Emisar D4S review

Coscar -

Thanks for your welcome. There is real nice camaraderie here on BLF. Everyone helps each other.

Yes, Alaska in winter, with its lonnnnng dark nights, is a great place for flashlights!

I went out again tonight and witnessed an extra bonus: pale green waves of Northern Lights!

Yes, Frumious, nice little essay there on how these compare. I’m not surprised you found them so close in overall performance, nor am I the least bit surprised that it’s the run time and heat that creates the division between the two.

I was surprised to see your report, a friend of mine just got back from Alaska and he really enjoyed his week long excursion. Lights, especially really good lights, are notably essential for that climate. Glad you found the right ones and that you’re enjoying them. Is it safe to leave the Li-ion’s in the glove box? I mean, overnight temps can be brutal… not something I’ve ever had to worry about so I’d likely forget and maybe kill a good light or at least a good set of cells.

Welcome aboard! (hide your wallet!)

I don’t recall seeing it mentioned elsewhere: how is low on the aux LEDs implemented? 2nd digital out pin and resistor?


Still loving my green/cyan XP-L 4k (can never remember the color code), which spends most of its time in aux hi as an expensive nightlight. The FET gets very little use, as the 7135 mode is so much brighter than the D4, that it’s usually enough. It is the best tint of any light except maybe the SC600m3hi. I guess the HI is a nicer beam than the 2, and four of them evens out the corona even further. Lanyard spike isn’t annoying me as much. Sorta wishing I got the magnet tailcap.

@DB Custom, as long as you don’t charge them in the cold, no problem at all. Also, get him some high drain cells, or even high drain 30A ones.

The lower the internal resistance, the less cold will affect performance.

TKDR: DON’T CHARGE CELLS IN THE COLD.

That is important advice for anything that uses LiIon batteries. Laptop, phone, whatever. It may sense the temperature and disable or limit charging, or it may not. I really don’t need an unhappy 26650 cell in the house. Also why I wish for a 21700 Emisar, since IDK if we’ll ever see one of the big mfg making a 26650. Wish we would, it’d probably be 6Ah.

Thanks for the welcome DB Custom!

Good question about Li-ions in a cold glove box. I had to think about that for a moment. No, that is not a problem. In fact, one of the hot selling items up here is a Li-ion car jump-starting battery that you leave in your car all winter. It is amazing how small these are - about the size of a small paperback book. I charge it in the fall and it holds its charge through the winter.

Thanks BlueSwordM. I did not know the connection between internal resistance and the effects of cold on battery performance. Fortunately, most of my batteries are high drain. I’ll keep the others out of the cold.

Hey, look another Alaskan!

I use my D4S a ton more than my Q8 as the Q8’s are sitting inside each of the doors (front and back) right now. I don’t like how much pocket space they use in my jacket. For smaller pocket carry it is still the D4 because, well crazy lights are fun.

The Q8 badly needs a wrist strap. Walking out and getting into my truck with my hands full (pool cue case, drinking cup, truck keys, maybe a snack, and the Q8), I’m really scared I’m going to drop the Q8 on the pavement.

Hi Strayz. Small world isn’t it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more Alaskans on this site. Can’t do without good flashlights up here during the dark half of the year. And this site is terrific for learning about portable lights: headlamps, fat bike lights, rifle lights, camping lanterns, search lights….you name it, we need good lighting gear. I have a friend who goes ocean diving in the dark winter - he needs lights.

I’m a fan of the Q8, but size matters. The D4S is a handier size. And, yes, its a crazy, fun, bright light.

Is there a chance that Emisar will make a short tube for the D4S? I know that with a 26350 it can’t be that bright but in some situations size counts more than output and you will not use it on full turbo many times. However I like the “fatty” look similar to the Fitorch P25. And of course I have 26350 batteries and not many lights that need them.

Thanks for the feedback.

The D4S (XPL-Hi) was just a few days old when I did that video, I had not calibrated the thermal configuration yet. But we’re in a hot tropical climate (it’s stll arond 30 degree Celsius ambient temperature here right now, in the evening). While reviewing the D4S video, I notice the brightness stepped down quite quickly (I hadn’t noticed it when I was capturing the video with my digicam), which is also why I did the video twice, to show the brightness when in Turbo.

As far as I know, using the internal pull-up resistor of the MCU. Which is why it’s a fixed level which can’t be adjusted higher. You could change high level fairly easily by changing the resistor on the aux board.

Not just as far as you know. That’s the way it is implemented.

High = Pin set to output and pulled high
Low = Pin set to input and ~30…60k PullUp enabled.

Zeroflow’s description is correct. The high/low/off thing is something I stumbled upon kind of by accident back in 2014. I’m not sure it’s meant to work that way, but it works, so I’ve been using it ever since.

I noticed today that the D4S is now also offered with another emitter, XP-L HD. Has anyone tested/reviewed the D4S yet in this configuration?

And will this emitter also be offered for the D4 series?

I saw that too. So many options available now.

I think I’ll make my decision once I see some side-by-side beam shots and throw measurements. HD vs HI…hmmmm…which will I choose?

The HD they have now is going to be for wide flood. Similar to the Nichia but brighter due to the V6 flux bin. The XPL HI will outthrow it and have a more defined, yet still wide, hotspot.
It’ll be interesting to see beam shots. If you have a short but wide backyard it will light it up without penetrating. brightly, maybe 150-200 feet is my guesstimate. I have the D4S in both Nichia and a V3 HI. The Nichia doesn’t light up the darkness beyond 125 feet. The XPL HI reaches, brightly, much farther, double the distance of the Nichia. I really like the XPL HI in this quad torch, it’s a wonderful choice. The HD may gain some traction with those who don’t want the reach; it has its uses too.

Now if only they would offer it in 3000k I’d buy two more!

Good information! Thanks.

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