Litepanels for Crowds: Mini, Micro or neither?

A

Amishexmachina

New member
Hey guys. I'm going to be doing event coverage and I'm looking for a good on-camera light to illuminate crowds. I'm just starting off, and I'd rather not spend more money than is needed. (I have an HVX, btw)

I'm looking at LitePanels, and while I'm impressed with the overall look, cost seems prohibitive. I can scrape up the cash to get a LitePanel Mini (700 or so) if need be, but I'm not sure know how bright a light I really need for a dark venue or nightclub. The Micros seem really great and fairly bright, but they also seem to have a narrow throw and the plastic seems easily breakable.

What should I get? I'm looking for something that can illuminate a crowd enough so that I can get a nice look, but at the same time I don't want to spend a lot of cash on something that's overkill. Can you guys recommend any on-camera lights?

Thanks,
Chris
 
I've been spoiled because I have the LitePanel Mini. This past weekend I used the LitePanel Micro and I was disappointed. Just felt cheap, I didn't like the look at all. I would stay away from buying the micro. If possible invest in the mini or search for other options - vidleds always get good reviews here as well as cool lights. But, I don't know if you can still buy either.... I guess the Micro is better than the horrible sony little on cam lights if that's your choice.
 
I was in the same delima, I ended up buying 1 micro (25w output) it worked fine for most situations, when I needed more light I bought a second one and a hot shoe adapter to mount both on my camera for 50w output, same as the mini. I can angle one 10-20 degrees off center for better coverage ect. With the good batteries they run for 6+ hours. The weight savings is really nice if you do a lot of hand held work. The 2 micro's cost me $150 less than the mini with the same light output. They are kind of flimsy but I have not had any problems.
 
What about Zylight 50 or 90? too expensive too, right?
But is really worth it!
I researched about this for the same purpose, and besides zylight, I would have go with the vidleds.
 
Honestly, I think there is a lot to be said on the topic of event coverage lighting that needs to be talked about. I'd love to see a side by side feature or stick of all the LEDs out there. Tried pitching it over in the lighting forum, but nobody bit.

Litepannel Micro and Mini,
Vidled
Coollight,
Sony,
Zylite,
And DIY solutions

I'd all like to see them side by side in a comprehensive showdown with cost and footage.

You hear me gods of DVXUser.com? Ima talkin to you!
 
I thought that the VidLed was out of production right now? Their site hasn't been updated in a few months and it looks like they are out of cases.

I would love to hear of DIY solutions, like sources for decent CRI LEDs. Or maybe more economical solutions, I could see spending 300 for a well built on camera light, but not on something fragile like the Litepanels Micro...

Does anyone know anything about the Bescor LED-35? At least its cheaper, but I wouldn't buy it without knowing that its output looked OK.
 
I say you buy it, it was not out when I bought my litepannels micro.

It is $100 cheaper and has 10w more of light output.
 
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Bescor doesn't say its dimmable, so I'll presume that its not, and for me that probably rules it out.

[/FONT]I'm also considering [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]the Ikan iLED 100. Unfortunately I can't find much info on it either.

It seems that LED manufacturers rarely give meaningful data to compare products. Even with components I find I can almost never find CRI info. Is 75 CRI considered decent for an LED? All of my consumer LED products (including an amazingly bright Fenix mini-flashlight) have pathetic CRI.
[/FONT]
 
I went ahead and ordered the bescor 35 led, and when I got it It was broken, it did not turn on and I tried it with new batteries. The unit feels cheap in construction, It did not have any instructions or the filters it says was included., apparently B&H video sent me an used and deffective unit. Anyways I'm returning it and hoping to receive a fully funtional light. I will update as soon as I get the replacement.
 
awesome.
When I want the crowd to look my way, that'll do it. When I need em to be looking forward or at the stage, I let life happen and open up as needed.
 
Did the Bescor have a dimmer on it?

FYI the litepannels micro is plastic and also kinda flimsy but it survived through a season of tornado chasing.
 
I'm going to vote for the Litepanels Micro. I can tell you it's not a cheap made item, as i've used it for one documentary and one live rock concert so far, and it's held up fine. Plus you can just replace the batteries instead of needing to charge them. Litepanels has great customer support and you can always get a bigger one (or more micros) down the road if you discover you need them.
 
I saw this light over at CALLBOX looks good. Any one have one? Or footage using it that we can see. I'm thinking of buying a second light..this one.
 
I got the litepanels micro and additionally one of these chinese LED things that mount on the front of your head.....I am leaving my PAG light at home since then....no more lugging that big battery around! Im happy with the micro! I go for weight reduction wherever I can when I travel. Maybe I get the mini one day....
 
LitePanels Micro = flimsy construction, easy to break
LitePanels Mini - pro gear, pro construction

I have used both. Hands down, get the Mini over the pro. You get what you pay for. Have heard raves about the Zylight too.

If you are a pro doing this for paying clients, buy professional gear. If you are a hobbyist, buy the cheap, junkie stuff, then when it breaks, lose that money and still end up buying a pro unit. It's up to you. I am done buying junk consumer type gear. I have pro cameras, lenses, P2, tripod, jib, grip, lighting and audio. The only prosumer stuff I have are the Audio Technica AT100 wireless and they are being replaced by the Zaxcom TRX systems.

I have been doing this too long to put up with the compromises of crappy gear. Did that 20 years ago when I was starting out and had no $$ and it sucked.

Dan
 
ChipG said:
Did the Bescor have a dimmer on it?

FYI the litepannels micro is plastic and also kinda flimsy but it survived through a season of tornado chasing.
Click to expand...


No the Bescor did not have any dimmer. I guess I'll have to make a diffuser to dim the light when need it.
 
I'll throw in a rave review for the Zylight - I have two z90's and they are hands down my favorite light in my kit. Different colors, different color temps, tons of light out of battery power and they dont drain batteries like tungsten lights. If you're looking at the litepanels mini, I'd give the zylight a long hard look too.
 
In the cases of the Zylight and the Litepanels Mini, yes, both are expensive but you get what you pay for. Buy one of these and use it for years or buy junk like the Micro and replace it 2-3 times when you break them.

Dan
 
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