Yes, the Sto-fen is a snap to fit, but rather 'encloses' those over-run halogens in a heat bubble. I prefer the collapsible Lumiquest because it has ventilation slots, quickly rips off (sound of tearing velcro), folds flat and stores in your shirt pocket. As Waldemar says - if you need more light that's the thing to do.

I'm one for keeping the lamp on the Z1's lens axis as much as possible, that way shadows are hidden as much as possible. Red-eye is never a problem in movies, especially when the lamp is diffused so much. But I do sometimes position the lamp horizontally on my camera, feeling that it's aspect ratio more accurately matches my shooting 16:9.

But all this tungsten-talk will be fading away now, as high-intensity LED lamps quickly take over.

tom.

With diffusion, getting the light up and away a bit seems to help the subjects, and I've noticed no problems with shadowing, but YMMV - I'm pretty particular about shadows, so know what you're talking about... that's where a bracket actually allows for on the fly adjustment.

My only worry with the Lumiquest would be how it would handle the heat - has that been an issue? I'm guessing no since you're using it <wink>, but that's my only reservation - I had the same worry with the Stofen, but it's never been a problem - I experimented with other diffusion approaches, and anything near those bulbs melts... but the Stofen worked fine, and the Lumiquest looks pretty good too if it holds up to the heat.

And yes, when the LED's are available color corrected, they should be pretty nice.

Dave - yours was post Nr 32, and I answered your question back at Nr 15.

I made my own.

My original Cool-Lux came with a hot shoe mount that had a 1/4"/20 thread socket in it. I rememer seeing a similar shoe mount in the Porter's Camera catalog for a few dollars (http://www.porters.com). It's best to order a free catalog and page through it as coming up with the right search criteria while on line is difficult.

I cut a 36" 1/4"/20 threaded steel rod to size and fit it into the shoe mount I mentioned earlier. I used washers and wing nuts to clamp the rod to the hot shoe and the light.

For diffusion, I made a wire bracket out of a coat hanger and stapeled a small piece of diffusion gel onto the bracket. The gel easily flips up when I don't need the diffusion.

It took me some experimentation to get all parts to fit together properly, but once done, the assembly has served me well for almost ten years.

Holy cow. I made the mistake of switching my email address and I had to wait a while before I could reply to everyones comments'.

First of all thank you for all of the advice. I have decided to go with the Xh-a1 and a paglight c-6 (other stuff too, but this is the relevant info). I have a bunch of equipment from work I can use (Glidecam with Smooth Shooter, Sony Z1-U, audio devices, etc.)

I will also post my purchase list as far as equipment goes as soon as I get it finalized to get everyone's thoughts. Unless those thoughts are "you suck, don't even try" then you can just keep that to yourself.

Lighting
 

I took the light from my Very old Panasonic VHS camcorder, and connected it to a puchbutton switch and sealed 12V lead acid battery. The light is 10W, and works well when within 10 feet or so. It has a hot shoe slide in bottom, so it looks like it belongs there!

Ryan, have you looked at the Canon 10w on camera light? Bob

I am still undecided. I like the Paglight C 6 because it is 20w and also has barn doors plus diffusion. The price of the Canon is certainly appealing as well as the compatibility between batteries. Why so many decisions?

Because God said "Let there be light".

The paglight lost the race in my book simply because of the bulk of the NiCad battery pack and the need for the umbilical chord. Fine light though it undoubtedly is.

tom.

Yeah, I have the pag 6, I agree, the battery is annoying, I wish it was a belt instead. I need two, and have been trying to figure out something else other than another pag 6.

How annoying is the battery on the pag 6? Any chance of it being mounted to a glidecam easily?

It's a heavy battery, not sure how much it weighs, it's on a strap that works well, but hanging it on the tripod is tricky. I really wish the battery was a belt, it just works better. I might, when I get some time, fashion some sort of clip, but it'll have to be a beast, the battery is big and heavy.

Update, now I sound like a wimp, because according to BH, it only weighs 2 lbs.

Well, after talking to PAG, they pointed me to http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...elt_Clip_.html

I might try and fabricate something, we'll see.

Steve, I have been using the PAG C6 (30 w bulb) for about 3 years now, and agree it's a very nice light.

For field shooting, I also have been using DVTec products. First a DVRig Pro and now DVMulti Rig (http://dvmultirig.com) for live event shooting.
It comes with clip, to attach to a belt or a seperate belt. So I have been clipping the battery to my belt using the supplied clip, and it works great.

The only thing that I wish PAG would do is make the light dimmable, and not just spot focusable.
That's what I love about my other light NRG Varalux (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ux_Pro_DC.html)
whci lets me dim the light from 100w to 10 w without any color shift. but I need a lot of power to run the light all night, and have to use a large battery belt to do so. So I use my Varalux light on my 2nd camera on a tripod to greater light spread, and the PAG light on my camera for mobile shooting.