Video of VL312 on camera light

[John Nantz]

Steve - that's a big help.

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

The 312 head might be the same from different suppliers but it sounds like the accessory's do vary. The light in the video I got from LA Color came with a single battery charger. It is clearly labeled for 110V 60Hz or 240V 50Hz.

So I'll have to ensure that the power brick is the dual voltage model. That's a big help.

As for the cig adapter and the charger setup I'm okay with that part.

Question: is the battery proprietary?

That's good to know about the 3200 temperature. For the price it wouldn't surprise me if the higher temperature is a little off as with LEDs it's a good chance it is, but for my use I think I can live with it. The other option is to strain the camera with a lack of lumens and deal with more grain, depth of field, etc. Given the possible tradeoffs I think I can live with 5400 if I have to.

I don't think I'm too picky (just don't listen to my wife).

[Steven Digges]

I think your overly concerned about a fictitious 5400 and green spikes. If you don't have it you can't shoot with it. My stuff looks just fine. I have not turned anybody into a Martian yet :) :) :)

[Don Bloom]

OK after all this talk about the 312 I decided to actually try to read what is printed on the 2 battery charger I got with the one I bought off of Amazon from Fotodiox.
So here's what I found. Yes, the AC adapter IS listing: INPUT 100/240V 50-60Hz 0.3A Max--
Output:DV12V/1000mA
AND the power cable that runs the charger DOES power the light off of AC power much to my surprise but then I honestly never bothered to look at it before. Again the kit I got had a cable with a cig adapter on it so I use it to power the light with my Bescor battery OR I use 1 or 2 Sony type 550s, 770s, or 950,60 or70s to run it.
BTW, Steven, I HAVE turned people into Martians but NOT because of the light! At least I would have LOVED to turn some peoplle I've met into Martians.
O|O
\--/

[John Nantz]

Just had a great meeting this afternoon about standing up a Video Club for our local area so I'm really feeling good right now. We've got a core group of some really top videographers and related expertise including script writers, a college prof who teaches Documentary Videography, a National Geographic videographer, and a few professional videographers. The first official meeting is March 2nd.

Anyway, getting back to lighting:
Steven - perhaps I am a little concerned about the green spike. A couple months ago I was using my CoolLights 600 panels for doing some product photography and I had a struggle with the green. I gelled them as close as I could then edited the pictures afterward for color balance and it was tough.

Don - Hey! Thanks for going the extra distance and, I know it's a guy-thing, actually reading the instructions. I get accused of (not doing) that all the time. On the other hand, I know how to read a road map by orienting it so North faces upward. And if I was co-piloting and the car turned a corner I wouldn't have to rotate the map 90 degrees to know where I am.

Today I did a "chat" with the store the OP got the light from and they apparently don't have the new model light in yet. If I get one I'd like to get the newer "Z" version.

[John Nantz]

I've been wanting an on-board camera light for a couple years now and thanks to this thread I finally have one one the way. After talking to LAcolor about various on-board camera lights I finally decided to spring for a different one; the Comer CM-LBPS1800. It was a difficult decision but some factors that affected it were:

The longer light throw was an important one
More lumens - kinda ties in with the above
Longer battery life (three choices available going up to 3.5 hours at 6600 mAh) (albeit with a little more weight)

Down the road I'll probably consider some kind of diffuser setup given the output available.

Looking forward to it's arrival.

[Steven Digges]

Cool John,

Let us know how it works out for you. Diffusion is the least scientific thing to rig yourself. I know your concerned about color balance so you might want to stick with tuffspun or diffusion gels. Both are cheap. Other guys use anything from shower curtains to Tupperware! Whatever works for you.

Steve

[John Nantz]

Well, the Comer light showed up this afternoon and it looks and feels really neat. I suppose for $299 without the batteries, $400 with, it should.

First impression:
Very nice build quality. Nice and solid with lots of air vents.

Compact but it can be really, really bright.The instructions say to not look directly at the light as it can be harmful to your eyes, and I believe it. This will take some getting used to. Even at the lowest light level it is hard to look at but then it depends on what the ambient light has been and, besides, one isn't supposed to look directly at the light anyway.

Spot: this works very well. There is a visible spot circle with a diffused light area beyond it. Not sure what application I'll put it to but it's there if the need shows up.

The base of the hot shoe mount has a 1/4-inch thread. The built in screw/thumbscrew can be extended to attach it to a bracket. Conversely, the screw/thumbscrew can be fully retracted into the base to allow a tripod screw to be screwed in. I really like this feature. I've got a nice Stroboframe bracket with a Manfrotto 3270 quick-release plate and it has a 1/4-inch thumbscrew that can attach the light. This will be nice.

Built-in filter and built-in focus screen for the spot: no need to go rummaging around for filters because they're all right there, nice and solid.

LAcolor is offering a free table support for it. Not exactly sure how one could use it on a table but I did notice one good use. It has a hot-shoe on top and a 1/4-inch screw hole in the bottom so one could mount it on a tripod and it would be a quick easy-on/easy-off for the light. Neat.

What I would like:
1. A nice factory-made diffuser setup. I did read about someone who put together a home-made one.

2. The angle adjustment screw should not require a coin to operate. There should be a knob so one doesn't have to fiddle with a coin in a slot. The chrome looks nice now but surely after using a coin several times it's going to not look so good.

Otherwise, I really like it and I'm looking forward to using it.

Opted for the large 6600 mAh 3.5-hour and the smaller 2-hour batteries with the charger. That was basically about a $100 ad-on.

[Jase Tanner]

John

I'll be curious to know how you find colour correcting with the Comer. I haven't yet bought the lights that this thread is primarily discussing, mostly because other things have been a priority but also because I'm more interested in getting something that has a little more punch which it sounds like the Comer has.

BTW, I have a Coollights 600. I have to say I don't like it for the reasons you've stated. Very difficult to get skin tones looking right. Not that they're green. I use the supplied minus green gel and of course white balance but just not a flattering light imo. The issue as I understand it is that because LEDs, cheap ones anyway, are simply not full spectrum so even when you correct for the green spike, there are parts of the spectrum that simply aren't there. And you can't enhance what you don't have to begin with. Never having used them, I'm not suggesting that the 312 or 160 would be this way. In fact I'm sure I will get one or possibly both for a road trip thats upcoming in the next few months.

[John Nantz]

Hi Jase - the Comer CM-LBPS1800 arrived a couple days ago but I've been pretty busy and haven't had the time to "test" the light for green spikes. However, I have played with it a little bit and will give you my first impression.

The light has a nicer color to my eyes than my CoolLights CL-LED600s. The comparison, though, is made with the CLs been gelled with a 1/4-minus AND a 1/8-minus Green. I really played around with the gels and for my last project this is what I used.I'll attach a link to a Vimeo video where just one of the CLs was used for the lighting for expediency.

The Comer has three rows of LEDs with the top and bottom row being ~white and the middle row being colored about like the minus Green gel. The resultant light from the videographers view is, shall we say, pleasant. From the talent's point of view it is bright. Er, let me re-write that, it is BRIGHT. Well, it CAN be bright but of course there is a dimmer control so it's a function of what is needed in the way of lumens.

Last night I did a little messing around with it in the living room and shooting into the kitchen for distance, about 30 to 33 feet. The closer illuminated items were well lit but at the far range one really needed the spot with the camcorder set for typical daylight settings. With the camcorder set to low-light settings like a typically lit house the kitchen looked okay, albeit with the light-colored oak cabinets looking a little on the dark side but not like walnut. The scene looked a little on the "cool" side, temperature-wise but nicer than the CoolLights, even with their gels. I turned on the kitchen lights which are your fluorescent screw-in energy saver bulbs and - wow! the scene looked really good. If I wanted a picture to sell the house this is the combination I'd use.

What I'd recommend, then, is using the Comer in conjunction with any existing light and the mix would probably give a pretty good looking shot. Perhaps not just any existing light but my guess is most light mixes would do okay.

Built-in minus-Green filter: to my eyes this seemed a little over done and I'd prefer a little less minus.

The light has apparently been out for two and a half years as one of the earliest reports I could find was that old. Taky of LAColor said he uses this light for his wedding photography and I can see why. It has a lot of good output and for groups of people lined up at, say, 15 feet, it would do well with a fast lens.

The price from LAColor I felt was good compared with other street prices and the LAcolorOnLine site has a lot of customer input which is worth reading.

Here is the video I made while opening the box as it was delivered.

Caveat: Or maybe I should say "warning"; this is my first-ever performance of this type so not having a script writer and not practicing this ahead of time (things I'd change in any future video of this type), it leaves something to be desire. Unfortunately, you can only open the box the first time once.

Comer CM-LBPS1800b on Vimeo

[Taky Cheung]

haha John I was screaming at the monitor while watching your clip trying to lcoate the desktop stand. Glad you found it :)

[Jase Tanner]

Thanks John for the input. And I have to say I've sometimes un-boxed a new item and not found everything at first either, all the while simultaneously cursing the shipper and telling myself I've been through this before and found the "missing" item.