Hi there,
I need a good portable light... I like the look of the Dedolight Ledzilla, but I can't see how to power it. I asked someone at the company, and they wrote back to say that you can buy a battery shoe "so you may power it directly from the EX-1 batteries". But I handle my batteries all the time, and I don't see any way that it could connect to anything (other than the Sony EX-1 itself).
Can anyone enlighten me?
thanks,
Malcolm

Just found this video, showing how the battery attaches to the light:

YouTube - Dedolight Ledzilla Test with XF305 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e3hd5tn8ms)

Looks very nice...
Malcolm

EX1 batteries from Swit and Switronics have a D-tap port. Dedo sells an accessory for the LEDZilla to power the light from a D-tap battery (DLOBML-AB-L). AFAIK, the sled you are looking at (DLOBML-BS) is not for the EX1 Sony BP batteries but Sony NP batteries.

Thanks Les, I appreciate this. I wonder if I'm better off with the NP batteries and the sled meant for them.
I'll do some more googling.
Regards,
Malcolm

UPDATE:

I received my LEDzilla and 22" d-tap cable. It's a nice piece of kit. I notice in the paperwork that there are more accessories than what's in the online PDF from the Dedolight website. According to the paper flyer that came with the light, ther IS a sled for Sony BP-U batteries. It's part number DLOBML-BSU. Sorry for the mis-information.

O.K., I see the sled for the Sony battery, thanks.
In a YouTube video, they've got the light+battery unit attached to a light stand (see screen-grab):

I'd like to attach this light/battery unit to the top of my Sony EX-1, for shooting at night (I shoot alone, by the way), hand-held, moving around a lot.
Do you think attaching this to the 'shoe' attachement on top of the Sony would make for a very ungainly, hard-to-balance load? Has anyone tried it?
thanks,
Malcolm

I haven't actually tried it but anything you can do to reduce the weight at the top of the camera is a plus.
Get yourself one of the 3rd party batteries with a D-Tap, you will be glad you did. I run the Comer 1800 off the big PL-U95 battery via D-Tap and that arrangement works very well.

I second Bob on this.

Malcolm, buy a couple of those long batteries, and the Comer light. Also, buy the "small" shoulder pad (along with the base plate) from Olof, you can also order the Hoodman loupe for EX1 from him.

With the big battery at the back, the rig will seat comfortably supported on your shoulder - with your eye against the Hoodman lope and your left hand supporting the lens hood as 2 additional support points. Very comfortable and steady.

Also, your left hand fingers are still free to operate the lens controls (your right hand is of course holding the camera in a regular way, operating the zoom rocker and start/stop button).

Recommended for handheld shooting.

Piotr

thank you Bob and Piotr for your advice. If you don't mind, could you now tell me how to find the PL-U95 battery that has the D-Tap feature? I've tried googling, and I can find the battery all right, but there's no mention of this D-Tap feature.
As I understand it, this battery, with the D-Tap, would allow me to connect the Comer 1800 directly to the PL-U95, which would be on the back of my EX-1, powering both the camera and the light. Is that right?
Regards,
Malcolm

Malcom, be aware the Comer light temperature is 4500K which is neither daylight or indoor so you are putting on filters when you want either of those (reducing output) and you only get the full output when you are in a mixed lighting scenario. I see a 15% reduction in my LEDzilla when I put on the CTO filter to get tungsten.

As far as batteries for the EX, take a look at the page below. they have good prices and they hang out on DVInfo helping out with various things related to batteries and chargers. They carry a Switronix EX-L96 as well as the SWIT S-8U62 which is smaller and less capacity. I prefer the smaller ones (8U62) for size/weight and I have had excellent support from SWIT.
Batteries 7.2V and 14.4V : Dolgin Engineering, Camera Power Solutions (http://dolgin.net/zen_dolgin/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3)

Thanks Les. I now have that page, with the Swit 8U62 battery (that has a D-Tap power jack), bookmarked.
So if I get a light (and it seems to me that the fact that the Ledzilla is daylight by default has to be a point in its favour) and this battery, would this battery click onto the back of my EX-1, and power both the camera and the light at the same time?

I understand that I would also need a cable (from Ledzilla to D-Tap jack): I found the DLOBML-AB-L you mentioned in an earlier post on a B&H page, but it says this cable is to connect the "Ledzilla DLOBML to Anton Bauer". My guess is that it would work with any battery with a D-Tap connector, but I've learned to ask about this kind of thing so I don't end up with something that doesn't work.

Bob and Piotr, can I ask you why you prefer the Comer light?
In case it matters, I'm envisioning using whatever light I get mostly outdoors, at dusk, or in the dark if I need to shoot then (as I had to a while ago).

Best Regards,
Malcolm

Malcolm,

You can get the Comer light from the LAColorShop or MxM Express (of these two dealers I'm aware of).

As to the light temperature being 4500K, I never find it objectionable when shooting with day light. In warm light environment, you can always engage the 3200K amber filter that this lamp has.

HTH

Piotr

.... would this battery click onto the back of my EX-1, and power both the camera and the light at the same time?
... but it says this cable is to connect the "Ledzilla DLOBML to Anton Bauer".


I have LEDzilla, EX1R running off of the 8u62 but I don't know how long it will run both. The EX-96 is roughly another 30 watt hours of power but larger. The LEDzilla consumes 8w and the EX-1 15w (I think). I don't know what the Comer draws.

Both of those batteries snap into the EX-1 but the EX-1 power is supplied via a cable built-in to the battery. Research it on DVinfo...you'll see.

If you only use one light in the dark, then the 4500K color of the Comer won't matter. You can white balance to it. Other cameras will also have to balance to it. Soon as you add other lights tho.....

Shooting run and gun solo in the dark...sounds creepy.

Checking in again with another question: I've been reading a bit about the bigger, longer-lasting batteries that people are recommending for any of these on-board lights. From what I gather, the battery (via D-Tap) connects to the camera via the DC input on the back.
But if the D-Tap in the battery is being used like this, then how does the light (whether the Comer or Ledzilla or Lowel Blender) connect to the battery?
By the way (the web sites don't always make this clear), do each of the above three lights attach to the battery via D-Tap?
Thanks again,
Malcolm

The batteries do not connect to the camera via the D-Tap. THey have a short cable that plugs into the EX DC input. THere's also a D-tap for the light or whatever.

O.K.. I was confusing D-Tap and DC input. Now I understand. Thanks very much,
Malcolm

I'm looking at getting the Ledzilla light for use on an EX1R, and want to figure out how to power it. If possible it would be nice to avoid the batter adapter plate version.

We are probably buying a couple of these batteries: http://dolgin.net/swit-manual.jpg

Anyone know if I can simultaneously power both the EX1R and the Ledzilla with the Swit S-8U62 battery? My voltage math is poor.

I see that BH sells a cable for a Swit battery, but it doesn't appear to be a D-tap... they also sell an Anton Bauer cable that does have a D-tap - will that work with the Swit battery??

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
B.J.

I used the LEDzilla on EX1R and SWIT 8U62 batteries. It's a nice rig but there's always the tradeoff of size vs Lumens. For the cable, you want part number: DLOBML-AB-L. http://www.dedolight.com/www/assets/pdf/Dedolight_Ledzilla_EU.pdf

The LEDzilla will also mount on the rear 1/4" mount if needed.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-management/490985-how-you-mounting-things-1-4-20-female-camera-mounts.html

We are probably buying a couple of these batteries: http://dolgin.net/swit-manual.jpg


Take a look at their dual charger for the EX batteries. Alex at Dolgin hangs out here and was very helpful. What I like about that charger was it's robustness to power dips and power cycles plus it's ability to judge how much charge each battery needs and apply different amounts of charge to each so that they both become ready at the same time.

If you can, consider the Litepanels SolaENG 3 which is similarly priced to the Dedo but outputs WAY more light. I have 2 SolaENG 3's and one Dedo, and I use the Sola 90% of the time on my EX3 rig powered by V-mount batteries from Swit.

I have these 3 lights with v-mount batteries so I can do interviews with a quick 3 light kit anywhere I want with no need for AC power; however, I also bought 2 Frezzolini AC to D-tap power bricks to power the Sola's.

The Dedo can be purchased with a Sony or Pann battery plate in addition to purchasing their d-tap cable. On my EX3 rig, their d-tap cable does not reach my d-tap ports so I use a Zacuto/Swit cable that plugs into the battery's d-tap and has 2 connectors: 1) one is to power the camera and 2) is a female d-tap to connect to the Dedo (or Sola).

My only issue with the Sola is its fan. For on-camera use, this fan and on-camera mic's don't get along. Also, the 2nd Sola I received had a bad fan. In addition, I found the fan to become rather loud after an hour or so of continuous full-power use such as when I used a Sola as a backlight for a greenscreen shoot. The fan isn't audible from a few feet away so it didn't affect my boom shotgun mic but when the shoot was finished, I noticed how loud the fan had become.

The Dedo is fine for lowlight situations and has enough power to add fill in slightly brighter indoor situations. However, it is not wide enough to cover 2 people whereas the Sola has enough coverage and power for 2 people.

From my testing, I find the Sola equal to a 240 watt tungsten - very close to an Arri 300 to which I compared.

But to BJ's point, doesn't the Sola draw more power than is available with a SWIT 8U62 that's also running an EX1R.

But to BJ's point, doesn't the Sola draw more power than is available with a SWIT 8U62 that's also running an EX1R.

Very good point. The Swit battery spec says 50w max but I always thought it was 50w max per port. For example, I have a few of the Swit 88whr v-mount batteries and I have powered my EX3, nanoFlash and SolaENG 3 from a single 88whr Swit battery.