Zebralight SC62 (XM-L2, 1x18650) review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO and more!

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FYI, I've been playing around today adding some new YouTube features to my videos - I've just added an opening intro animation, and a watermark (with a link to my channel, and a "subscribe" feature right on mouse-over menu). I've applied the watermark to all videos, but have left the intro just for this one video for the time being.



Let me know what you think of both of them. The watermark is useful for those who want to subscribe to my channel - that way, you will get an e-mail notification every time I post a new review here. ;)
 
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Do you know anything about the tail clicks on zebralight spreadsheet page and when it well be released


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I like it..........where is the cheapest place to get one?
p.s. great review
 
Thanks -- another fine, useful review.

I ended up with two SC62Ws. The first came with the wrong size clip screws. While I was waiting for ZL to send replacement screws, I bought a second SC62W.

The light is that good -- I wouldn't want to be without one.

The tint is wonderful for dog-walking and the output is fantastic. This light quickly replaced my two, new and much more expensive lights from HDS (a clicky and a rotary.)

The downside: The SC62s get hot. And they eat batteries. I use ZL 18650 3400s. I'm not a heavy user but find that I must keep these batteries fully charged or risk having the light step down when I least expect it.

No, they won't entirely replace my early SC 600W. But that model and my two SC52Ws aren't getting much pocket time since the SC62Ws arrived.
 
hatman said:
Thanks -- another fine, useful review.

I ended up with two SC62Ws. The first came with the wrong size clip screws. While I was waiting for ZL to send replacement screws, I bought a second SC62W.

The light is that good -- I wouldn't want to be without one.

The tint is wonderful for dog-walking and the output is fantastic. This light quickly replaced my two, new and much more expensive lights from HDS (a clicky and a rotary.)

The downside: The SC62s get hot. And they eat batteries. I use ZL 18650 3400s. I'm not a heavy user but find that I must keep these batteries fully charged or risk having the light step down when I least expect it.

No, they won't entirely replace my early SC 600W. But that model and my two SC52Ws aren't getting much pocket time since the SC62Ws arrived.
Click to expand...

Same here hatman. My SC600II L2 & SC52w L2 were always in my pockets before but was eventually replaced since my SC62w arrived.
 
UnderPar said:
Same here hatman. My SC600II L2 & SC52w L2 were always in my pockets before but was eventually replaced since my SC62w arrived.
Click to expand...

Same here as well with my SC62d. Which neither gets too hot nor is it a battery eater, but then it isn't as bright as the XML-equipped SC62's.
 
With less throw, does that mean a flooder beam? Ideally more spill light and a wider hotspot and PID, be perfect for a bike set up.
 
Mr Floppy said:
With less throw, does that mean a flooder beam? Ideally more spill light and a wider hotspot and PID, be perfect for a bike set up.
Click to expand...
Not exactly - it just means a less focused hotspot. The overall spillbeam width and relative intensity is pretty similar to the SC600-II L2 (as you can see in the beamshots). Personally, I agree that less throwy lights are best for bike riding, and think either of these should do pretty well.
 
Just wanted to throw this test result in here in case anyone is curious. I know 4.35V cells are not that popular, but I was curious how well the SC62w could use the energy in a battery with a very different discharge curve from the NCR18650B. I might test the other 4.35V 12Wh cell, the Samsung ICR-18650-32A in the future, but couldn't find a USA source for those.

SC62w runtime comparison of two 12Wh cells at 326lm setting (H2B)
Claimed runtime with protected NCR18650B: 3:54
Time lapse video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvktmGjbCIs

Panasonic NCR186560B 4.2V
500mA test capacity: 3125mAh to 2.9V (+54 mAh to 2.7V)

Full Brightness - 3:38
Dimmer 3:39-4:07 (0:28)
Full Brightness 4:08-4:56 (0:48)
Dimmer 4:57-6:48 (1:51)
Total Full Brightness time: 4:26
Total Dimmer time: 2:19

LG18650E1 (LGABE11865) 4.35V
500mA test capacity: 2960mAh to 2.9V

Full Brightness - 4:49
Dimmer 4:50-5:44 (0:54)

Rough guess of total energy, if dimmer is half the power of full then
Panasonic: 4:26 + .5(2:19) = 5:35
LG: 4:49 + .5(0:54) = 5:16
which I’d call equal for this approximation.

The LG does give you an additional 23 minutes full brightness runtime,
or 1:11 if you stop at the first step-down.
 
Radellaf, thanks for doing that test. I find it interesting that the 4.35V LG cell did not cause a problem in the SC62, because in the SC62 specifications, the operating voltage range is listed as 2.7V-4.2V.
 
I specifically asked ZL about that LG cell and they said the voltage was fine, but that they did not know how the battery might perform compared to the Panasonic.

I cared enough to ask, but didn't really expect +150mV to be a problem. The cells are rare enough I would expect it to be in a safe range, but nothing ZL would think to publish in a spec. Maybe if they get more common?

During use, of course, it would probably hold above 4.2 only in firefly modes. It cause me problems on the Bantam discharge test. I had to drain 50mAh with the 3 cell NiMH setting and then switch to LiPo otherwise it said "voltage high". Annoying they don't release a FW update for these cells, but now I have both a cottonpickers 4.35 and XTAR SP1 to handle charging. If I care to top off the last few 100mAhs, that is.
 
radellaf said:
Just wanted to throw this test result in here in case anyone is curious. I know 4.35V cells are not that popular, but I was curious how well the SC62w could use the energy in a battery with a very different discharge curve from the NCR18650B. ....
Click to expand...
:thumbsup:Thanks! This was a good test. It may be more 4.35V cells are appearing on the market.
 
I am not to picky about my lights as long as they are bright as hell. As i don,t have a lot of use for all of the technical data i am very low tech. a 30 year old revolver and my m1 garand seem to be what i always fall back to. i do however listen when the ef hutton of the flashlight review world talks. thus i have self edumacated on all these terms and must say another fine review sir. got mine ordered.
 
After following CPF for quite a while I've finally stopped lurking and registered an account. First stop is a Selfbuilt review to say thanks for all your effort and your comprehensive reviews - they're an awesome source of information. All you flashaholics here saved me a lot of time deciding what lights to get - and cost me a ton of money by showing me all those fancy lights that are out there :laughing:

I' ll give an SC62 to my father as a gift for christmas this year. I own the SC600 MKII L2 and after reading this review I knew at once that the SC62 is the right choice for my dad. He always made fun of the "stubby" look and the large head of my SC600 but liked the enormous output and the interface. The SC62 will hit exactly the sweet spot being as tiny as it is with such an impressive output. I'm pretty certain that my dad will like it and carry it every day.
Thanks for reviewing it in such detail :)
 
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