TK's Emisar D4 review

[quote=patmurris]

I donā€™t think it would be a good idea.
The UI has a lot of things that you can make, and if you have 3 light with all different modes, you will get confused a lot.

I would love if the driver from the D4 would be free to buyā€¦
That UI on a 12*XP-G2 King or soā€¦

[quote=L4M4]

Updates should be done and a system/service put in place to update the drivers on previous lights if desired. I have about 35 flashlights with different UIs at home. We can handle an updated UI. :slight_smile:

Only 35?
pfff n00b :smiley:
I donā€™t have a problem with different UIs, but if UIs are 95% similar, you will get confused about which UI you have right now.
Also, I think the UI is really good. Most of the time you just need the ramping or the double-click 100% mode.

I love the UI, but would happily invite any updates.

Progress and updates go hand in hand.

Progress is welcome in my collection. Itā€™s highly anticipated as a matter of fact.

You go TK!

My D4 with a S2+ clip 1cm. shortened in length and again folded.

I have about 35 flashlights with different UIs at home. We can handle an updated UI. :slight_smile:
[/quote]

share your secret - what do you have, a filing system? With 100+ lights, Iā€™m lost in a sea of UIs. Lights like the Nitecore EC11 are especially troublesome to remember :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah, been getting rid of a lot of lights. Picking out the most useful and getting rid of the Queens and anything that sits unused for more than a few months. Yeah, I have the Nitecore EC11 modified with a 4000k emitter. Selling that one too. Cool little light though!

Thanks for the data CRX!

here is another ~1000 lumen light, and its runtime graph Both the D4 and the PT-18 have similar runtime, once you factor the different mAh of each battery, ~1200 for the 18350 in the D4 and ~2600 for the 18650 in the PT-18
pic from uPZ is a link

It looks like Hank is almost ready to release the D1.

From what I can tell, the Emisar D series has (or will have) the following lights:

  • D4: ~12 kcd / ~3800 lm ~4 cd / lm (pocket rocket flooder)
  • D1: ~40 kcd / ~1500 lm, ~26 cd / lm (general-purpose throwy light)
  • D1S: ~120 kcd / ~1500 lm, ~80 cd / lm (compact dedicated thrower, like a better C8)
  • D7: ~84 kcd(?) / ~7000 lm, ~12 kcd(?) (soda can light)

Now, only the D4 has actual specs so farā€¦ the rest are guesses.

I think the D1 and D4 will probably be the most practical general-purpose lights in the series, one as a flooder and one as a compact throwy light, but Iā€™d really like to see something in-between ā€” something D4-sized with a reflector and perhaps 10 to 15 cd / lm.

And deep-carry clips for the D4, D1, and D1Sā€¦ including one which fits the 18350 size. These lights really need clips.

Could we keep the politics elsewhere?

[quote=L4M4]

UI and drivers evolution as a whole is one of the things that keeps this forum ticking. You canā€™t really argue against it.

Now i understand a manufacturer would want to have a one line of lights with the same UI for consistencyā€¦ This is somewhat a hard choice to make when things are moving fast and you want to stay on the cutting edge. Even Simon at Convoy has started to replace the half a decade old 3/5 modes drivers with a new one running Biscoti on the S (and C?) line.

The main issue i have with the actual V2 UI on the D4 is that the default single click is unpredictable. It can be anything between moon and turbo regardless of the last level you ramped to. A single burst of turbo with a double click from off will reset the last used level to max - which will probably come as a surprise the next time you turn on the light. As i understand the Q8, GT and FW3A will not behave like thatā€¦

D7 is such a bad boyā€¦ :cowboy_hat_face:

This is a great idea. I love the size of the D4 with an 18350 tube but it sucks the cells dry in very little time. A single emitter in the same size would be much more practical and Iā€™d finally have a good use for my 18350 cells.

Clips would be wonderful as well. The Convoy on my D4 with the longer tube works but isnā€™t elegant to say the least.

As far as Iā€™m aware, theyā€™ll have the D4 v2 UI. However, Iā€™d be willing to update it if Hank is interested. I sent him a message about it yesterday. Iā€™m not sure he wants to make it all fancy like what I like, but I could still fix a few little things at least.

Iā€™ve also had some ideas for improving thermal regulation, but I havenā€™t tried them yet. I should probably do that soon. Mostly Iā€™ve been playing with the new UI toolkit I made.

Iā€™m also hoping the D7 is reasonably priced. Something in the $75 range would be amazing (and possibly asking too much) but the D4 (and now D1) are perched at a really wonderful price point and are selling like hotcakes (pun intended!).

^ I also hope D7 will be available in green as wellā€¦ Weā€™ve seen small green lightsā€¦ But a light the size of a D7 would be just amazing in greenā€¦ :smiley:

+1

I would be interested in a second D4 for me, if there were any of the small improvements in the interface, which you commented in previous post. I would like above all: that the Turbo or tactical mode could be limited to lower values (60 or 70%).

Well done! I just might give that a try.

Love that pink fur thing! :heart_eyes: