Zylight Z90 vs. Z50 Visual Light Output Comparison

W

wbrock001@hotmail.com

Member
Hello All,

I just happen to have both a Zylight Z90 and Z50, so at 7 feet from my white wall, I shot both the Z90 and Z50 in daylight mode at full brightness. Each photo had identical settings. The 35mm equivalent is 30mm lens, ISO 200, f/3.5 and 1/10 sec shutter. There was no external light spill. If you want full resolution versions to compare, let me know.
 

Attachments

  • ZylightZ50_7ft.jpg
    ZylightZ50_7ft.jpg
    32.1 KB · Views: 0
  • ZylightZ90_7ft.jpg
    ZylightZ90_7ft.jpg
    37.4 KB · Views: 0
Let me know if there is something you'd like to see that might be more useful other than just letting you know the z90 is much brighter? I was thinking of adding a 20 Watt incandescent as well.
 
Well, considering you have both, I'd like to know which you purchased first. Did you buy in the order of Z50, then finding out it wasn't bright enough, purchase the Z90?

I've taken a look at both these lights and am considering purchasing one for videography work (my Bescor just dies way too fast). What do you use them for? Events, film, other videos?

Thanks,

Kegan
 
I got the Z50 first, in lieu of the Z90's limited availability. I use them mostly for on camera event work. But plan to use them on some upcoming shoots as key, rim, background lights to add splashes of color and personality. The Z50 is a fine rim light and background light. The Z90 is more for key/fill...depending on the setup. It is a pretty versatile light. Ideally, I'd have about 4 Z90's, and I don't think I'd get another Z50 just because the extra power of the Z90 is much more useful. Though, I have found that the Z90 doesn't quite dim down as far as the Z50, though going from 1-10% probably isn't that useful anyway.

I haven't used them for film, but I'm pretty confident they'd be very useful for that...here's why with one example. Say you're setting up a night shot and you need to create a uniform "blue" in a room...well by using a few zylights, they have very broad smooth beams and the zylink wireless...you hide them behind everything and can modify the color and dim them all in unison. Now imagine doing that with a bunch of incandescents, gels, dimmers, heat... So there are plenty of uses for these lights. I would say go for the Z90 though, has 10 channels of zylink, 3x more power, 50,000 hr LED vs. 10,000 hrs for Z50, and uses the same power of 30 W max.
 
Thanks a lot Bill, that's the first informative post I've really read about the Zylights. Doesn't seem like there's very much information on them. Thank you for taking the time to explain them to me.

Hm, that seems like a really good idea as well. Multiple Z90s sound as if they would be very useful for film. I do more event work than get a chance to work on films (unfortunately), but I wanted something that was versatile enough to use for both...which is usually hard when it comes to lighting.

Your explanation definitely helps and in a couple months, I'll likely pick up my first Z90 and go from there, depending on how I like it - from the sounds of it though, I'll like it very much.

Thanks again,

Kegan
 
You're welcome...I know what you mean. I just took the risk on them and am happy with them. Z90 is awesome for events. I just did a Bat Mitzvah with the z50 and the smoothness of the light on the subject's faces was amazing. No hot spots, no regional blowouts...but with the z90 I have a bit more reach.

For lectures and luncheons and such I see it being very useful for overhead high contrast lighting, since its so compact I can position my zylight on the podium or slightly below to balance out some of the harsh shadows. Just be careful not to blast their eyes so they can't read their speech notes!

I got the Noga arm ENG z90 kit and that arm really makes a world of difference for on camera, because now I can position the light an extra 8 to 10 inches above the camera so any shadow is hidden by the subjects head (same thing photographers do by mounting the flash on a bracket way above the lens). This also keeps the light out of their eyes enough not to squint as they look into the lens.

I use a 12 Ah 12 V battery belt and get over 5 hours out of the z90. If you use it dimmed it'll last even longer.
 
wbrock001@hotmail.com said:
Let me know if there is something you'd like to see that might be more useful other than just letting you know the z90 is much brighter? I was thinking of adding a 20 Watt incandescent as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for posting this Bill :)

I've been trying to get a gauge on how much 'punch' these zylights pack off-camera and until your post, had not much luck.
If you wouldn't mind, could you please post some grabs taken from video (eg: shutter 1/60) with the zylights used to light a scene?
An indoor interview setup perhaps? eg: z90 key side light, reflector fill side light, z50 rim/back light.

If you're happy to do this, could you please take two grabs - one of the shot and one revealing the setup, with recorded camera/shutter settings? :beer:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top