Cool New Light For My Optura Xi
 

I just bought a new lighting accessory for my Optura Xi, and wanted to share my findings about it here.

I did a search last week for “LED Camcorder Light”, and the company link below was the first result (out of a surprisingly few) that I got: http://www.camerabright.com/index.htm

I didn’t post this in the Photons Management area of this board because it’s not an expensive, hi-end piece of equipment - [Edit: post has been moved]- but I can say this, it does what it claims, and it works! This is a very cool idea, it’s a little device that fits in the palm of your hand, and uses four super bright, white LED’s as its light source. It’s universal: attaches to any camera or camcorder that has a tripod mount. You don’t lose tripod use with it, because it has another set of threads on the bottom. It’s powered by 4 standard watch batteries, and is rated to last 4 – 5 hours of continuous use.

When I first opened the box, I thought “that looks too small to be of any use as a camcorder light”. Then I turned it on right in front of my face….Whoa! It’s like looking into a welding torch. It really works.

I spent most of the weekend fooling around with it on my camcorder. Let’s just say that shots that would have been impossible before in a darkened room came out as pretty usable. Close-ups with larger objects like faces, were fine. I even tried using it outside at night. (By the way, this thing makes a pretty cool flashlight. I was lighting up the tops of trees with it). As long as you are around 5 to 10 feet from your subject, it works great for video.

The price? I got the brand new high intensity model X1-ER for under thirty five dollars. It has a stated range of 20 feet. I think this is an amazing deal. My camcorder is now about twice as usable as it was before. I plan to just leave the light on there, so I always have it ready indoors. It’s black, and it looks very techy on my camera too, like it’s supposed to be on there. It has one control on it: On and Off. After five minutes it has an auto shutoff to conserve your batteries. The LEDs have a cool blueish white color temperature to them, which I found out I actually liked. The Optura tends to go very orange when you are shooting in dim lighting, and this balances the footage back again. In some shots it actually looked like a cool effect having the subject in the foreground highlighted with cool colors, while the background stayed warm.

You can also stack these together to keep doubling your power. Very clever! They make two other less expensive ones, a half power model that may be less overwhelming to your subjects in a dark room, and one with warm, diffused light.

Check this out. The company, again is called Camera Bright. They were very friendly on the phone, and service was fine. They have a winning idea here, and I think this device deserves to catch on.

Thanks a bunch, Kevin,

I think you've found the answer to a very common question asked by a lot of Canon Optura and GL2 users... which is how to use on on-board light plus the DM-50 stereo mic at the same time. This little gadget screws into the tripod mounting thread, keeping the hotshoe free for attaching the mic. Great!

Could you send email a photo of your Xi with this light, please? Thanks again,

That is a very neat product, I have always though LED's are the way of the future, as evidenced by IDX's new LED oncam light and all the Pelican LED flashlights. They last 3x longer and don't get warm. Cool find.

Kevin, I have a better solution. (IMO :) )


http://www.minihttpserver.net/z_hard...B00008BFS9.htm

BTW, do you know where I can get gels for my LED flashlight?

You can cut gels yourself from any kit like this:

http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=55612

http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=55412


Or find smaller packages for oncamera lights.

That’s pretty cool, Young. I don’t think that would look very pro though, duck taped to my camcorder…;)

With 10 LED’s that must be pretty bright, but I have a feeling with the reflector, that flashlight is designed to throw a tight beam, not a wide, dispersed one. I do think LED’s are the way to go, and standard light bulb’s will be stone age soon. They can make these things so cheap now too….

Thanks, Rush~!

"I don’t think that would look very pro though, duck taped to my camcorder…;)"


http://www.dvuser.co.kr/zboard/data/...y/IMGA1119.JPG

What do you think? :)

Hi Young, actually, I have hung flashlights on my camera in an emergency, and it didn't work as well as a professional light (mainly due to lack of barndoors and focusing) but it did the trick! What I had done, was cut a circular piece of diffusion material exactly the same fit as the flashlight head, so it fit inside the plastic lip, right on the glass. It worked very well, and no duct tape ; )