96 led light

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

My 126 LED lights also are completely silent...I looked at the circuitry and the dimmer pot has no electronics so maybe the 96 LED one dims thru a device called a triac which will often be a little noisy sometimes when the frequency is just right.

Chris

[Stockton Massey]

D.J.,

Thanks a lot for putting the light through its paces. This will give folks give folks a clearer picture as to how these things perform.

Stockton

[Reed Gidez]

I ordered my light about 10 days ago and it arrived this morning.

The light was packaged better than I expected. Came in what looks like a regular 'retail' sort of box with info about the light. Inside were the light with filters attached, cheap hot-shoe swivel mount, and instruction booklet.

I slid a generic Sony style battery on the back and fired up the light. I listened for the whine and as noted in other posts, I could hear it faintly at somewhere around the 50% point but I had to have it right up against my ear to hear it. My LP-Micro is silent. I haven't tried it yet with AA batteries so don't know if the whine will be present using them.

The filter mount and filters are much better than the LP and overall build quality is about the same if not a tad sturdier with the Z96. Have not yet had the chance to look at the light temperature but this thing is bright!

BTW, manual is typically poorly translated ("...then cover the battery compartment cover, hear a sound like " carbazole" that means installing completed.") I think this means when you close the battery door, you will hear a "click". Dunno..

Also, the clip for joining multiple units was in the box, underneath the molded compartment.

[D.J. Ammons]

Reed,

I agree that this light seems really bright. I thought the advertisement that the LED's were brighter than most was probably hype but last night I turned both the Z96 and my 126 LED chinese ebay light on to full intensity and my anecodtal observation was that the Z96 was brighter even with 30 les LED's.

Later I will try to do a more objective test with my light meter.

I wish my $300 LP Micro had not disappeared so I could compare it also. It was the mysterious disappearance of the Micro and some other equipment that caused me to be in the market for a new LED light in the first place.

[D.J. Ammons]

They are not lying when they advertise that the Z96 LED lights are brighter than most. The 96 LEDs registered more lumens on my light meter at about 2 feet and the same at about 4 feet as the 126 LED chinese light from ebay.

[Scott Shama]

how about the color from these LEDs? A couple previous cheapo led lights were really blue and really green...

[Stockton Massey]

Reed & D.J.,

Thanks for the pics an comparisons to the Pro 126-LED (CN 126). I just plunked down $60 bucks for the 160 when Link Delight had them "on sale". The Z96 is smaller than the the 126, right? Maybe I'll pick up a few Z96s and sell the 160.... Who knows.

Did you guys order from Brando? I've emailed them several time asking for info on their 600 led panel. They have never responded.

Stockton

[Taky Cheung]

I wouldn't consider buying things from vendor that don't answer customer emails (even before you make the purchase). Imagine if you need service for the product and you don't hear from them.

[D.J. Ammons]

Stockton,

I ordered from the link in the initial post or two in this thread. The footprint of the Z96 is smaller than the ebayk Chiese 126/160 LED lights. That is one of the reasons I ordered it.

The 126 LED light is well worth the money and works fine but the footprint is so large that when mounted on the dual shoe adapter on my Sony V1U camera the light actually rubbed against the shockmount of my Rode NTG2 microphone. That worried me. I would have used my NRG shoe adapter since I believe it is wider between the shoe mounts but strangely the 126 LED light would not fit into the shoes on that adapter.

I think the Z96 is an incredible deal for the money and would be handy for anybody to have on hand for a backup light if nothing else.

[Paul Pelalas]

Hi, the battery options are 6 AA's or a Sony style battery , is that correct?

[Reed Gidez]

This takes FIVE AA batteries and I know it runs on my Sony L regular and generic batteries. A US distributor (LCD4Video.com) sells the same light for about 4 1/2 x more. Their site says adapters for other batteries are available.

I would recommend this light for anyone on a tight budget or if you need a light that might be expendable. The build quality is about on par with the Lite Panels Micro although the Z96 filter system is superior to the flimsy film/holder on the LP micro.

[Michael Liebergot]

Reed, hows the color output on it.
Is it green?

This is one of the only complaints that I had about the 160LED light.

[Reed Gidez]

Michael

I don't have a light meter (I know, I know.....) but unscientifically, when I white balance manually with my Z5 on a white card, the uncorrected, un-diffused light gives a reading in the camera display of 7200K. With the tungsten gel on, the camera shows 3700K.

By comparison, my little Lite Panels Micro shows 5100K without gel and 2800K with the tungsten gel which is a lot closer to where you want to be.

Reed

[Taky Cheung]

Reed, you don't have to stick with the full CTO with the LP Micro. You can try using the 1/4 CTO that keep more light output but it still works okay indoor. Comer light is in 4500K by default. It works very well indoor without any filter too.

[Reed Gidez]

Taky

Thanks for the info. I took a look at the Comer last week after my z96 arrived as I wanted to get an idea about the differences in output. The Comer could be my next light! Thanks.