Small portable cheap light - interview situations with EX1

Essami

Essami

Well-known member
Hi,

Im looking for a small as possible light to light up a face from 1m to 3m. I'd be using it in interview situations and just to give some extra punch to the face in backlight or shooting in shadow situations. Portability is key!

Price should around 100-200 euros with battery/power source included. Ill be using it with my EX1 camera.

I really dont know much about this so any help would be greatly appreaciated!

Thank you!

Sami
 
I think its got to be some kind of LED solution but it won't be a super pro one in that price range most likely. You might look at battery powered LED worklights. Which are becoming more commonly found now. You can get battery powered fluorescent lights too but of course they may not be as efficient with the battery but may be more powerful than the LED type too.
 
i'd love to hear anyone's experience's with those harbor freight LED worklights. Seems like a great solution.
 
Wow that HF light is interesting... Already on a yoke too... May have to get one of these and play with it. For $40 it might be a nice little eyelight or something with the appropriate gels...
 
it says it comes with a 12volt dc charger so you may be able to also use a bescor pack as a backup power source if the light battery runs out and you don't have any AC. however, it doesn't say what colour temp it is, hopefully 5600 but i'm gonna go get one tomorrow maybe and see.
 
Yeah I bet you can run it off a 12v brick. Just may need a custom built adapter or something. Nothing the soldering iron cant do though.

The color temp would be the seller for me. My guess is that its up above 5600 though - seems like most cheaper leds are up in that range I think (may be totally wrong though) - anyone care to correct me on that? Now if it came in 3200k I'd be all over it... I could live with 5600ish though.
 
Bought one today - going to charge it first but it's looking 5600k or higher. Will know more soon.

cheno

***update - it looks as though this unit may suffer the same as many of the "rechargeable" spotlights meaning you cannot use it with hard power. It will not power on (at least at this point) with the AC unit connected. Haven't tried the lighter plug but appears to be only useable on battery power, which bites if the light is almost dead and you need to use it. 6 hours to recharge. i'll test more tonight and report back but it looks like it's going back as a return.

cheno
 
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I bought a similar LED light. It too would not run off of AC. It looks kind of like the lights you use to hang above the car's engine. I bought it at a Home Depot type store on a whim, thinking I might be able to use it in tight spaces like cars or behind a corner, under a counter.... I have used it a few times with OK results, but the light is closer to 7500 -8000 kelvin, and it is very spotty. Diffusion and 1/2 cto helped.
 
So taking the light back - it's not horrible but again doesn't run on A/C or battery belt power. Only the internal ni-cad battery.

It's 5600 plus - didn't test it but it's fairly blue - probably in the 6500 - 7000 range.

Was a great thought. Wish it would have worked out.

If VidLed is truly out of commission, nows the time for someone to become the next indy LED on camera light guy / gal.

cheno
 
how many hours will it run on a charge?

and will it charge while its plucked in?

is it bright enough to still put out "enough" light with a cc gel on it?

Jason
 
Jason Miller said:
how many hours will it run on a charge?

and will it charge while its plucked in?

is it bright enough to still put out "enough" light with a cc gel on it?

Jason
Click to expand...

If you're referring to the 60 LED light I bought from Harbor Freight - the light runs about 4 - 6 hours on a charge (according to the packaging) I didn't test this as it will not power on while plugged in. So, yes it will charge when it's plugged in but you cannot use the light. It will only work unplugged while on battery power. I even explained this to the counter people when I returned this and they all thought it was dumb.

Back to the drawing board.
 
If I weren't broke from getting the EX3, i'd probably buy a VidLED kit.
http://vidled.com/products.html
It's half the price of a Litepanel, and looks pretty good and quality construction. Also many accesories available.
It's in your price range too, if you add about 100 more :) and it's really worth to invest a bit more and get something far superior.
 
Pretty much. I think the current estimate is september but it keeps getting pushed back. Wouldnt get my hopes up. For a few more dollars check out the zylight. Its my new best friend for on camera lighting. Anyone really wanting a vidled though - slightly used $600 :) j/k.
 
seems to me that if these HF lights are still a pretty good deal if they will still putout enough light when gelled. even if you buy 2, charge one while using the other, its still cheaper than most other options. looks like it would be easy to mount and even make barndoors for,

Jason Miller
 
There are 130 LED Worklights on eBay right now. If I remember correctly one can easily gel the light with a CTO lightning gel and the color temperature becomes usable.

T
 
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