Litepanels Micro - Lighting Test Results

[Don Bloom]

Originally Posted by Travis Cossel

Yeah, I'm hoping I just got a dud unit. I'll know more tomorrow. Don, I did see your screenshots earlier, which is one of the reasons I bought the unit in the first place. So you feel your LP matches your 35w Bescor in output? If that's the case, then this one MUST be a dud. My light light is probably worth about 3-5w.

Guess we'll see what happens when I hear back from Litepanels.

well I can't remember the specifics but IIRC the 35W AB and Bescor ran about 1 or maybe 2 stops hotter than the LP. Again going off of memory from 5 months ago so maybe it was 3 stops or maybe it was a half stop. I really can't remember. I KNOW it wasn't anything like you got. I've now used the LP on about 25 or so weddings and frankly I couldn't be happier (well I could be but that's another story) The lite you got has to be a dud cause man, that just ain't right. The one thing I will say is the LP doesn't have the strength at say 10 feet as the Bescor or AB lite but frankly I really don't worry about that. If it's a bit weak I kick up the gain a notch or just walk in a bit closer. Everything else about the lite makes up for it's weaknesses in my mind.
I hope Litepanel comes thru for you.
Don

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

Glad to hear that Don.
I was beginning to think the LP was garbage...

It's just a misunderstading then, nice.

[Travis Cossel]

Litepanels has responded and has asked me to ship the light back to them. I plan on repeating my test as soon as the replacement light arrives. I'll update this post.

[Tom Roper]

I don't own the Litepanels but I did get a chance to play with one, but not on a camera. My recollection is that it was bright enough to make me wince when I shined it in my eyes full-up, and it cast an even, broad pattern. How bright was it? That's where I don't know, the room was well lit with daylight.

But it seemed like it could be used up close without overexposing the subject, and probably isn't as strong as an incandescent type beyond 5-8 feet.

I'd like to see that G90 Zylight in person.

[Peter Wiley]

This may be a horses for courses situation.

Here's a short clip of raw footage I shot for a documentary on my local volunteer fire company.

http://www.vimeo.com/1220448

It's lit only with a Light Panels micro on top of my XH-A1 and ambient lighting. The Lite Panel is doing enough to bring out some detail that would otherwise be lost in shadow. Of course it works for the subject matter and the style of what I am doing . . . and perhaps is not suited to the average wedding.

[Nick Avdienko]

Hey Travis - I used the light this weekend with a GL2 at 1/30 (12 gain) and it seemed to be okay. The entire reception was pretty dark. I was pleased with the results - still not the greatest - but I still left with usable footage.

We had a total of 350 guests and the bride and groom greeted them came as they in through the door. I had the unit on for a full hour at 100%. I wanted to see if the light bothered them, but I didn't see any squinting or covering of eyes. That's one of the big reasons why I like this light.

Looking forward to the new LP test. Hopefully it's more successful.

[Travis Cossel]

Peter, it definitely looks like you're getting more out of your LP than I am. With any kind of usable ambient light I generally can't even tell if my LP is on or not, but I could actually see the light from yours.

Nick, I'm looking forward to the new light as well. I just got back from shipping out the other one.

[Chris Estrella]

Travis, I think I am in the same boat as you with the LP-Micro. Wasn't that you that wanted to buy it from me? Good thing you didn't :p

Like you, I'm getting poor results even at a reasonable distance of 5-10 feet. You have to be like, 2 feet or closer to the subject for it to work well. And I think it's COMPLETELY useless for weddings.

So maybe mine's a dud too?

When you hear back, please post your results (and updated pics if you can) and well, from there we'll see how it goes :D But for now my Canon VL-10's are doing me wonderfully, and they use the same batteries as my GL2/XHA1 so I'm happy with that.

[Travis Cossel]

Yeah, that was probably me. This is why I was concerned about not having a warranty and didn't want to spend much on a used unit, lol. I should be getting my replacement soon. They received my other unit last week. I'll try and run another test and post pics.

I agree that my LP Micro was turning out to be completely useless at weddings. Hopefully the replacement will shine like the sun, heh.

[Travis Cossel]

I got my replacement Micro today. Didn't have time to run a straight up test, but I had time to throw the batteries in and check it out. This one is definitely brighter than the other one I had. Much brighter. I think a test will show it much more comparable to my 20w Bescor.

[Sean Seah]

I tested one n it was pretty bright. I went for the Sony in the end as it was more ruggard and brighter. I do love the weight of the litepanels Micro but we r always in a hurry during weddings n I'm really afriad to break it. Last of all, it makes the whole cam look a little "cheap". In my country, folks get really "pleased" when u show up with nice looking gear unfortunately.

[Dan Shallenberger]

So, Travis, any real-world results with the new replacement light?

I'm really interested in buying one of these, but I'm worried. Don really helped set me at ease, but I hear bad things from so many others.

[Travis Cossel]

Originally Posted by Dan Shallenberger

So, Travis, any real-world results with the new replacement light?

I'm really interested in buying one of these, but I'm worried. Don really helped set me at ease, but I hear bad things from so many others.

I have a wedding today, so we'll see. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the much of the reception is going to be outside, so I might not have much use for the light.

On another note, I was contacted by someone at Litepanels and I can say nothing but great things about their customer service so far.

[Travis Cossel]

I wanted to update this thread with my experience with the light at this past weekend's wedding. The light worked great. It definitely has much higher output than my original Micro, which must have just been defective. I'd recommend this light now, although I still feel $300 is a bit high given the plastic construction. If nothing else, LP customer service makes up for the light construction.

[Michael Wisniewski]

So Travis, how would you compare the performance of your newly replaced Litepanel Micro vs. the Bescor?