Emisar D4

[blah9]

For indoors, I prefer D4 Nichia 219c,but for outdoor use, I prefer D4vn XPG2-PDT. Vinh's XPG2-PDT is warmer than the Nichia 5000K.

Yes, that's a fair assessment. Indoors the floodier beam is pretty nice when looking at something closeup. The D4vn isn't too narrow still though, so if I have to grab just one light and don't know what the situation will be then I'll probably just take the D4vn with me.

 

[iamlucky13]

I bet you'll come to appreciate more humble and long running, regulated 18650 powered lights in the future.
For a really good, functional comparison with the Emisar's driver,
consider saving for an 18650 Zebralight next.

I've got the savings for it, but I'm forcing myself to be disciplined. For the present time, my high output, long runtime needs are met.

Actually, I originally figured when the mark IV Zebralights come out, I'd get an SC600w. The D4 being available with Nichia emitters, which I knew meet my expectations for color rendering, at half the price and with a very well liked UI, altered that plan. I still would like to get one eventually - regulated output and knowing what my light level is are also features I really appreciate. The D4 makes it a bit too easy sometimes to just ramp up as much as you want and burn through battery life in a hurry. Whenever a Zebralight might finally happen for me, I'm sure both lights will see plenty of use.

 

[oKtosiTe]

Decent amount of light, sipping frugally at the mah, ZL have to be considered for a compact long lasting light tool, an actual EDC light that runs on 18650 fuel for me. I do carry other 18650 lights (EDC), but for me ZL have changed the game.

IMO it more than likely wont replace a zebralight for ZL fans, but it could make a great companion................Maybe similar in looks/style in ways, but beams,LED choices and UI are different enough to justify several of each.

I just ordered my D4 a few days ago, so it will be a little while before I have it in my hands, but I fully agree about the Zebralights.
I've bought a number of lights before (Nitecore, 4Sevens, Fenix, Olight), but nothing I've seen or heard of combines output, runtime, reliability and practicality as well as my SC600-III's do. As a visually impaired person I need access to a lot of lumens, something I can easily carry around with me, something that easily gives me the right amount of light without blinding me, but most of all I need to be able to rely on my flashlight. Zebralight gets this balance just right, IMHO.
The D4 will serve a niche use, but I have no illusions about it replacing the Zebralights for EDC. Perhaps I'll now start carrying a D4 and an SC600-III instead of two SC600-III's. Just to get that full blast when I need it.

 

[ven]

I just ordered my D4 a few days ago, so it will be a little while before I have it in my hands, but I fully agree about the Zebralights.
I've bought a number of lights before (Nitecore, 4Sevens, Fenix, Olight), but nothing I've seen or heard of combines output, runtime, reliability and practicality as well as my SC600-III's do. As a visually impaired person I need access to a lot of lumens, something I can easily carry around with me, something that easily gives me the right amount of light without blinding me, but most of all I need to be able to rely on my flashlight. Zebralight gets this balance just right, IMHO.
The D4 will serve a niche use, but I have no illusions about it replacing the Zebralights for EDC. Perhaps I'll now start carrying a D4 and an SC600-III instead of two SC600-III's. Just to get that full blast when I need it.

You will not be disappointed, in fact you should be very impressed imho. The UI is super user friendly and fast ramping, with short cuts to high(double click), low and even the 350ma level of around 140lm.........ish(lock out lock in). But as it only takes 2.5s to go from less than a lumen to near 4000...............it feels about perfect for me in speed. The size looks similar to the 600 so should not feel too out of place in your pocket/coat. The step downs are not as "elegant" as the almost impossible to see zebra's, but the step downs have to be aggressive due to the crazy output and heat to keep under control. Its a fun light, hard not to really like this pocket beast..............nit picking of course you can find little gripes, maybe body too smooth and can feel slippy(no big deal), lack of decent clip............OR /Prometheus clip.

 

[CarpentryHero]

Nice find, I really shouldn't have looked at this cause now I ordered one 😂

 

[iamlucky13]

The UI is super user friendly and fast ramping, with short cuts to high(double click), low and even the 350ma level of around 140lm.........ish(lock out lock in). But as it only takes 2.5s to go from less than a lumen to near 4000...............it feels about perfect for me in speed. The size looks similar to the 600 so should not feel too out of place in your pocket/coat.

I agree. I thought 2.5 seconds to go full range sounded too fast, but it's actually very easy to stop at an appropriate amount of light for a situation. I do wish there were a more elegant way to get reliably to the 350mA level (approximately known output and runtime), but it's not a major omission. After spending a weekend with it, I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the hassle of reflashing the firmware to add this feature.

The small size was a pleasant surprise. I knew the dimensions when I ordered it, of course, but it still was distinctly smaller than I was expecting. It's bigger than I like to EDC, but not unreasonable. I'm really picky about having any bulk in my pocket, so the fact that I'd even consider pocket carrying the D4 means the size is very reasonable.

I have a smooth finish version, and don't find it too smooth at all. Grip might not be quite as good as a knurled body, but the pocket clip grooves and tail cap are sufficient for me to feel like I have a good hold on it. It smooth without really feeling slippery.

 

[ven]

I have one for work, couple at home of the D4, D1 again, one at work and one at home...............cant be too bad. In time there will be lots of firmware tweaks , but sometimes simple works for me. I find how it is(can not please everyone anyway) is a good happy medium. In fact, its pretty much perfect imo, would be good to have another mode where you could set levels. So the ramping UI, then X clicks for another group where you can pre select up to 6 levels and set each one via the ramp to your choice of level(if makes sense, similar to the h17f in ways). Still i love the firmware as it is..............

 

[eh4]

The cool HI version of the D4 is supposed to be the most throwy of the varieties, for what it's worth I'm finding the cool HI beam pattern to be very similar to the beam pattern of the reflector + frosted lens "floody" ZL H600Fw.

 

[ven]

If you want more "throwy", try the D4vn eh4 if not already, the xp-g2 PDT does reach out a good bit, spill is tighter with a large hotspot. Colour temp 5000-550k ish so cool side of neutral

 

[Tachead]

You can also swap the optic for the Carclo 10621 if you want more throw. It should increase it a bit and tighten up the hotspot.

 

[eh4]

That's interesting about the optic swap, a very easy mod indeed.
I got the D4 for a specific use as an optical blaster at phone booth and car seat distances, I don't need it to throw any better or have a more pleasing tint, it's a demoralizer/phaser and the high glare, cool white is perfect for what it needs to be, and the high/ momentary setting makes it practical for this use.

I've got other lights for actually enjoying seeing with, and I'm waiting on a D1vn XPG2 PDT for a small handful of big throw. ;-)

 

[Agpp]

I agree. I thought 2.5 seconds to go full range sounded too fast, but it's actually very easy to stop at an appropriate amount of light for a situation. I do wish there were a more elegant way to get reliably to the 350mA level (approximately known output and runtime), but it's not a major omission. After spending a weekend with it, I'm not sure I'm going to bother with the hassle of reflashing the firmware to add this feature.

The small size was a pleasant surprise. I knew the dimensions when I ordered it, of course, but it still was distinctly smaller than I was expecting. It's bigger than I like to EDC, but not unreasonable. I'm really picky about having any bulk in my pocket, so the fact that I'd even consider pocket carrying the D4 means the size is very reasonable.

I have a smooth finish version, and don't find it too smooth at all. Grip might not be quite as good as a knurled body, but the pocket clip grooves and tail cap are sufficient for me to feel like I have a good hold on it. It smooth without really feeling slippery.

Yeah...experience with this UI is by far the largest reason why I don't see myself buying a Zebra in the foreseeable future.

 

[eh4]

Zebras are great value lights, I've been playing with Emisar UI so much, the one problem I'm having is that the Emisar turn on delay before ramping up begins is just short enough that it's throwing off my long practiced ZL UI timing, and I keep letting off the button too soon and hitting high instead of low with the ZL, - that never happened before D1 and D4 arrived.
Since it's open source, ZL would be crazy to not incorporate the great ramping UI, something as simple as click, click-hold would be sufficient to swap between preset level UI and ramping.
If only the timing between them were standard, I wouldn't at all mind an extra .25 second from on before ramping up with the Emisars.

 

[eraursls1984]

Zebras are great value lights, I've been playing with Emisar UI so much, the one problem I'm having is that the Emisar turn on delay before ramping up begins is just short enough that it's throwing off my long practiced ZL UI timing, and I keep letting off the button too soon and hitting high instead of low with the ZL, - that never happened before D1 and D4 arrived.
Since it's open source, ZL would be crazy to not incorporate the great ramping UI, something as simple as click, click-hold would be sufficient to swap between preset level UI and ramping.
If only the timing between them were standard, I wouldn't at all mind an extra .25 second from on before ramping up with the Emisars.

I'm thinking of the new Zebralight UI with the G5, G6, and G7. Ramping could be G8. Zebralights also have a lot more modes so it could be even smoother ramping (not that it isn't already). I would just like the ramping to be a little bit slower.

 

[iamlucky13]

You can also swap the optic for the Carclo 10621 if you want more throw. It should increase it a bit and tighten up the hotspot.

According to Carlco's website, the 10621 is almost identical to the 10622. I was actually puzzled enough I looked at the drawings for both and couldn't see what the difference is. For the example of the 219c, they rate the former as throwing 3.5 Cd/lm versus the latter at 3.3 Cd/lm. From the simulated beam cross section, it appears the 10621 reduces the spill a tiny amount.

Meanwhile, they rate the 10622 with the XP-G2 at 4.8 Cd/lm.

The medium spot, frosted 10623, to compare the floody alternative, is 1.9 Cd/lm.

 

[TCY]

Zebras are great value lights, I've been playing with Emisar UI so much, the one problem I'm having is that the Emisar turn on delay before ramping up begins is just short enough that it's throwing off my long practiced ZL UI timing, and I keep letting off the button too soon and hitting high instead of low with the ZL, - that never happened before D1 and D4 arrived.
Since it's open source, ZL would be crazy to not incorporate the great ramping UI, something as simple as click, click-hold would be sufficient to swap between preset level UI and ramping.
If only the timing between them were standard, I wouldn't at all mind an extra .25 second from on before ramping up with the Emisars.

Even if their 18650 lines have adequate memory for a whole new set of UI we will need to wait for at least a whole year for their MKV lights to hit the market. ZL had to drop 14500 support on their SC53 & H53 line to squeeze in the new UI so I doubt their AA lines would have enough memory left for the extra ramping UI.

 

[Tachead]

According to Carlco's website, the 10621 is almost identical to the 10622. I was actually puzzled enough I looked at the drawings for both and couldn't see what the difference is. For the example of the 219c, they rate the former as throwing 3.5 Cd/lm versus the latter at 3.3 Cd/lm. From the simulated beam cross section, it appears the 10621 reduces the spill a tiny amount.

Meanwhile, they rate the 10622 with the XP-G2 at 4.8 Cd/lm.

The medium spot, frosted 10623, to compare the floody alternative, is 1.9 Cd/lm.

The 10621 definitely produces a tighter beam then the 10622.

Here is a thread that shows the difference...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Quad-XP-G2-vs-219-Reference-tint-comparisons

 

[iamlucky13]

The 10621 definitely produces a tighter beam then the 10622.

Here is a thread that shows the difference...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-Quad-XP-G2-vs-219-Reference-tint-comparisons

Good comparison. I think it is still consistent with what Carlco claims - the 10621 has less spill, but it's not clear that it is significantly different in peak intensity. Maybe a little bit more, but the hotspot is also more even? It's hard to tell where the light from the reduced spill is showing up exactly.

 

[waynestractor]

I just ordered a D4 with the Nichia. I originally tried to order through Mountain Electronics but wouldn't allow me without signing up first, but after a couple days it still wasn't approved so I couldn't order. I found intl-outdoor.com so ordered from them. Is this normal with Mountain, seems odd to me to have to wait for approval before being able to order, luckily there are always other options.

 

[ma tumba]

Eventually received mine from intl outdoors. Well, I am pleasantly surprized.

1. This is my first 219C light and I am very happy about the tint, I so much prefer it to a typical 219b which is too pink for my taste in most cases.
2. This is my first quad and I found that it opened an unexpected option. I always wanted to remove optics from my triples, but a triple makes too pronounced "lobes" which I failed to smooth out with Phaseburn's a diffusion film (more capable films introduced some sorts of tint shifts). The quad's lobes are much less obvious and the film smoothes them out just fine. The result is a mule like beam profile which has some added lux. I think that this is just that perfect beam profile I have been looking for my EDC light. I carry that optics in my EDC pouch so I can easily put it back in just in case I need some real throw.
3. D4 is *exactly* as long as my HDC rotary. That is amazing given the 18650 it has inside.

To sum up, despite some minor complaints regarding the driver in its current state and the clip, this D4 is going to be my EDC, for some time at leasts.