XDCam 350 and Litepanels at DVinfo.net

Matthew Pugerude · March 2nd, 2007, 01:41 AM

Hello All
I am looking into a Litepanels set-up for some outdoor shooting so I am looking at the 56k set-up. My question is how to power the litepanel from the camera? I see the the 350 has a 12V output but I can not seem to find any Litepanel set-up that has the same kind of input as the 350's output. What am I missing? I would like to power the light of the camera to keep the weight down cause it is a long day of handheld stuff. Any Help would be great. Thanks

Nate Weaver · March 2nd, 2007, 01:55 AM

I have a Litepanel 5600 flood. They sell a D-tap to panel cable as part of the full kit. I'm sure you can buy it separately as well.

Using the panel with the 350's switched d-tap on the front is awesome.

You mention you want it for outdoor shooting, I assume you mean just for fill on people's faces when they have some shadows on a sunny day...and even then, when they're within 2ft of your lens.

The Litepanel is very bright for an on-camera light, but there's not many things that are a match for sunlight.

Matthew Pugerude · March 2nd, 2007, 10:23 AM

Yes Nate I need it to use it to fill in the eyes of the talent. They wear a hat all day and it just kills me every time I see this black hole where their eyes are suppose to be. That is taking it to an extreme but you get the idea. I was hoping for more then 2 feet. Thanks for the info it is probably the best bet as I do not have someone you can bounce the light for me with a reflector.

Nate Weaver · March 2nd, 2007, 12:12 PM

You might be able to get 3-4ft out of it, especially if it's a spot. Usual case of exaggeration to make the point, on my part.

Kevin Wild · March 3rd, 2007, 01:31 AM

I'm with Nate. If you haven't tested it out yet, do it before you spend the money. I've had the original Lite Panels since very early on. It's an amazing light for many applications...but outdoors it does little...very little. May not be worth the money or the juice to run it...:-)

Jonathan Ames · March 3rd, 2007, 11:35 PM

As most everyone knows, LitePanels is one of our original sponsors and while we appreciate their support, 2nd Unit is all about what works and what doesn't. Indoors, LitePanels are incredible as Nate says however they are simply underpowered as a daylight fill in all but the most overcast of overcast situations. It's not the fault of LitePanels but rather the fact that LED technology hasn't progressed far enough to solve for the intensity versuses diffusion issue; that is, the farther the subject is from the lens plane, the higher the requisite intensity and LED technology can't be puyshed that far. And unfortunately it's exponential. While "x" is required to properly light a subject at 1 foot, 2 feet isn't "x" times 2. It's more like "x" times 10 and 10 feet is more like 50 times. It's amazing what the company has gotten the available technology to do so far and it's advancing all the time but physics are physics and there's no getting around that. Your money is best suited taking the $1700 or so the 1X1 or the $1000 or so the on-board "brick" light would cost and hiring a buddy to hand-hold the proper reflector to remove unwanted shadows. Besides that, the majority of the houses that sell the units are backordered until April like Filmtools.

March 2nd, 2007, 01:41 AM	#1
Matthew Pugerude Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Redmond, Oregon Posts: 173	XDCam 350 and Litepanels Hello All I am looking into a Litepanels set-up for some outdoor shooting so I am looking at the 56k set-up. My question is how to power the litepanel from the camera? I see the the 350 has a 12V output but I can not seem to find any Litepanel set-up that has the same kind of input as the 350's output. What am I missing? I would like to power the light of the camera to keep the weight down cause it is a long day of handheld stuff. Any Help would be great. Thanks

March 2nd, 2007, 01:55 AM	#2
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	I have a Litepanel 5600 flood. They sell a D-tap to panel cable as part of the full kit. I'm sure you can buy it separately as well. Using the panel with the 350's switched d-tap on the front is awesome. You mention you want it for outdoor shooting, I assume you mean just for fill on people's faces when they have some shadows on a sunny day...and even then, when they're within 2ft of your lens. The Litepanel is very bright for an on-camera light, but there's not many things that are a match for sunlight. __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net

March 2nd, 2007, 10:23 AM	#3
Matthew Pugerude Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Redmond, Oregon Posts: 173	your right Yes Nate I need it to use it to fill in the eyes of the talent. They wear a hat all day and it just kills me every time I see this black hole where their eyes are suppose to be. That is taking it to an extreme but you get the idea. I was hoping for more then 2 feet. Thanks for the info it is probably the best bet as I do not have someone you can bounce the light for me with a reflector.

March 2nd, 2007, 12:12 PM	#4
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	You might be able to get 3-4ft out of it, especially if it's a spot. Usual case of exaggeration to make the point, on my part. __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net

March 3rd, 2007, 01:31 AM	#5
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	I'm with Nate. If you haven't tested it out yet, do it before you spend the money. I've had the original Lite Panels since very early on. It's an amazing light for many applications...but outdoors it does little...very little. May not be worth the money or the juice to run it...:-)

March 3rd, 2007, 11:35 PM	#6
Jonathan Ames 2nd Unit TV Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 509	As most everyone knows, LitePanels is one of our original sponsors and while we appreciate their support, 2nd Unit is all about what works and what doesn't. Indoors, LitePanels are incredible as Nate says however they are simply underpowered as a daylight fill in all but the most overcast of overcast situations. It's not the fault of LitePanels but rather the fact that LED technology hasn't progressed far enough to solve for the intensity versuses diffusion issue; that is, the farther the subject is from the lens plane, the higher the requisite intensity and LED technology can't be puyshed that far. And unfortunately it's exponential. While "x" is required to properly light a subject at 1 foot, 2 feet isn't "x" times 2. It's more like "x" times 10 and 10 feet is more like 50 times. It's amazing what the company has gotten the available technology to do so far and it's advancing all the time but physics are physics and there's no getting around that. Your money is best suited taking the $1700 or so the 1X1 or the $1000 or so the on-board "brick" light would cost and hiring a buddy to hand-hold the proper reflector to remove unwanted shadows. Besides that, the majority of the houses that sell the units are backordered until April like Filmtools.