Howdy doody folks. So my latest review is for the Imalent SA04 Touchscreen Flashlight. You have probably seen several reviews for this light, or maybe you haven’t because you’re not observant. It doesn’t matter. I finished this up today, and also decided it was time to give away a flashlight. How about this one? I’ve created a separate thread for the giveaway, with all the details, rules, and info. In the mean time watch this video that I spent a bunch of time on. There’s time lapse run time tests, a huge beamshot comparison section, plenty of real night use shots, and a full mode demonstration. Plus there’s plenty of bad jokes, depending on your definition of what a joke is. The video was shot with nice high definition cameras, and a combination of old and new lenses. I have a lot of fun making them, and try to create a mini-movie out of each one. This flashlight was provided by review by Imalent, but I decided to give it away. In the mean time, and until I create that other thread please hang out here! Thanks! Also, this just finished processing on Youtube, so the high definition option won’t be available for about 15 minutes from the creation of this thread… so hold your horses, if you’d like to see it in the best quality possible. It plays very well in full screen.
Edit: The Giveaway is over and the winner is forum member saypat. Thanks to everyone who participated!
And here’s the runtime test, taken from the video. There’s really no difference, other than I’m keeping people from having to scroll through the entire video to see it.
Excellent review, comparisons and demonstration. Great job, mhanlen! Your reviews fill a need … the tech reviews done by others are very good but, your videos with the revs, comps and demos [and humor ] completes the picture (sheds more Light on the item :bigsmile: )!
Your reviews will now save me time (from doing multiple website research) and gas (from having to drive over to the ‘store’ for hands-on testing). Thank you!
For people that are possibly interested in getting this light, you should take a look at my written review here as well. I covered a few other things as 'll, plus its easier to search for info ;)
Thanks for a great review! The dog did well but spiders and zombies are better actors imho. I hope we will see more strange cratures in the future, and more scenes from your creepy cellar
Grover is a great actor. I walked around for an hour with him and set up the camera in 2 dozen or so places and proceeded to walk him back and forth many times through the same areas. He loves going on walks, so he didn’t mind. I’d like more creepy creatures. If only I could find a bigger spider. I’m sure there’s one somewhere in the cellar!
I gather you are doing all of these reviews unassisted? I can appreciate how much work and planning must go into setting up cameras and then shooting the walk-throughs. Just one question. Is it easy to find such deserted locations? I sometimes wonder if you ever worry some joker will run off with one of your cameras while your back is turned?
I live in a fairly safe area, and not a lot of people are out at night… And these buildings are fairly close to my house…. Those buildings house businesses, but they’re converted old industrial buildings and railroad stations… It looks like an abandoned run down area, but it’s the opposite really. The fact no one seems to want to take walks at night allows me to work on these unbothered.
Make sure you post in the other thread linked above… So your post number is added to that thread. I will be choosing random post numbers from that one.
Wow, impressive review. Weird that they used xml for the warmer tint emitter. A high cri xml2 seems a better match for this apparently high quality light.
Thank you and your buddy for a very comprehensive, fact rich and entertaining review. :)
The manual and box state that it’s supposed to be an xml2 for both, but you can clearly see it’s an xml in the video. I haven’t checked if other people’s samples were that way, but just reporting what I found.
Great review man. That must have been time consuming…
edit: Subscribed. Loved the format. Too much ambient lights outside at night Need a less illuminated place!
Ok that was sort of intentional. I shot quite a bit of footage with no light other than the flashlight. 90% of the frame was pitch black with just the light. In order for a 1000ish lumen light to show up well… You need a tight shot or shoot in an enclosed place. Maybe if I had a faster lens it would have worked better. Most of the outdoor stuff at night was shot at about 1.9f. Maybe next time I could try a lower shutter angle to let more light in? I was trying to balance out interesting shots with shots of the actual light. Bigger lights in the 2000-3000 lumen range are just fine in pitch black though. Thanks man, glad you liked it!
Enjoyed the Imalent SA04 mini-movie quite much I watched it twice. Much preferred over the standard shot of set of hands fondling a light over a table. I got a pretty good idea as to how light would perform in a real life/field/street setting. Agree with using ambient street light as background comparison. Only additional shot would be a longer steady pause (slow or no wrist/light flipping action) with you in frame illuminating say the caboose at an angle from one end (2:06). From there showing min to max, cool to nw plus freakout modes. Viewer can get a better sense of light’s performance range as target is illuminated. Just my two beer cans.
] completes the picture (sheds more Light on the item :bigsmile: )!