I bought two of the 96's, and received them Monday.

First nice thing, they are a perfect match to some low end lightweight light stands I bought last year, and the accompanying swivel works great.

Second- the magnetic difuser panels, are great. Very powerful magnets. And they are stackable, though you really wouldn't want to stack diffusers, it would be great to have a set of barn doors that stacks on to those magnets.

I put one on a stand last evening, and set my Canon 5D at about 640 ISO, with my Nikon 50mm at 1.4 wide open, shut off all other lights, and walked into the frame about 6 feet away. Looked pretty impressive to me. in the brief viewing.

As I do mostly narrative stuff, I think the benefit of these lights will be to light tight areas, and to fill in night shots.

So far I have only used my Sony L batteries, but I am curious how long they will last on the 5 AA batteries.

96 led
 

I too bought one of these little lights after reading everyone's thoughts on them. Mine arrived today via US Mail. First off, for $70 its not bad. I decided to run a few tests to see where it is color balance, color temperature and output wise. I used a Minolta IIIf color meter, Sekonic L558 and a B&S flicker meter (first version). Measurements were made in a darkened household room.

Out of the box at 1 meter, with 100asa and 1/60s exposure, the reading for output was F1.4.
Color temperature was 6950K, LB +38 and CC 18m. Basically meaning, too blue and too green.

I then cut a piece of Gamo 106 minus green gel and a piece of Rosco 3410 CTO. The results are below.

Gamo 106 only. Color temp 6410K, LB +26, CC 4m, output is now F1.0 + 8/10.

Gamo 106 and Rosco 3410. Color temp 5510K LB 0, CC 4m, output is now F1.0 + 5/10.


WIth both filters in place I have lost 1/2 stop of light, but my color balance is much improved.
Next I add the supplied 3200k filter.

Supplied 3200k filter and Gamo106. Color temp 3430, LB +21, CC 9m, output is F .7 + 4/10
Supplied 3200k filter, Gamo 106 and Rosco 3410. Color temp 3150k, LB -5, CC 9m, output is F .7 + 3/10.

Flicker at full power is 2-3%. At 1/2 power also 2-3%. At the dimmest setting flicker is 12-13%.

For $70 plus the additional gels its not a bad little light. The build quality is decent, you can power it from AA batteries, a Sony NP style battery or an external power source. I plan on buying several more.

David Rogers
Nashvegas

Purely on impulse, I just sprung for one of these now. I figure for seventy bucks, I can't go too far wrong. I already have a Sima 36-LED light, and while it does OK, I think I paid too much for it. Plus it has no replaceable battery, only an internal, rechargeable Li-Ion unit, and the endurance isn't great, maybe 1.5 hours.

It looks like a decent light and I like the fact it is stackable. I have contacted my suppler and will be carrying this item in stock in a week. =)

Hi Taky,

That's good news! Will you be charging $70 for them too?

Best,

That's very good news, Taky. I would buy from you if prices are competitive. I also found these lights for $65 free shipping on eBay.

Good to see Taky, you can probably count me in for a couple.

hey i am thinking of getting a Z96 off ebay for my z1 because of how bad it is in low light?

would it fit on the hot shoe mount and is it any good?

Ollie :)

Ollie,

Seems like you didn't read the thread.. concensus I read is that most are pleased enough to buy more than one.

Ollie,

It does fit on the hot shoe of my Z1 and while the color temp is not quite what they claim it is, with the supplied filters it is adequate. I'd rate it as "Good Value" in that it is very reasonably priced if purchased from the vendor in China.

will the pro 160 let me use my Panasonic camcorder batterys that came with my AG-HMC 150?

It uses Panasonic CGR-D16S, CGR-D26S battery. It doesn't seem like the one for your HMC cam.

Mine came in the other day. Fantastic light. Like reported, slight color shift. VERY happy for the price. Bright, nice spread, and comes with accessories (magnetic filters and hot shoe mount). Only complaint is the flickering while dimming, other than that can't beat it for the price :).

Okay, I have the light for sale now.

HDV-Z96 LED Photo/Video Light Kit | L.A. Color Shop

I can't compete with eBay price as I have to deal with import duty, warranty service, stuff like that. But I am able to provide domestic warranty and faster delivery service so you don't have to wait for 2 to 3 weeks shipping without any tracking information too. Hope you guys appreciate it =)

I'm hoping to sell it at $89. For now, it's $79. =)

Taky

Just got my 600 and 2 96s in today and did some quick tests. In short, I'm VERY excited about these lights. Much brighter than I expected and I love that they all have dimmers. I did a quick interview setup and it looked great. So much lighter (weight-wise) and easier to deal with than my halogens. It's going to be a delight carrying these around for most things.

I need to do more testing, but after about 20 minutes I can say that I think this was a great use of about $450.

I'll probably spring for another 600 shortly.

Just ordered one from you Taky. Hopefully I can convince my office to get more. The price bump is worth it for warranty. Thanks!

Has anyone found an AC power adapter for these 96s? I'd love to throw a couple in the case for backup.

Taky

Mine arrived today. Thanks very much for making these available here.

That's great! I played with the light and it seems quite a good light for the price. The $79 is an introductory price. It will go up to $99 soon... so if you are interested, get it now =)

I ran a test yesterday with a 96 and a NP-F570. I was able to get just over 2 hours on the light at full brightness with the battery. Which was ok, but on full day shoots i don't know if I really want to have to manage yet another system of batteries for the lights.

Anyone have any idea about an AC adapter? Taky, maybe you could source one and carry it for these things?

96 Led
 

I did a bit of checking for power supplies. The center pin of the light is 2.5mm positive. Digikey and Mouser both have 12vdc wall supplies with the 2.5mm coax connector. There is one in the Mouser catalog that would work well. It's $18 and for addtional $5 you can buy a plug adapter kit to use it in the UK, Europe and Australia. The part number is 675-PW170KB1203B01. Mouser site is Mouser Electronics - Electronic Component Distributor. Another 12vdc wall supply is part number 418-TR1512-12. This one is $14. There are others on their site with the 2.5mm plug. If you are good with a solering iron, numerous vendors have the wall transformers for a few dollars each, you can buy a 2.5mm connector and make your on supply.

David

You can take your light to your local Radio Shack and have them test which AC adapter will work for your light.

I don't think it is a great idea to use a 12V supply with a light that runs on ~7.5V. That's a huge percentage increase and maybe enough to just burn everything out. Personally, I wouldn't go over a 9V supply and I'd try using a resistor to bring that down below 8V. I'm sure there must be 7.5V supplies around somewhere.

Actually, the plug on the back says 5.5 volts to 16.5v. So it seems like it would do fine on a 12 volt supply.

Thanks for that info, Chris. That means the light has it's own regulator/supply/doodad built-in which makes it that much more attractive. I'd love to standardize all my LEDs on 12V.

I got my light yesterday and shot some footage. Here's my initial impressions:

-Like others said, there's a slight buzz when dimmed, but not really a problem unless you have a mic right next to it.

-Only uses sony L and not the M batteries too like the 126 or 160 light. I guess I overlooked that part in the description. Look like just the two rear tabs are in the way and I can probably snap that off to make it work but that would probably void Taky's warranty.

-Rear battery door is little difficult to open at time and as well as taking the battery out when all are loaded in. I use a piece of tape folded in half lengthwise and put it under to let me pull out the batteries.

-One other concern is that the manual said not to cover the top vents. Is this going to be an issue when stacking vertically? The glass covering the led does get pretty hot and smells a bit like burning after I left it on for an hour to test the battery life.

min

will it fit on the top mount of the z1 or do you need an a adapter?

cheers really want one :)

Mine fits right on the shoe of my Z1.No problems. The plastic ball-swivel thingy is a better mount than the one attached to my Lite Panels Micro.

does it really compensate for the z1, poor low light, looking to get festival night footage with this light :)

Just received my z96 light from Taky. Fast mailing, and bought it for the $79 intro price (just made it in time :) Thanks alot Taky!

Like other folks, I'm so far impressed with this little light. I haven't tested it extensively, just a darkened office. Good diffuse lighting overall. Haven't heard a hum when dimming (but haven't put it close to my ears either).

I also bought the combo Sony NPF770 batt and charger with the light. I find it a bit difficult to insert the battery due to the slide switch that opens up the battery plate for the AA batteries. So, I have to open the batt plate to slide the NPF770. No big deal...except in run n gun situations, like a wedding, which I'll be shooting in a couple weeks. (Which reminds me...I need to buy another battery...)

Best,

Jeff, thanks for buying from us =) and glad you like the light.

It is quite well built compared to Pro 160 and Pro 126. It claims to be 65 degree spread and 800 lux... but from my bare eye comparison, it's not bighter than Pro 160 nor Comer 900.

I don't notice any humming sound but the light will flicker when I dial the dimmer. That will make a bad impression when adjusting the dimmer in front of the customers.

Hi Chris,

Are you stacking your z96s side by side and mounting on a light stand?

I plan on getting at least one more of these, but wonder if I need an adapter to mount them, like this one:
Accessory Shoe Extension Bar | L.A. Color Shop

or this one:

Accessory Bar with Two Shoes | L.A. Color Shop

You're welcome Taky!

I don't notice the hum as well; but you're right the flickering might be a problem.

Hope to buy another battery from you soon,

Hi, the bracket with 2 shoes is out of stock.. and I don't know when I will have them back. I imported them from Hong Kong before.

I'm also stocking up the NP-F570 battery. Usually nobody wants that battery because it always come with their camera that power the camera for less than 30 minutes only. but it will power the light for an hour I think. Will be good for me to use the light on my camera on steadicam.

My test showed it would last two hours on full brightness.

with which battery?

The NP-F570.

I received two of the Z96 yesterday and I love them!

The manual says you should not combine more than 3 x 3 (9 units) for stability reasons. I am thinking of building a light box out of at least 6 units (3 x 2) and I am wondering what sort of AC adapter or batteries I need to run in the DC plug with six plug splitters. Do they make them, or do I need to roll my own? I could use regular AAs or 570s to power all six Z96s but then the unit gets too heavy.

I don't know how long you're planning to run them in an array.
But a colleague of mine informed me the other day that the lights themselves do run hot. Which worried him a bit.

It's not that the bulbs ran hot but he lights themselves are generating heat from somewhere. So be careful when sing these for long runtimes.

Why mess with putting 6 together? Just buy a 600 LED light. Would be cheaper, easier to deal with, require less power, etc. I don't see the upside to using 6 96s.