Comer On-Camera LED Lights

[Sean Seah]

Hi Barry. do u have a comparison between Litepanels mini Flood 5600k Vs the Sony LBP?

[Barry J. Weckesser]

I did a comparison directly between the Sony HVL-LBP and the Litepanels Mini Flood 5600K and the Litepanels produced much less light. The Litepanels also, despite it's shape, produced a narrower beam of light. I then sent the litepanels back to B&H and sold it to their used department. The Comer 1800 produces 2-3 times the light output of the Sony HVL-LBP so by indirect comparison the Comer wins hands down over the Litepanels. The Comer is in a different league (despite the price difference) from the Litepanels from the light output standpoint as well as having a broader beam.

[Michael Liebergot]

For those who might be interested, I used the Comer 1800 for a shoot on Friday, 13 hours. I didn't use it for 13 hours, but most likely 6-8 hours.

This was the first opportunity to see how the light performed in the field, and it performed great. I was standing in as second camera for a wedding at a local hotel, where everything was taking place at. The ceremony was very dark, as were the couple under the huppah.

even though I was using a Sony Z5 camera, I had to sue the light, as the bride came down the staircase, as her and her father would have had no fill light whatsoever, so they really needed some light. Which BTW, I really never use for ceremonies, but only did because of where I was positioned, off to the side of the staircase, and that it was in a hotel not a church.

I used the light with the 3200k only, and it produced a beautiful soft spot as the bride walked down the staircase. Once the couple were under the huppah, I switched the Comer light to use bot 3200k and focus enahced filters. This gave the couple much needed fill light for my camera as well as the other 2 camera being used. Without the Comer light for fill, the image would have been flat and lifeless. I don;t know why venues insist on dark lighting (meaning no), as it doesn't make it more romantic but just darker. the lighting would have been fine, but when couples and under a huppah, they disappear as only the huppah is lit in light not the people inside.

For anyone who is a coordinator out there and might read this, if you have a Jewish service an are sing a huppah, light the huppah as you would, but just try to add some light inside the huppah, or possibly a small fill light (20w max) to light the huppah form the front. This will give the bride and groom enough frontal light so they can be seen.

This was in essence what the Comer light was doing here. As since I was shooting center aisle the light was strong enough to add a fill spot from 20+ feet away.

For the reception, it performed great, and luckily the lights weren't too dim, so I never really had to ran the light at more than 50%, unless I was shooting far away from the subject. But that's not too often as I shot handheld and get in the fray, as that's how I shoot.

I hate being locked down.

Unfortunately, since I was acting a second camera, I don't have footage to post.

But I was very happy with how the light performed.
The only complaint that I have about the light is there is no battery meter on it like the Sony light. So I didn't know how much juice was left on the NP770 batteries I was using. So, as a precaution I swapped out batteries after 5 hours or so.

[Taky Cheung]

I put together another footage showing the backlight condition with the Comer 1800 light.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-ma...ml#post1164843

I also demo using the condenser lens trick to fill light in zooming in.

[Galen Rath]

Thanks, Michael, that is the kind of evaluation I have been waiting to hear. And as for your comment " I don't know why venues insist on dark lighting (meaning no), as it doesn't make it more romantic but just darker," is right on the mark, and is worth repeating over and over to people who run reception venues.

[Taky Cheung]

It happens to me most of the time the venue is so dark because the wedding couple asked for it. Another time it was so dark just because the client refused to pay for additional lighting offered.

[Arthur Abramov]

is it the hot shoe? or additional power supplier mounter on the camera?

[Taky Cheung]

Arthur, the comer light can be powered by NP-F970 or NP-F770 batteries. It also comes with the D-Tap cable and a DC-in jack you can power the light with external batteries.

[Arthur Abramov]

i just wanted to know where the battery goes.? is it behind the light? or a separate adaptor?

[Taky Cheung]

There're two ways to power the light. You can load a battery at the back of the light. Or you can connect the light to an external power source (e.g. Anton Bauer) through the DC-in jack.

You can take a look at this link Comer CM-LBPS1800 On-Camera LED Light. One of the pictures below show the light with a battery mounted on the back. That was the NP-F970 battery. The NP-F770 battery is smaller and lighter, but still gives 90 minutes usage time at max brightness.

[Rob Morse]

I used the Comer 1800 with the NP-F770. It wasn't burning continuously but lasted all night. I used it a lot. I might add, the light was a God send.

[Taky Cheung]

Rob, glad you like the light. I am now also using the F770 battery to power the Comer 1800 light. It sigificantly reduces the overall weight but still give very good usage time.

[Sherri Nestico]

Hi Taky,

Based on your video demonstration of the Comer lights, I just ordered the 1800 from you. I realized I needed it when I tried to shoot some footage of my cousin and his groomsmen getting ready before his wedding with no light on my Sony HVR-V1U. The house was dimly lit and the footage was AWFUL.

I eagerly await my 1800.

[Taky Cheung]

Sherri, yes you will find the light very useful and flexible. It works especially well for weddings. The dimmer helps a lot too. That 4500K color temperature adds a nice touch to the skin tone too.

[Jo Ouwejan]

Allthough there was no reason for me to complain about, because my Sony FX1000 is very light sensitive, but I did follow the recent developments on LED camera lights. They have become available from quite cheap to quite expensive . . .

About half a year ago I passed by an aquaintance of mine, who also has a webshop on video gear. He had a light shining, that almost blinded me. It had 10 LED's and the area it covered was far beyond anything I had seen sofar. He told me that he had that lamp in his program only recently and now he wanted to know how long it would last on an average battery. It was still burning when I left a couple of hours later . . .

Now recently I visited that aquaintance again and he told me, that he received one of those lamps back from a customer, who fed the lamp with a too high Voltage . . . I could have it for free, he said, if I managed to get it working again. It is a Comer CM-LBPS1800. After some investigations I found out, that some tracks on the PCB had molten away completely. In the meantime I found out that Taky not only sells complete Comers, but also repair parts. He sent me a complete back end. When it arrived this morning I could not wait to see, whether I solved the problem. And I did!

Now I got me a $400 lamp for only the price for the repair part!

So I did some testing. Nothing like what I was used to! Not a narrow light channel at all, but almost the whole picture was lightened up!

Taky probably made me the happiest guy around today!