Came-TV Boltzen 55 watt fresnels?

Tom's lighting setup is a bit odd. Plus, he had a chance to see if he can offset the window with the Jamaican beer can (Red Stripe, get it?). Then the window would have been the key and the 55W the fill. In any case, three lights in a small room - not counting the window - shouldn't be a problem with most modern lights of moderate specs.

BTW, DVXUser will divert the Amazon links (non-sponsor, etc) to other sites.
 
Ozmo, apparently Came-TV contacted him and the screws have been strengthened on the units to work with the softbox. We may have to take this with a grain of salt before we see an actual retest.

These are the details:

"Final shot was ISO400 f3.5 shutter 1/50th of a second. The key*light using the 35watt version was shot through the CTO filter and the softbox and about 6 feet away from the subject. So that should tell you what to expect. Definitely very strong when considering it's size and power usage."
 
It's difficult to tell but that video looks as if his base is a very dark room. If you get these in a brightly lit room, especially with the diffusion filter or through a softbox or scrim, based upon wattage output, you will quickly run out of horsepower for a key source. So if you mostly shoot in darkened rooms or studios, these are great little lights. But LEDs are generally considered to be three or four times as efficient as a tunsgten instrument. So even at four times, the 55 watt has the equivalent output of a 220 watt open faced tungsten, basically like a Lowell Prolight. For my work shooting documentary films, often in sunlight flooded rooms, these would not cut it as a key source. YMMV. I'm still going to pick up a couple though, very useful for other things, hair/rim lights. accent lights, lights for highlighting the background of a scene or a prop/area in a narrative scene.

It's like we are going through the LED revolution finally so many cool lights seem to be coming out, almost weekly. Very exciting times.
 
I know reviews say the fan is "barley audible" but I wonder if the light was jammed into the corner of a small room, would that sound get amplified enough that it would get picked up by a microphone? (ie interview in a small office scenario)
 
You need to watch the Cheesycam review video doubledark. I am convinced that fan noise wouldn't be an issue. He is quiet for a few seconds so you can listen, I didn't hear anything and I had the sound cranked up on my Genelecs here. Most of the newer gen LEDs with fans seem to be very quiet. I prefer no fans with heat sinks like my new Aputure LS 1S panels but I had a friend bring his Astra 1x1 which has a fan on a recent three camera interview for a tv show and we never heard it. The manufacturers now know if they bring out a light with a noisy fan like the Gen 2 panels had, nobody will buy it.
 
I wish these Boltzen lights had a built-in umbrella mount, as I could definitely use a few of these with large shoot-through umbrellas.
 
TheDingo said:
I wish these Boltzen lights had a built-in umbrella mount, as I could definitely use a few of these with large shoot-through umbrellas.
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Few pros use umbrellas for video because they make the light from the instrument basically a giant blob of soft light that goes everywhere with no control, including your BG, side of talent you want to be less lit than the key side usually, etc. Most pros use softboxes, often with an egg crate diffuser to keep the light soft but to have some directionality and controllability. Not saying you cannot successfully use umbrellas for lighting video, just that you will rarely, if ever see one on a professional video/film set. Why create a light source that makes your life more difficult? You would have to do some pretty heavy duty flagging to control all of that spill everywhere, which takes flags, C-stands, arms when you can use a softbox that does most of that for you in one footprint? Umbrellas are much more of a still photography thing. I use mine for soft fill for outdoor ambient portraits. But for video? No thanks.
 
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I want to get a couple of the 55watt models. I need a daylight fresnel for product shots. The 55watt would be perfect. I don't see a good reason to go for the 35watt. They both can run off batteries so for a few extra bucks it would seem worth it to get the brighter model. To bright? Dim it down. The beam looks pretty tight. Not a good choice for a key but if you add a Matthews RoadRag about 3 feet in front of it I bet it would pretty good.

I decided to order the 2 light 55 watt kit direct from Came-TV. I'll let you know what I think when they arrive in a couple weeks. These are very popular lights and supplies are low.
 
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Erik Naso said:
I want to get a couple of the 55watt models. I need a daylight fresnel for product shots. The 55watt would be perfect. I don't see a good reason to go for the 35watt. They both can run off batteries so for a few extra bucks it would seem worth it to get the brighter model. To bright? Dim it down. The beam looks pretty tight. Not a good choice for a key but if you add a Matthews RoadRag about 3 feet in front of it I bet it would pretty good.

I decided to order the 2 light 55 watt kit direct from Came-TV. I'll let you know what I think when they arrive in a couple weeks. These are very popular lights and supplies are low.
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Looking forward to hearing your review Erik. Lots of cool new LEDs hitting the market at cheap prices, we are in the golden age of lighting right now.
 
puredrifting said:
we are in the golden age of lighting right now.
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So true! I'm really happy to see COB fixtures in the Fresnel form factor. We've come full circle. Now if only Aputure can get the Fresnel attachment to market for the COB 120 fixtures. That is going to be a killer combo.
 
puredrifting said:
Few pros use umbrellas for video because they make the light from the instrument basically a giant blob of soft light that goes everywhere with no control, including your BG, side of talent you want to be less lit than the key side usually, etc.
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...But if you want a large fill that lights up a large area, umbrellas can be very handy. And you can always flag off the umbrella to control the spill.

The only real drawback for me is reflections, but this is less of a problem when you only use this for fill light.
 
TheDingo said:
...I might end up going with Aputure COB 120D lights because they do support shoot-through umbrellas : Aputure 33 Inch White Translucent Umbrella $30

On second thought, it would be a tiny mod to adapt the Boltzen lights to mount an umbrella the same way the Aputure COB 120D lights do. So problem solved. :thumbsup:
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The fresnel accessory is going to change everything on the COB 120 fixture and it's going to start shipping in January!
 
Erik Naso said:
The fresnel accessory is going to change everything on the COB 120 fixture and it's going to start shipping in January!
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Hi Erik, yeah I've watched the demos and it looks impressive. I'm hoping that it won't sag the way the demo model did at NAB. ( the demo seemed to tip downward the farther out it was extended )
 
TheDingo said:
Hi Erik, yeah I've watched the demos and it looks impressive. I'm hoping that it won't sag the way the demo model did at NAB. ( the demo seemed to tip downward the farther out it was extended )
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I noticed on the COB 120d the yoke is really tight and locks down very firm. Hopefully this wont be an issue.
 
Erik Naso said:
I noticed on the COB 120d the yoke is really tight and locks down very firm. Hopefully this wont be an issue.
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It wasn't the COB 120 yoke that sagged, it was the fresnel adapter. The front section of the fresnel adapter appeared to tilt down the further you extended it. Probably not a functional issue, but I would pay more for an adapter that simply pointed straight ahead as you extended it out.
 
TheDingo said:
It wasn't the COB 120 yoke that sagged, it was the fresnel adapter. The front section of the fresnel adapter appeared to tilt down the further you extended it. Probably not a functional issue, but I would pay more for an adapter that simply pointed straight ahead as you extended it out.
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Ahh. I see. Yeah they completely redesigned the Fresnel adapter that's why it was delayed. I bet they fixed any strange issues with it. They know how much people want it.
 
I just got the 55w. Works brilliantly as a hair light. I tested it outside in the shade and am very pleased with the result. What would be a suitable soft box to pair this with? I'm concerned that the yoke won't support the bigger varieties.
 
TheDingo said:
...I might end up going with Aputure COB 120D lights because they do support shoot-through umbrellas : Aputure 33 Inch White Translucent Umbrella $30

On second thought, it would be a tiny mod to adapt the Boltzen lights to mount an umbrella the same way the Aputure COB 120D lights do. So problem solved. :thumbsup:
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I use the HELL out of shoot through umbrellas.
I got bigger 43-inch Impact umbrellas for only about $16 each at B&H.
I compared them to some more expensive ones that also came with a black cover, but their white fabric was cutting too much light. The Impact 43" gives great softness without too much power loss.

Yes, they flood more than softboxes do...but I also have softboxes, and grids, and I end up using the umbrellas about 70-percent of the time easily. And come on - I regularly buy Martinis that cost more than these things. No-brainer. Setup time = 4-seconds.

Realistically - the only softboxes I have ended up keeping are the instant open versions that you don't have to build on set. They cost more but popping them open like an umbrella is really the only acceptable method to me - time wise.
Those things with the grids are SUPER directional. But they are only Bowens mount so no-go on any LED panels.

These Boltzen 55w lights look really frikkin' useful. I gotta get one or two as soon as I can.
 
mproust14 said:
I just got the 55w. Works brilliantly as a hair light. I tested it outside in the shade and am very pleased with the result. What would be a suitable soft box to pair this with? I'm concerned that the yoke won't support the bigger varieties.
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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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