Four Sevens Atom Stainless Steel CR123/16340, first impressions

Mule modded to N219b 4500k 9080,
Major thanks to K2-bk-bl-rd

weight w battery 47 grams
Low 4.5 lumens, High 80 Lumens
Factory spec is low 6, High 110
fwiw, the change from XP-G2 to 219b dropped lumens by about 28%, this is normal, Ive seen the same with other lights..
I dont mind the lumen loss, my use is indoors and the levels are great. My priority is High CRI, not max lumens.

super smooth action
easy one hand operation
beautiful full flood beam
NoPWM, no Flicker, no photographable scan lines nor Ripple on video.

Like other twisties, pressing the head can cause momentary ON if not unscrewed sufficiently.
Since the light does not use a spring,

selfbuilt said:

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the battery would rattle when the light was off. Cured by wrapping a strip of printer paper around the battery.

disappears in the coin pocket of my jeans..

I feel like Santa came early, fun times





here is a review by selfbuilt with more info

I love your little mini reviews! It makes me want to keep selling you lights, just to see your pictures and reviews on them!😉

Thank you for sharing your lights with me

Some observations about the different beam types
l-r Mule, Aspheric, Conventional Reflector


The Mule has a bright center beam (hotspot) plus a spill that diffuses gradually towards the edge of the beam.

The Aspheric has no hotspot at all, the lens has a sharp cutoff around the edge, and is slightly brighter, due to the way the lens collects the spill.

The conventional reflector has a hotspot, plus a spill with a clear cutoff around the outside.

McGizmo used to carry a Mule, then he went to an Aspheric lens. His Haiku has a conventional reflector with a tight hotspot. Each optic type has its strong points. The Mule is useful to flood a room with diffused light, the Aspheric is useful to flood a wall with a focused spot. A reflector light is useful to target a picture on a wall, and outdoors, since the hotspot reaches farther.

For photos:

The mule's gradually diffusing beam, does not cause overexposed areas, just a gradual fading of light towards the outside of the beam

The Aspheric produces the most even lighting, as long as the subject is within the inside of the beam.

The reflector with hotspot, produces problems with overexposed and under exposed areas, and strong shadows in part of the photo.

Choices are good

Jon_slider, you might be able to re-gain some of the lux if you drop a lens on the front. I did just that here and it helped immensely.

pc_light said:

I did just that here and it helped immensely.

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Thank you, that is an outstanding post!:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-(47-s)-Atom&p=5084543&viewfull=1#post5084543

pc_light said:

The results of adding a simple convex lens to the Atom
…
In it's original form WITHOUT LENS, the Atom AL (110 lmn @left) illuminates a larger area but the lux level does not appear any brighter than the Atom AA+lens (70 lmn @right), which is should be.

With Lens added, the Atom AL+ (left) once again appears brighter than the Atom AA+, as the specs would indicate.

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I agree with your comments that at the same distance, the Aspheric is brighter at less lumens, on a smaller target.

I have been using a Utorch Aspheric until recently, and the Atom is my first experience with a Mule.

Here is my Aspheric Utorch @2.5 lumens, followed by my Atom @ 5 lumens, iow, twice as many total lumens. Both lights have similar lens diameter, and the same N219b 4500k 9080 LED. To cover the same area, the Aspheric needs to be 4 times farther away:




Now that its dark, I started a little testing. imo so far, the Mule has a much nicer beam quality at close range, such as illuminating the ground at my feet, with my arm hanging straight down. The Mule beam is very smooth, the Aspheric beam, though brighter, has that ring around the edge. Im going to live with the Mule as is for a while and get to know it better. My application is mainly indoors, inside a vehicle, things within arms reach..

Inside my car, light in my mouth aimed at the steering wheel, camera aimed at the center console
Aspheric requires moving the light to see the passenger footwell


The Mule illuminates the passenger footwell even without moving the light


fun times!

It's good to see this little fella getting the love it deserves. I was disappointed when I realized I had missed it, but I'm glad it went to someone that's enjoying it. :thumbsup: Have you had the opportunity to put the magnet to use? Hands-free!

~ Chance

Nice ideas.
I had considered a mule for my Atom but decided on a ridiculous triple XP-L HI, H17F driver & tail clicky.
Carclo 10507 sanded down to size by hand.
These little lights have potential, love mine

Chauncey Gardiner said:

It's good to see this little fella getting the love it deserves. I was disappointed when I realized I had missed it, but I'm glad it went to someone that's enjoying it. :thumbsup: Have you had the opportunity to put the magnet to use? Hands-free!

~ Chance

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thanks for the kind words.. I will keep you in mind if this Atom feels neglected, and it needs to be adopted in the future. My Novatac and HDS compete for my affections, and they are jealous of the Atom.

I have tested the magnet on my fridge, and it works well.. but usually I do not use magnets, and they sometimes stick to things I dont want them to.. I do hands free by putting the light in my mouth, or under my hat (when there is no reversible clip)

CRX_ said:

These little lights have potential, love mine

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wow! beautiful mod!
You have very good taste.

I really like your tailswitch mod, the stock twisty is OK, but Im not in Love with that part of the light. The mule beam is great, but an Aspheric, like the McGizmo Sundrop lens, made of Sapphire, sounds like Beautiful Bling! ;-)

thank you all for the great contributions to this thread
Merry Holidays, and may the Light be With You.