TK's Emisar D4 review

Eh, space isnā€™t a limitation on this light. Itā€™s using less than half the available bytes, and I might be able to get it down to a quarter with enough refactoring. I like this little stuff; itā€™s kind of my version of playing sudoku. Bigger and more complicated tends to feel more like ā€œworkā€ instead. And I particularly dislike dealing with bad architecture and bad architects, which tends to happen a lot with bigger projects.

With more space, people make bigger and weirder abstractions which cause bigger headaches. To see how that can go wrong, look at some of the stories here: The Daily WTF

Nice review TK!

My thoughts:

I love how it is simple which allows the basics to be done right.

It seems to me that any new light designs should highly consider on board charging. If I have a handful of lights to sell to the average joe, the last one chosen is the one without charging no matter how cool the light is. On the other hand, flashlight lovers donā€™t seem to care as much.

I thought the ā€œraptor clawā€ 7135 was considered a preferred brand. No? The fet used here must be a good one!

Itā€™s a very big bummer that the light needs to be ramped up every time it is turned on, or is this not the case? If there isnā€™t mode memory in a light like this, it would be better to have the light turn on at 5-600 lumens area. Then the light is useable in 90% if situation and also prevents danger from mode memory on the higher modes.

Iā€™m interested to see if there will be any revisions. And Iā€™ll be watching as I see a very desirable light! :slight_smile:

^ I see LightRider only read the first post. :smiley:

How do you really feel about Lennart Poettering? Sometimes we nerdy types find it hard to grasp social subtlety.

Regarding having a little more grip or knerling. I have found Talon Grips to work awesome. They are textured ā€œgrip tapeā€ that can be adhered to the light. They hold up GREAT to heat as well.

I have some on my R50PRO modded by Vinh as well as some on my Wizard Pro.

I use both of these lights for work daily and Talon Grips have held up perfectly.

They come in a rubberized surface or a sandpaper surface. I personally like rubberized.

Many gun enthusiasts use pre-cut Talon Grips on there gun handles for better grip. But, they also sell sheets of them as well for people like us.

Just another option. Advertisement doneā€¦ā€¦

Yes, I thought about giving that disclaimer as part of my post but decided regardless I would give my first impressions even though I knew my thoughts would be redundantā€¦ eh, Iā€™ll just be quiet til I find time to read next time.

Haha, no. Youā€™re good. I just like to tease people. :slight_smile:

Iā€™m glad you liked the review. And yes, thereā€™s a revision coming up soon which fixes the issue you mentioned. :slight_smile:

Well said right there.

Also, when where can we buy this light??

Soon, from Intl-Outdoor and Mtn Electronics.

If it passes final tests, itā€™ll probably be available pretty quickly.

Disclaimer: i only read the first two pagesā€¦

Thanks TK for the in depth review.
I can barely believe the numbersā€¦ 2k+ lumens on 18350 and 3k+ on 18650 right?
Is the head waterproof enough it can be used to heat up a cup/mug of tea/coffee? lol.

After the S42 snafu this is refreshingā€¦ sort of.

Iā€™m hoping for a revised UI too.

As i see it ramping is kinda cool but seems not very practical unless there are shortcuts to some predefined levels.
How about one, two, three click and long press from off to low/mid/high/turbo - similar to some DQG Tiny lights, then press and hold to ramp up/down if need be? One click to turn off. No memoryā€¦

I still want one! :slight_smile:

Iā€™ve been practicing my Professor Snape impersonation so I can inflect the proper degree of disdain when I trip over something he broke and exclaim, ā€œPoettering!ā€

This happens on a fairly regular basis.

Not this time. However, if you get Narsil flashed onto it, you can use its mode-group UI. It works almost exactly like you described.

HAHAHAHA :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, I got a programmer and a clip and dove head first into firmware flashingā€¦

I actually managed to get Narsil onto my D4! :partying_face:

It took a fair bit of head scratching and about 15 browser tabs, but I got it working on the first try!

TK: Thanks for the detailed review, updates on D4 UI tweaking, and your helpful flashing info. :+1:

TomE: Thanks for Narsil. I can practice with the D4 until the Q8 launches! :smiley:

Narsil is nice, no?

Be careful about heat though; Narsil doesnā€™t have the right kind of thermal management for a small hotrod light. Thatā€™ll probably happen soon though.

Yes, Narsil is sweet!

Thanks for the heat advisory. I set the stepdown temperature to the minimum by clicking just after the 5 second mark, but it still gets blazing hot while stepping down.

Yeah, Narsilā€™s thermal algorithm is calibrated for a much larger light. It doesnā€™t really work on the D4.

I tried an XP-L HI at 70 C ā€¦ and nothing exploded.

Compare to the same thing with a limit of 45 C:
(I cut this test short because it wasnā€™t as interesting)

At 70 C it was certainly painful to touch for more than a few seconds, even with cold fingers. But it didnā€™t actually damage anything, and it maintained what appears to be about 1500 lm for the duration of the test until LVP activated.

The 45 C test looks like it stabilized at about 800 lm or so.

Oh, and earlier I stuck one in the freezer on top of some ice. After just 2-3 minutes the ice had stuck itself to the aluminum and formed itself into a matching shapeā€¦ and I didnā€™t even have the light on. I was just cooling it off to check what the temperature readout mode would say if it was below zero. As expected, it told me the temperature was 252 degrees C. :slight_smile: (thatā€™s fixed now; it now treats below-zero as zero)

Edit: Remind me not to trust my phoneā€™s light sensor. I tried the 70 C test in my light box, and it appears to have stabilized at about 2250 lm, not 1500 lm.

Madame, very interesting light your're into. Thumbs up. A GB would have a good success imho....Can we have your avatar engraved in the green version?? ;P

What kind of inaccuracy does the phoneā€™s light sensor have? Is it indicating something along the lines of 40% when the output is actually 60%, or were you trying to treat the phoneā€™s ā€œluxā€ as actual lux?