SG5? How do they stack up against the manufacturer specs? What chemistries are the runtimes good for? For the sake of time, it's nearly impossible to check the chemistries of every battery in moonlight because it would take a a month, and considering the test area is our main stairwell, it's impossible to leave the camera and light set up for weeks at a time. I will make an earnest effort to test the moonlight mode in the near future on the SG5, minus a camera, to see if it lives up to the claim of 10 days- on a 14500. By the way, spolier alert, this light works best on 14500s. Also it's a very minor thing but I believe all these charts are using 500 iso instead of 400. Check it.



First off lets go with 14500s.




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​ Med2 – this one sort of surprised me, as it came up about 3 hours short. I may try a retest of this mode if I get some time. 



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​ ​ Med1. With this test I took 3 breaks. I didn't want to leave the light going while I was sleeping or working, so I could get accurate runtimes. It actually outperformed the manufacturers specs by about 7 hours.

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No data available for moonlight. Spark claims 10 days. 





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How about eneloops?










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​Med2. Yep, you're seeing it right. I tested this three times and got about the same result every time. It has less run time than the higher mode, and well less than 9 hours. Stick with 14500s. Even then it seems med2 is the one mode that falls short of manufacturer specs. All other modes have been spot on or better. Weird.







​ ​ As of right now I have no data for med1 and min on AA batteries. I may provide this info in the future. My work schedule currently does not provide time for me to conduct these tests, considering I have to be near the light at all times.



So what about the missing info about the SG3? Well since I don't expect a replacement sample, I'll try my darnedest to beat the crap out of this light to see how well it holds up. So that's good right? Make lemonade out of “No reverse polarity protection.” So there won't be any photos for that segment, and you'll need to watch the video. And it should be noted- all abrasions on the SG3 that you see in later photos (and maybe a few early ones) all came from those tests. The light DID NOT come that way. You'll see me freeze, throw, and drop the light a full two stories on the pavement. How will it fare???? 



How nice are the head bands? Reading around there seems to be some complaints. Mainly that the SG5 seems to not fit tight enough in the headband. I agree with this, but the SG3 seems to work alright. So upon closer inspection I've found that the head bands that come with both units appear to be identical. Since some of the proportions on the SG3, particularly the ones that the headband touches are thicker, the rubber of the head band grips better. So I've found one way that keeps the SG5 from sliding around. Leave the clip on, but swivel it, so it doesn't come in contact with your head. It is guaranteed to stay in place. Anyway, here are the best ways I've found to mount both lamps. The way I have each one mounted works the best for me.




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​ ​ ​ Oh and how about the star? It's right under/at 16mm, if you're looking to swap it. Here are a few pics of the interior of the SG3. Expect similar for the SG5. 


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​ ​ While I don't think there's many people who would attempt to mod a $60 headlamp short of a simple emitter swap (which should be fairly easy), I would not recommend it. For the most part this is machined out of a single piece of aluminum. Save for the tail cap, switch and driver. This is good news for thermal management. Because the entire light is basically a heat sink. Behind the star is solid aluminum. There's a tiny hole behind it that allows the wires to run from the switch to the driver. I found it impossible to remove the now dead driver. Please do not attempt to remove the driver, or you'll risk bricking the light, much like mine. I thought I could try to remove it and attempt remedy the reverse polarity damage (I'm not sure how), and it killed my light. 







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So that's it. I will add additional data for med1 on AA batteries over the next few daysif I get time. 


A quick summary of what I like.


Awesome regulation. I am assuming the SG3 is pretty much identical in regulation to the SG5. The sustained brightness times on 14500s is awesome. I could detect no step-downs. AA is no slouch either, but this light shines on 14500s.
No PWM. A $60 shouldn't have detectable PWM anyway right?
Flexibility of battery chemistries. I like that you have the abilty to use lithium ions.
Excellent runtimes.
Super easy lockout. Try as I might I wasn't able to get a reading on parasitic drain. It has to be small, but my multimeter wasn't able to detect it.
Great thermal management. The whole body of the light makes direct contact with the star. It's a solid piece of aluminum.
Awesome anodizing and build quality. Save for the killer clip area, the SG5 (which did not drop 18 feet onto concrete like the SG3) has no signs of wear after a week of carrying and tests. 
 

What could be improved.


How about the light being clipable rightside up in pockets? It's kind of a minor thing for me (just clip it upside down) But I'd like the light to have the button on the top if I'm clipping it.
The fit of the SG5 in it's headlamp apparatus.
Real REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION. Seriously do not attempt this. The manual says it has it, my real world experience says it doesn't. Be cautious when inserting the battery. 


Anyway that's it for now! Thanks for looking, I spent many hours on this. And if you'd like to see many many more photos that didn't make it into this set check out my flickr for the SG3 and SG5. And I apologize for any errors, I will also do some minor adjustments throughout the week.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhanlen1/sets/72157635199475527/


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## Derek Dean (Aug 26, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Wow, you obviously spent a lot of time putting this review together. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, you really put the SG3 through its paces. I'm a tiny bit disappointed to see they didn't make them more tailstandable. A lot of manufacturers forget that. 

I like the spacing they picked for the light levels. They seem like very useful levels. I also like that you can add a reflector, which I'll bet will certainly increase the usefulness of both lights. 

Thanks again for the excellent review, and by the way, welcome to CPF .


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## mhanlen (Aug 27, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



Derek Dean said:


> Wow, you obviously spent a lot of time putting this review together. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, you really put the SG3 through its paces. I'm a tiny bit disappointed to see they didn't make them more tailstandable. A lot of manufacturers forget that.
> 
> I like the spacing they picked for the light levels. They seem like very useful levels. I also like that you can add a reflector, which I'll bet will certainly increase the usefulness of both lights.
> 
> Thanks again for the excellent review, and by the way, welcome to CPF .



Yeah it's a bit of a bummer on the tail standing. You don't know how many times I picked up the lights that fell over in that old house, because flat surfaces are few and far between. I would have liked to have the reflectors for the review- I may actually pick up 1 for the light that still works. This is my first decent headlamp/ right angle light and I'm going to use it as an EDC. I've also never had such a floody light, and I think I'm still used to having a hotspot, because not everything I need to illuminate brightly is 5 feet in front of me.

Yes, a lot of time was spent working on this. I don't like not having a light meter, so I try to make up for it by going overboard on everything else.


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## mhanlen (Aug 27, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Ok folks I was able to get to med2 on eneloops last night. I tested it three seperate times with different batteries and came up with about the same result every time. 2 and a half hours of constant brightness before it shuts off. No tapering off in brightness.

Here you go. It's also been integrated into the main review.


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## reppans (Aug 27, 2013)

*Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

That's a great review... love runtime tests, especially on the lower modes which people tend to use most, and I like how you show time lapse photos in place of output/runtime graphs. I usually do my low and moonlight runtime tests using low capacity cells to save time and calculate the differences to other cells based on watt-hrs of energy. Two ways to do this are with a smart charger (MH C9000) discharge 2000 mah cells by 1500 mah and then run the test with 500 mah remaining capacity, or use for example, AAAAs (from a 9V) in a AAA>AA adaptor (w/ a piece of tinfoil for a length spacer) - a 9V AAAA has ~22% the energy of a AA Alk. Note alkaline capacity changes at higher draws though so AAAAs are only accurate for moonlight mode tests. For me, even if the mathematical extrapolation is not perfect, since I consistently test with AAAAs, I at least know the relatively efficiency between my different lights. 

Lastly you really could use a light meter for your tests as I find there can be a huge difference between what different manufacturers call "280 ANSI lumens" and Selfbuilt's reviews show the same. Actually, your DSLR can used as one (keeping in mind the granularity it's 1/3 stop increments) and I find it accurate +/- 10% from 0.10 lumens to.... whatever, and certainly better than what I can distinguish with my own eyes. PM me if interested - it's easy if you understand basic photography.


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## mhanlen (Aug 27, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



reppans said:


> That's a great review... love runtime tests, especially on the lower modes which people tend to use most, and I like how you show time lapse photos in place of output/runtime graphs. I usually do my low and moonlight runtime tests using low capacity cells to save time and calculate the differences to other cells based on watt-hrs of energy. Two ways to do this are with a smart charger (MH C9000) discharge 2000 mah cells by 1500 mah and then run the test with 500 mah remaining capacity, or use for example, AAAAs (from a 9V) in a AAA>AA adaptor (w/ a piece of tinfoil for a length spacer) - a 9V AAAA has ~22% the energy of a AA Alk. Note alkaline capacity changes at higher draws though so AAAAs are only accurate for moonlight mode tests. For me, even if the mathematical extrapolation is not perfect, since I consistently test with AAAAs, I at least know the relatively efficiency between my different lights.
> 
> Lastly you really could use a light meter for your tests as I find there can be a huge difference between what different manufacturers call "280 ANSI lumens" and Selfbuilt's reviews show the same. Actually, your DSLR can used as one (keeping in mind the granularity it's 1/3 stop increments) and I find it accurate +/- 10% from 0.10 lumens to.... whatever, and certainly better than what I can distinguish with my own eyes. PM me if interested - it's easy if you understand basic photography.



Thanks for the kind words. I'll take you up on that in a few days. I wish a light meter was in the budget right now, but it isn't.... I think that's what I need most. I do have access to a borrowed very old DSLR with a 50mm lens only, so if you can do it with that then I'd like to at least get within the ballpark. I really need some decent equipment!


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## skyfire (Aug 28, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

thank you for the great review, much appreciated.
it has really helped in my decision to buy the SG3 or not.


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## mhanlen (Aug 29, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



skyfire said:


> thank you for the great review, much appreciated.
> it has really helped in my decision to buy the SG3 or not.




Thanks, I tried to cover everything possible. Wish I could share more info about the reverse polarity thing, but I never heard back from them- sorry.


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## F. Premens (Aug 29, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Really good review.


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## RGB_LED (Aug 30, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Great review! I was eyeing these two lights and it's good to see that they run really well on 14500s. I was going to pick up a new ZL but I may be reconsidering after this review. 

Thanks for all your efforts and thoroughness, especially with the photos. Very impressive. :thumbsup:


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## mhanlen (Sep 1, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



RGB_LED said:


> Great review! I was eyeing these two lights and it's good to see that they run really well on 14500s. I was going to pick up a new ZL but I may be reconsidering after this review. Thanks for all your efforts and thoroughness, especially with the photos. Very impressive. :thumbsup:


 Thanks. Been using it as a camp headlamp light all weekend and it works great. I prefer the light a lot on 14500s... but it isn't a slouch on eneloops either.


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## Stanley_BA (Sep 7, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



mhanlen said:


> Med2. Yep, you're seeing it right. I tested this three times and got about the same result every time. It has less run time than the higher mode, and well less than 9 hours.



I suspect there must be something really weird with your particular exemplar of the headlamp, I´m doing right now the same test on Medium 2 mode and I´m already at 2:45 with the same output from beginning. I´m using Eneloop 2000 mAh that is maybe 1 year old.


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## mhanlen (Sep 7, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



Stanley_BA said:


> I suspect there must be something really weird with your particular exemplar of the headlamp, I´m doing right now the same test on Medium 2 mode and I´m already at 2:45 with the same output from beginning. I´m using Eneloop 2000 mAh that is maybe 1 year old.



That could be the case. I started seeing a substantial drop on the 14500 on med 2 as well. It worked well several times. Mind you all these are full runtime tests- so it wasn't like this popped up immediately. I did all my 14500 tests before I started in on my eneloop tests. Out of curiosity, can you test a 14500 on med2? I'd like to know if anyone else came up with more than 6 hours 45 mins.

I'd like to see if anyone else is experiencing this with their light but it doesn't seem like many people have it- or something.


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## Stanley_BA (Sep 8, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Yes, it really seems not many people have these. Unfortunatelly I don´t own any 14500 battery, as I intended from begining to use Eneloops here.

Yesterday I turned it off after exactly 3 Hours of constant light, because I went sleep. I will continue today and will let you know what is my result. 

When I measured the current on this mode, I got 220 mA. Which should, roughly calculated, give the 9 Hours runtime from 2000 mAh Enellop, so let´s see..


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## TweakMDS (Sep 8, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Noticed that I didn't comment here yet... Great review! I thoroughly enjoyed your video review as well, and the amount of damage this SG3 can take is impressive. Runtimes seem great as well, and the UI is simple enough to just work. My girlfriend is periodically driven crazy by the zebralight UI whenever I hand her that, and doesn't fare all that better with the Eagletac D25 clicky. This seems straightforward enough to use for nightly walks and I love the versatility with reflector or mule.

Then again, her favorite light is the Fenix E11 which is always on "medium" (because I never told her to tighten the head), so what does she know 

Eitherway, ordered myself an SG3 with extra reflector a few days ago. Curious to see if I can add frosted glass to it.


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## mhanlen (Sep 8, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



Stanley_BA said:


> Yes, it really seems not many people have these. Unfortunatelly I don´t own any 14500 battery, as I intended from begining to use Eneloops here.
> 
> Yesterday I turned it off after exactly 3 Hours of constant light, because I went sleep. I will continue today and will let you know what is my result.
> 
> When I measured the current on this mode, I got 220 mA. Which should, roughly calculated, give the 9 Hours runtime from 2000 mAh Enellop, so let´s see..



Please report back. Again, the shorter runtimes didn't happen until I had conducted several hours (45+) of runtime tests. Let's hope mine is the odd "weird" one. That said, it's still a nice lamp.



TweakMDS said:


> Noticed that I didn't comment here yet... Great review! I thoroughly enjoyed your video review as well, and the amount of damage this SG3 can take is impressive. Runtimes seem great as well, and the UI is simple enough to just work. My girlfriend is periodically driven crazy by the zebralight UI whenever I hand her that, and doesn't fare all that better with the Eagletac D25 clicky. This seems straightforward enough to use for nightly walks and I love the versatility with reflector or mule.
> 
> Then again, her favorite light is the Fenix E11 which is always on "medium" (because I never told her to tighten the head), so what does she know
> 
> Eitherway, ordered myself an SG3 with extra reflector a few days ago. Curious to see if I can add frosted glass to it.




I like the UI. It's easy enough that you can just pick it up and figure it out without much trouble. I also am going to get the extra reflector for it, because I prefer a tighter beam pattern for EDC. It's a bit too floody for me for use outside a headlamp. But it's compact size and light weight are easy on the pocket. And thanks for the kind words!


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## Stanley_BA (Sep 9, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

I have finished my test right now. All photos until 8 Hours and 45 minutes were exactly the same without any loss of light. Then, it started to gradually dim and at 9 Hours, the lamp had maybe 5 lumens. I ended the test at that time, although it still provided light and the voltage on the Eneloop was 0,86 V.

So, it lasted exactly what the Spark claimes. Hopefully this won´t change in the future, let´s see..


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## mhanlen (Sep 9, 2013)

Stanley_BA said:


> I have finished my test right now. All photos until 8 Hours and 45 minutes were exactly the same without any loss of light. Then, it started to gradually dim and at 9 Hours, the lamp had maybe 5 lumens. I ended the test at that time, although it still provided light and the voltage on the Eneloop was 0,86 V.
> 
> So, it lasted exactly what the Spark claimes. Hopefully this won´t change in the future, let´s see..




Great to hear. I'm sure if anyone has an issues with it, you should be able to RMA it within the warranty period and exchange it. Thanks for doing the test! Those are great, well-regulated runtimes aren't they?


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## Stanley_BA (Sep 9, 2013)

mhanlen said:


> Those are great, well-regulated runtimes aren't they?



Yes, this is the kind of regulation I like the most and find it most useful - constant performance and at the end, 15-20 minutes gradually dimming, then shutdown.


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## royi kien (Sep 11, 2013)

Great job, Mhanlen ,The headlamps are a good choice for me.


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## f22shift (Sep 11, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



Stanley_BA said:


> I have finished my test right now. All photos until 8 Hours and 45 minutes were exactly the same without any loss of light. Then, it started to gradually dim and at 9 Hours, the lamp had maybe 5 lumens. I ended the test at that time, although it still provided light and the voltage on the Eneloop was 0,86 V.
> 
> So, it lasted exactly what the Spark claimes. Hopefully this won´t change in the future, let´s see..



i decided to test myself as well. used a cheap ikea aa nimh and left it running. came back home later and it was still running. i shut off at 9hr 18min because the output isn't the full amount. so it seems to be ok.


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## mhanlen (Sep 12, 2013)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



royi kien said:


> Great job, Mhanlen ,The headlamps are a good choice for me.



Thanks!




f22shift said:


> i decided to test myself as well. used a cheap ikea aa nimh and left it running. came back home later and it was still running. i shut off at 9hr 18min because the output isn't the full amount. so it seems to be ok.



Thanks for the test, great to hear! It's good that they are acting properly for everyone else.


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## LightObsession (Jan 10, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Thanks for the great review. I'll probably get the SG5 instead of the Zebralight H52W because of the ability to rotate the clip on the body of the SG5 for different mounting options with the clip, even though I like the level options on the Zebralight better.


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## D6859 (Feb 4, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

I would also like to thank for the great review! I'm now considering ordering the SG5 model instead of ZL too.

I was wondering if it's possible to use the wrist band as a bike mount?


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## mhanlen (Feb 12, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



D6859 said:


> I would also like to thank for the great review! I'm now considering ordering the SG5 model instead of ZL too.
> 
> I was wondering if it's possible to use the wrist band as a bike mount?



I'll check it out in a day or so and get back to you because I hadn't tried it before. Thanks for the kind words!


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## mhanlen (Feb 17, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

Sorry it took so long for me to test this. But the wrist strap is definitely made for wrists. I find the handle bars or head tube are slightly too small in diameter to really make it tight enough to stay in place while riding. I'm sure it wouldn't been too hard to rig up something else, but you'd definitely need another type of mounting system to make it secure.


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## D6859 (Feb 17, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*



mhanlen said:


> Sorry it took so long for me to test this. But the wrist strap is definitely made for wrists. I find the handle bars or head tube are slightly too small in diameter to really make it tight enough to stay in place while riding. I'm sure it wouldn't been too hard to rig up something else, but you'd definitely need another type of mounting system to make it secure.



Ok. Thanks for testing and reporting!


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## wjv (Oct 7, 2014)

*Re: Review: Spark SG3 and SG5 Headlamp review. With Video and Stress Tests.*

I reversed the clip on my SG5.

Just clip it on right under the head. Works perfectly fine.


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