Has anyone used this light http://www.flolight.com/microbeam-128.html

regards

Rob

Hi Robert...

I just got one of those and used it this past week on an overnight shoreline fishing trip.

It's about one stop brighter than the VidLED I had, and provides a lot better coverage. With the 1/4 minus green filter the overall color seems to be OK. I hadn't checked it with my spectrophotometer but the first impressions were good.

I run it off a small nano-phosphate battery pack that's mounted on the back of my shoulder mount. It was a little clumsy to operate since I had it covered with a plastic bag to protect it from salt spray. But otherwise the quality and variable quantity of light was just fine for what I did.

Overall, I like the light. No complaints.

I just bought one and it should arrive any day. i will be using it in a wedding this weekend....
any other reviews?
-JS

How durable is it?

So far I've used in only once. But the construction seems solid enough. The body is extruded aluminum with plastic end caps. There's a battery mount on the back which I will likely never use.

I kept it covered with a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag.

You can see the circuit board through the vents so I'd say the unit's not weatherproof at all. Of course it could probably be treated with something like Corrosion-X to prevent the elements from shorting out the board, but I won't want to do that until I know the unit's working reliably.

Just checked out FloLight's website. I like the Microbeam 256. But I wonder how it compares to Cool Lights LED256?

Comparing the two from their websites, it seems that the LED256 has a higher lux rating than the Microbeam 256. (I know "lux" doesn't mean much until you see the two lights side by side :) The LED256 comes with barn doors (which I like). Also, the LED256 is alot cheaper; but the Microbeam256 is readily mountable. (But I've never tried mounting the LED256 before; I suppose it could be done...)

Best,

The LED 256 is bigger than the Microbeam 128, too. I don't know if it was designed as an on-camera light.

We didn't design our Cool Lights LED 256 as an on camera light but just meant to be a very powerful adjunct to the LED 600 for accent, hair and rim lighting as well as a fill. That being said, its the same weight as their LED 256 when our barndoors are in. Take those off, which you can and its lighter than their LED 256 by quite a bit. Some have adapted our's as an on-camera light (saw a posting and picture on that late last year on some board like this one but can't find it) for larger pro cameras like the 2700. All you need is a noga arm or something similar and it would work as some have done it. I just didn't think people would like lights the size of their or our 256 for camera lighting so we never recommended it for that.

that sucker is pretty bright.
any more bright and i don't think i could use it as an on camera light. no one would look at the camera lol. little thing is bright. excited to use it.
will be using it this weekend for a wedding.
-JS

I ordered one too, well built and not too expensive. Pretty bright for it's size.

I don't know if anyone tested it's power consumption, but last time I used it with a huge 5200mAh OEM Canon battery, it stopped after a few minutes, overheating maybe? The unit was indeed pretty hot.

The only that that sucked with that light.. it's that they ship with UPS, and I had to pay 100$ over the 320$ only to get it to Canada.. yuk..

My initial test with an A-123 nano-phosphate battery pack ran it for a couple of hours. I'll have to do a more definitive test soon.

The battery specs: 13.2 VDC 2.3 Ah (30.36 Watt-Hours).

Would i be able to gaffer the holes around the side of the unit or will it give me heat issues

I wouldn't do that.. it gets pretty hot quickly, even with the holes opened so..

At full power the light can get hot if there isn't enough ventilation. I did my timing test with a fan blowing on the light to prevent it from overheating.

I tested it again and it looks like it will run for about 2 to 2.5 hours on my nano-phosphate battery pack.

is anyone using the Sony plate with the light

Rob

it basically saved the "exit shot" of bride and groom. i mounted it on the hot shoe of my camera using the 11" articulating arm. everything was great except its pretty freaking heavy mounted on the articulating arm and i use kinda small cameras so it was a bit top heavy but thats the worst i can say about it and that was to be expected.
-JS

Have the 128 and ABSOLUTELY LOVE it. Use to use the litepanels microPro and this is 10 times better. Brighter, Sony battery, metal case, well made. I have used it on 2 run-n-gun reality shows with great results. Just make sure your subject stays more than 3-4 feet away. Here are a few screen grabs from the Philippines.

- As a fill light

-As the primary talent light (on camera)

-As primary light with no other lighting

Hi Annen,

Nice pics!

Where in the Philippines were these taken?

Forgotten how good the street food in Manila used to be :)

Best,

Just bought the 256 will post a video later in the week when it arrives

I have a Anton/bauer Ultra light 2 with a 50 watt bulb( 42 watts @ 14 volts) How does the flo light 128 compare against that in light output?

Hey Matt

Did you ever post that video with the 256? I would love to see it in action!

Thanks

Chad

I have a Anton/bauer Ultra light 2 with a 50 watt bulb( 42 watts @ 14 volts) How does the flo light 128 compare against that in light output?

Randy did you change on-camera lights yet? Have you seen the LED MR16s? I have an Anton-Bauer UL2 which I use with my shoulder-mount JVC DV camera with an A/B Hytron. I'm going to be upgrading to a small HD camera soon (EX1R or XF300). Using the UL2 with a halogen MR16 would be too much power draw on the new camera, so I've been looking at these MicroBeams and other LED panel type on-camera lights.

The other day I was poking around a home reno store and saw some lower wattage LED versions of the MR16. Looked online and I see some are available in both daylight or 3200 that would put out equivalent of 35W, with a decent CRI rating. They are expensive but not like you have to replace them very often. So I am thinking of keeping the UL2 for the new camera and just using these new style LED MR16s. I like the small profile of the UL2 compared to these larger LED panels. Have a mini softbox for the UL2. Can also get a Swit battery that allows you to plug in the A/B D-tap.

Anyhow it's just an option. I do like the design of these Flo LIght MicroBeam, could use it off the camera as well. Would be interested to see if anyone has actually tried these LED MR16s in their UL2.

Keith

(sorry for this late response, I just recently joined DVinfo)