Best battery powered daylight source

LennyLevy said:
I love dvxuser but sometimes you guys make me laugh . I asked about suggestions for lights (esp newer COB) that I can run off of a v mount . I’ve been shooting over 30 years and been on this forum almost as long . I know how batteries and draw work ( mine can handle high wattage) , I know how to compose and light and know that a much larger light is better for outdoor shooting , but I didn’t ask for any of that advice - I was just wondering what experience people may have had with the newer inexpensive lights . So far I’ve gotten lots of advice but no one has addressed my question at all . I do appreciate the concern though .
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I've used both the Nanlite 500 and the Aputure 600 outdoor. The Nanlite is touch cooler than the Aputure. I like both.

This week Aputure released a stripped down 600, which is such great value I've ordered one.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...212gw3_ls_600d_led_light.html?sts=pi-ps&pim=Y

IMG_2695.jpg
 
LennyLevy said:
Thanks Morgan but I know all that stuff . My vlocks can handle high draw and if needed I can buy a dual adapter . I’m looking for advice on the fixtures themselves and I forgot to add “inexpensive” preferably under $1k and that can run on 1 vlock . Otherwise I’ll have to buy another ton of batts too . I have a COB nanlite 60B that is surprisingly bright but I’m looking for something stronger . I’m looking for something to use on docs w small or even no crew .
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Sorry, missed this comment, Lenny. A single battery options pretty much means a panel - something I'm also looking for to replace my ageing Aputure LS-1c. If I find something I let you know!
 
Liam Hall said:
Sorry, missed this comment, Lenny. A single battery options pretty much means a panel - something I'm also looking for to replace my ageing Aputure LS-1c. If I find something I let you know!
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Actually, Litepanels has several Fresnels that can be run on a regular Anton/Bauer camera battery that has a D-tap. I own a couple of Sola4+ lights that are incredibly powerful and efficient. Great for outdoors with some diffusion. I believe the bigger Sola6+ can also be run on battery but I've only used those plugged into the wall.
 
Thanks for all the replies despite my joking. If I have a decent paying job with a crew I always rent something or the gaffer has it (as in Liam's shot above) , but often on little one or two man band jobs (which are pretty common these days for me) I end up having to grab something unexpectedly outside. I've actually made that work even with one or 2 little YN600's if I plan my background carefully , but i want to beef that up a little. I realize that getting something like a 600D is the best way to go but frankly I've spent enough money recently and don't want to lug that stuff around with me anyway , so I'm looking for something fast, compact and cheap with full understanding of the limitations. I'll let you know what I find.
BTW my little 98W V locks are from Intellytech and they are designed to run their lights. I can run their LC160 (150W) at full power . They also make an adapter to couple 2 of them for longer run time though the voltage remains 14.4. At this point I'm looking around for the most efficient light at 150W .
I do have a quick start car battery that's probably not a bad idea for that purpose. I'll test it out .
 
Doug Jensen said:
Actually, Litepanels has several Fresnels that can be run on a regular Anton/Bauer camera battery that has a D-tap. I own a couple of Sola4+ lights that are incredibly powerful and efficient. Great for outdoors with some diffusion. I believe the bigger Sola6+ can also be run on battery but I've only used those plugged into the wall.
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Can you post a shot you’ve done using one of those outdoors with diffusion? I looked at those lights a while ago but concluded they don’t have enough poke.

In my mind, with COB lights 600watts is the barest of bare minimum if you want to do anything other than blast a hard light on the talent, as evidenced below:

59DF57B6-D07C-4E08-BE31-406AF60A0BB4.jpeg
 
A couple of comments.

COBs certainly compete very well on the lumen/dollar/kg/cubic cm. vs lightpanels/solas .. they, lightpanels, had thier time but I dont think they are a clever buy today - of course no need to chuck them if you already paid for them.

In terms of diffusing a cob fixture I would suggest that octoboxes are most efficient. in Liams setup here a good chunk of light is being lost to the back... which is fine if you are on the mains but less good on battery.

I had a 70cm godox octobox lying in the studio and thought it was a joke as the source is not as big as a 4.4 diff.. but actually its very efficient and very practical if you are squeezing every lumen from your battery watt. and a 70cm octa is 4x more soft than a 1.1 panel. .. enough

Lighting tech changes so fast my godox 200 cobs were the nuts for 6 months but the amaran200 have dc in and are half of the size which fast makes my godox cobs look a bit silly already.

In terms of the ap600 I think it is well worth paying for the more expensive weather sealed versiion unless you have a specific use case like a studio roof. . For my ap 600 I bought a fold out china ball.. a practical thing for just blatting an int space.
 
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morgan_moore said:
A couple of comments.

COBs certainly compete very well on the lumen/dollar/kg/cubic cm. vs lightpanels/solas .. they, lightpanels, had thier time but I dont think they are a clever buy today - of course no need to chuck them if you already paid for them.

In terms of diffusing a cob fixture I would suggest that octoboxes are most efficient. in Liams setup here a good chunk of light is being lost to the back... which is fine if you are on the mains but less good on battery.

I had a 70cm godox octobox lying in the studio and thought it was a joke as the source is not as big as a 4.4 diff.. but actually its very efficient and very practical if you are squeezing every lumen from your battery watt. and a 70cm octa is 4x more soft than a 1.1 panel. .. enough

Lighting tech changes so fast my godox 200 cobs were the nuts for 6 months but the amaran200 have dc in and are half of the size which fast makes my godox cobs look a bit silly already.

In terms of the ap600 I think it is well worth paying for the more expensive weather sealed versiion unless you have a specific use case like a studio roof. . For my ap 600 I bought a fold out china ball.. a practical thing for just blatting an int space.
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I used a soft box on every other set-up that day but it would not have worked on the above shot as we needed more power to balance against the sun. As it was, I didn't really have enough power, but we just about got away with it.

FWIW (which is nothing, I know) That was an unplanned shot for which we had 15 minutes to get ready. Sometimes you have to use the tools you have and make it work.

As for panels. I guess the focus for manufacturers has been for RGB, foldable or tile panels rather than brighter fixtures in the style we've become accustomed to. I think they still have their place - it's still the quickest way to get a half-decent looking talking-head.
 
Liam Hall said:
Can you post a shot you’ve done using one of those outdoors with diffusion? I
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I don't have any BTS of the setups, but here are some examples of outdoor interviews done by students at my workshops using my Litepanels Astra 6X and/or Sola4+ -- all running on batteries.

The goal of the workshops is to limit ourselves to shots that can be setup in under 30 minutes with no more than a 2-person crew. All the gear has to be portable enough for two people to move into the location from the vehicle in one load with a cart or by carrying.

:58, 1:08, 1:39
https://vimeo.com/225295553


1:22, 3:46, 3:59
https://vimeo.com/234521714
 
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Doug Jensen said:
I don't have any BTS of the setups, but here are some examples of outdoor interviews done by students at my workshops using my Litepanels Astra 6X and/or Sola4+ -- all running on batteries.

The goal of the workshops is to limit ourselves to shots that can be setup in under 30 minutes with no more than a 2-person crew. All the gear has to be portable enough for two people to move into the location from the vehicle in one load with a cart or by carrying.

:58, 1:08, 1:39
https://vimeo.com/225295553


1:22, 3:46, 3:59
https://vimeo.com/234521714
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Thanks Doug, You're obviously a good teacher, those look great. The Astra 6x is brilliant (pun intended) I've used those abroad as rentals quite a lot, but don't own any. Might add one to my kit if I can't find anything else to replace my Aputure LS1c.

I looked up the photo-metrics on those Sola lights, the 6+ is around 20% brighter than an Aputure 120MKII with the fresnel mount attached. I still think 600 watts is where you need to be if the sun is out or you want to do any light shaping.
 
Thanks, it is a fun workshop to teach and quite different every time.
I wish I was going to have time to look at lights at NAB, but then again, I'm not in the market for anything new so why risk temptation.
 
At this point I'm looking at the Amaran 200 and the Smallrig 120. Either the bicolors or the Daylight. Thanks for all the help.
BTW - The intellytech 98W batteries are rated for a whopping 12Amp draw and they make a dual adapter. Nice thing about 98V is you can travel
with them
 
Friend lent me his Aperture 120D II on long term loan so I may just stick with that for awhile. With the fresnel lens its the strongest punch I've seen yet , Up to 400fc at 12' . My 98WH inteltechs can run it for about 1/2 hour at 90% . they're rated for 12 amp draw. I was looking at stronger batts on b&h . there is a "savage" 190 and 230wh that are very inexpensive . Anyone have any experience with them ? Rated for 160W draw which is around the Aperture at 88%. I did notice that the fresnel on the Aperture is only good for spotting the light , Worthless for throwing a pattern, but that's not what I would use it for.
 
LennyLevy said:
I did notice that the fresnel on the Aperture is only good for spotting the light , Worthless for throwing a pattern, but that's not what I would use it for.
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How can they claim it is a Fresnel if it can't cast a sharp shadow through a pattern? That is the primary advantage of a Fresnel lens. If it can't do that, then it is not a Fresnel. Sounds like it is just a focusable spot light. Big difference.
 
Well i agree which is why it took me a frustratingly long time to find any LED light that could throw a decent pattern through its Fresnel. Finally found 2 good ones that are also bicolor - Intellytech X100 and the Nanlight Forza 60B. . However the Aperture does use a Fresnel lens so technically it is a fresnel , just not like anything we're used to . You'd think they'd explain that prominently. maybe a lot of young guys just aren't that experienced with traditional lighting?
 
LennyLevy said:
Finally found 2 good ones that are also bicolor - Intellytech X100 and the Nanlight Forza 60B.
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Very surprised by the X-100... relatively inexpensive, good output, and mostly effective focusing lens. It does have some downsides... namely QC is questionable (albeit quickly repaired) and the barndoors are terrible... but it's useful enough for me to have put together a 3-light kit with their gobo projector, works in a ton of situations just like a good ol' 650 (but with more output/less heat/bicolor).

Another really good LED fresnel is the Lupo DayLED series, although they border on unjustifiably pricey.
 
haha - - Aaron from Intellytech actually told me not to buy their barndoors because they were cr-p. He said get the Aperture ones which are good. Not sure what QC issues you had. Mine seems very well made. The little Nanlight is obviously cheaper made so I do worry about longevity , but it also works very well , puts out even more light than the x100 on only 60W and best of all it has a fabulous projection lens that functions as a very good tiny little bicolor Leko . Uses standard Leko patterns . I can get all of it including the projector in the nice soft case that comes with the projector. Its my favorite these days but I use them both.
 
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