Best On Camera LED Light Out there

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Dustin Richards

New member
Was noticing the few threads talking about inexpensive lights out on the market. I use the Torchled TL-50 by switronix. This light gives out the best throw for a dimmable led on cam light thats out there. Gives off 30 watts of cool white light and I get around 3 hours of runtime from the light when I have it on full and it comes with some standard filters as well. I hate using AA batteries to power my lights when shooting weddings or interviews, so this one comes with an internal chargeable battery I am grateful for. I used the micro, that small canon light for about $150 and nothing compares to this one. Can get it on amazon.com for about $270 or under. It's not a $130.00 light but the quality you get out of this is worth way more than its sticker price. Happy filming!

Link to share
http://www.switronix.com/product_details2.php?cmd=info&id=209
 
For that price range, I would suggest the Comer 900 light. It has much stronger and wider output. Problem for cool white light is scene becomes very "blue" when shooting indoor. Applying the CTO can fix the problem butwill decrease the overall light output.

The TorchLED rated 280 lux at 1 meter at 5600K. Comer 900 rated 900 lux at 1 meter at 4500K. So the light output is much stronger. With the lower color temperature, it means you do not need to apply gel/CTO when use indoor, thus keeping the maximum brightness.

The disadvantage for Comer 900 is it doesn't have a dimmer control. , but only 2 level of brightness control. I taped a piece of paper in the top diffuser to lower the intersity when I have to get close up or interview. It works very well.

http://lacolorshop.com/products/item.asp?id=cm900

So far I would still think the Comer 1800 is the best on-camera light. :)
 
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These things are still ridiculously expensive for what they are :(

As much as Lunchbox/Taky keeps tempting me I will resist!!! :D

My little DIY number's still doing the business.

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Rikki, your DIV light actually looks pretty good. The screen capture shows good lighting too (maybe it was because of the hot girl). I think you should start making these lights and sell them =)
 
HAHA looks like a good product, little bias tho since its one of the main lighting products you sell haha. I see this can be a good product but the unit is bulky and unattractive and you need an external power source. I have never received a blue look shooting indoors, I attribute that to inexperienced shooters and not a product itself. Neat product tho, I am sticking with the little guy. Thanks guys!
 
Since the title of this thread is "Best On Camera LED Light", I certainly found there're better ones than the TorchLED.

I don't think I'm biased. I'm selling Comer lights because I myself is also a wedding videorapher. I have tried several camera lights throughout the years and none of them seem to work fine. Before I am using Comer lights, I was using SWIT S2010 which works very well. But the light output is still weak and the footage was too blue.

You can take a look at this thread. I did the comparison before I start selling the Comer lights.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=173216

Dustin, can you post some photos of the TorceLED light on your camera? There isn't any photos like that in the Switronics site. If you have time, do you mind sharing some footage too? Thanks
 
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Anyone try the dedo led yet? Focusable 8w led, sounds pretty cool.

http://cinequipwhite.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/dedo-dlobml-led-sungun/

I think it was a stroke of genius of the Comer manufacturers to make the color temperature inbetween daylight and tungsten. I NEVER need a daylight balanced on-camera light. Ever. Period. I honestly don't know why most on camera LED lights are balanced that way. That's just stupid, the only situations in which I need an on-camera fill light are tungsten and mixed day/tungsten. So, a light with the capability to switch between tungsten and 4200k or w/e is ideal, IMO.

The light should also be adjustable in output and focus. The Comer seems to be the only light being manufactured right now that makes sense as an on-camera light. I plan to purchase one of these as soon as I come up with the cash. Or maybe the Dedo because its soooo cool.
 
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I used the Comer 900 in a interview yesterday and loved it. With a little natural light and the comer on a stand I was able to get the look I wanted.

The color temp was spot on with the indoor gel... and the light was intense enough to use in 'low' mode.

I had this comer for a while and glad I am getting some use out of it... recent projects have been to big for led lighting... had to get a few 1k's and 650's.
 
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Taky said:
Tungsten is always tend to be very orangey.
Click to expand...

Tungsten is the very definition of 3200K, which is the correct color temperature for indoor nightime shooting. 3200K is going to be the only way to get correct color reproduction in that situation.
 

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3200K is not the only way to get correct color reproduction. It was the only way before because there aren't other better lighting technology available. Now with LED in different color temp, I just love the 4500K color temp light output on indoor video. It makes skin tone snowy/silky. Very beautiful.
 
A 4500K color temp would make accurate color reproduction impossible, when that is important. However, if you are going for a "look", if would be fine.

4500K is 40% above the 3200K spectrum. How would you color correct the footage in post? Back to an accurate level, or leave it cool? The main problem is that objects beyond the range of the 4500K light are illuminated by light which is most likely much lower temperature. For setup shots you could control this, but for live events you could have all sorts of trouble.

As far as light technology, there has been all kinds of light technology available for the last 40+ years. Generally, HMI is used for daylight balanced light. Now that LED is progressing, you can have a light that can do both daylight and tungsten color balance, with limitations for each.
 
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Taky said:
I'm using auto white balance on my Canon XH-A1. The output looks beautiful. There is also no need to perform any color correct in post. You can take a look at these videos. They are shot in 4500K color temp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPSkJr02hG4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFMPOomf5eM
Click to expand...

The two videos were shot with no house (venue) lights turned on. If some incandesent or CFL lights had of been turned on, you would immediately see white balance issues. There was also some daylight spilling into the room.

Show us some nighttime shots in the same setting.
 
I got lots of videos. Here's a recently one

http://lacolor.com/video/hd/?id=Charles-Susan~80thBirthdayParty_ExtendedVersion

It was in a country club. The event went from 6pm to 10:30pm. So after 1/3 of the video it becomes night time. You can see it mixed the indoor tungsten light fixture with my 4500K Comer 1800 light. The camera is on auto white balance and -3db gain and 0db gain. (I used to shoot at 3db to 6db gain because of the dim light environment and weak camera light. Now with Comer, i'm on -3db and 0db).

I have used other LED light that is 5600K. It makes the video very blue/cool that body looks like corpse. I have to add the CTO to lower the color temp. But at the same time, it reduces the light intensity. So Comer light default at 4500K color temp is a winner.
 
I think arguing over what color temp gives better skin color is silly. You balance your light to whatever is appropriate for the situation.
That said. I am for the 2nd or 3rd time on this forum writing to endorse Taky's Comer 1800. It is a great light and unless you want to spend much more the best deal out there for a very strong yet dimmable and flexible on-camera light. I'm very picky BTW

Lenny Levy
 
what about the light panels? like the light panel micro i think it is? or how about the ikan led panel? any one use them yet?
 
Essentially the Comers don't need to be gelled in most situations allowing for more output. Also I was just reading about how mixing color temps is very popular in todays movies like the Dark Night. Seems like 4500K is a hot spot for good looking light IMO and will match nicely with 3200k and 5600k. 5600k which is most LED's is just too cool and when gelled they loose a lot of light, like the LP Micro.
 
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