Came-TV Boltzen 55 watt fresnels?

lesliewrg said:
Have you had any luck with this question? I'm also looking for some light modifiers that won't be too heavy for the 55w Boltzen.
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I just don't think it's a good choice for a small Chimera softbox. Not a good match for output and beam. Anything is possible, but I think other fixtures would be better.

I received my two 55 watt models last week and I'm on the fence about them right now. For basic back and hair lights they will work fine but i'm not that impressed with the fresnel design and that's what I was mostly interested in. It just doesn't cut that well. I was hoping to use these for product shooting but the spill seems more than I like.

Another issue is powering with Sony NP type batteries is a waist of time. At full power they drain the battery in less than 10 minutes. I had a feeling that would be the case. I haven't received the 35 watt model yet and that one might work better or just set the 55 watt at 50%. With a large V-Mount and the supplied D-Tap cable it works great. I'm going to play with them some more but got super busy. When I come back from shooting a couple new courses with Lynda.com next week ill do a proper review.
 
Thanks Erik,

Would it be wise to stay away from a softbox larger than 24"x24" in terms of weight? Have you tried using a Snoot or honeycomb on a regular reflector?

I agree, the fresnel is underwhelming, I thought it was just the unit i received.

I'd love to hear your feedback after getting a chance to really test it. Hopefully you can post it here.
 
Erik Naso said:
I just don't think it's a good choice for a small Chimera softbox. Not a good match for output and beam. Anything is possible, but I think other fixtures would be better.

I received my two 55 watt models last week and I'm on the fence about them right now. For basic back and hair lights they will work fine but i'm not that impressed with the fresnel design and that's what I was mostly interested in. It just doesn't cut that well. I was hoping to use these for product shooting but the spill seems more than I like.

Another issue is powering with Sony NP type batteries is a waist of time. At full power they drain the battery in less than 10 minutes. I had a feeling that would be the case. I haven't received the 35 watt model yet and that one might work better or just set the 55 watt at 50%. With a large V-Mount and the supplied D-Tap cable it works great. I'm going to play with them some more but got super busy. When I come back from shooting a couple new courses with Lynda.com next week ill do a proper review.
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I agree 100%. Been using my 55watt for a couple of weeks. Love the high intensity, high quality output and small form factor, but those batts die in seconds. I also think they are too noisy. Great back/rim light though.
 
Good news on the 35 watt model with Kastar NP-F960/970 battery. I got 1 hour and 12 minutes at 100 output. HUGE difference compared to the 55 watt with the same battery. I was only able to get 12 minutes.

I'll charge up the battery and see how long the 55 watt will run at 50% next.

Shooting some b-roll today of the new Cinemartin 7" Loyal LT series monitors. So far the Boltzens work well for this. I can control the spill good enough and being able to dim them is a huge plus. I'm using the 35 watt for back light and the 55 with D-Tap and gold mount battery for key.

Bolzen in use.jpg

I have a Bowens mount speed ring and small Chimera box. I attempted to attach it but noticed the sliding focus on the fixture looked like it was taking some stress. I decided to not fully let go of the soft box and speeding. It's just to heavy. Maybe a 16x22 or smaller would work and a light weight speeding but it think it has potential of breaking the fixture.

impact Beuty Dish 28%22.jpg

I think a 28" Beauty Dish like this would work since it's not as heavy and doesn't go out as far taking the stress off the light's focus barrel. I haven't used one before but the design is popular for portrait work. Would be fun to tryout.
 
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I have had trouble with my 55w light. When I have it turned up at full power on AC power this happens:
/Users/PFOG/Dropbox/Public/IMG_3369.mp4
I'm a little pissed about it, and have contacted tech support. They seemed to think its the power supply. I found that it I reduce the dimmer and then SLOWLY increase it, the flashing disappears.

When I tried the light with the D-tap, I didn't have any problems. And the worst part is that I haven't even taken the light out of the house yet, so it hasn't been mishandled.
 
That SONY NP battery life is pathetic. Why even have the ability to use Sony batteries? They should have made the unit smaller with D-tap/whatever or AC only.
 
rob norton said:
That SONY NP battery life is pathetic. Why even have the ability to use Sony batteries? They should have made the unit smaller with D-tap/whatever or AC only.
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Boltzens at 55 watt is $288. These are very inexpensive lights so I didn't expect them to be like these $600 Fiilex P360 LED Light that is awesome.

Manufacturing is cheaper when both models are designed with the same basic body and parts. At least each version does come with a D-Tap cable and AC but HP batteries on the 55 watt is useless at 100% Lasted for 10 min.
An option is only turn it up to 50% or use a larger D-Tap battery that lasts a hell of a long time.

With 35 watt model and Kastar NP-F960/970 battery. I got 1 hour and 12 minutes at 100 output. I can live with that.
 
Thanks for all of the info everyone, especially Erik.

A bit disappointing. The battery part is fine - the 55 can be used half power if you want the 35 on nfp, and I can bring a V-mount with D-tap for more power.

However, the inability to support modest weight bowens mount modifiers combined with the limited ability to cut the light with the fresnel makes it way less compelling than what I had hoped for.

On the other hand...$288.
 
Thanks for taking the plunge Erik. You just talked me out of these, they just have too many strikes against them. Sometimes cheap is just cheap.
 
Having read mixed info on these lights, I'm still a bit on the fence. I'm looking to get some new lights to replace my PITA softboxes for a project next month. I'll be shooting some interviews for the Boise Chamber of commerce. I could get one Apurture 120d and a soft box, or I could get a pair of 55w Boltzens, but won't be able to get the bowens mount adapter in time. I like the quality of the light these little things output, but I'm fully aware of the drawbacks of the lights, and Came-tv's track record when it comes to build quality/reliability. I generally tend to take really good care of my gear, but I'm still concerned. What would you guys do? I'm willing to spend up to a grand in one shot.
 
brianmcgahuey said:
Having read mixed info on these lights, I'm still a bit on the fence. I'm looking to get some new lights to replace my PITA softboxes for a project next month. I'll be shooting some interviews for the Boise Chamber of commerce. I could get one Apurture 120d and a soft box, or I could get a pair of 55w Boltzens, but won't be able to get the bowens mount adapter in time. I like the quality of the light these little things output, but I'm fully aware of the drawbacks of the lights, and Came-tv's track record when it comes to build quality/reliability. I generally tend to take really good care of my gear, but I'm still concerned. What would you guys do? I'm willing to spend up to a grand in one shot.
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Two small source, low power lights would not be easy to make look good for an average set of interviews. Most regular people look their best with soft, semi-frontal flat light, the kind generated by a large, soft source. I've already talked myself out of these lights, not just from Erik's review but from several others. I don't think they are bad lights but there are so many great choices for nice LEDs these days for the same or similar money. Have you watched Caleb Pike's review on really cheap lights yet? I am quite intrigued by some of these really cheap lights. The Boltzens are not that cheap and are not that good. Check out the review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcBb-MInwBc There are some intrguing lights here for my typical use.
 
puredrifting said:
Two small source, low power lights would not be easy to make look good for an average set of interviews. Most regular people look their best with soft, semi-frontal flat light, the kind generated by a large, soft source. I've already talked myself out of these lights, not just from Erik's review but from several others. I don't think they are bad lights but there are so many great choices for nice LEDs these days for the same or similar money. Have you watched Caleb Pike's review on really cheap lights yet? I am quite intrigued by some of these really cheap lights. The Boltzens are not that cheap and are not that good. Check out the review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcBb-MInwBc There are some intrguing lights here for my typical use.
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I have seen Caleb's video. I'm looking to build a kit that is extremely versatile. I'm really starting to think I should just fork out the money for the apurture 120d. Everything I've read says that it's an amazing light for the money. Maybe two 120d's and two 672's? I think that would likely cover me fairly well. I've also got a pair of 160 led lights I can use to throw some light onto the background, and use one of my cheap single CFL softboxes as a hair light or something.

Thoughts?
 
doubledark said:
Perhaps an Apurture 120D and a couple of the Boltzen 55W would make a good kit for interviews?
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I opted to get two Fotodiox 100W-56 COB lights (Knowing full well about the issues with the fan). I figured I could get one of my electrical engineering buddies to help me replace them with quieter fans. I also figure that since they're also s-mount, maybe aputure's fresnel lens will fit it.

I still plan on picking up at least two 120D's in the future, but I needed something now, and these have a two year warantee. At $200 each, I can deal with the shortcomings.
 
Came-TV are selling accessories with the light. Their NPF battery is selling for I think 95 and when i emailed them they told me that it would run the 55w at full brightness for about 45 minutes. I have the email if anyone wants proof. The lights take a 60cm x 60cm softbox but there is some serious bend in the body which is to be expected what with it being plastic. But Came-TV are also selling softboxes with the lights; their recommendation is that you should only purchase the 40cm x 40cm one, which I think is 15.6 inches. Sorry, I am Aussie haha. With my soft box, the light can be used as a decent enough key in a darkish room if you are in a pinch. I honestly don't mind them.
 
I'm finding the 55 watt Boltzen's to be handy. Been using them on promo shoots shooting talent talking to camera. They don't cut that great with fresnel but the lights work well for hair and fill. I would like a better fresnel lens for product shoots. They just don't cut clean for isolating. Since the Sony Type-L batteries I have dont work I've been using D-Tap option and that is great. Strap the Gold Mount battery on the stand and it runs for a long time.

Here is a sample from last weeks shoot. Just a splash of light on here left side. Yeah I should have raised it up more but it still works and looks nice.

The key is a 120D running on gold mount battery set to 100% output punching through a 4x4 with half frost.

Boltzen Fill sample.jpg
 
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