TK's Emisar D4 review

I started reading this thread and got pretty far in trying to get a feel for which emitter to go for. I can’t afford all of them and didn’t want to commit before getting a good consensus. Finally choose the grainy white body and XP G2 S4 3D 4885. Almost went for my first Nichia but chickened out at the last minute. Maybe next time. Not much written about the white version. Any feedback appreciated. Can’t wait for it to arrive and look forward to playing with it. Thanks all.

Seems like I am always late to the party, just found out about this light and now have an urge to want one. Seems like Mountain Electronics is sold out of all of them except the Nichia. I have tried messaging them last week and didn’t get anything back, anyone know how often they get these back in stock?

the D4 is still discounted at intl outdoor, and all varieties are in stock including the XP-L HI (did not check Nichia). I got mine from there (Nichia 219C), ordered May 30 and received in June 18.

Thank you very much good sir!! I will check them out I try to keep what I can purchase wise in the US, but looks like this time gotta go international. Thank you big time!

:+1: :beer:

Yes , this is one time that ordering from China is advised. $35 vs $40, free shipping, XP L HI option half the price, direct from the manufacturer . It all adds up. Longer shipping to US is the only negative. Also had the only textured option if you are so inclined.

I swapped some Nichia 219B 4500K R9080 emitters into one of my D4s today. :partying_face:

Here’s a first-run D4 with Nichia 219C 5000K 80+ CRI emitters on the left, and the new rosy D4 on the right:

These photos were shot using a custom white balance for each tint. The photos look nearly identical, but the reds get redder.

Click to embiggen:

And here they are compared in a .gif:

EDIT: Photos updated due to white balance issues.

I find the picture looks more true to life on my calibrated monitor with the 5000K 219C’s.

+1

looks like it needs white balance

Indeed! I royally goofed on the custom white balance settings! :person_facepalming:

I’m going back to repair my post now…

On a non-tint related note, I measured 15.5A at start with my D4 (Nichia 219B sw45k installed) using Samsung 30Q.

Hi guys,

What Emisar D4 model & components would you recommend for lighting HVAC ducts 15 inch square 5-10 meters long from inside, and why that model? Main criteria is for the lighting to be even along the length, good for clear photos at any duct point, not only at the flashlight mount or the opposite duct end. Or may be you can suggest a better fit flashlight for such application, but it must be compact enough, 2-3 inches in diameter.

Welcome to BLF! :smiley: If you’re taking photos you’ll probably want the Nichia 219c version for the 90cri, though I’m not sure how bright you’ll need to set it to see 10m. If you dont have batteries make sure the ones you get are capable of at least 15A continuous.

Can you explain, why this version is better suited that other, since I’m a total nub in flashlights selection? Would it deliver even lighting along the entire duct length? Should it be standard white, or softer color? How long it can lit up the duct continuously on one battery with enough light for photos? What the flashlight temperature would be - too hot to touch by hand?

The Nichia LED’s are generally regarded as producing the best tint (colour of beam) out of the emitter options; a very consistent, clean white. The Nichia 219c used in the D4 also has a CRI (colour rendering index, I.E how true to life it shows colours as, higher is better) of 90+, whereas the other Cree LED’s have 70+cri. So its the best option for taking pictures of objects. Its a cool-neutral white (~5000k) which is close to daylight which should also help.

Now, my Nichia D4 hasnt arrived yet, so I’m speaking purely off my knowledge of flashlights on this part (I could well be wrong on some things!! :stuck_out_tongue: ). The D4 is a floody light, meaning it has a very wide, even beam. This would be my only concern for your application. Flood lights dont throw as far (the beam doesn’t reach out as far), so you would likely have to turn up the brightness to compensate. The D4 will light up things 10 meters away, its just that I’m not sure what brightness level you’d have to have it on. There are ways to calculate using the cd/lm rating but I’m not entirely sure what intensity you’d need to take a photo. (Anybody know / able to comment?) Again, my light hasn’t arrived yet so I’m personally not able to comment on the heat output / runtime.

Hope that helps!

I would recommend the Astrolux MF01 instead. Has very high quality LEDs which have very good color rendition, like a portable sun.

Has stable output as the cells drain, does not heat up to the same level as the D4, and has much longer battery life.

While being a lot thicker, it does have a tripod mount, so you can keep it stable.

I think for your purpose, the Haikelite SC26 with the XP-L HI NW or the Sofirn C8F would work better than the D4 because they are much throwier so it should more evenly illuminate the entire length of duct, whereas the D4 is very floody so you will get alot of glare around the flashlight at the duct opening and your camera will not be able to pickup anything at the end of the duct.

Thanks for the comparison. I opened the full size photos and compared them. The 9080 definitely makes the colors much more saturated, which I prefer.

Did you measure lumen output on the 219B 9080? I wonder if it is safe to constantly run turbo on the 219B because that’s what most people do with the D4. I’m planning to put some 9080 219B in my D4 too.

For evenly lighting the inside of a long narrow duct, I’d select a light almost entirely based on its beam pattern, not its CRI. And you’re going to need a thrower, not a flooder. The D4 is a flooder.

A D4 will only really light up the near end. Even though it can throw light 10m without trouble, the near end will be so overexposed that you probably won’t be able to see the far end at all.

So instead of a D4, you might want to consider the D1. It’s much more throwy.

It’ll be hard to find anything with the exact beam pattern needed for this particular use though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything with a beam which would evenly illuminate the inside of a duct. You would need a very particular beam pattern to make that work.

Maybe you could use a D1S (even more throwy) with some DC-Fix on the lens. Or maybe on part of the lens. That might make it able to reach both the near end and the far end at the same time.

Blue Sword, the Astrolux MF01 uses XP-G3’s which are known for producing odd colors in the aura and spill, not exactly good for taking pictures inside a tube. Way overkill for that, I’d think.

I mean, he’s still almost point blank at those distances he’s stated and after all, the light can’t go anywhere but down the HVAC tube, right? So no light is escaping. 30 feet long? Child’s play for these lights! And the Astrolux is 3 times the price as well.