Category: Cool Videos

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Fireflies E07 Review (7 LED + Secondary LEDs, 21700, up to 6900 lumens)

Fireflies is a newer flashlight brand to the market that’s bring multiple emitter option lights with secondary LED’s to the market. Today I am looking at the E07 a 7x LED light with secondary emitter running Toykeepers Anduril UI. Thanks to Banggood for sending this to me to take a look at and review. Make sure you see the bottom of the post for the discount that’s been provided on this light.

 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/dwHNB7Y

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YouTube Version of this Review: 

Packaging

The light comes packaged in a black cardboard box with fireflies logo embossed on it. There is a sticker on the side with the lights specs handwritten in. Inside the light is protected in foam. Extras include 2 spare orings, a wrist lanyard with clip that connects at the head, a pocket clip that connects at the tail only, a nice adapter to allow you to run an 18650 battery, and a nice manual that’s not micro sized. The manual is really nice for a newer brand, it mostly goes over the UI and has the diagram many of us are familiar with, but also a kind of quick start guide on the back for specific tasks. 

Construction

Fireflies offers 4 body colors available and of those Banggood is currently carrying 3 of them. A Matte black, desert yellow which  is a more yellow tan, and a gun gray, which is what I have here. Branding on the light is minimal with only a heat warning, model number and manufacture on the light body. On the tail cap there is a bit of minimal required marks and a serial number. The tail cap is flat and allows the light to tail stand nicely. It has a few flats to allow you to unscrew it more easily. Inside you have a low resistance spring mounted to the circuit board. Threads were dry and rather shallow but square cut. 

The pocket clip only attaches at the rear and is kind of short. Overall diameter of this light isn’t too bad, it’s front pocketable as an EDC but on the bigger side for that. Retention with the clip is good but I do wish it carried a bit deeper. The body tube has square nub milling on it, kind of like a small frag design. I like this, it’s grippe but not aggressive. Threads on the head side of the body tube are anodized, very fine, ACME cut, and also dry. 

 

The head itself is pretty small, and grows in diameter to accommodate the 7 emitters + secondary LED’s inside. Inside the spring in the head is short, and fairly heavy gauge wire. It has a blob of solder that’s been filed down to I presume help improve contact. On the outside there is heatsinking. The electronic button on the side has 4 LED’s underneath that can indicate a few things depending on the mode. The color of these LED’s is the same as the secondary on your light. 

The circuit boards in the head of this light is a bit non traditional for a flashlight, The white emitters and secondary emitters are actually on separate circuit boards that are stacked on top of each other with wires hand soldered on to connect the two boards. There are 3 pots that allow you adjust the intensity of the secondary. I was unable to find a screwdriver to fit mine to a point I was comfortable adjusting them though. The front bezel is a polished stainless steel. It’s easy to unscrew the front bezel as it’s not glued on. Underneath is the glass lens and optic. Overall build quality is pretty good for this price range of light. 

Size/Weight/Comparisons

I measured the length at 114mm, maximum diameter at the head at 37mm, and minimum diameter on the center body section at 25mm. Weight with the Sofrin 21700 battery is 187.6g. 

I compared the light to the Emmisar D4, because it’s pretty common multi emitter light, even though it uses a 18650 and the E07 uses a 21700. The D4 is shorter, obviously, and the head is smaller, but the body tube is pretty similar. Both are high performance affordable lights with great UI’s by Toykeeper and in mine both are using the Nichia LEDs. 

 

LED | Beamshots | Heat | Runtime

My light is using 7x Nichia 219B R9080 LEDs for it’s primary emitter. This is one of my favorites not only because it has 98 CRI but also because it produces a good amount of red meaning colors are more realistic. The downside is this Nichia LED’s isn’t the most efficient around and produces the least amount of lumens (3500) then the SST20 (4500 Lumens) or XPL-HI LED (6900 Lumens) that the light are also available with. This is really nice that you have 6 emitter and tint options with this light in addition to it’s 4 body colors. That also said the Nichia 219B are the most sensitive to being over driven with the FET in this light, so choice of battery is important. 

 

On my light the secondary emitters are purple, other colors fireflies sells are red and blue. The secondaries do shut off when low voltage protection kicks in at 2.935V, but the LED’s on the switch do not. For this reason if you are not going to use the light for a long time, it would be best to mechanically lock it out with a slight twist of the tail cap or remove the battery. 

Heat is a big thing on this light. It’s a small compact size and can output a ton of light. The fact that I have the Nichia emitters on my example here doesn’t help the heat issue. On turbo the light heats up very quickly, in under 2 minutes I was seeing temps of 61C (142F) on the head opposite the button. This kind of proves to be a problem as you need some resistance to click the button and turn it off or down. Thermals do spread out on the light relatively well, the body tube tail cap remain cool enough to handle when in turbo. For me this is too hot to hold comfortably. Lucky you can configure thermals on this light in the UI, so I might be turning it down a bit. 

 

Ruintime

Runtime on the Fireflies E07 is 100% temperature dependent. Turbo by itself is good for less then a minute before step down due to heat. Your actual runtimes do vary up and down between roughly 25% and 50% as you can see on my graph for just over 100 minutes. At this point the light goes into it’s lowest mode due to the battery voltage for the remaining 150 minutes. Low voltage protection kicks in 2.935V.

 

Batteries

I am using some Sofirn 21700 batteries that Banggood sent out with this light. Being a FET powered light you want usually high drain, but in this application a medium drain cell is good especially for these Nichia LED’s as they are a little more sensitive to being over driven. The Sofirns fit that nicely, they are listed at 4000mAh and I measured them at a capacity of 3868mAh and 3861mAh respectively on my Xtar VC4s.

UI

This light is using Toykeeper’s Anduril UI. It’s currently one of my favorites available as it has a ton of options and neat little easter eggs that commercial UI’s don’t include. By default the light comes in ramping UI which is where I left it. The ramping is fast and logical. A stepped mode is a vailable that you can configure as well if you prefer. The light has thermal controls, you can configure beacon mode, as well as 5 types of strobe including candle mode, party strobe, and lightning storm. How practical these are could be a point where one could argue, but I like that they are present and it just makes things fun. One of the neat thing the UI has is sunset mode, which allows the light to run in and slowly fade out over I believe a 30 minute time period then shut off. Overall just about anything you want to do is in this UI and it’s’ a great choice for a light. 

Pro

  • Big lumen flood light with great emitters.
  • Always on secondary that can be toggled off via UI. The secondary is adjustable internally. 
  • 3 body color and 6 emitter options available (from Banggood), so something for almost everyone without mods.
  • 21700 battery – Provides a bit more runtime, and a nice size for the head.
  • Early QC issues seem to have been fixed on this light.

 

Con

  • Early models had some QC problems, I have run mine quite a bit and have not had issues with it so far.
  • Heat – 7 Nichia emitters make a lot of collective heat

 

Conclusion

The Fireflies E07 packs a ton of features for well under $100. So many emitter options, as well as body options allows you to really find the perfect combination for you. While I love the 98 CRI Nichia 219B emitter in my light you might choose one of  the others that offers more lumens. The biggest downside to this light is probably the heat, but you expect that in a small form factor light that has 7 main emitters. I do like that they went with a 21700 battery here over an 18650 for a bit more runtime without going with a larger 26650. Overall it’s a high value light that I recommend for the flashaholic. 

 

Banggood has provided a coupon to allow you to get the Fireflies E07 at a better then list price. I will have the details for that in the comments below. Make sure to give that link a click and check it out.

 

As always I think you for watching this video. If you are not subscribed to my channel I would appreciate you do so, make sure you like and share this video with anyone who you might think would be interested in it. See you on the next gear review video! 

 

Discounts

Fireflies E07 7x Nichia/XPL/SST20 Flashlight: Save 15% with code: BGFFBD at http://bit.ly/2JlGoUX  

2X Sofirn 21700 Batteries: $11.39 with code BGREC at http://bit.ly/2FYtuKk 

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Thrunite TH30 Headlamp (3350 Lumens, XHP 70.2 LED)

Today I have the new Thrunite TH30 Headlamp on my review table. This is a fairly slim profile headlamp that can also double as a EDC type light. It has a impressive 3350 lumen turbo mode, is USB rechargeable and ships with a Thrunite IMR battery. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/zuZo4rz
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is typical of what we are used to from Thrunite, simple, and functional. It’s a small brown cardboard box with minimal details printed on the outside. Unfolding it from the front cover reveals the headlamp packed in white foam. The battery is preinstalled with a protection disk. One of the nice things is that the head strap is already assembled and attached to the light. Underneath are the accessories which include a Micro USB cable for charging, pocket clip for the light (Can’t be used while in the headlamp mount), extra head mount, usb cover, manual, and branded black and red 3 piece head strap.





Construction
The TH30 itself is made from aircraft grade aluminium and is anodized a fairly shiny black. The light comes into 3 basic pieces, the head, body tube, and tail cap. Starting at the tail cap, the bottom is flat, and non magnetic. Knurling matches the body tube in a fairly aggressive diamond pattern. Threads under the cap are ACME style, and were lightly greased. The body tube has a pretty minimal diameter, and it has the same knurling as the tail cap. The pocket clip can mount onto the body tube either near the head or tail. Unfortunately the clip isn’t very deep carry when mounted near the head , but is reasonable when at the back of the light.


The head itself is fairly typical of a right handed light but it has been slimmed down where possible. As a result it only has cooling fins opposite of the emitter, and the sides are flat which is where the writing on this light are located. The only button is on the top of the light surrounded by an uncoated aluminum accent bezel. It’s a large, domed textured silicone rubber button that is semi transparent. Underneath are charge status indicators. The button stands a little proud and as a result the light won’t slit flat on it’s head.

The mount and stap were nicely preassembled. The mount itself is made from a black silicone rubber and is the style where you pass the light through silicone rubber hoops. This means the light stays put pretty well and isn’t the easiest to remove or add back. The head strap bands are black with red Thrunite lettering woven into the fabric. It’s a fairly basic strap and doesn’t include any of the silicon strips on the inside to keep the strap in place on helmets.

Size/Weight/Water Rating
I measured length at 106.5mm, minimum diameter at 23.6mm and maximum diameter at 28.2mm. Weight of the light with the included cell and head strap was 172.3g. The light is IPX8 water rated.


LED/Runtime
This light uses a Cree XHP 70.2 LED available in both cool and neutral white. My example here is in neutral white which is my preference. The LED is quite large but nicely centered in the reflector. Lens is glass and anti reflective coated, the reflector has a orange peel on it that does a good job of smoothing out the beam.

Runtime on the included 3100mAh IMR battery totaled 110 minutes from Turbo. When starting on high the light really steps down after about 5 minutes due to heat and is only running at about 25% relative output where it ran for the majority of the time. I saw very little difference when I ran a cooled output for 20 minutes compared with uncooled as well suggesting it’s a timed/voltage decline. Stepdowns were smooth. The last 10 minutes of runtime the light will start flashing to let you know the battery is depleted and ready to shut down.
Total Runtime

Uncooled 20 Minutes

Cooled 20 Minutes

Heat is a bit of a concern with this light on turbo since it produces up to 3350 lumens. During my test, the head easily reached 120F while on turbo within about 3 minutes. This is hot, but it won’t burn you. When being warm as a headlamp the silicone rubber mount does a good job of insulating your skin from the heat. The manual does say for the safety battery, driver and LED they recommend not using the light at the maximum for more than 10 minutes.

The beam is mostly flood and quite smooth. The center is slightly hotter but it’s nicely diffused thanks to the orange peel reflector. This light really isn’t a thrower but because of it’s power it does a decent job out to about 100 yards or so.

Battery and Recharging
Included in the package is a 3100mAh Thrunite Branded high drain, button top IMR 18650 battery. While not officially mentioned, given the performance characteristics it’s believed this battery is a rewrapped Sony VTC6 with protection. Working voltage of this light is 2.75V to 4.2V so 2x CR123A batteries will not work in this light.

Recharging is accomplished via a microUSB port on the very top of the head of the light. I like this location as it’s out of the way. The usb cover is attached with a decent amount of material as well and an extra is included in the packaging just in case. A red LED is under the main operation button will let you know the light is charging and it turns blue when charged. I measured max draw during charging at 1.5A which matches ThruNite’s claims, and a full recharge took 2 hours and 34 minutes. The light can be powered on to low mode during charging via USB.

UI and Mode Spacing
Changing modes in this light is easy. When the light is on pressing and holding the button will cycle through modes. The light starts on low, and progresses linearly though Low, Medium Low, Medium, High, and SOS. To get to turbo at anytime double click, and to use firefly when the light is off just long press. The light will remember the mode you were last in except for Firefly, Turbo, or SOS.

Turbo (3350 lumens for 1.5 min then 1050 lumen after step down)
High (1275 lumen; 90 minutes)
Medium (352 lumen; 5 hrs)
Medium-Low (130 lumen; 14 hrs)
Low (25 lumen; 60 hrs)
Firefly (0.5 lumen; 32 days)
SOS (645 lumen; 305 minutes)
The light can be mechanically locked out by just breaking contact with the tail cap or body tube. Given this lights power I would recommend doing that.

Pro’s

  • Available in Neutral or Cool White
  • Mode spacing is nice, and it has a simple UI but I wish strobe was not part of the main group.
  • Very smooth floody beam, not much noticeable tint rainbow to me.
  • High quality included battery that is non proprietary.
  • 2 Year free replacement warranty, with a limited lifetime warranty after that

Con’s

  • Pocket clip is reversible but not very deep carry
  • The button cover protrudes a little so it won’t stand on its head very well.
  • Wish it had active thermal controls

Conclusion
If you have followed my reviews for a while you will know I am a fan of headlamps, for me it’s probably in the top 3 types of flashlights everyone should own. The Thrunite TH30 is a very nice high lumen headlamp option. Understandably Turbo doesn’t last too long, due to the immense amount of heat 3350 lumens creates, but the lower modes are sufficient. I really like that this headlamp uses non proprietary batteries which makes getting extra’s or a replacement easy and less expensive than some other brands. I like that the light comes with an excellent and safe battery as well, I think it’s an extra layer of safety to have a protected cell when your using one on your head. I think it’s safe to say this is my favorite headlamp of 2018 so far.

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Live Music: Silversun Pickups

On Monday night I went to a great concert in Papillion, NE at the Sumtur Amphitheater .  It was a cold night but a great concert.  I was able to get up very close to stage. Close enough to reach out and touch the band at times if you wanted.  I was able to capture these pictures with my old Motorola Droid X smartphone.  I was shocked at the results I got, but they got even better after I did some noise reduction in Lightroom.  This was one of the first performances the band had with the new (Temporary) bass player.  She did a great job, but you could tell was a little rattled by the support of the crowd.  Other than that it was a great performance.  The bands sound live is very similar to the recorded sound, but you could tell it was live, no lipsync here.  Overall it was one of the better shows I have seen this year.

A couple of Videos too

 

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Too many eggs in Google’s basket? – My question answered on Security Now #326

On my drive home from work today I was very surprised–when listening to Security Now episode #326 Steve and Leo answered the question I submitted to the show! Let me backup a little and explain things. Security Now is a weekly podcast on the TWIT network that discusses hot topics from the past week on all things security related, as well as fundamentals of computers, the internet, and security. In addition to security news, they also touch on Sci-Fi books and a few health concerns—recently the all important Vitamin D3. I have promised myself to write a big blog post about Vitamin D3 at some point this winter. If you are not a listener, I strongly recommend you listen to an episode or two (At least listen to the Portable Dog Killer episode, it’s not what you think it is at all) .

Question Setup
I am a big fan of Lastpass Password storage system after learning about it on Security Now and hearing why it was safe to use (Episode 256). I am also using the Google Authenticator on my Android phone(Also available for all other major mobile phone OS) for a second form of authentication when logging into my Google account because of how much additional security it provides, especially as this account grows more important. The question I asked below was simplified slightly (Probably due to me not thinking things out fully to get the answer I wanted) but the results were good and answered about 80% of my question.

My question was as read by Leo

“Leo: No. Question 7, Jon in Lincoln, Nebraska – another cornfield flyover – worries about giving Google too many eggs: Steve and Leo, I love the podcast. I’m a long-time listener, LastPass and Vitamin D advocate. I have the entire family well educated and believing now. Yay. Over the weekend I saw that now LastPass – as we mentioned in the news – supports Google Authenticator. This is great news because I currently use the app on my Android phone to get into my Gmail account. I also know how much more secure two-factor authentication is, thanks to previous Security Now! episodes. But it makes me wonder if tying so many of my services to Google is a good idea or a potential security problem. What happens if Google were to go down for a few hours? Any thoughts or opinions on this would be appreciated. Am I putting too many eggs in Google’s basket?”

Watch the video on Youtube of Steve and Leo answering my question below. Start at 1:30:00 goo.gl/kaJD5

Or read the answer http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-326.htm (About 5/6 down the page)

After hearing this answer I am feel reassured about my concerns and I am very glad it is independent and closed loop. My biggest concern was if my Google account was suddenly compromised/deleted/suspended etc that I would be locked out of my Lastpass too, but since it is independent and I have a backup of codes generated I know I won’t lose my Lastpass. Just in case I always have my local Lastpass Pocket standalone as a measure of last resort (No cloud).

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StrawberryJam, DJClay & SFS at The Bourbon in Lincoln NE Photos

Thursday February 25, 2010 some friends had asked me to come take some photos of them playing at The Bourbon Theater in Lincoln. Since I just got my new Canon 7D I went and tried out the camera. Wow am I impressed. The ability to shoot at high ISO is amazing when coming from the 20D. The auto focus is good but I need to learn abit more about it before I have it down perfect. I am really impressed with the video ability of the camera and the audio recording properties were pretty good as well.


StrawberryJam

Make sure to watch the video in 720P!

DJClay
http://www.myspace.com/djclaymusic

SFS
http://www.myspace.com/sfslincoln


Make sure to watch the video in 720P!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FrO6A-TxPk

To view all of these photos and more in high resolution follow this link to the big gallery http://liquidretro.net/photo/gallery3/TheBourbon/

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2008 Animated Christmas Light Show

The 2008 Animated Christmas Light Show has officially started. This weekend we got the show up and running. Right now we only have one show running but we expect the second song to be added this week with others coming soon. For updates check out www.liquidretro.net/lightshow

Here is a link to the first song post and video on the lightshow’s website http://www.liquidretro.net/lightshow/2008/11/29/2008-show-is-up-and-running/


Carol Of The Bell – Mannheim Steamroller
https://vimeo.com/Carol Of The Bell – Mannheim Steamroller

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High Speed Down Hill Longboarding in HD (Claremont HD)

I saw this amazing video today on Vimeo. These guys go up to the top or a large mountain and then ride their longboards down the hill at speeds of over 40mph. All the time while avoiding cars, and passing the camera between them. It is a well produced film and quite worth its 10 min run time. Make sure to watch it in HD by going to the Vimeo website with the link below. Turn HD ON, Scaling OFF, and watch it in full screen.

Watch it in HD here.


Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.