Home made DIY LED baby light

[Zoomforce]

Hey.. just an update on the LED light panel I have been messing with.. Im about half way through, and so far the super bright LED's are putting about the same as a baby kino... at about 5800K-6000k temp.. As you can see I am making it to be powered off a standard DVX battery. 24LED's

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led.jpg

[Zoomforce]

yeah... youd need a whole shit load of them.. But it is nice that they burn cool and use very little juice. I guess if you built a head with a few hundred LED's in it you could probally emulate a 4x4 kino.

[kai]

Where did you get your parts Zoom? (the LED's)

[Zoomforce]

I got them from a sweet place called www.projectx.com ... cheap, super fast shipping, and the LED's are 8000mcd's... I dont know much about LED's but I have read that that is the sweet spot for the color temp I was looking for.

[Nicola]

Hey Zoom, could you explain how did you do that. How did you put together battery with LED.

I'm really interest on this topic, could be really usefull to use it on camera.

thank's
nicola

[Zoomforce]

yeah that is what i was going for.. an on camera daylight light... and it seems to work very well, and its nice that it runs off the DVX battery as well.

[Barry_Green]

Zoom, put that in a housing and sell it on your site here!

How does it compare to a 20w video light? It's gotta draw much less power...

... are you going to make any sort of battery sled thing so that the sled fits onto the camera, and the battery fits into the sled, and there's a power tap off the sled onto your LED housing? That would rule, then you could use just one battery to power both the light and the camera.

Also, have you considered making a long battery cable, so the user could mount the light off-axis (get some sort of extension arm for the light shoe so the light could sit a foot or two off to the side of the camera) so you could get nice 3/4 lighting instead of the deer-in-the-headlights look? Something like that LED light, especially with the off-board battery, should be so lightweight that it makes that idea practical.

Great job!

[kai]

exactly.. i'd buy one. I'm looking for a new on-cam light.. but don't like the idea of having to wear a battery belt all the time... how does it do in lower-light settings.... like outdoors at night?

[Zoomforce]

alright.. look at this little baby I put it in a really rough housing with a hotshoe mount. *to get an idea on output.. these photos where taken with a camera flash, and you can clearly see the light.
As you can see, you just slide in a dvx battery and there you go.. I have a feeling this light would last at least for a few hours.

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led1.jpg

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led2.jpg

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led3.jpg

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led4.jpg

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/led5.jpg

[kai]

sweet!!!! does the hotshoe feel any stress with the battery and everything on it?

[Zoomforce]

no its really light.. the whole light unit ways about half as much as a battery.

[kai]

Man you've got some great stuff there... sounds marketable to me! That, or maybe the plans for people to make their own. I'd be on board for sure

[Zoomforce]

not really interested in making them.. more into letting you guys make your own.. its super simple, you just gotta buy LED's thats about it.... the options are pretty endless.

[kai]

I'm all for that. Let us know when you get the plans/tips out.

[Nicola]

Let me understand zoom, did you weld in chain (+ with all the + and - with all the -) the led and then wire it to dvx battery?

Is that correct?

nicola

[Zoomforce]

yeah I guess I shoulda took some picks when I made it lol.... but there is no schematics, no resistors or diods, You just need to wire a group of leds together, with 2 LED's in each chain ( normal LED voltage is 3.6volts, wiring 2 together makes a 7.2v LED).. you can put as many of these dual LED's in parallel together, and just hook it right up to the battery. I used a cheap charger I got from my battery source that cost $7... cut the back off of it and used it as the battery holder.

Used a project box and PC board from good old radioshack to hold the LED's and glue gunned it to the battery holder, on the bottom I drilled a hole and threaded in a 1/4" binding post --> hotshoe adapter that I had kicking around.

[kai]

I wonder how a ring light made this way would look/work on a dvx... hmmmm

[Zoomforce]

Nicola.. I took 2 LED's.. so you have 2 positive and 2 negative leads. I soldered 1 negative and 1 positve lead from each led together to basically create 1 LED wth 2 heads.. so I had 1 positive and one negative lead off each LED. this makes it able to draw 7.2 Volts directly without a resistor.

I took 12 of these dual LED's ( which is actually 24 LED's) and soldered all the positives and all the negative's together to one positive and one negative lead that went right to the battery.

[Zoomforce]

ring light is where I got the Idea.. and it would work very well, in fact there are a few companies selling them already. the output from these little LED's is pretty amazing. I just need to make some sort of reflector and maybe little barn doors, to control some light. The nice thing is that there are no hotsposts like on a normal video light.

[kai]

incredible stuff. Tried it out in low light yet?

[Zoomforce]

yes I just tested it out.. i will get some grabs.

[Nicola]

thank's zoom, i'm gonna do it soon, and also i was thinking that will be good using it to lit car driver and also as practical light.

[Zoomforce]

yes.. it really does what a baby kino with a daylight bulb does.. it wont light a room but it will definatly add a few stops where needed.

[Barry_Green]

Hey Zoom, can you do a color balance test, so we can see how it matches to daylight?

Just go in a dark room, use only your light, and shoot a piece of paper twice: once on 5600k preset, and once on manual white balance, so we can see how close the color temperature matches... thanks!

[SirAllen]

Zoom, you're the man! I gotta buy me some LEDs!

[Zoomforce]

hey Barry here you go.. the preset is a little dark as it was a seriously low light sample.

Light off.. Manual WB

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/temp1.jpg

Light on.. *5600 preset
http://www.dvxuser.com/image/temp2.jpg

I also backed up a bit, to try and get the ring of the light.. you can see it does a little drop then raise in temperature on the outside edges

Light on..5600 preset:

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/temp3.jpg

[J.R. Hudson]

Is this what I think? The second is with the LED's on? A WB on a white board in a dark room? WOW! Zoom needs to change his name to: ZEUS (Is that how you spell the Greek God name?)

So, this would mount on DVX, and one can use it add stops to your talent or while shooting a close up?

[J.R. Hudson]

not really interested in making them.. more into letting you guys make your own.. its super simple, you just gotta buy LED's thats about it.... the options are pretty endless.

I am so the last person on the planet that needs to try and make anything with electrical components. I can juggle though.

[kai]

what a great little setup to have in your case...

[Zoomforce]

yes the second one is about as white as it gets.. in fact its a pretty nice curve on the scopes.

The room is pitch black... I had to open the door for the first one to allow enough natural light in for it to read. *

And I am pretty impressed. Im actually gonna make a smaller one with the LED's more close (the array right now is pretty random) I absolutely dig how I can just snap on one of the standard DVX batteries to power it too.. nice not to have to carry around a different cell.

An important note is that you need to get the Right LED's... some ultra brights are over pumped and produce a lower color temp.. almost yellow.

[J.R. Hudson]

I know we are always asking you to "post" examples. But I would love to see a grab of an object (preferably a person but I understand) shot in natural available light with and without this little bad boy on.

In fact, an EXT and INT examples would be great.

It's requests like these that make Zoom activate the CREDIT CARD payment option. :(

[Barry_Green]

Hmmm. According to PhotoShop, that white is ultra-mega-pure white. If those LED's are putting out a proper 5600k-balanced white light, I'm gonna have to get me some of them...

[Zoomforce]

here is a little sample...

http://www.dvxuser.com/image/ledsample1.jpg
http://www.dvxuser.com/image/ledsample2.jpg

Barry, I think that it is not dead on 5600k.. I think it is a little cooler above, probally in the 5800-6000k range. *an 1/8 CTO may bring it dead on though...

[J.R. Hudson]

Thanks J!

[SirAllen]

Zoom, are those the "Ultra Bright Whites" model# WC201-03? If not, which model# did you use? I'm seriously getting some.

[Zoomforce]

sounds right... I chucked the little baggies though. they are the 8000mcd ones.

[Barry_Green]

What kind of range do those LED's have? Do you have any fluo's you could test against?

I thought the LED's might have a very short range. Do you have a lightmeter where you could measure FC at various distances?

Wonder how long they'd last on a 9v battery... I lit a Halloween scene using taplights in various places, made for a nice weak soft source. Your LED kit looks a lot punchier, and a lot smaller. We used a track lighting kit for our "matrix" set, but those LED's might make for a lot more convenient placing. I gotta order one of those kits and fool around with it.

[Zoomforce]

Hey Barry.. I can bring out the lightmeter and test.. but the throw isn't bad for 24Led's... On the same PC board I could put about 50 and it would get pretty bright... it is a little blinding already.

As for fluo's I dont own a kino kit but I do have a 2 foot single I can test it against.

As for battery test.. I am testing that right now, It been on for about 4 hours already on that DVX battery.. I have no idea how long it will last. These LED's though are not the normal LED's.. I originally bought a strand of those LED christmas lights and once of these LED's has the brightness of almost the entire strand.

[Zoomforce]

I just took a quick reading against a 60w incadesent household.. they both have exactly the same readings at 6'... remember though that LED's are very directional.. untill I figure out what sort of reflect / diffuse to put in front of it it will be a little hard to test.

[J.R. Hudson]

Don't KINOS usually have a reflecter type back base?

[Zoomforce]

Kinda.. Kinos have a small metal back and the "cover" folds out as barn doors.. there are grids that velcro in. They are wicked, but if you didnt know better looking at them and the corrugated plastic housing you would think they were cheap :)

[J.R. Hudson]

LOL I get it!

[Carlos_E._Martinez]

According to Project X specs, the part you used seems to be WC201-03. It drains 20mA at 3.2v. For the 24 LEDs you are using, it should be 480mA.

If the specs above are right, you are over-volting the devices a bit. Though I am not sure if that changes the color temperature, it probably does a bit.

On the other side consumption might be a bit more than 20mA.

Besides series connect each LED pair, you seem to have used a common pole in the middle (ground?).

How much heat do these babies release? Can you group them more together than you did?

If heat is not too much, you can glue a plastic reflective plastic, like Rosco's, onto the pcb before soldering the parts. Then use a pin from the other side to punch where the LED's legs will go through. Bingo: a reflector to use the whole light you get.

In any case back spill shouldn't be that much, as the LED is specified as to have 20 degrees angle.

If you say you get the same light as a 60W lamp with just 0.5A drain, that's a tenth of what you would get using a portable!

Great achievement!

Where did you get the shoemount?


Carlos

[Zoomforce]

Hey... changing the amps changes the temp... the volts doesnt as far as I can tell. The LEd's I got run at 3.2-3.6 volts with 3.4 prefered... LEd's seem fine. It doesnt get hot at all, meaning I can hold my hand on it for ever and it only is a little warm.


As for the back reflector, I dont really need it, because the LED's are very directional and there is no backwards spill. What I need to do is diffuse it more than reflect it.

oh.. BTW.... I just woke up, the lights been running for the last 14 hours on the same battery.... yikes...

[Guest]

FIY:

http://www.kaiser-fototechnik.de/de/infos02c.htm

[Zoomforce]

ah ha... I knew somebody would make them.. they seem to good to not of been. I wonder how much.

[Zoomforce]

well the light is starting to dim :) after about 16 hours.

[J.R. Hudson]

Off a regular DVX battery!? Awesome.

[Barry_Green]

I'm impressed enough that I'm ordering some of these to play around with. I'd like to have a no-power-draw version of a taplight, maybe a little opal frost dome over it, something so small (less than 2" square) that it can be placed anywhere, and drawing power off a 9v battery. I can see dozens of uses for 'em. Thanks for jump-starting my brain!

If what you've got is putting out as much light as a 60w incandescent, with comparable falloff, that's just phenomenal!

[J.R. Hudson]

I agree. So many uses for something like this. Illiminating the interior of a car (or at least splashing some light on the talent). Can this be rigged to plug into car lighter?

[Zoomforce]

I guess you could do the 12v thing.. would need to add a resistor.

But running for 16+ hours off a standard DVX100 battery, why would you need to?

And Barry, when I was testing this thing I was pretty happy to find that the LEE's design edition sample gel book's gels fit perfectly over the LED's.. so if you made a little housing with a slot you could just drop in one of the 300+ gels/diffsion etc.. since there is no heat :) U can get all creative.

[J.R. Hudson]

I would have to pay someone really. I just am not going to be doing this on my own. :(

But I can shotgun a beer.

[Zoomforce]

ha ha.. maybe Barry will make one for you

[Barry_Green]

Me making electronics is kind of like watching someone make sausage -- you really, really don't want to see what's going into it. I have, in the past, wielded a soldering iron, but I try to avoid it whenver possible. I just got through rigging a DVD/MP3/16:9 LCD system in my car, it was really painful (for the car as well as for me!)

So no, I'll tinker around with it, especially since I found what appears to be a ready-made kit, but I don't plan on getting in the electronics manufacturing business...

[Zoomforce]

hey what ready made kit have you found? the spotlight thing?

[J.R. Hudson]

Don't worry, Barry. I would never ask someone to something like that!

[Barry_Green]

Yep. (don't anybody outbid me on ebay, or there'll be some smacking to go around!)

I figure those are so unbelievably tiny, 1.5" square, that maybe something useful could be made out of clip-together modules, so you could use one by itself or stick four of them together or 10 or whatever... and hopefully, with it being designed as a ready-made kit, there'll be less soldering-iron damage to the board, myself, and the environment... ;D

How serious are you when you say that one of these LED's is brighter than the whole strand of LED Christmas lights? I thought the Christmas light strand was a pretty good idea, but not if they're not bright enough to actually do any practical lighting with.

[Carlos_E._Martinez]

Hey... changing the amps changes the temp... the volts doesnt as far as I can tell. The LEd's I got run at 3.2-3.6 volts with 3.4 prefered... LEd's seem fine. It doesnt get hot at all, meaning I can hold my hand on it for ever and it only is a little warm.

Changing the amps won't change the temperature. The only way to change the amps is changing the battery, and that would only shorten or lenghten how long the LEDs are lit.

Current is related to LED's resistance, which seems to be
about 90 ohms each.

If anything does affect color temp it should be the voltage. If you have a color temp meter you can see if anything changes when going from 3.2 to 3.6v.


As for the back reflector, I dont really need it, because the LED's are very directional and there is no backwards spill. What I need to do is diffuse it more than reflect it.

Doesn't the solder on the back get hot?


oh.. BTW.... I just woke up, the lights been running for the last 14 hours on the same battery.... yikes...

That's great!


Carlos

[Taylor Moore]

Hey Zoom,
Awesome job on the Led lights. I just got back from picking up my camera and gack in Houston...and reading back through all the old threads on the setups (for the second time)on the forum.

Is is posibble to make a larger version of this LED rig for larger lighting situations and run off 12 volts?

Great job.

[booggerg]

zoom, you're awsome. one of the most ingenious people i've come across in the various DV forums on the web. So these LEDs give you a nice even light pattern? Would you need to put a diffuser in front of it? And it looks like you just took a battery charger and fed that into the LED panel? How strong is the light from this model you've built?

[Zoomforce]

Hey.. to make a 12volt light you would just need to wire 4 LED's together in each group possibly requiring a small resistor.. so 3x however many rows you want. *3 in a chain may actually work as well without a resistor but not to sure..

The pattern is pretty center focused, so a diffuser would be great to use. My soldiering job kinda sucked since I wasnt really thinking too much about it so some of my LED's are a little crooked. I think if you put them in a circular pattern each row angled out a little you could make a pretty consistent flood.


You can see how strong the light is by looking at that setup photo I took.. the LED light is lighting the flowers about 3' away, and there are 2x100watt inc. as a hair light and front right... plus all the extra ambient around the room.

[booggerg]

Oh.. I didn't see the pics from page 2. Hmmm it looks like those LED banks are almost equal to a 20watt light? perhaps a llittle bit lower? can you confirm? Surely this would be a great replacement for my 50watt Bescor+Heavyass belt battery. But That 50 watter is BRIGHT!!! I wonder how many LEDs would I need to get somewhere close to that light level.

[Zoomforce]

It has the same output center spot to center spot as a 60watt light at about 5 feet but a much tighter pattern.. with a better aligned array you could do much better. To use the light I have as an on camera light in total darkness, you would need to have the talent pretty close (few feet). *Your bescor would probally have a much longer throw and a much wider beam. but....

the board I put the 24 LED's on has room for at least another 24, so you could effectively put 50 LED's on the same size light then your talking... from my battery tests last night you should get about 8 hours of constant use off one dvx battery for 50 led's.

I would put each LED equal to somewhere between 1-2watts of light.

[Carlos_E._Martinez]

Hey.. to make a 12volt light you would just need to wire 4 LED's together in each group possibly requiring a small resistor.. so 3x however many rows you want. *3 in a chain may actually work as well without a resistor but not to sure..

We should stick to two LEDs per row and 7.2v. In my opinion you found the right arrangement.

The question, that many people not too familiar with electronics know, is this: when you make a series of parts, if you one piece fails the whole chain doesn't work.

As we don't know yet how long these LEDs will last, we have to consider that a LED may fail on us. If we use a 4-part row, then the chance of it failing would be greater then if the parts used were 2. It's the law of probabilities. More important than that: that 4-part row would be a larger % of our whole light than a 2-part row.

The combination you picked is a perfect starting point, both in the arrangement and the voltage used. 7.2 batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper, and they are quite reliable.

We just have to be careful on one thing: Li-Ion batteries do not like high currents, so there's a limit to how much we should demand from them. If we want to go higher in current we may have to use two batteries in parallel.

Six-volt gel batteries may be an option too, if we find a way to measure color temp when using them. This may not work, though, as these LEDs need from 3.2v to 3.6v to work. If underpowered they may warm the color temp but also lower the output.


Carlos

[Zoomforce]

Yes I agree, 2 are perfect.. the failure thing isnt that big of a deal on LED's because they should last 10,000 hours.. unless something goes wrong of course.

As for the color temp, when the battery finally did die I didnt notice any color shifts.. just a luminance shift.

[Carlos_E._Martinez]

Yes I agree, 2 are perfect.. the failure thing isnt that big of a deal on LED's because they should last 10,000 hours.. unless something goes wrong of course.

LEDs are usually quite rugged, a lot more than a lamp. So they shouldn't be a problem. The only thing that can go wrong is one LED failing as time goes by. It would be wise to always carry a solder pen and some spares when on location.

Soldering basics and polarity are essential on LEDs. They are not like lamp bulbs. They are polzarized and are destroyed if inverted.

As I said on another Forum: if you want to go serious in video, it's a good idea to know something about electronics. Particularly on what you can do when something fails.


As for the color temp, when the battery finally did die I didnt notice any color shifts.. just a luminance shift.

Can you be a bit more specific on that luminance shift? Did they die a sudden death or stayed low for some time?

Same care is necessary when using lights and batteries, because the latter shouldn't be totally exhausted. Electronic equipment turns off when it gets to a certain minimum voltage, but lights do not. As I am not too familiar with these LEDs, I am not too sure if they also cut off when they reach say 3v.


Carlos

[Zoomforce]

on the luminance shift I meant output dropped... it was gradual, meaning at the last hour it seemed to go from full to about 1/4 output.. that is when I stopped. When I get around to make V2.0, I will use my light meter to do some true measurements.

LED's do shut off when the voltage drops, I think your 3 volts is dead on. I believe red and yellow LED's can do the drop, but White and Blue LED's just turn off. Remember a white LED is just a movie trick.. its a blue LED with basically a CTO filter in front of the element.

[Guest]

ah ha... I knew somebody would make them.. they seem to good to not of been. I wonder how much.

88 Euro, but the production type has only one LED. Don't know how much light that produce...

It would be nice to build a soft LED, like a big circle of LED's or a big size adjustable rectangle.

[FlacaProductions]

just noodling this around a bit...would a small 'project box' from radio shack be a good initial housing for this? my mental hurdle is what to use for the batt mount that has the proper channels and electrical contacts for the panny batts.

the easy part is getting a hot shoe mount on the bottom.

[Zoomforce]

the front box is actually a Radio shack project box. The back where the battery attatches to has the proper channels and contacts.. Its taken right off a Panasonic Battery charger.

[FlacaProductions]

um....ok. i'm slow, but i catch on!!
anything new on this jarred?

[Pro-Star]

Hello Everyone, This is my first post here and just registered so I can reply on this thread. I am a full time electronics technician and a part time wedding videographer. After seeing this thread, I got interested in building one. I saw the spec of this LED on the site given by Jared. Thanks Jared. According to the spec., 1 LED will draw a 20mA current to a 3.2 volts battery. Using Ohm's Law E=IxR, where E is the voltage, I is the current and R is the resistance. Since the voltage is given at 3.2 volts and current at 20mA, you can easily determine the resistance of the LED by using ohm's law formula: R=E/I, therefore the resistance of the LED is R=3.2V/.02A (1000mA=1A) = 160 ohms. Since we are using a 7.2 volts battery connecting to LED's, 2 LED's connected in series gives you a 320 ohms resistance. Now you can easily calculate the current drawn on a 7.2 volts battery using the ohm's law again. I=E/R, then 7.2v/320 = .0225A. We now conclude that a 7.2 volt source with 2 LED's connected in series will draw a current of 22.5mA. Then a 24 LED's will draw a current of I=12x22.5mA = 270mA. To determine the Power consumption, just simply multiply the current to the voltage which is P=0.27Ax7.2 = 1.944Watts. A 7.2V battery with a 1600mAH has a power of 11.5WH and will power the 24 LED's for about 6 hours, or simply 1600mAH/270mA = 5.92H.
Hope this clarifies all.

Jun

[kai]

Yeah... I meant to say that.

[Zoomforce]

Hey pro star.. that sounds pretty close.. I used one of my 3100mah cells and it last for about 16 hours.

[Pro-Star]

Yes Jarred, you will get 16 hours since one LED has a standard voltage of 3.2 volts and 7.2 volts battery with 2 LEDs in series has 3.6 volts each and the LED still illuminates really good even it reaches 6.4 volts drain on your battery. *I will be building one using my Ultralight-2 as a base. *I will be putting 32 LEDs in round and 4 LEDs connected in series with 8 groups. *My power supply is an Anton Bauer 14.4 volts. *This connection will draw a power of 2.6 Watts compared to my 20-Watt bulb with same or brighter illumination. *The UL-2 has very nice diffuser.

Jun

[Pro-Star]

Just an update, I have ordered an LED from this site:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/leds.htm
The part number is RL5-W10015, 10000 mcd with 3.4 volts standard @20mA and a maximum of 4.0 volts continous and 7.0 volts pulsating with 15 degrees angle of view. This gonna be a good match for the 7.2 volts with 2 LEDs in series.

Jun

[Zoomforce]

cool keep us posted how it turns out. those should put out a crap load of light.

[Guest]

This site may be useful to you. http://www.ledmuseum.org/

[Guest]

These are powerful!! http://www.lumileds.com/luxeon/products/emitter_index.html

[kai]

now THOSE are cool... especially the rings. And those floods, it says they can be used for Traffic lights and beacons?! Must be really strong...

[waycooljr]

This is a cool idea and I plan on building one as soon as I can get the parts. For my LED housing I will be using a round PVC end cap. I'll take plenty of construction pics along the way.

Ray

[Guest]

Jarred Land ====> Where did you find the charger for $7? The only ones I can find are much more expensive and much much larger than yours. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am trying a build that will have a 2 stages of lights connected by a switch. The first stage will be 24 lights like your orignal and the second stage will add 24 more to make a total of 48 lights. Anyways, I would really like to find out where you got your base charger and shoemount.

Thanks,

Jon

[Zoomforce]

I got the charger from the company that makes our batteries... charger kinda was sketchy so i didnt decide to sell them.

[joneast]

oops I forgot to log in on my last post. *Wow, that was quick...
::)

Thanks

[happymaan]

I'm planning on building one of those as well. *I wasn't sure what to use to mount the battery so I decided to pick up a replacment charging plate for a lenmar charger. *It was 10 dollars with shipping. *I should be getting it in a few days, hopefully it'll do the trick. The model I got was the pp120.

[kai]

Man I checked on the Luxeon LED's... they're proud of them for sure... a "starter kit" with a sample of a few LED's is over 200$US... :(

[joneast]

I couldn't find a battery charge plate so I used a RC Car battery. *I am almost finished with my project and will post pictures and instructions when I am done. *Please let me know when you get your charge plate, it would be very nice to have a clean battery mount. *The RC Battery works fine but it's big and I have lots of camcorder batteries. :)

<Modified>
I couldn't wait so I ordered my charge plate adapter, $10 shipped from Lenmar's website

http://www.lenmar.com/plate_request.asp?
(Choose the plate to match your battery)

Thanks

Jon East

[joneast]

Jarred,

I used the ProjectX LED light, WC201-03 8000mcd leds. *I assembled 40 on one light. *The only problem is that when using it for video(in very low light, almost dark) is that everything has a blue tint. *What did you do to correct the blue tint?

Thanks,

Jon

Everyone else,

Pictures of the front and back.. *40 led lights in series of 2 wired in parallel. *20 positive wires, 20 negative wires and 20 jumper wires...(thats a bunch of soldering) *Be CAREFUL when soldering not to heat up the led leads too much or you will kill the LED. *Also, make sure that you wire them in a series so the power is correct, too much power will kill the led as well. *They are rated for 3.6v or less. *I fried one with 7.2 volts.

Wiring in a series 101 = positive power source to positive led(1) then wire negative led(1) to positive led(2) then wire negative led(2) to negative power source.

Wiring all of them together(parallel) - Basically you will have 1 positive and negative wire for each two led lights. *Take all of the positive power source wires from the series of lights and wire it to the positive on your power source and then wire all of the negative power source wire from the series of light to the negative on your power source.

It's that easy. *Except for the soldering.... *Good Luck!

http://www.fixmysportbike.com/01gsxrblacksilver/DSCN1238.jpg
http://www.fixmysportbike.com/01gsxrblacksilver/DSCN1234.jpg

[Zoomforce]

very nice.. I know what you are talking about the blue.. one batch of LED's had that tint and the other didn't. I would email them at porject x and ask white true white led's they have.

You could put a 1/16 CTO over them might bring it down.

[joneast]

Jarred,

I will inquire about the leds with project X. Thx I ordered 80 of them and they all have the blue tint to them. I will ask to see what true white leds they have. It was a fun project.

Everyone else...

I purchased a flash shoe adapter for $10, a battery plate to hold the battery $10, 40 leds $39, radio shack project box and board $5. Total project was $65.

I will order some other LED's and see what happens. The light with these leds works well in low light but if it's almost dark or dark you will look like a smurf on video.

I will keep everyone posted on my findings.

Thanks,

Jon East

--Always love a good project, keeps me out of trouble....

[joneast]

UPDATE - 2-12-04

The reason for the blue tint according to projectx is because you are overdriving the light with 7.2v to the two leds in a series.

You must wire a resistor in each series, 30ohms 1/4 watt(or 33ohms will do as well). The resistor goes between the positive led of your led series to the positive power source.

In my case with 40 leds, I have 20 series and you need a resistor for each series.

here is a great tutorial on how to wire leds
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html


I purchased the resistors today and I will post my findings tonight. If it takes away the blue tint I will let everyone know. I have done a bunch of research since I started and it seems that white leds are actually blue leds with a filter. The lower the mcd value the less blue you will find in the finished product. If you go to led muesuem.org you will find many tests with pictures to just about all the white leds. They have one led @ 6500 that is a true white. Check it out.


I also recieved my Lenmar charger plate today, it fits perfectly on the back of my light, very nice and it's only $10.
I will post a picture of it soon.

Jon

[Zoomforce]

yeah you need to buy LED's that are rated to 3.6 volts.. if you buy the 3.2volt ones overdriving them will ruin thier color and thier life.

[Guest]

Gentlemen,

Based on your review of the MCE Quickstream, I placed an order for the 270 Model about two months ago. They have told me they are having production problems and that the unit will be shipped in about 10 days. They have told me this the last 5 times I have called to check on my delivery. Are there problems with this unit or is there something else going on?

Thank you for any light you may be able shed on this situation

Ed Rossman - El Sobrante, CA

[Guest]

Hi Jarred Land,

Can find out from you, where you get the hotshoe connector on your lights? Or did you made them yourself?

:D

[Zoomforce]

Hotshoe Connector I bought from BH for 5 dollars, and one actually came with the Quickstream

As with the Quickstream Production Delays, I think they sold more than they originally manufactured and are waiting for new shipment.

[Guest]

Thanks Jarred Land,

I can't seem to find it in B&H website, is 'hotshoes connector' or 'hotshoe adapter' correct name for it?

Thanks a million!
jinghong

[Zoomforce]

They have a few:


heres mine: price looks like it went up to $10
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=53726&is=REG

but for that price you may want to go this route :)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=168888&is=REG

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=240740&is=REG

[alpi69]

didnt see this thread before (from february).

did anyone make a solid light out of these LEDs and are they used now by anyone?

i really would like to build two of them (24 LEDs each). looks great for small rooms and to light up when shooting skaters and snowboarders against the sun - of course you could even light up Brad Pitt when the sun burns his back.

[matthewd5]

hello.

not to beat a dead horse but it seems a lot of people asked about the battery connector and the only answer was that it was a standard panasonic charger??

could you post a part number and maybe where to get this beast?

i haven't seen anything like thie anywhere.

matthew

[Zoomforce]

24leds wont light up a snowboarder in the sun.. I will tell you that right now. you need to use bounce cards, as there is some extreame light going on.

[HansK]

24leds wont light up a snowboarder in the sun..

I've been playing around with my HID bike light which has a very bright spot. Might work fine for this application. It would also be easy to keep it aimed at the subject.

[Zoomforce]

"my HID bike light"

Yeah.. those things have about the same power as 1000 of these LED's.. if not more.

[JonnyMac]

For those of you who are thinking of building your own bank of LEDs, you may want to consider mounting them on a PCB. *For prototypes, I use www.expresspcb.com. *Their software is free, and if you use their standard board size (which you can cut down), you can get three PCBs for about $50. *This may sound like a lot, but consider how much time you'll spend hand-wiring everything ... and how much more stable a PCB will be when you're on a run-and-gun shoot.

[Guest]

I'm sure the readers of this thread are already familar with "Lite Panels" on board LED lite. My question is how are they able to dim their lights from 100% to 0% without any color change. From what I understand LED's are like Halogen lights in that as you decrease voltage/dim light you also warm up the color temp. So how do they get around this?

I played with the Lite Panels at NAB and I can tell you that they ARE NOT dimming the lights by simply turning a few off at a time. Instead they are all dimming the same amount, together. Perhaps the dimmer is electronic and is turning the LED's on and off at a high frequency. Change the frequency of how often they turn on and off and perhaps you can change the apparent light output. Thats just my idea...Does anyone know how they actually do it?

Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com

[ullanta]

I'm sure the readers of this thread are already familar with "Lite Panels" on board LED lite. My question is how are they able to dim their lights from 100% to 0% without any color change. From what I understand LED's are like Halogen lights in that as you decrease voltage/dim light you also warm up the color temp. So how do they get around this?

I played with the Lite Panels at NAB and I can tell you that they ARE NOT dimming the lights by simply turning a few off at a time. Instead they are all dimming the same amount, together. Perhaps the dimmer is electronic and is turning the LED's on and off at a high frequency. Change the frequency of how often they turn on and off and perhaps you can change the apparent light output. Thats just my idea...Does anyone know how they actually do it?

Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com

Interesting... I would imagine that pulse modulation would involve temperature fluctuations and resulting color fluctuation too... but I'm pretty clueless.

I'm building mine with multiple switches to turn some off...

-Barry

[Guest]

Those HID lights sound very interesting. If they are many times brighter than LEDS I wonder why we havent seen them used in on camera lights.

Are they....? (1)full spectrum daylight balanced? (2)low heat? (3)dimmable? without color temp change?

What are the reasons why we shouldnt be making HID lights instead of LED lights for our cameras.

[Zoomforce]

I think those HID lights for bikes are rather new to that industry, I could be wrong though.

[dolby]

Rather than describe what an HID looks like on a DVX, I found a shot where I used one with it a few months back. In my opinion the pattern is to tight, but the is planty of light output. And 4 hours of use from a 4x5x1.5 is not bad either.

Oh yea, the color temp does go up as the battery runs down, but it is not noticable until the last 15-30 mins. I believe that it is regulated.

dolby

http://groundcrewaudio.com/uploads/Uploads/HID.jpg

[Zoomforce]

yeah looks a tad blue. You could probally put some opal or put a fresnel lens on there to spread it out a bit. do you remember what power the light was?

[dolby]

The bulb is 12 watts. Here is a link to the light.....

http://niterider.com/BIKEPRODUCTS/Storm.html

I'll give it another chance soon and use some sort of diffusion this time.

dolby

[Barry_S]

You're right Jarred, low wattage HID bulbs are are a fairly recent development. There are some different types of HIDs, but they're primarily metal halide or high pressure sodium or mercury. The bike lights are metal halide lights that work by discharging an arc through a mixture of xenon gas with some metal halides (i.e., sodium iodine and scandium iodine), and a little bit of mercury. The arc heats the metals and produces a glowing ball of vapor. The cool thing about metal halide lights is that they're much more efficient than incandescent or halogen lamps and they output light in the 5000-7000K range (close to daylight). Like fluorescents, they need a ballast to start them by producing a series of very short, very high voltage pulses to strike the arc.

If this sounds a bit familiar, it's because HMI's are metal halide bulbs. However, there's a growing number of low wattage bulbs that have some potential applications as battery-powered on-camera lights.

[Guest]

Yeah they sound like they have even more potential that LEDS. Sounds like mini HMIs but cheaper. Are they dimmable? I've used 10K+ xenon movie lights and those were daylight balanced and bright as hell. The only thing about them was it takes about 30-60 seconds for them to come up to about full power. I really think we should look more into these. I've seen HID xenon bulbs and as I remember they are dirt cheap v.s. HMI bulbs which are real expensive. Imagine what you could do with the extra power of these lights. Some traditional on camera lights are up to about 100watts. You could get eight of these 12watt HID bulbs and get the output of 400watts, maybe more - and that not taking into acount that they are already daylight balanced and dont have the light loss problems of having a CTB gel. Perhaps it could still run off a second camera battery. It would sure be nice to have a on camera light thats strong enough to properly fill the face of someone that is back light outside. Anyone have more info on these bulbs? I read earlier that Lith-Ion batteries (camera batteries) dont handle high current that well. Anyone know how much they can handle? What other small/light weight battery technology can we use that can?

Well I think thats enough questions for now.

-Brett Erskine

[matthewd5]

ok i don't know much about building electronic things but i have a friend who can build just about anything electronic...

can someone give me a summary of what it would take to build a light using these white led's that would be sufficent for inteviewing people at night in very low light?

i have situations where i want to interiew 1 or 2 people at fairly close range, say 6-8 feet and i don't want to drag around my lowel lights and light up the entire area.

often it is in an area where it would ruin the entire event/atmosphere to light up too large an area.

matthew

[Guest]

bumping this back to the top...hoping for updated info from all you fabricators...

[matthewd5]

well i just ordered a bag of 16,000 mcd white led's and a friend who is an electronics person is going to build me a light.

so other than having a dvx compatible battery charger to canibalize for the battery connector, and a dvx battery, what else do i need to have?

i mean a pc board and some wiring and a kit case of course, but anything else that would help me get started in the right direction?

matthew

[ullanta]

Well, I just built one using 30 "RL5-W10015 White LED"s (10,000 MCD, 15 degrees) from superbrightleds.com.

It's nice, but pretty blue - luckily I built it in a pattern that works well with gel sample books. *I also think 15 degree spread is a tad narrow... I'd suggest going wider if possible. *Of course, there's diffusors in them there gel sample books...

Anyway, I'm happy, but will probably build another (both because I was in a hurry and did an ugly soldering job, and to address the previous two issues).

For those interested in building, here's what I used:

1) 30 "RL5-W10015 White LED"s (10,000 MCD, 15 degrees) from superbrightleds.com
2) PC Board from radioshack, all independent pads
3) A Project box from radioshack that looked like it would hold he PC board (more on this later)
4) A Lenmar PP120 charger plate


I made 6 rows of 5 LEDs, as follows:


123456789ABCDEFGHIJ
+- *+- *+- *+- *+-
| * | * | * | * | *
+- *+- *+- *+- *+-

+- *+- *+- *+- *+- * * * * * * (each "+-" represents the 2 leads of an LED)
| * | * | * | * | *
+- *+- *+- *+- *+-

+- *+- *+- *+- *+-
| * | * | * | * | *
+- *+- *+- *+- *+-


where all pins in columns 1,5,9,D, and H are tied together, to positive
* * * * all pins in columns 3,7,B,F, and J are tied together, to negative *
* * * * proximate pairs of pins in columns 2,6,A,E, and I are tied together as indicated

I believe there are two empty board holes in each direction between LED leads.

This seemed the simplest way to accomplish this on the Radio Shack PC board. It can be extended by adding either rows (in pairs) or columns.

Note that Radio Shack sells PC boards and project enclosures right next to each other, and the PC boards seem to fit the enclosures. They don't. RS DOES sell an enclosure that comes with a PC board in the package... that's what I'll use next time..., to simplify assembly. *For this, I had to shave the PC board and use a glue gun...

-Barry

[xort]

ping
anything new on building LED light panels? Success stories?

[ardo]

The good news: I put a prototype together a couple of weeks ago. I used a 3.6V (about 4.2V fully charged, actually) LiIon from a junked laptop battery, and an 'amazing' IC from Maxim, the MAX757 DC-DC converter. This IC allows me to control the output voltage, while the batteries are getting discharged. The IC should be good to drive 10-15 LEDs at 20mA each, so if you need more, it's possible to build 2-3 identical modules, to control 2-3 banks of LEDs. There are newer and better ICs available from Maxim, but those are surface-mount, and are too hard to solder (for my old shaking hands, anyway).

The bad news: I've tried 6000, 8000, and 12000mcd LEDs (from the same supplier, mind you), and they're all producing ghostly blue light! Certainly NOT the effect I was looking for...

Has anyone found inexpensive LEDs that are trully 'Warm white"?

http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/1167/ln/en

[Brett_Erskine]

"What do you personally feel is a fair price for this light?"

Hi everyone. I'm building a prototype on camera LED light system and want to put the specs out there and if the interest is high enough I'll sell them commercially shortly. First of all they look very much like these:

www.litepanels.com ($975 basic light with battery)

But mine are slightly brighter and come in both TRUE color daylight balance and tungsten balance color temps. They will also run off of the standard DVX100 camera battery (other models work with PD150, XL1-2 and VX2100 batteries). The battery mounts right to the back of the light itself. These lights create beautiful soft light just like you would expect out of a mini Chimera but do it much smaller, lighter and easier than the traditional halogen lighting currently available. Here are the specs of my LED camera light.

Size: 8.5"Wide X 2.5"Tall X 1.5"Long
LEDS: 200 count in either tungsten or daylight balance
Total Wattage Used: 12watts
Light Output: 350fc @ 1 ft
Light Beam Angle: 60 degrees
Run Time: Aprox. TBD (aprox. 1 hr on standard CGR-D16)
Operating Temp: 102 degrees physical bulb temp after 1 hr
Battery: Your extremely small and light weight camera battery
Cost: ???

A traditional halogen light with the same light output and soft quality of light would most like need to be:

1)50 to 100 watt light plus the cost of a mini Chimera soft box.
2)The operating temp would be more than several times hotter.
3)Battery life would be several times shorter.
4)You would likely be required to wear large 6-8lbs battery belts.
5)Requires its own charger system.
6)Often requires you to be teather to the battery belt so long shoots are difficult and steadicam isnt possible.

So what do you think? Give me some honest feed back so I can determine if its cost effective to produce these things for you guys. Sooo...

"What do you personally feel is a fair price for this light?"

Please everyone give a quick number.

[J.R. Hudson]

Under a $100

[gualbert]

Calculate it!

Price = [raw material cost (including procurement costs)] + [your labor rate per hour X time to build]

Good luck with your product!

Cheers!

[Arcburn]

I would definately be interested if it was $100

[Brett_Erskine]

Seeing that LED's are about $1 a piece and that there are 200 in this light you would be talking about 50% under cost. So again its not a question of how much it would be nice to pay but what is its value for your work and thus what is the price point your willing to pay for it. Hell I want a DVX100 for a $100 too but its worth $3,300.

[J.R. Hudson]

You sell it for what you want; I just said that is what I would pay for it. ;)

[Guest]

cheaper prices + good word of mouth = large volume sales

higher prices = lower volume of sales.


I'm speaking as a consumer, of course ;D

[Vinnie03]

I'd definately pay $100 for it!

[Brett_Erskine]

...I give up. ::)

[ransom]

Hey Brett, Post some grabs from the DVX using your light and also some pics of the light itself.

Marketing man marketing.

[Zoomforce]

I think I paid $.15 for 5600k LEDS when I built mine... where are you getting $1 LEDs from?

[xort]

Jarred
Will you be posting a summary of the build with a parts list and some directions? Perhaps you can sell the kit, like the old heathkits and we'll do the assembly. Or just sell the plans.

[Brett_Erskine]

Im not using normal bright LED's. These are extremely bright and have a very high CRT rating (color rendering index). In other words unlike some LEDs these will always represent all of the colors in your scenes accurately. The other thing is that given that even with 200 LEDs its not strong enough to use as much of a fill light outdoors in daylight (most lights arent). Thats why one of my lights contain 3,200K LEDs for indoor use. Correcting a 56K LED to 32K often requires a "orange-ish" color gell (CTO) that really cuts down the light output quiet a bit. Also unlike other LED lights, the light beam spread angle perfectly matches the lens angle of the DVX100 at wide angle. In other words no more hot spot in the middle of the screen and at the same time no wasted light. Basically perfectly calibrated for the DVX100 but unfortunately it's not cost effective for me to sell them for under a $100. Eventually the material cost will come down sometime in the future and that price point may be possible. But until then I'll finish up the casing for the light and post a picture when the final is done for you guys to at least check out. Thanks for the input.

[boo]

i'm interested brett as long as it's not ridiculously priced like the lite panels!

[ransom]

i'm interested brett as long as it's not ridiculously priced like the lite panels!

second that

[Arcburn]

Brett

Sorry man. I wasnt trying to be flip. I have no idea how much it cost's to build the setup.

Whatever it costs + what you value your time - charge that.

like ransom said then market. show us some clips of it in action.

I dont have tons of money to spend but that would probably convince me.

[Guest]

Sounds good. I'll post it as soon as its complete.

[Guest]

second that

as long as it aint' more costly than my microfill, I can live with another light.

[XDeathOrGloryX]

any new developments gentleman?

[Guest]

Yes. Due to the lack of commercial interest and the fact that most major light manufactures are sure to adapt LED technology fairly soon - I decided to cancel the my LED light project. Instead I'll be posting some pictures of the larger 1st generation light that I made. Hopefully it will be of some use to the DIYers out there that are unwilling to wait for the industry to catch up to this new technology.

-Brett Erskine

[cjoyce]

Brett,

You may still have a viable and marketable product.... the plans (with pictures of course).

Just a thought!

To all..... this thread rocks.... the kit makers are sure to have a hit on their hands also!

Chris

[PFP_VIDEO]

First off, nice light, great job. My question is , who's Zoom? Jarred = Zoom?

[Guest]

I finally had a moment so I shot some pics of my homemade LED light. I'm pretty happy with it. It saved me from doing the battery brick thing or perhaps even a battery belt. Instead I just use the small DVX100 batteries on the back. It slips right into the hot shoe and puts out true tungsten balanced light thats both directional and soft without the need of a mini chimera or any diffusion at all. LED's also never get hot light halogen bulbs so no more cooking gells or actors. In the future I be looking into DC to DC converters so I run it with just one battery and throw a eletronic pulse dimmer so that I can dim the light on the fly without any effect on the color temp. Sorry for taking so long to get them up. Anyways enjoy.

-Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com
http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images//257210601.jpg

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images//257210826.jpg

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images//257211124.jpg

[Guest]

Jez. I really should proof read what I post or at least think about the same sentence that Im typing at the time. Let me know if you need it translated. ;-)

[alpi69]

that looks great. i wish i was able to do stuff like that but i would probably kill myself trying this...

[kecorcoran]

Bret,
As cjoyce mentioned, you should consider marketing just the plans, with detailed part lists and suppliers. I'd be willing to buy a copy!

[jonwatkins]

Yes yes yes...part numbers, suppliers, instructions etc. pleeeease. I would pay for that ;)

Thanks!

[Guest]

Thanks. The next one I will build will be even smaller, have a dimmer and work off one battery. It would look basically like this:

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images//258110404.jpg

A interesting thing you can also do with LED's are make a light source that will never need ANY colored gell again (red, purple, green, whatever). Similar to how a TV screen mixes RBG to make any color - if you have a dense array of LED's that are R-G-B then you can dial in your color temp instantly. This concept is already starting to show up in stage lighting where its very time consuming to get up on a ladder and change the gells. It also means that they dont need to buy as many lights because one light serves many purposes. And because you arent using gells your getting alot more out of your light. Perhaps I should add this feature to my next light. News camera guys would love it.

[cjoyce]

Sweet. How 'bout some pics of the lights burnin'

Chris

[XDeathOrGloryX]

"part numbers, suppliers, instructions etc. pleeeease. I would pay for that "

yes! what he said.

im in need of a small efficient light that will run off battery without the need to wear a butt-pack and deal with the small cables.

please share your genius with us. =)

[Guest]

Well to make one like the one pictured above I pulled LEDs and panel out of a different fixture (http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/gdl002-200/) and put a lexan face on the front a textured plastic panel on the back. The battery docking plates are from (http://www.lenmar.com/accessories_list.asp?product=camcorder&type=access ories&category=2) and the hardware is all available from homedepot.

There are many ways to improve on the design (such as dimmable, color shiftable/matching, more compact and runs off a single battery). The light pictured was made more as a test to see if the system could work and if so perhaps sell them. I planned on having some if not all of the features above. Unfortunately it just wouldnt be cost effective to make them because the MiniDV market is generally more interested in bottom dollar products rather then putting importance on quality and fuctionality. Besides the major manufactures are going to pick up this technology and muscle out the rest fairly soon.

[joeyg]

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!! Can't see pictures. For some reason they won't come up. Brett, would you be able to email them to me? Would be much appreciated
video@jamsessiondj.com

[Guest]

Im getting alot of emails about my LED light. To clear up some of the confusion the very last picture shows a virtual mockup of what I hope the size of the next light will be. The other three pics are of a very real and working light that I built. Anyone else working on a LED light?

-Brett Erskine

[matthewd5]

i bought a big bag of bright white led's and i just haven't gotten around to doing anything with it.

i have a friend who is really great at electronics but knows next to nothing about what sort of light we need for dv so i've been hoping for someone to post some more specifics of what they did when they built there lights.

matthew

[LUCAS_HITCHBERG]

Jarred said:
"I used the ProjectX LED light, WC201-03 8000mcd leds" and "I think I paid $.15 for 5600k LEDS when I built mine..."

I went to their website and these are sold out - back ordered actually - due to a customs strike or something. I e-mailed to see if they were still available and got a yes, in a few days, but they cost about 75 cents each, not Jarred's recollection of 15 cents. :( Still, not too bad a price.

John at ProjectX was also curious where all the WC201-03s were going. Hi John!

Personally, I'd love to see someone develope a parts & vendor list and basic how-to, although this looks so easy even my mom could do it. Well, maybe not _my_ mom - but someone's! :)


LHB

[Guest]

Look earlier in the thread for pics, links to and prices on how to build your own. I also made one. Check out my posts too.

As cool as 56k lights are I might recomend that you get tungsten balanced LED instead. The reason being is you'll never have a big/strong enough LED array to be useful outdoors (56k). Gelling your 56k LED's for indoor use will waste alot of light too. IMO tungstens the mmost practical way to go for a on-camera LED lights.

Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com

[LUCAS_HITCHBERG]

I've read all the pages, just lazy I suppose. :) I'd like links to places with the best prices for batterie connectors, breadboards etc. The prices for white light LEDs have really dropped over the last 2 or so years and Jarred's project got me interested in them again. So far, I've come up with some ideas for lighting the custom exterior gauge package in my 1981 Turbo TA, a handy nightlight for a pocket digital camera, and this on cam video light thingy. Your suggestion as to color temp is well noted on the latter.

LHB

[Terry_Lasater]

First off, nice light, great job. My question is , who's Zoom? Jarred = Zoom?

Yes, Zoomforce is Jarred's former DVXuser 'handle'. I believe he still uses the name for his business ventures (i.e. DVXuser batteries).

[MARIOSCICLUNA]

hi all,
I loved this gadget. Two thumbs up for Brett Erskine.
I've been thinking about this since i heard about bright white leds. I'm planning to convert my pag into an led instead of the halogen bulb. I'm trying design a system that keeps all options open so i'll be able remove the led system and revert to the halo again without fiddling about. the only probelm i'vgot so far is that white leds are quite expensive here (if I am to buy them locally-Malta) about 4euros each. But I'll tru to find a foreign supplier to buy leds with bulk.
More detiails will follow, once I've finalised my project. I'll love to share it with you all.

[Brett_Erskine]

Thanks. Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like your trying to make one or perhaps just a few LEDs take the job of the tungsten bulb in your Pag light. While they do make larger LEDs that are bright there is no way you will get enough light out of just a few LED's to be useful. There are 198 LED's in my light so a bundle small enough to be interchangeable with the Pag light bases just wont give you enough room for the amount of LEDs your going to need.

On a side note Im finding the LEDs do have one unexpected draw back...They give you no warning before you run out of batteries. Seems that LEDs just plain stop working after the batteries reach a certain level. They simply go from bright as hell to off instantly. I believe I've heard of electronics that regulate the battery level though. Something like this will stretch the run time of the light further and hopefully even offer a light indicator when the level is getting too low. Can anyone help me with specifics?

[MARIOSCICLUNA]

Maybe you're right. I was planning to make my own pcb that fits into the pag reflector with terminals similar to the halogen bulb....... until I swithced plans. I came across an old Photo flash gun that houses four AAA batteries and converted it to an led baby light by removing the reflector and fixing a veroboard with 15 superbright white leds ( acutally there's space for 27 leds but it's still on test for batteries lifetime) it works awfully well. A diffuser gel is indispensable because superbright white leds give quite directional light. I'm powering it by 4 ni-mh AAA cells 2350mAh. (can't find how to attach photos to a post - i'm quite new for this site- any help)

As regards voltage regulation it will shorten your power on life because if you use a voltage regulator chip *it will switch off your leds as soon as your battery goes down below your treshold voltage. Remember as well that we are dealing with diodes, and they have also their own treshold voltage, that's why they just go off abruplty.

[Brett_Erskine]

MARIOSCICLUNA-
What do you recomend to squeeze out the last of the battery life while still maintaining the operating level?

BTW Lith-Ions like the batteries for the DVX are proven to work much longer for LEDs then other forms of batteries. Also they tend to be the smallest and most light weight for their power rating. Check it out.

-Brett Erskine

[MARIOSCICLUNA]

As I said we're dealing with a device that won't accept to function with less than it's trashold voltage. But - let's say you have a 7.2v lithium battery(the dvx type), So you must regulate the voltage down to circa 3v(the operating voltage of bright white leds) so that you allow the deteriorating battery voltage to go down to 3 v without over supplying your leds (7.2v can damage your leds). Obviously you'll need to connect your leds in parallel. This will also result in a longer battery duration because you're just using 3Volts x ??A not 7.2V x ??A.(Power=Voltage(Volts)xCurrent(Amps). -Sorry if I'm insulting you by giving you this very basic formula.

Re: Lithium batteries- Yeah I know -These type of batteries are Godsend-Lightweight, no Memory Effect and Long lasting. They're still a bit expensive but worth every penny.

BTW. Have you ever came across li-on batteries for the dvx with charge indicator incorporated. I happen to be a freelance Cameraman and work with lots of different companies. The most popular batteries for shoulder type camcorders are obviously the IDX endura, they're extremely good and last a good 3hours of use on a Sony DvCam DSR-390. They have an led charge indicator. I wish I cam find some dvx batteries with some sort of indicator on each battery

[Brett_Erskine]

Heres a link to a custom dimmer for LED light arrays. With it you will be able to dial in the brightness without any color tempture shift and make it last for hours and hours. Try that with your traditional tungsten on camera light. ;-) Credit goes to Walter Graff for providing the link.

http://radiolocation.tripod.com/LEDdimmer/LEDlampDimmer.html

Brett Erskine

[DVXFilmMaker]

I have the Lite Panels. I had to get something fast and didn't have time to deal with making a set up. This DIY idea is great! I love the Lite Panels, but I wish I wouldn't have had to spend the money. It is a fantastic set up, though and I recommend it highly.

[bilgami]

how do you guys get pics on your postings. i can never get my to stick.

[ifxartka]

This has been idea I have had for a long time; its great to see this being made! Brett, Have you compiled any plans for people, or should we just sift through the posts for everything. I would love to make one of these right now. Or, to save time, do you know of anyone/ or any company selling a device similar to the one you made?

Brian

[Guest]

I pulled a ready made LED panel out of a different fixture (http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/gdl002-200/)

Then I put a lexan face on the front a textured plastic panel on the back instead of using a plastic project box. Its keeps things cool, small as possible and I think it has a slicker look to it.

The battery docking plates are from (http://www.lenmar.com/accessories_list.asp?product=camcorder&type=ac cessories&category=2)

And the hardware is all available from homedepot.

I'm going to add two more things to the light. A special LED dimmer described above and a single input for pluging the light into the wall for power making it a great light for a interview kit. A three light kit that will work on battery or house power and fit into a tiny bag.

[m_bass]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you want to connect an ac power supply to the led light just plug in the power supply to the camera. Well as i was writing this I decided to pull out the charger. Its 7.8v output, I don't know if it will change anything.

Brett I found the right battery adapter plate from lenmar "pp120", but where did you order it from. When I try to locate the vender no one has it in stock.

[Guest]

Yes you can use the charger to run off AC but it has a strange work around. You have to throw one battery on the other docking port to complete the circuit and bring it up to 14.4V (the operating voltage). So far this has made the light run for a much longer time but because its taking and giving to the battery at the same time Im not sure if it will run forever. Thats why I wanted to just use a different 14v AC/DC adapter for power.

As far as Lenmar is concerned I went back to the site and it doesnt look like you can order straight from them off their web site anymore. Your going to have to contact them and set something up.

P.S.A few months ago LEDtronics was finishing up a more compact LED panel then the one Im using. It had the same amount of LED's though so if they are now available it would be ideal. Sorry I dont have a part number and I doubt its going to be something they are going to sell on their site. Your going to have to call them and make a special order. Good luck on your build.

[bilgami]

Do you make these lights and sell them.

[Guest]

I guess I could make just a few if people arent interested in going thru all of the trouble of finding, cutting, drilling and wiring the parts. I dont know. In doors they are about twice as bright as the Lite Panels. How does half the cost of the Lite Panels sound?

[bilgami]

What would be the cost if you made me one and also in one of the pics i saw the light on a tripod do all the lights do that.

[Guest]

There are alot of different LED lights on this thread. I could easily add a adapter to the bottom of my light for you so you can throw it on a light stand. If you want the same thing from Lite Panel it will cost you $1,050 (light, adapters, their battery and charger). Once again they use daylight balanced LEDs so your going to have to gell it if you want to use it in doors.

On the other hand the one I could make for you would have tungsten balanced LED. In other words your going to get alot more light out of mine. Im not set up to sell them in large quantities but I could do a few for those seriously thinking about buying a Lite Panel but at more than half the cost: $500. Thats still a lot for a on camera light but then again theres nothing out there that can do what these do for the money. Not to mention the cost of the parts at such small quantities is also very expensive so unfortunately thats the cheapest it makes sense for me to make them for. If its out of your price range you can always make your own. I provided direct links to where to find the parts earlier in the thread. If I can get 3 or more requests for them I'll make them for you guys. Email me and let me know.

BErskine@mail.com

[ifxartka]

The ones you "may" make; will they have a dimmer on them as you were thinking about doing before? Oh, and I think the litepanels are on sale right now ::)

[Brett_Erskine]

I'll have to make the dimmer first before I can answer that. It may not work.

Send me a link to the lite panels on sale

[ifxartka]

http://www.easycart.net/LitePanels/Mini_LitePanel.html

Its 749, but doesnt come with the 12volt snap on battery, which would make it about 975; so I guess it isnt on sale.

[Walter_Graff]

I know all the pictures look cool but pound for pound incandescents are more reliable, easier to adjust and far more efficient in video than these LED lights. I would say if you wanted a professional light look at any of the MR16/MR12 lights made. Sure you need more power, but you also get a light that throws more than 10 foot candles at two feet, at a color temperature you can use, and in a spread that make it look like light and not a blue flashlight. and in reality, LEDs end up taking quite a bit of power once you add them all up. I know lots about these lights as I have been working with LEDs trying to do just such a thing since 2000 and have relinquished them for now because they are too expensive, and as far as a quality video light don't make anything more than good flashlights. Wait for the organic LEDs to come out in a few years.

Here as my first experiment for a camera light from a few years ago that still sits on my desk:

http://www.bluesky-web.com/breadboard.jpg

[Brett_Erskine]

Walter-
I totally agree with you when it comes to all of thoughs issues with most LEDs but have you had the chance to look at the specs on the light array Im using? You can find the link above. Basically is solves alot of the problems you mentioned. Heres a few:

1)Tungsten not Daylight balanced
2)Wider angle of light and even color unlike most LEDs
3)Uses 14watts but puts out about 4 times the light
4)Uses on camera batteries freeing you up from the heavy ones that have to conect to your belt.
5)Create soft light without the need for diffusion and in turn are much more effiecent and does it in a package much smaller than a traditional light with a mini chimera.

Anyways Walter check it out and tell me what you think. I value your input on these things and I'll definately be interested in hearing what you think.

Also can you send me a link to the organic LEDS you were talking about?


ifxartka-
Right but dont forget they dont include the charger either. Thats even more money. It adds up.

[Walter_Graff]

Show me the link?

[Brett_Erskine]

Check it out. Ready made.
http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/gdl002-200/

[Walter_Graff]

Check it out. Ready made.
http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/gdl002-200/

Guys, you are kidding yourself. They don't even measure the photometrics of this lamp in normal terms but use candelas because it's so ridiculous that they don't use regular terms for measurement. For $170 you get a light that makes less than ten foot candles of light at 5 feet if you are more than 20 degrees off center. For that money I could buy a real light and a battery and have a much easier time while not making everyone squint because you are putting the equivalent of a flashlight in their face. If some of you would stop concentrating on the hammer and learn how to be a carpenter, you'd really be better at the craft, not just the kid on the block with a cool toy that no one wants and one that makes you worse at what you do.

[Brett_Erskine]

Come on Walter dont be so quick to point fingers. We all have seen your garage. ;-) Besides having bought built and constantly used this exact light I can sit here and throw the specs out the window and tell you this. In the real world use of this light I've been able to see two story buildings from 100ft away and conducted properly exposed interviews from more than 20 ft. The real world spread of the light beam is just a hair less wide than the DVX at its widest lens setting. and its doesnt have a hot spot in the middle. The light fall off at the very edges it quick but not too fast that it feels like a spot light.

Generally speaking I agree with you about the "hammer and carpenter". I'd say my tinkering is both my greatest weakness/waste of time and yet at the same time my greatest strength and joy. Theres a fine line between the two and each person draws it in a different place. Besides the difference between a fool and a genius is often success.

I still like you Walter even though my toys are better than your toys ;-)

-Brett Erskine

[xray]

You can use LED. In this way it looks like the medical photo shoots from years ago. http://www.gekkotechnology.com/products.html

[andrescuervo]

I just had a look at your site and I'm so imprest by it. really congratulations man. Nice work.
God Bless...

[Sirius_Doggy]

Maybe a thin sheet of mylar on the circuit board to act as a reflector and somehow recess the board a bit so the LED's a flush with the housing to block the sidelight and you've got a winner!

[BenB]

Where the hell do I sign up to get one of these puppies? I looked as LED light systems at the WEVA Expo last year and was super impressed. But alas, they cost an arm and a leg... or two...

[naeem]

Any new updates on this project, from anyone?

Would love to see more DIY's and see success people are having with this?

Also, the detailed plans are VERY useful...kepp 'em coming!

[strangways]

Zoomforce,
I'm really interested in the furry windscreen you have on the DVX's onboard mic, as shown in your pictures. Where can I get one?
Thanks!

[uhrgl]

I am so the last person on the planet that needs to try and make anything with electrical components. I can juggle though.

Prove it, Hudson.

[JustinT]

hopefully i aint repeating - but i didnt look thorugh 90% of the thread... and while i know there are bits and pieces scattered here and there - did anyone to a instructional? i dont want anything fancy just something like what i saw on the first page - mind u i am in Australia so hopefully i can get the parts here,...

[bilgami]

BiLGaMi Video Productions :thumbsup: :thumbup: :beer:

Where can I buy that Lite Panel by Zoomforce?


bilgami@hotmail.com
http://www.bilgamivideo.com (http://www.bilgamivideo.com/)

[idvfilms]

Very good read. I like the idea that you can put something together that is cost effective.

[danny]

Zoomforce,
I'm really interested in the furry windscreen you have on the DVX's onboard mic, as shown in your pictures. Where can I get one?
Thanks!

Its a Mini Wind Jummer by Rycote www.rycote.com

[gkumar]

there is a professional company called Lite Panels that make these- but are way more expensive than this homemade version
http://www.litepanels.com/sales.html

[gkumar]

where is a good place to buy LED's in bulk? Radio Shack sells them for 2 bucks for two of them!! Maybe I'll ask my old electronics teacher where he gets his supplies

[Maximilian Niemann]

where did you get the batterymount from?

[bokser]

yeah I guess I shoulda took some picks when I made it lol.... but there is no schematics, no resistors or diods, You just need to wire a group of leds together, with 2 LED's in each chain ( normal LED voltage is 3.6volts, wiring 2 together makes a 7.2v LED).. you can put as many of these dual LED's in parallel together, and just hook it right up to the battery. I used a cheap charger I got from my battery source that cost $7... cut the back off of it and used it as the battery holder.

Used a project box and PC board from good old radioshack to hold the LED's and glue gunned it to the battery holder, on the bottom I drilled a hole and threaded in a 1/4" binding post --> hotshoe adapter that I had kicking around.
no resistors... my g-d man you are violating the rules of electrical engineering...
I think you should add a resitor to limit limit the current flow which would increase your overall battery life... anyway just a suggestion... all you need is one resitor in series with the battery before it goes to the parallel network of leds...

[khmuse]

In order to control the characteristics of an LED, a constant current source is really the best approach. This has the advantage of keeping the illumination characteristics very similar over a large range of supply voltages and will also less the chance of damaging an LED due to excessive forward current. A constant current source can be as simple as a single bi-polar (either NPN or PNP) transistor, 2 diodes and 2 resistors.

[Jay Rodriguez]

no resistors... my g-d man you are violating the rules of electrical engineering...
I think you should add a resitor to limit limit the current flow which would increase your overall battery life... anyway just a suggestion... all you need is one resitor in series with the battery before it goes to the parallel network of leds...


nerd

[bokser]

nerd
Nerds Rule! As Conan O Brian would say!

[235 Studios]

nerd

LOL!

Nerds Rule! As Conan O Brian would say!

Or as one of my nerd friends in highschool would say, "You may pick on me now, but one day I'll be your boss, and then I'll fire your ass!"

[HansK]

This place has some cool combinations of LEDs for sale:

http://www.ledtronics.com/

[235 Studios]

This place has some cool combinations of LEDs for sale:

http://www.ledtronics.com/


Thanks for the link. This light looks cool - it is a cluster of 40 LED's for $55

http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/B640/

[vidled]

Thanks for the link. This light looks cool - it is a cluster of 40 LED's for $55

http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/B640/

Ryan,
we have some of those left laying around (the warm color temperature ones).
If you like, we can send you one of our test units that we ran for about 5 to 7 hours max. Just let me know.

Cheers, Marius.

[235 Studios]

Ryan,
we have some of those left laying around (the warm color temperature ones).
If you like, we can send you one of our test units that we ran for about 5 to 7 hours max. Just let me know.

Cheers, Marius.

Sure, sounds good to me, looks like it would be fun to play with. I'll PM you my address.

[vidled]

... looks like it would be fun to play with.

You've got it.

[twocik23]

Does Anybody Have A Shot Of This Led Pc Board Light From The Inside?

[x-angel]

The rookie asks:

what exactly is the point of this...just a cheaper alternative to a on camera light?

[Brett Erskine]

I would recomend you go with a lot more than 40 LED's if your trying to replace anything except those tiny 20w camera lights. Heres what I did and I feel it still isnt enough. If I were to double it up - I would be able to match the light output of maybe a 75w on camera light. That way you nearly never run into a problem of not having enough for exposure.

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images//258110404.jpg

Brett Erskine

[J.R. Hudson]

The rookie asks:

what exactly is the point of this...just a cheaper alternative to a on camera light?

And not draining your battery life down like a Vampire

Here are some interesting ones


http://www.clouddome.com/specs/led.html

http://www.clouddome.com/specs/images/white-w-tn.jpg

http://www.clouddome.com/specs/images/diffuser-tn.jpg

[brandon_mc]

OK, so I have read through every post of all 21 pages of this thread, and i have heard a lot of big promises about really cool diy on camera led lights, and I have yet to see any of them that are truley what the maker says they are. And if they are the person that built them is still too lazy to put out a detailed schmatic, vendor list, part list, and instructions; even though multiple people have offered to pay for this.

The most successful people it seems in this pursuit so far have been jared and brett, but alas they are still plagued by problems: color temperature, low light output, no dimmable option, power issues.

It seems to me that the best led's, altough they are a few hundred bucks are at:
http://www.lumileds.com/
And the most economical are at:
http://www.ledtronics.com/

Could someone please publish or sell a final set of instructions for this project once and ofr all or simply tell me that it should be put to rest?!

I really would love to have a daylight-balance, dimmable, gel-able, ringlight that i can use both on camera or off on both my dvx or my digital slr. Is this possible?

If not i would settle for a rectangular or circular array of led and maybe scrap the dimming option, but regardless a solution must be practical and usable in a real working situation.

I appreciate all the work that has been put forth by all the led diy-er's so far and hate to be the guy complaining at the end, but I have yet to see practicality in this project.

Instructions and pictures. Most of the pics that were posted previosly in this thread are no longer up.

Thank you so much. Someone tell me that this works!:beer:

[Sanchez]

There was a great story on LED lights on PBS's Newshour last night (11/10/05).

The story went into scientific detail about the manufacture of the LED's and interviewed a couple of the leading companies and scientists. Very interesting.

For practical applications, it was mostly about architectural use. Apparently, it's most difficult to produce a white LED and LED's that are bigger than pea sized. It's coming though ...

[readw]

I have a prototype of a ringlight complete and I am now in the process of refining the mechanical design and fine tuning the electronics.

The light is dimmable and powered by a battery pack that can be worn on a belt or velcroed to something.

The light uses 66 LEDS and is housed in a CNC machined housing.

The light is designed to fit on a DVX camera but it will fit most cameras with appropriate adapter rings.

Unfortunately I do not have permission to post a pictures to this forum, but I will set up a Web Page in the next few days so that you can at least see what it looks like.


Warren

[brandon_mc]

That would be awesome warren. I'm very much looking to checking it out. Any chance that it could be powered by an on camera battery or the camera itself?

[readw]

Like yourself I wanted something that can be used on the DVX, SLR and another video camera that I have. These cameras all run on different voltages and are not easy to interface to the ringlight.

For me I found that having a dedicated battery pack was more effective as the light could be used all the above equipment and any almost any other camera.

Warren.

[brandon_mc]

That makes sense. Let me know as soon as you have something. Are you building it for the purpose of selling them? If so what price are you aiming for?

[Norm Sanders]

Warren, what do you mean you don't have permission to post pics on here? Sure you do ... just go "advanced" in your posting settings, then click on the "insert image" icon you'll see on the second row (bottom row) of icons.

From there, just type in the address you have for the pic on your server, and it'll post directly into the thread! :thumbsup:

That, or just throw the pics into any folder & give us the address. Love to see what you have!

[readw]

Thanks I'll post it in a new thread.

[twocik23]

HELP!!!!


I bought a Sony NP-FM50 charger (to use with a sony NP-FM50 battery). I ripped the back off of the charger and wired all the leds on the pc board. Then I stuck the battery in the charger and the leds flashed for a split of a sec. and that's it. I checked to see if the leds where fried (there OK) its just the battery. It seems like it has a fuse or something inside. Is the dvx battery and charger different in some way besides the brand then the Sonys.

Any suggestions????

[engr]

Do u have current limiting resistors in series for your LEDs?? U must not connect the LEDs directly to the battery,they will fry almost immediately.

[twocik23]

ENGR:
Do u have current limiting resistors in series for your LEDs?? U must not connect the LEDs directly to the battery,they will fry almost immediately.




I'm not an electrician and this is my first soldering job. So its kind of messy.

http://homepage.mac.com/twocik23/PhotoAlbum19.html

If the leds maximum voltage is 3.5v for every single one and if they are soldered in 2 rows of 3 leds in a chain & 6 rows of 4 leds in a chain, does that mean that I need a power supply of 105volts. Because I wired them in 4 & 3 instead of twos. Is that why its popping?

30 leds x 3.5volts = 105volts

[twocik23]

Also when I use 9volt battery it works and doesn't short. Do you think that it will eventually short or cause the battery to leak or explode?

[Teeck]

I can't tell from the soldering, lol. What kind of battery are you using?
If you connect LEDS in Parallel (Pluses to Pluses/Minus' to Minus') you are still going to need a resistor UNLESS you connect 2 of them in series, which makes 7 Volts for each pair(the DVX battery 7.5V), then you can connect as many pairs as you need. The resistor does needs to limit the Voltage. You are applying 7.5V to a 3.5V LED, thats why they are popping. If you want to connect all the LEDs together in parallel then here is a formulla for which resistor to get.

Asuming these LEDs draw 20mA, you will need a resistor to handle 4V(Since 3.5 volts is needed for the LEDs and your Battery is 7.5V then 7.5V-3.5V = 4 V)

30 LEDS = 20mA Draw Each x 30 = Total Current Draw of 600mA

Ohms Law
Voltage(V) = Current(I) x Resistance(R)

4V = 600 X R

Since 600mA you need to convert to Amps Divide by 1000

4V= .6 X R

SOLVE = 6.66 Ohm Resistor

P = Voltage(V) x Current(I)

P = 4V X .6A
P = 2.4 Watt

So you Will need a 6.66 Ohm Resistor Rated at 2.4 Watts, but double the wattage to be safe, so about a 6.66 Ohm resistor rated at 5 watts.

Now you can connect all the LEDs in Prarallel and and then connect the resistor in series and it should work with 30 LEDs. Make sure if you change the Battery and the voltage is different it has to be calculated again. Same goes for the Number of LEDs you have to find the total current if you add more LEDs.

Phew that took long, hope it helps, you can calculate the correct resistor value with the steps above for any type of LED setup you do.

[twocik23]

Its A Sony Battery From My Pc 101, Battery Model Np-fm50. So Am I In The Right Direction From What You See?

[Teeck]

I cant tell how you connected them.

[HansK]

30 leds x 3.5volts = 105volts
I hear the sound of someone's hair frying as they electrocute themself. :shocked:

[Teeck]

I hear the sound of someone's hair frying as they electrocute themself. :shocked:

That was funny!

[twocik23]

I connected all of the + pluses to each other & - minus' to each other.

[Teeck]

They are in parallel which you need to add a resistor, if you use the DVX 7.5V battery.
6.66 Ohm at 5 Watts.

[MrBirdBoy]

What is the final part # on the LEDS everyone loves ? And maybe a site URL

Thanks, Steve

[idvfilms]

I finally got around to whipping one of these up. It is super ghetto! as I used no solder (twistytied) since I am just testing. I do have a question I have 28 LED's on the projekt board and I am using a 9 volt which started to get extemely hot! can any one explain why this might happen?
I have gone over the data here thrice over but no avail.
I also have a Lenmar plate but I would only get a flash out of it and it would be over. So I am mis firing somewhere but I know I am close?
I also rigged a on/off switch and ran my test board to 3 triple A batteries and had o.k. results, switch works great just not enough output.
I got a couple of 10kohm resistors lying around I am not sure where to place 'em?
So to break it down I have found various ways of powering just not correctly. I also would perfer to use the Pany bat. as I do not want to have to rig a 9/volt and carry more around as most of my shooting is run and gun.

If anyone is still out there on this and can assist I would be thankful!
Or just email me,
Aloha

[vidled]

I do have a question I have 28 LED's on the projekt board and I am using a 9 volt which started to get extemely hot! can any one explain why this might happen?

Hey.
Good stuff. The drain on the 9V is probably WAY too high, hence it will get hot. Alkaline and Lithium 9V batteries aren't very good for high-drain applications, NiCD and NiMH fare better, but considering the size of the cell (remember they need 7 or sometimes 8 cells to get to 9V [8.4V vs. 9.6V nominal rechargeables]) the 9V battery just can't handle a good drain!

One way to solve the problem would be to use a different battery, or if you really wanted to use 9V batteries, you could try a clip where you can combine two 9V batteries together. We sell them too, and they look like this:

http://vidled.com/clip.jpg

Cheers,
Marius
--------------

[Justyn]

This is an amazing thread. Anyone making them for sale yet? Or could I get a detailed set of plans and list of websites and products. I like those litepanels so much.. but so damn expensive. If someone could produce one of these with a battery in the 200 range, they'd have a nice hit here... or atleast help us out with the plans and gentle guidance.

[Justyn]

I think these are awesome: http://vidled.com/

Anyone bought these? Marius seems like a cool guy and the price is really nice. I especially dig the battery options here.


Thanks all

[lewkmiller]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/index.htm
I don't know if this has been posted before but looks like a good place for DIYers.

[mcgeedigital]

I think these are awesome: http://vidled.com/

Anyone bought these? Marius seems like a cool guy and the price is really nice. I especially dig the battery options here.


Thanks all

I have multiple VIDleds from them and they are worth every penny!

[Cool Lights]

Based on previous discussions about mounting one of these DIY LED solutions, here's a part that I think can help a lot. A really inexpensive hot shoe mount ($9.99 ea). So you can do it the right way with one of these and not worry about damaging the camera.

http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?baseItem=DELV%2DCM&cat=STANDMTS&subcat=&prodClass=LCDMOUNTS&mfg=&search=0&off=

Just need a 1/4-20 threaded hole on your DIY LED solution and you can put it on your camera in a super pro way.