After getting my Zebralight SC5w MK II I have fell in love with it’s design and quality. I didn’t think I’d like the 4500K tint, but I actually don’t mind it now! This is coming from someone who likes CW.
Now I’m thinking about getting a 18650 powered Zebralight.
I’m torn as to what would be the best bang for my $.
The four lights are: ( I do not include the high CRI versions due to 4000k is simply too yellow to my liking, and want to avoid the hideous green tint.)
SC600w Mk IV XHP 35
SC600w Mk IV HI XHP 35 <— Thinking about this one as it seems like you get the best of both worlds, flood and throw.
SC600w MK IV Plus XHP 50.2 <— This seems like the best option for brute force lumens but they don’t list the run times on zebralight.com
SC64w <— No run times listed.
These lights are expensive but man… they definitely are lights that fit the “You get what you pay for” category. I don’t mind the price. I use to scoff at Zebralight’s prices, but after owning one, I can see why they are priced as such!
I have the sc600 hi and it is very impressive. Many people feel like it is one of the best tints out of the SC 600 series. It has a pretty good punch and a decent amount of flood.
I’ve also owned the last rendition of the SC 600 plus xhp50 version. I thought it was too floody and i didn’t like the tint that much. Also due to the high output the step-down happened way too quickly in that version. I’m not sure if the latest rendition is better.
I do get decent run times and pretty high sustained output from my sc600 hi version. Most people that have the hi version love it.
Thank you for the input, makes it a lot easier to narrow down my choices! Is your SC600 a 4500k tint ot 4200k tint? Hopefully it is no lower than 4500k. I was looking at a YouTube video and it was showing 4200k for the HI version. A SC600w MK IV was compared to the SC5w (4500k) in the video. On Zebra’s web page it shows the SC600w MK IV @ 4500k.
The SC64w will clip into the corner of your pocket and you won’t even know it’s there.
The clip is screwed on and slightly smaller body make it a great EDC.
I’m still sporting an SC62d, it only has 300 lumens output so I can’t offer any firsthand info.
If 1000+ lumens is a level you would access regularly, and for extended periods, then the larger one might work better for you.
Recently got a sweet used SC32 from a BLF member and wanted to offer a couple observations:
*The “cool” tint of modern lights is nothing like we used to suffer with. All of the CRI tables and comparisons are great info and can help someone make an educated buying decision, but I also don’t like some of the extra yellow at 4000k and I’m not using any light for inspecting Rembrants. As long as I can tell the difference between some twisted pairs or it doesn’t make it look like I’m in a funhouse then I’m fine with tints above 5000k. It also has a lot to do with the environment you’ll be using it in mainly.
*The silver, more rounded clip has good retention and slips over your pocket seam easier than the new black clips with 3 holes.
The new clip offers better retention but more resistance when putting it away and pulling it out, if you use it a lot there may be wear issues on your pants.
Well I guess it seems I have enough flooders right now Marauder x7/MF-01. I guess I need some throw. EDC has been covered with buying the SC5w MK II already. My current 18650 EDC is a Jaxman E2L triple TIR @ 900 lumens. It can maintain 900 lumens with no stepdown. Looking to fill that gap. I was hoping the Wuben T046R would be the replacement but now I’m not so sure. I’ve recently learned that T046R can only output 1300 lumens for 1 minute and then step down to 600 lumens. Seems kinda lame.