I like this light. AA's. Many modes. Well made. I can't find any reviews here on it! Anyone care to chirp in on it?
thanks,
patrick
It is a good light, but Quark doesn't exactly fall in to the budget category. The only experience I have owning a Quark light was a Mini AA2, and I was really not that impressed.
I had a tactical version of the 123^2 Quark and there is a review of it here. I wound up returning it due to pre-flash which is a major defect of the tactical Quarks, though you don't hear all that much about it unless you go looking for it. Great light except for that. My understanding is they have new electronics in some of their lights that have resolved the issue, but now they don't offer neutral white versions anymore. The other problem I have with that model is it wasn't made for 18650's, so I would have had to buy 17670's. I'm really hoping 4Sevens snaps out of the coma they've been in lately and starts innovating again.
The regular 2xAA Quark should be pretty good and the regulars don't have much pre-flash.
It's a good light apart from the pre-flash issue that seem to be affecting most if not all of them. There are other good lights in the same price range that does not suffer from pre-flash though.
Sorry for the dumb question, but... what is the pre-flash?
Pre-flash is a short burst of light with high intensity right after turning the flashlight on in a low mode. Turned me away from the Quarks. Just imagine, you expect ultra-low moonshine mode with 0.2 lumen in the middle of the night, but first you get a tenth-of-a-second burst of 200 lumen high when turning it on. Bugger!
You have to experience these Quarks. Those pre-flashes are hard to see. At least that's how is on my quarks regulars. I regularly use 0.2 lumen in the middle of the night but I have never experienced a 200 lumen blinding flash. I wonder if it's a tenth of a second with my quarks. When I use my DSRL with a 1/10 shutter time seems like ages compared to a 1/100 sec shutter speeds.
It starts in high mode for 1/5th of a second before switching to a lower output. It is especially noticeable when turning the light on after it has been off for a while, less so if it has recently used.
It is much greater on the tactical versions than the regular models. I think all of the models flash Low before they come on in Moonlight mode, but that isn't that bad.
If you really want to see how it looks look at the video I've shot. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LVQ0IOQ0
It's quark regular AAx2 and 123x2. Total darkness. The head is loosen, it can go to 200L.
But I just can't be bother by the preflash. In reality it's almost unnoticeable, at least with mine. In the video it's very clear that they preflash.
I have a Quark MiNi AA2. It's a good light, well built with a good interface. But, that Cree XP-G S2 LED is such a horrible cool white that it is unbearable to me. I bought a Xeno E03 with a neutral white XML to replace it. If only the Xeno started in low mode. But, after taking the Xeno camping, I see why it starts in medium.
If you don't mind the horribly low CRI of the XPG LED and the very high frequency PWM (barely noticeable), then go for it because they are really well built. I would wait on a neutral white, IMHO.
Thanks for the replies and video ;) Yup, my ITP C7 "suffers" similar thing on lowest settings, but it should be 1/100 of a second and only 200% brighter (than lowest setting of course). I can't even notice it all the time, only sometimes. Watching that video, it's more noticeable on Quark, but still wouldn't bother me (personally).
I've been searching both budget and no-so budget lights within that price range that have a "moonlight" mode of less than .5 lumens. Do you know of any other brands (other than Sunwayman) that includes that includes a "moonlight" mode?
Thanks in Advance
Thrunite with the Neutron series/family. 0.09 Lumens . Firefly they call it , lower than the 4Sevens' Moonlight 0.2 Lumens.
I'm not sure, but I don't think Sunwayman has anything lower than 4 Lumens.
I've owned a Quark AA2 Tactical R5 for about a year. I paid $50 from Optic Planet and have thought some about doing a review. I bought it during my time at CPF when I frequented the 4Sevens sub-forum. What made me actually pull the trigger was a video review by Nutnfancy and my (then) belief that $50 was a great price for such a light. 4Sevens founder David Chow readily acknowledges CPF for giving him his start for what has become, after only about 3 years, a world wide supplier with hundreds of dealers selling his product.
To fair, it is an exceptional flashlight with all the benefits inherent in a consumer freindly/safe product. Their site list it at 205 lm but I thought I read somewhere it was 180 ANSI. In any event, it is pretty damn bright for a 2 x AA flashlight and the ultra-low, low is something I've yet to see done as well in a Chinese light.
I got the tactical version because I thought I wanted all the modes (it has 8, I think with hidden modes which I do like) but this version has an exposed switch which precludes tail-standing, which I do not like. It's got one of the best pocket clips in the business (removable/reversible) the threads are square and the knurling feels very "tactical." The anodization is probably the one weakness I've experienced. If you've ever used an L2P under real conditions, you know how tough good anodization can be and my Quark has chips that leave this anno looking too much like paint for my liking.
Your $50 gets you the light, a very long, high quality lanyard, a nifty rubber thingy that lets the light ride on the back of your hand, a holster, batteries and what is perhaps the most expensive box a flashlight ever came in. It feels like suede and has a magnetic flap that opens to a window presenting the light. Makes you feel like you bought something pretty special but I have to say; it is one of my least used lights.
It has performed great however, in its role as an interior "dome light" of sorts inside my JanSport backpack.
Foy
ps - The pre-flash is a lot to do about nothing. It would certainly be an issue for a night-sniper which, I'm sure, effects nearly all of us.