Anyone buy and use the Kamerar Brightcast yet?

puredrifting

puredrifting

Major Contributor
https://www.amazon.com/Kamerar-Brig...tcast+variable+15+bi-color+flexible+led+light
I am still so intrigued by this light. They are now $500.00 on Amazon but I have a coupon where I can get it for a little less. Seems like pairing it with a couple of V-Mounts and my D-Fuse softbox would make for a really cool travel light source. I am also shooting a project that has a lot shots in cars and it also seems as if the Kamerar punched through some heavy diffusion would be nice to add that "coming up from the dashboard" kind of source. Reviews are good, the price is right, it's SMD, Bicolor and decent output and killer size and weight for travel shoots. Seems like a good deal but I was curious if anyone here has actually shot with them? I am also looking for a TA3F to TA3M extension cable so I can place the control unit and battery about 10' from the light for the in car shoots. Not a whole lot of choice out there for 10' TA3F to TA3 extensions. Might have to have them made up by a cable shop.
 
I worked with a DP who had a couple of them on the shoot while I was the camera operator. I didn't get a whole lot of hands on experience, but they seemed decent from what I gathered. The DP I worked with was quite happy with them.

I'm having trouble finding specs on power draw; I'm guessing around a 50-60 watt draw, which means they aren't super bright, but still useful for a lot scenarios.

They're on B&H as well for $500. I wonder if the one on Ebay is the same thing at $400. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/192086689864?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
 
rob norton said:
I thought these were going to be $200-$300??
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I blew it, I had a special coupon right when they hit the market, before they even shipped for $250.00, but I failed to use it before the offer expired. I bet they saw what the Westcott and Aladins sell for and thought, "Wow, we are underpriced for the market". I still have a possible deal for $350.00 which seems like a fair price. They just seem like they would be very useful as a minimal travel kit and for shooting in cars. I have two of the Aputure LS 1S and I am considering a few of the Relamps by Visionsmith for my Arri kit but a couple of these Brightcasts would be handy for certain scenarios. Just not sure if their SMDs would even begin to match the light color from my LS 1S?
 
Hi, I bought 3 of those lights when they were 1st introduced. At that time they had a great discount going on. I can tell you that those are great lights and they're much brighter, robust and has better color than most out there in their class. I have mounted those in cars etc and powered them of batteries. Only fault I had was that the color temp and brightness volume knob could of been a bit bigger. But I'm really happy with these.

J.
 
julian said:
Hi, I bought 3 of those lights when they were 1st introduced. At that time they had a great discount going on. I can tell you that those are great lights and they're much brighter, robust and has better color than most out there in their class. I have mounted those in cars etc and powered them of batteries. Only fault I had was that the color temp and brightness volume knob could of been a bit bigger. But I'm really happy with these.

J.
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Thanks for the feedback Julian! I think I will spring for at least one to start and then if I find I am using it a lot, I'll buy another to function as a key and fill for a light travel kit. And yes, for the car stuff, they seem like a natural. I am interested in hunting down a 10' extension cable to go from the power supply/control unit to the panel, the coiled cable they come with looks pretty short? Any ideas on where you can find a 10' TA3F to TA3F cable? I am finding all kinds of them for Sound Devices Recorders but they don't seem to be the right configuration for what the lights would need as far as male/female? Correct me if I am wrong but you would need a female TA3 from the control unit to a female TA3 at the other end to connect the panel?

Also, have you shot with them with other brands of LEDs? Any challenges in color temp matching?
 
@puredrifting, yes try one 1st, you will like the light output. It's brighter than my 1x1 lite panels and my 1x1 F&V led panels.

Yes, a 10' extension would be nice. If you really need one and can't find a compatible one. I would just contact the seller/manufacturer
and ask if they have something available, that way you know that you're getting something that is the rt specs etc.

Yes, I've used these lights with other fixtures like my HMI's etc without issue.
Yes, you're also rt about the connectors/connection.

J,
 
Just ordered a Kamerar Brightcast. I will update this thread once I have a chance to use it and put through it's paces. Also asked Kamerar where I can get s 10' TA3 F to F extension cable. I know I can have Markertek build one but that gets pricy for such a cheap light, woud rather find an off the shelf solution, if they exist.

**Edit

Kamerar got back to me, they had no idea where to buy extension cables for this light. But they get points for responding to an email in under an hour, props!
 
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@PD, customer support seems to be good over at Kamerar, they ship pretty fast as well. I just order 3 cables from the link you posted, thank you very much, the cables are a very good find.

J.
 
julian said:
@PD, customer support seems to be good over at Kamerar, they ship pretty fast as well. I just order 3 cables from the link you posted, thank you very much, the cables are a very good find.

J.
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I made a mistake Julian, ordering the power cable before I received the light. I just received this from Kamerar. "Yes, a Mini XLR male to female can be use to extend the cable, but it has to be 4 pins, the link that you sent us is 3 pins."
This was something that I really couldn't tell from the pictures all over the web and their website of the light, the cables and sockets. My apologies for the hassle you'll have to go through to return the ones you (and I) ordered. Now to hunt and see if anyone sells the same cable in a 4 pin configuration. That is going to be more difficult to find. Might even be custom and just made for Kamerar? You'd think that their buyers would be requesting something as simple and logical as an extension to go from the control unit to the panel? That's what I get for trying to be proactive.
 
At least at the end of last year Kamerar said (in an email) they don't have longer cable options. I haven't done any research yet but surely one exists?

Longer cable pending, I'll buy a couple for sure... they didn't ship to Australia at the end of last year either so it'd be good if they let willing customers buy their products!

Anyway it's one step closer to the light blanket..: )
 
rob norton said:
At least at the end of last year Kamerar said (in an email) they don't have longer cable options. I haven't done any research yet but surely one exists?

Longer cable pending, I'll buy a couple for sure... they didn't ship to Australia at the end of last year either so it'd be good if they let willing customers buy their products!

Anyway it's one step closer to the light blanket..: )
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Al I can find are the connectors or cables with one side being a TA4F and the other side being Cornucopia of other audio connectors but not TA4M. I may have Markertek make me one, but it won't be cheap. Kamerar really should be selling them, the light is so well executed, just needs that cable to expand it's utility. Too bad they won't ship internationally, weird for 2017.
 
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As an update here, my first Kamerar Brightcast came yesterday. Very interesting, the Mini XLR from their power supply to the light control is three pin, but the mini XLR FROM the light control to the LED panel itself is 4 pin. Since I already received the 15' 3 pin mini XLR from Markertek, I tried hooking one end to the power supply and the other end to the Brightcast light control. It works! Yay! I think I will keep it and I ordered another 15' XLR mini 3 pin extension cable for the other Brightcast I have coming on Friday because it is much easier to have a tiny mini XLR 15' lead from the power supply on the floor to the light control than to have a heavy and bulky 15' OSHA cable going from the wall socket to the power supply brick. The cable length from the power supply to the light control is short which means that the power supply would either be dangling in the air if you have the whole light mounted up high, or you would have to velcro it to the light itself and run that big, heavy OSHA cable you would have to buy (it only comes with a six foot cable) up to the light, in the air. I don't usually set up lights just a few feet from an AC outlet so having about a total of 20' of lead without using an extension cord is good.

First Impressions:

Overall build is decent.
The light stand fitting is plastic, the tie down knob feels cheap. Don't lean on it or it feels as if it will crack.
The quality of light from the SMDs is good, I don't see too many micro shadows like you get with the LED bulbs.
The Bi-Color function is cool. If you look at the SMDs and dial in a different color temp, you can see how each side of the SMD lights up
The power switch, and diminuitive knobs that control dimming and color temp are tiny and fragile looking. You will not want to be rough with these lights, at least the control panel part of it.
They came in a nice, cheap but decent semi hard shell case
I am planning on trying these as a key source through a 42" diffusion panel and with my D-Fuse 12x12 softbox.


Overall, for the money, these seem to be a good value although you will not mistake the build quality for an Astra or Arri Skypanel. I will be packing up the two of them and heading to South America in a couple of weeks to shoot a doc so these will get a good workout. We are hiring a local gaffer down there for a real lighting package for a concert we are shooting there with three cameras, but for impromptu interviews, producer and director requested that I bring a small and light two light kit for interviews and some run and gun shooting, possibly at night. Nobody lists the actual weight of just the lights so I weighed them. Just the panel and the control unit on the back weighs 39 oz. This is good as I will only be bringing two light stands for my shoot, one for the key source and one for my boom pole for audio so the second light will be worked off of Dinkum Action Pod or a Gorilla Pod, probably clamped to whatever door, chair or piece of furniture I can find. Since I am lugging ALL of the gear for the shoot through airports and to the shoot locations, other than the grip and lighting we will rent down there, every ounce counts so I am saving about two pounds by NOT bringing a third light stand for my fill source. At 39 oz for the part of the light hanging off of the Action Pod or Gorilla Pod, I think it is workable. I think these lights will do a nice job for how I need to utilize them. All of my LEDs are daylight only, these are my first bi-color LEDs so I am looking forward to being able to better blend with ambient tungsten and fluorescent in certain locations and being able to just warm up things if the director asks for that without having to go to gels or resetting the white balance. I ordered one V Mount version and one U Mount version. My thinking is, I don't own any V mount batteries, but I will buy one or two big (230WH) ones for use here. When I fly though, the U mount batteries like the Sony BP-U90 from the FS7 are also 14.4 volts and pretty affordable for the Watsons. So when I fly, I will just bring the the BP-U90s and a charger to use for run and gun on the street and at night stuff. The BP-U90s are really long but a lot cheaper and smaller/lighter than a huge V Mount.
 
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Another update. https://www.mtfservices.com/catalog/led-lighting-2
I discovered that the UK importer of Brightcasts is MTF and they offer a 2.5m D-Tap to TA3 connector cable. This would allow you to mount your heavy BP-U or V-Mount battery powering the Brightcast on the ground when the panel is mounted to a flimsy travel or lightweight light stand up in the air 5-6' as we would typically use them. They also have a 4 pin mini XLR 2.5m extension that will let us separate the panel from the control unit up to 2.5m, which would be ideal of mounting the panel in cars or in hard to reach alcoves on set. I have been bugging Kamerar to get them from the manufacturer in China as I assume MTF did or to have them fabricated here in the U.S. MTF is charging a pretty penny for the cables, £47.00 which is $58.00 at current exchange rates but I am so desperate to have more mounting options, I may just pay it, plus the shipping to get them. Still probably about the same as having a custom cable shop fabricate them from scratch. I've got an email in to MTF to see if they will ship the cables here to U.S. customers.
 
I'd like to point out that MTS has the Daylight version of this light the Kamerar does not seem to carry, plus the Sony battery version is 199 pounds which is $246. This is for the bare light, no AC adapter which would add another $73; totaling roughly $325. Kamerar wants $499. The V-Lock is $370 vs $499 from Kamerar. I have no idea what shipping to the US would be. Seem like we could do a GB...

UPDATE: Just added three to my cart. Shipping would be $50 to Florida.
 
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DvxHerb said:
I'd like to point out that MTS has the Daylight version of this light the Kamerar does not seem to carry, plus the Sony battery version is 199 pounds which is $246. This is for the bare light, no AC adapter which would add another $73; totaling roughly $325. Kamerar wants $499. The V-Lock is $370 vs $499 from Kamerar. I have no idea what shipping to the US would be. Seem like we could do a GB...

UPDATE: Just added three to my cart. Shipping would be $50 to Florida.
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DvxHerb,

You are not enough of a cheapskate. Go go the Kamerar site, see where it says "Make an offer"? Only suckers are paying $500.00 for Brightcasts on Amazon or from Kamerar. Also keep in mind that my Kamerar versions came with the power supply, a form fitted flat woven nylon case instead of the dumb roll up tube the UK versions are shipping with. I have one V mount version and one U mount version. The U mount batteries are a little cheaper, smaller and lighter for travel, but I know a big V mount will last longer so I got one of each to hedge my bets. Kamerar had an intro coupon last year at $250.00 that I had but failed to use in time, then I just bought two of them for an offer that I was very happy with, plus they have been running specials and sales like crazy. Also, your power supplies from the UK would be set up to accept 240V so you would have to use plug adapters, more size, weoight and bulk. I know the light itself can accept anything, it's world voltage, but as far as power supply, not sure if the UK version of the supply would only be expecting 240V or if it doesn't care and can also function correctly with 120V input. I spoke with Brightcast USA today, there are several versions and accesories that the UK retailers have that Brightcast USA has not imported here yet. They said they could special order me the cables I am craving but that it "would take a long while", I am just going to order them from one of the UK retailers like CVP.
 
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