I need a good on camera light

[Jason Simpkins]

I have been reading some articles here and their but some are kinda outdated even if it was a year or so ago. Their are so many light to choose from now.

I am doing point and shoot at night. Mostly on police related calls etc. Lighting is very dark if any at all. I am looking for a light that has a separate battery or it can use the one on board though I might have to change the battery.

When I say point and shoot also I mean the camera is sitting in the seat. I pull up grab the camera and jump out. I have seen some of these wide LED things but not sure they would hold up or if their field of depth is good. I need at least a 10' range. Let me know what your suggestions are.

I am using a Cannon XHA1

[Battle Vaughan]

While lots of people like the Micro or Mini Lightpanels, this was my 'spot news' light until I recently retired: IDX | X5-Lite LED On Camera Light | X5-LITE | B&H Photo Video

Actually, this is a newer verson with more led's; I used mine with a small Bescor battery pack, which I never managed to run all the way down. Once lit a city bus from across the street at night, although with some db gain! I bought the accessory filter holder, absurdly overpriced but gives a diffuser and a warming gel, both useful, particularly when the tv guys are still using tungsten on their cameras and you're in close with them; the dimmer is a good feature. Practically indestructable, I was very happy with this.../Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com retired videographer

PS: I got the model with the xlr 4-pin 12volt cable, I don't know if the newer version is available with that, the link is to a d-tap cable. Reviewer on the B&H site apparently didn't like his X3 (same model I used) but I obviously disagree..../bv

[Ben Longden]

I was using an LED light for a while, but found the colour balance (5600K) didnt mesh with the halogen lights of a night news gig. My 50 watter halogen light suffered with the fact I was using a heavy external shoulder bag for the battery, and so was not that practicable.

I was wanting an Anton Bauer Ultralight, , as this was a permanent mount, fueled by the camera battery via the power tap... but did not fancy the outrageous price.

Then I did a eBay search and found an Aussie importer (Jet Creative eBay Australia Shop - professional: lighting, light, battery http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....d=168682575022 ) who was importing an AB chinese clone for AU$100 delivered. Ive used this at quite a few night news jobs, and life has been soooo much easier..

Ben

[Bob Grant]

Originally Posted by Jason Simpkins

I have been reading some articles here and their but some are kinda outdated even if it was a year or so ago. Their are so many light to choose from now.

I am doing point and shoot at night. Mostly on police related calls etc. Lighting is very dark if any at all. I am looking for a light that has a separate battery or it can use the one on board though I might have to change the battery.

When I say point and shoot also I mean the camera is sitting in the seat. I pull up grab the camera and jump out. I have seen some of these wide LED things but not sure they would hold up or if their field of depth is good. I need at least a 10' range. Let me know what your suggestions are.

I am using a Cannon XHA1

For that kind of work I think you just need LIGHT. It doesn't have to look all that pretty as it's just ENGish. We have two of the Frezzi 15W Micro HMI MRAX2 lights. They really have a lot of punch and they've quite small and light. You'd need at 12V power source though which could be a problem with your camera as the batteries are 7.4V. The other possible downside is they take around 10 seconds to get up to full power but they are hot strike. http://www.frezzi.com/download/15W_Micro_hmi.pdf
Street price is just under USD 600.

For a bit less there's the Comer CM-LBPS1800 which will run from it's own battery or D-Tap. The flip up lens would give you a more focused beam for when the action is further away. Comer CM-LBPS1800 On-Camera LED Light | L.A. Color Shop

The best on camera light is still the Zylight Z90. It is expensive and really more suited to the big shoulder mount cameras.

[Pat Hughes]

The ZyLight 90 looks interesting, but does anyone know the actual lumen output without dimming on this light. A rating of the "brightest" doesn,t mean a thing.

[Pat Hughes]

Ok, Ok, I found it 53fc @ 3.3 ft.

Now 1fc=10.76 lux so we have a 570.28 lux

Wow that is really a bright light.

[Bob Grant]

The brightness is not really the only wow factor with the Z90. Push button switching between daylight and tungsten, variable CT from around 2,500 to over 6,000 and variable hue plus Blutooth remote control is what makes this light in a class of its own. It's a light that's not just for use on a camera. Several of them in the kit bag and you have enough light for a small interview setup. The stills guys are taking a shine to them for adding accents to wedding shots etc.

[Chris Swanberg]

For what you are describing, I might suggest you look into 3 or 4 of these little gems: The SIMA lights (the thread was mistakenly listed as a Sigma light.. it should read SIMA. For pick up and shoot simplicity it may be your ticket... incredibly bright and priced right.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-m...deo-light.html

[Ben Longden]

Has anyone noticed a colour balance conflict using an LED light at night, particularly on skin tones or backgrounds?

Typically outdoor lighting is halogen based and around 3200K. Daylight is 5600K, so using, as I have done, an LED light at night gives a cyan shift to skin tones, unless I set the camera to daylight - then the background lighting goes awry. (Thats an ENG setup)

If I place the colour correction filters over the LED, then the colour temp is right, but the effective power out is down by a stop.

If I use the 800 watt RedHeads, I do use the blue CC gels over them to compensate, and this gives a top result in a controlled light situation.

Thoughts?

Ben

[Rob Morse]

The Comer 1800 is an awesome light. A little big but it has great coverage and great color.

[Taky Cheung]

It's true when you put any filter in front of the light, it decreases the overall output. It happens to many on camera light that it only creates a soft circular spot in the scene. Adding a diffuser will even out the light but it further reduces the brightness.

That's why I think the Comer light is an awesome light. It defaults already diffused and 4500K color temp. It works well both indoor and outdoor. I actually like the natural white on skin tone when shooting indoor. It won't make everything so orangey.

[Enzo Giobbé]

Originally Posted by Pat Hughes

Ok, Ok, I found it 53fc @ 3.3 ft.

Now 1fc=10.76 lux so we have a 570.28 lux

Wow that is really a bright light.

Pat, 53fc @1 meter is not all that bright by my reckoning. It's about the same as an Anton Bauer Ultralight 2 with a 25W bulb.

The new AB LED light puts out (by my own tests) 90fc @1 meter, and that's not bright enough for me either. I have yet to test any LED light (and I have tested a lot of them) that will work on faces in full sun.

As an example, by my practical use reckoning, you would need a light that has an output of 200 to 225fc @ 1 meter to greatly minimize the eye socket / deep nose shadows of a face in full on sunlight, and about 250 to 300fc (again @ 1 meter) to achieve a proper balance between the on-camera light, the sunlight, and full on sunlit background.

Then there's the "hassle" factor of how to power the light, and how accurate any conversion filter or 32K switch system is. LED lights are generally very strong in the green spectrum, and this will show on the face tones when the shot has to be with mixed lighting.

A good comparison system is to use a fc to price formula (fc / $ =).

Again as an example, for full on sun interviews I use an Anton Bauer UltraDaylight HMI light (uses 25W on strike, 20W on run) and puts out 375fc @1 meter with the stock frosted glass lens (the 85 flip in gel cuts the light output by a little over 1/2 a stop and changes the color temp to 34K). That light has a "street" price of about $900 USD.

Using the above formula, I rate that light at .42fc per dollar. The ZyLight 90 would be .054fc per dollar.

I'm sure the ZyLight 90 is a great light, but it's very expensive fc to $ wise.

My 2 liras...

[Bob Grant]

Originally Posted by Ben Longden

Has anyone noticed a colour balance conflict using an LED light at night, particularly on skin tones or backgrounds?

Typically outdoor lighting is halogen based and around 3200K. Daylight is 5600K, so using, as I have done, an LED light at night gives a cyan shift to skin tones, unless I set the camera to daylight - then the background lighting goes awry. (Thats an ENG setup)

If I place the colour correction filters over the LED, then the colour temp is right, but the effective power out is down by a stop.

If I use the 800 watt RedHeads, I do use the blue CC gels over them to compensate, and this gives a top result in a controlled light situation.

Thoughts?

Ben

Outdoor lighting can be any CT and then some. Halogen is a bit bluer than tungsten at around 3400 to 3600 however a lot of outdoor lighting could be sodium or mercury vapor or HID lamps as well. There's not much tungsten or halogen in use as it's so expensive to run. Outdoor stadiums I think are lit with xenon arc lamps which are daylight.

The Zylight is able to produce any CT however vapor lamps produce a monochromatic light that's unique. My thought is to light the subject with a good daylight light source and let the background fall where it may. Even car headlights cover the range from tungsten to daylight and that's quite obvious to the naked eye. No one expects background outdoor practical lights to all be matched, it probably adds to the atmosphere of the shot that they aren't.