I don't know if you have seen it already, but Prompter People introduced a new LED on Camera light, the Microbeam.

I saw them in London 3 Weeks ago at the broadcastlive exhibition.

Here ya go: LED 500 FloLight - With A 500 Watt Ultra Bright Output - Prompter People (http://www.prompterpeople.com/microbeam.php)

Holy cow! (coming from a Swiss...)
Judging by the specs, it looks almost too good to be true.
Peter, do you have any extra info, or more pix, on this?
It would really be THE on-camera light

Best

Vasco

Hi Vasco

Yeah the Swiss. Cows, watches, chocolate, cheese and and a currency the withdraws every storm!

I don't have any more pics and infos on the microbeam than those on they're website. But I saw it side by side with the Litepanels Micro and the MicroBeam surpasses the Litepanels in ever aspect! It has a rugged aluminum casing that can take a beat or two. No plastic here but broadcast quality aluminum housings for pros. They're made to stay. Period.

I could directly compare the MicroBeam with the Litepanels Micro.
A friend of mine was standig about 2 meters away from me and I was pointing the Litepanels Micro at him with absolutely no impact. Then I used the Flolight MicroBeam and suddenly the guy was lit. He pressed his eyes together and was going "Woahh.. that's bright".

My first guess was: "About two and a half times brighter than Litepanels". Seeing the numbers now on the prompterpeople website my guess was very close!
I'd say they are comparable to the Litepanels Mini Plus but for half the price.

And to my eyes no green tinge. But I could be wrong here, because I could not test the lights in real world conditions. Anyway they looked very good to me. If there is a green tinge you can easily correct that with some minus green filtering.

Those little fellas are as far as I'm concerned the best deal right now for an on camera light and believe me, I am hard to impress. I'm Swiss after all ;-)

You can power them with your regular camcorder batteries. They come as you wish with JVC, Panasonic, Canon or Sony mounts. You'll get 5 different filter to mount on the camera like color correction and soft filters.

Buy them. You won't regret it.

Peter

The Microbeam is about $55 more than the VidLED but it sounds like it's a lot brighter.

. . . and a lot more available.

Would be good to see a comparison between the two.

Those little fellas are as far as I'm concerned the best deal right now for an on camera light and believe me, I am hard to impress. I'm Swiss after all ;-)


So am I, Peter (Tessiner mit Mueter us em Glarnerland)
and that's why I'm double-checking... :-

Tschüss - and thanks for your info

Vasco

s'Mami us Obwaldä und de Papi vo Uri. Gaht's no schlimmer?

:-)

Peter

Any "beta tester" out there willing to report on this thing?
Again: specs & price point (plus Arnold's comments, of course!)
would make it a winner (IMHO).
Anyone using it?
Guy (of DVeStore, who seems to have
a crush on good stuff @ fair prices), have you put
your eyes and/or your hands on the Flolight MicroBeam?

Best

Vasco

I'll get one and give it a whirl. I'm testing out Prompter People's LED 500 and 1000 right now. They're definitely no Litepanels 1x1 in terms of accurate color reproduction. I'll probably catch hell for saying that, but I'm just being honest. I'm sure it will get better, for now, the price point is amazing. When an LED light is pushed to it's max, you're not going to get 5600k with a 90+ CRI. A lot of LED lights that are being marketed right now are good for backlight and background lights. I wouldn't use them as a key light for flesh tones. A minus green gel is not the cure all. Maybe someone with more scientific knowledge can chime in, but think about it- a gel is global -high, mid, low. And that green spike is not across the board. Litepanels achieves their consistent color by "burying the green" down below 50% of dimmed output. You'll get more accurate color where the dimmer setting for the output is used most 50%-100.

If you run out with the mindset that you'll just color correct in post, you're going to see what I mean about wanting high CRI lights. Color Correcting can lead to a flatter, posterized flesh tone - it does not look natural and can give your lively talent a rather dead look. I've been testing a lot of fluorescent bulb systems over the years to sell in the DVeStore and could never find one that was both accurate, affordable, and easy to travel with. Things are changing fast though. LED's are the future of lighting for video production.

Thanks Guy!
Looking forward to reading your review of the Microbeam.

Best

Vasco

Hey Guy, I'm also looking forward to one of your reviews on this light.

Hey guys. I think some of you have seen this already, but I got and reviewed (sort of) this light elsewhere on here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-management/146122-microbeam-early-impressions.html

Hey guys. I think some of you have seen this already, but I got and reviewed (sort of) this light elsewhere on here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-management/146122-microbeam-early-impressions.html

I've see your postings, they were great but I am hoping for things like:

1. Spread. I do weddings in HD (wide screen) and some of the lights fall off on the sides real bad. Shoot a blank wall 5-10 feet away. Some make a circle of light when my video needs wider.

2. Reach. Your room shot helped but at -3db it is hard to tell re-world. We usually run about 3-6db in a reception hall.

3. Compare. Many of us are trting to improve on existing lights like the Sony HVL-20DW2 with a Sto-fen difusser or the LightPanels MIcro.

I can maybe do the first two, but don't own other lights for comparison.

Instead of a blank white wall, what about an outside wall of my "house"? The inside is crammed and cramped. No blank walls anywhere.

As far as reach goes, I can certainly shoot one with the iris open, 1/60 shutter, and +3 and +6 gain. Maybe a 1/30 shutter too.

I can maybe do the first two, but don't own other lights for comparison.

Instead of a blank white wall, what about an outside wall of my "house"? The inside is crammed and cramped. No blank walls anywhere.

As far as reach goes, I can certainly shoot one with the iris open, 1/60 shutter, and +3 and +6 gain. Maybe a 1/30 shutter too.

Any wall will do, it is just to see the pattern.

The two gains would help although I'm not sure how your camcorder compares with the XHA1 for sensitivity.

Do you know your cam's ASA/ISO? The XL2 is reported at 320, so you could do the math from there.

Do you know your cam's ASA/ISO? The XL2 is reported at 320, so you could do the math from there.

No I do not know my camera ISO/ASA. I couldn't find it on the Internet. This is the fist time I have heard of rating a camera with ISO/ASA. Usually they rate light sensitivity in Lux or better yet X Lux at F8, with a Signal to Noise spec.

Since I do only do event video and must make do with what is supplied (not counting an on-camera light), I am given three choices in low light to give a satisfactory image in the viewfinder: Add light, add gain (no more than 6db), lower shutter speed (limited use) or leave it dark. I have little use for a light meter during my run and gun type events. For over exposure I can use zebras, ND filters and Iris to get where I need to be. I'm sure in a studio environment the ISO/ASA would be really handy so you can use a meter to set up lights, I have never had that opportunity.

Okay, fellas.

I put the pics in the other thread to keep everything together, but I tried to do what you guys asked (minus the comparing with other lights)

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-management/146122-microbeam-early-impressions.html#post1035719

Josh how long did it take for you to receive the light after you ordered it and how much was shipping? Currently I'm using a Frezzi dimmable Mini-Fill but my battery pack is not holding a charge as it use to. I'm gonna have to struggle thru todays event and hopefully get the Microbeam by next weekend. Have you shot any events with this light or have any low light footage you can share - I've seen the pic but I haven't seen any footage yet. Thanks.

Looks like it took about six days according to my UPS emails. I'm sure you could get it expedited. I think it was about $15 for shipping.

Have not shot anything "real" yet, aside from all the test footage. I got it for a wedding in May. With my recent gig luck it'll probably be cancelled.

I just got mine the other day, looks awesome so far. Very bright, nice dimmer and I can use my camcorder batteries.

If anyone has anything in specific they'd like to see post up and I can do it for a test.

Yes. I would like detailed reports on how many and what type of objects are thrown at you each time you that turn thing on and point it at someone at your next shoot. I won't get to find out anytime soon because the specific event I bought it for was cancelled.

We picked up one of these with a Sony battery mount.
Light is a bit on the green side, brighter than the Lightpanel's unit and more robust.
You really do need some diffusion on it, same as the Lightpanel. Luckily we have some of the smaller Sony batteries. A NP 970 on the light makes it pretty heavy.

Use the 1/4 minus green that comes with the light to get rid of the green.

I tried the 256 at a wedding last night. The 256 is 10" x 3", exactly twice as wide as the 128, and probably twice as heavy. It is a real problem mounting on the camera. Not sure the hotshoe will hold it and not break. Tried using a Stroboframe, but too clumsy. Still working on it.

The light pattern is very good for any purpose, wide, smooth, and not spotty. I see no need for diffusion. Color is fine, but the minus green filters are available. Also warming and tungsten. Gets quite a bit darker with tungsten on.

Brightness was compared to our normal little Bescor 100 watt battery light and the 150 watt electric plug-in light. Where the Microbeam called for f2.8, the 100 watt light wanted f3.4, and the electric light f4.8. So, it is not quite the advertised 200 watt equivalent. Might be close to the 100 watt, but not with tungsten filter on.

Interesting side observation is the reflection pattern. If you are shooting at anything that will reflect the shape of the light, such as windows or a person's eyes, or the side of a car, it does not look like a normal photographic light, which would be a point source of bright light.

I wish it were as small and light as the 128, and had a more round pattern. But I am still evaluating. Not quite bright enough for still photography.

Gary Eickmeier