I've read around here somewhere (and yes I did do a search but couldn't find it) that do get the Sima light to look right a minus green filter is needed. Where might I find these locally? I'm on my way to the camera store now for something else, but if they don't have the filters (which I doubt they will) I'll check back to see what you guys recommend.

I just got two of these lights, and they are ridiculous for the money. I love them, and I haven't even used them yet. I'm going to order bunches more.

Has anyone come up with an idea for a diffuser for these babies?

I found out we have a theatre supply house here, they'll have someting.

Jeff... your search was probably unavailing because the original thread mis-named the Sima lights as Sigma lights. I think you wil find the info you seek here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-management/142902-sigma-sl-20lx-video-light.html

Thanks Chris, appreciate it!

Jeff - I've got a simple basic diffuser cobbled up with some fine needlepoint backing from a craft suppy store (the white grid stuff), seems reasonably effective and easy to take on and off.

Not sure why everyone feels these lights are "green", they seem relatively even to me as lights go, although very different from the halogen Sonys I've used in the past. And at least they don't have the yucky BLUE cast that so many LEDs have - been doing very well for me as fills mounted a bit up and away from the camera - I find a pair works well, more than that seems to diminish returns.

Dave, I used them last night at a wedding. They are amazing, expecially for the money.

I am absolutely hooked on them. I am more excited about these than anything I've purchased in a long time.

During one dance I had two cameras rolling, and I left my camera and went out with a handheld light and lit the couple up from the side and what a fantastic effect it had.

I am ordering more and ditching my Sony 10/20s for the most part. The Sony's are better, with the Stoffen diffuser, for those occasions when I wander onto the dancefloor and don't want to be too intrusive, but otherwise, I love the Simas as they are.

I never picked up the gels, but will this week. I don't see the green some have described but I want to try the light out with a filter anyway. For the most part everything looked fabulous.

Jeff, i have tried a 1/2 minus green, but i think it is a little too much. I assume a 1/4 minus green is perfect, but even without a filter they're good enough for me.
So, the only thing i need is a nice diffuser, i have a ND-gel, but it isn't enough. Maybe a piece of white (baking?)paper is nice.

The baking paper idea isn't a bad one, I might try it.

My early model had a green tint...it was the only drawback to an otherwise extremely handy little light. It'd be interesting to know if they really did improve the color cast on the newer models.

I thought I would point out that some places won't know what a minus green gel is so try the term "magenta".

Sima also has an even smaller light and I think I'm going to get one for my Canon 5D which doesn't need much light. I can carry two of these small lights and use one as a rim light as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Thank you Marcus.

Actually, when testing the light yesterday next to my Sony light it seems to cast a bluish color.

They definitely have a "cooler" cast than the Sony halogen - to me it looks to be fairly "white" light overall - the halogens tend to orange, while the Simas tend towards blue or IMO "neutral", not like MOST LED's - they aren't the hideous blue that many LEDs seem to exhibit.

I haven't noticed the "green" that some seem to report - I'm guessing this depends a lot on the underlying lighting. Remember that our eyes "auto" white balance (unless you have color blindness), and that lighting varies widely. A camera on the other hand either does the best it can to "auto" or needs a "reference white" - we all know of "warm cards" or cards that can be used to "trick" WB in various ways to get "better" (typically "warmer") looking video.

So far I've found the Sima light to be fairly decent on color balance and a great bang for the buck.

I have had one of these for some time and have been very impressed with punch, softness and of course price. I just bought 2 more. Someone said that 2 was very powerful but 3 didn't make much difference. WRONG! It's unbelievable. I think they are as powerful as the cree array that I built. Oh and the cost for 3 ($35 each) is nowhere near the $400 or $500 that some companies offer.

I can't say enough about them. I just ordered 4 more. They are so lightweight and cheap. They free up my Sony batteries.

Put this on top of a HV30 with a shotgun mic and you have a heck of an inexpensive interview rig for weddings.

I have had one of these for some time and have been very impressed with punch, softness and of course price. I just bought 2 more. Someone said that 2 was very powerful but 3 didn't make much difference. WRONG! It's unbelievable. I think they are as powerful as the cree array that I built. Oh and the cost for 3 ($35 each) is nowhere near the $400 or $500 that some companies offer.

That was probably my coment - 2 seems to be optimal for shorter range, I didn't see much from adding the third, but I'd guess if you're trying to light up a bigger space, more is better - I tend to use it as a short range fill (wedding interview type stuff), so haven't had the chance to try to light a big space with it, but it is designed to put together in an array, so you could sort of build as big a panel as you wanted - maybe I'll have to stack the 6 I've got and see what happens! I'd guess it would be effective, if a bit blinding to anyone in it's path!

On a completely different topic, for those that have cameras with nightshot/IR, they have a couple models of IR lights - the little ones seem to work pretty well, one of these times want to try the bigger model - again an economical option if you need to shoot in the dark!

I have 2 of their IR lights, the same size as the non-IR visible light ones we are discussing. In nightshot mode on my little Sony knockabout camera, the difference between using the on camera light and the SIMA IR is almost like turning on a light switch in a small room. It's is just as impressive as the visible light model.

I decided to grab 4 lights and rig them up on my bracket rig (puts the lights up and to the sides of the camera on each side. Was testing my XR500V that just arrived (and it is amazing in low light!)

Close up, 2 lights is plenty good, and probably good for maybe 10-15 feet of throw, not a lot gained by adding more... for interviews, and that sort of shot, hard to beat.

I decided to shoot across my darkened garage and see what would happen - 1 light was weak, but helped the camera a lot, not really able to make it across the whole garage (around 30 feet, 3 car width). 2 again looked much better than 1, and adequate illumination for the most part, a bit of drop off to the outside left and right edges at the wide setting (16x9). Turning on two more lights that were mounted onto the first two lights but sticking out more to the side filled the sides very nicely, and illuminated everything in the frame to a level that was quite adequate.

I don't know that I'd want to have to look into the array, but it certainly lit the whole frame with no additional light... pretty even and I didn't see any color cast. Since the lights were spaced apart a bit, shadowing wasn't too bad either.

I'll still have to modify my diffusers a bit so they will work on the double light, but again, the bang for the $$ ratio is hard to beat on these little guys.

SO where is everyone buying these lights?

Norm

SO where is everyone buying these lights?
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