Alright let’s get to a review I’ve been working on ok putting for months.
As far as I know it has been requested more than any thing probably in the past year-
except for quitting Youtube- the Emisar D4 a compact every day carry flashlight that
costs about $40- and $2 more if you want a pocket clip for the pocketable flashlight.
Now you might think it’s taken me months because of all the testing and the comprehensiveness
of the review but I don't want to give that impression- I just got sick of doing them.
The Emisar D4 is a quad LED emitter pocketable light made by the same company that made the
Noctigon meteor with firmware programmed by Toykeeper and Tom E members of budget light
forum and flashlight geniuses.
It takes a single high drain lithium ion battery in the 18650 size or smaller if you purchase
different battery tube extensions- and can either be purchased from Intl Outdoors or
Mtn Electronics online- unless you know someone who owns it so you can steal it from them.
It comes with a spare oring only- pocket clips and a smaller extension tubes are sold separately…
the smaller battery tube allows you to run smaller sized lithium ion batteries which
can make the light and runtimes shorter.
Also no damn lanyard.
It’s made from aluminum and comes in several colors and emitter options for different tints
and brightnesses.
My version is the Nichia 219c version and I chose it because of the high CRI or real
good color rendering.
And as far as value for the money it’s probably the finest EDC light you can buy at this price
or less.
Namely because of it’s great range of brightness, small size, and easy to use operation, and
because I've been drinking.
Cool end of review.
Just kidding it’s gonna be real long, let’s look at the output levels.
GET OUT NOW>>> My estimated numbers and the manufacturers are on screen.
The Emisar D4 has a ramping brightness scale, meaning no traditional individual modes.
It has it’s lowest level which is a moonlight-ish mode which is good at about 3/4 a lumen. and
then if you press and hold it goes all the way up to it’s maximum brightness.
That’s actually a really large range for a tiny every day carry flashlight.
Remember ANSI standards state the brightness and throw should be measured at 30 seconds
in… however I have included startup and 30 seconds in.
This light is tiny has an insane amount of brightness and begins stepping down quick
unless you follow the firmware instructions and set the temperature threshold higher.
I measured how it comes from the factory.
Ok how about the user interface.
Make sure you put the positive end of the battery facing the part where the light comes
out.
If you have the battery in backwards for an extended period of time it will damage your
light- and also you're a moron.
There are battery check modes, momentary modes, lockouts, and thermal programming that will
allow you to change the amount of time before the light steps down on turbo.
But you can figure all those out from the basic instructions all by yourself.
Basic operation is as follows.
A quick press turns on and off the ligh… it will come on in the last mode you used
unless you access a shortcut to turbo or moonlight mode.
Press and hold for a shortcut to get to moonlight from off.
It’s great because you can always access the lowest mode and not have to guess which
mode it was on last which sounds like it could be the least interesting guessing game ever-
and then you work up to a brighter mode.
To get to turbo from off or while on just double click and yell flashlight ON.
Again…
easy access to the highest brightness.
For regular operation press once it turns on in the last mode you used press and then
press and hold and it goes up the brightness scale.
Once it reaches the highest level it stops… release and then press and hold again and
it goes all the way down and stops.
If at any time when going up or down the brightness scale to go the opposite direct release quickly
and press and hold again to go the opposite way.
And of course you just release the button at any time once you find a desired level
of brightness.
If you have released the button for more than two seconds and then press and hold again
it will go the way you were going to begin with… again a release and quick press and
hold again allows it to go the opposite way.
This is about as easy and intuitive the operation for a flashlight gets.
Unless of course you count no flashlight.
If you think otherwise your wrong.
The light uses an electronic switch meaning it’s in a standby mode always, so if you’d
like to lock it out mechanically when its in a pocket or a bag give the tailcap a slight
turn.
That way it doesn't turn on, on accident.
Ok runtime.
For this test I used an unprotected Samsung 18650 30q 3000 mah battery with a flat top
cell.
Use high drain batteries in this light only.
Most protected cells won’t fit because of length.
In fact if you don’t own Samsung 30q you should.
Here are the listed batteries that work with this light that I pulled off Mtn.
Electronics website- if the battery you own is not on the list you need to buy one.
If you buy a battery from Mtn.
Electronics then you know it’s a legit good battery and not a fake.
That’s not an opinion that’s a fact.
I buy about 80% of my Batteries from him and the rest from a vape shop next to the liquor
store and sex shop.
Alright the D4 steps down and since it doesn’t have individual brightness levels I only tested
turbo I promise this review will be long enough anyway.
But when you upload your video you can do as many runtimes as you want.
In the frame is a lux meter that shows the light drop.
At startup I measured 3,330 lumens.
Holy shit.
At about a minute in the thermal throttling is working overdrive and we hit 870 lumens…
2 minutes in 165 lumens.
If you want longer brighter sustained brightness levels start out on low and work up to the
brightness you need.
At about 20 minutes in were still at 165 lumens.
And then you’ll see it starts to get brighter slowly- it takes a while to shed that heat.
You can always set your temperature threshold higher too, the rule of thumb is whatever
you can barely hold.
At an hour and 15 minutes in were back about 270 lumens- again I’m estimating based on
lux conversions here and my tested outputs on maximum Most of my use is about 300 lumens
or less so I don’t use the extreme brightness much.
Also if you use it in colder climates and different ambient temperatures performance
and step downs will be different.
Brightness has been gradually fluctuating up and down and 2 hours were somewhere about
230 lumens.
As time passes brightness drops and gain and 5 hours in at about 230 lumens battery juice
is getting low and we drop down to where I can’t read the light meter.
I would guess under 10 lumens… then as time drags on close to 7 hours it’s sub moonlight
as I end the test at 7 hours 34 minutes with a battery voltage of about 2.9 volts.
This light basically drops down to give you emergency light- it does have low voltage
protection however I didn’t see how many hours that took.
Ok how about Beamshots.
For this section I will compare the light to many of todays most popular and reviewed
every day carry lights which I own because I am rich and also I got some for free.
Ok I'm not rich- rich people don't waste their money on this many of the same things.
First up is the Emisar D4 remember children this light is small puts out more light than
any light this size should so it steps down fast cause it gets hot.
It could literally burn a whole in your pocket.
I would describe the tint as fairly neutral with not much tint shift across the beam with
no warmth to my eyes.
Mine is the 219C version which is reported to be about 5000k color temperature and a
90 CRI.
I Next up is the new Zebralight SC600 Fc IV Plus which is a warmer tinted light at about
4000k.
Also very bright.
I prefer the tint on the Zebralight which is just my like opinion, and the Zebralight
has a slightly lower moonlight mode.
It's slightly larger too in the hand.
Both are floodyish lights and I like both almost equally.
Next is the Olight S2 Copper.
This is another light I like- and probably my favorite looking but it's also heavy and
has a cool white tint, I don't like cooler white tints as much as neutral or warm tints
because I'm allowed to have an opinion.
Back to the Emisar for a minute.
I mean not a full minute because that would just be padding a review.
Next is my old favorite every day carry the Zebralight SC600 Mk II... this is a throwier
light.
A bit more useful when you need to see things further away... usually the tighter and denser
the hot spot the better the beam travels I also like the tint on this one.
Back to the floodier emisar which is better for closeup work and a better indoor styled
beam pattern.
Now the Nitecore MH20GT.
This one is throwier even than the Zebralight SC 600w Mk II HI, because it uses a throwier
emitter and has a bigger reflector.
When I say throwy I mean in this class light...
I don't mean a flashlights in general...
these are good for a few hundred feet at most.
If you want more than that look for lights in the close to 100,000 candela or higher.
Now the BLF A6.
Remember this one?
This light has a warm tint, that I really like.
However because it has a mechanical switch it's not possible to have instant access to
turbo or moonlight.
You can turn mode memory off and always start on low, but then you have to press and hold
from low to get to turbo.
I have always liked Zebralights because of the shortcuts to modes, so the Emisar D4 is
pretty close to one of those.
Ok how about a Zebralight SC5 mk II which is a double AA light which is one of the brightest
single AA lights you can have... still under 500 lumens but it gives you a frame of reference.
A nice warm tint.
Ok how about my other quad emittered light the Astrolux S41- you can stop watching at
any time… this light has a slightly larger flood than the Emisar because of different
optics or lens.
It’s nice and neutral.
And just to test your patience.
Here is a split screen between the two zebra lights the emisar and astrolux.
I stopped down the camera so you can see the beam profile better…
note the flood on the sides and intensity in the center.
Compare, which do you like better.
Ok we're done here.
Let's wrap it up.
I have had this light for a few months now- as evidenced by the part where I'm putting
up the Christmas lights.
Or maybe I'm just really early.
I've dropped it many times and it works great.
It puts out an insane amount of light for being so small...
however since it heats up fast it's short lived.
Think of the turbo as a burst mode only to be used for a few seconds.
The good news is theres lower levels for all the other times.
I rarely use anything close to 1000 for most instances...
300 lumens is a good high for me, as is 100 lumens... close up stuff maybe 10 lumens or
less.
However it's there when you need it.
If you need a light that can sustain 1000 lumens by a big light and not this one.
A few things to note.
The light is waterproof and dustproof to IPX67 standards... that's like bad weather rain
snow sleet ice... and shallow temporary submersions of 1 meter of non corrosive fluids or less.
It's flexible and can use multiple sizes of batteries if you purchase the separate tubes.
Make sure you buy the pocket clip too.
I used a convoy s2 pocket clip and it works ok... but I should have bought the one made
for it...
i accidentally ordered it not paying attention.
But that's a terrible story.
Also the anodization on the lens bezel isn't quite the same color as the rest of the light.
I don't give an F but I have seen people argue for pages and days on the internet about it.
I wish I were joking.
The anodization is nice and grippy, and holds up well unless you drop it on concrete.
Look for my Zebralight SC600 Mk IV review coming up soon, as well as my BLF GT review.
Hopefully unless I lose interest.
If you like outdoor gear reviews subscribe to my channel, give this video a thumbs up,
leave a comment and thanks for sitting through a flashlight review- hopefully you've been
drinking.
Links to places to purchase the lights are below as well as the fan fiction thread over
on BLF.
Thanks for watching.
Emisar D4 Flashlight Review.
A $40 3,300 lumen beast EDC- one of the smallest brightest torches ever.