Lowel Blender VS Zylight Z90?

HowdyDoo

HowdyDoo

Well-known member
Now I know these two lights are in completely different price ranges, but how do they perform against each other in brightness? If you only need the daylight/tungsten fade controls (and not the color gel control feature of the Z90) would the Lowel Blender be the smarter buy? Or is the Z90 much, much brighter? I am having a hard time finding reviews that compare these two lights in the real world. Anyone have both? Which offers the most bang for the buck?
 
http://kino-eye.com/2009/07/19/four-professional-led-lighting-instruments/

In brightness, the Blender would win by a landslide when in neutral color (both warm and cool leds ON and dimmer way UP).
Yes, the Blender would be a smarter buy.
No the Z90 is not much brighter, maybe a tad brighter.
I do not have both. Perhaps someone can chime in.
In my opinion the Blender has most bang for the buck.

By the way, what will you be needing the for ? and what is your max shooting distance ? Perhaps neither of them is powerful enough for your intended use.
 
Norman99 said:
http://kino-eye.com/2009/07/19/four-professional-led-lighting-instruments/
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the only article I could find comparing the two. In it the reviewer states that he is going to add a more detailed comparison of the Blender and the Z90 but he never followed up. I'm guessing he never will because that article was written in 2009.

I already have a Lowel DV creator kit that I use for interviews and just random short film stuff. I want a quick, cool, portable lighting option for when I am shooting run and gun. I was thinking two LED lights and a fold up bounce board.
 
Both are excellent cameras for low available light situations. The led units however do require to be powered from an external DC input source. With the EX1 there is an option to use the same battery that powers the camera to also power the led light and is available through swit us. The led units can also be powered from an externally mounted battery such as the switronix powerbase 70. The powerbase 70 along with the Canon 5D makes an excellent choice for powering the leds and the camera, but it sits below the camera and gives a whopping 70 watt hour capacity for all day/weekend shooting. Where you will be mounting the led unit is a consideration. If mounting them on a camera hot shoe, make sure the light does not hit your forehead and makes the viewfinder difficult to use as the light may hit your forehead (Zylight).A flash bracket is the item of choice here. I wish an aftermarket battery maker would make a high capacity battery like the powerbase that would be smaller and have at least a 50 watt hour capacity that would power the cam and the led at a much reduced price. Leds that have built in AA batteries really are not at all powerful and have bad color rendition (green spike) along with the bluish cast and spotty beam. Check out the Blender in use on your camera and get a feel for it, it may be bigger than you think as the on-line photos really make it look smaller than it actually is. The only quirk I have with the Blender is that you have to re white balance once the color settings are changed. They do not click in pre-determined previous settings. That is why my design clicks in at the 3 most used settings and is less than 16 cubic inches ( almost half the Blender's size) and fits flush with the back plate of the camera to avoid forehead collision. Not to mention that it's almost twice as bright consuming less than 10W. Just a design idea for now.
 
Thanks! I didn't know about the Swit EX-1 battery with D Tap or the Switronix for that matter (awesome but expensive). That's awesome. I am leaning toward the Blender right now which would leave me some financial room for one of those power options.

As for mounting on the camera, I'm thinking of using a small adapter arm that swings out from the hot shoe.

Are you planning on manufacturing your LED design at all?
 
Manufacturing them ? definitely , but not mass produced as the first ones will be used for field evaluation on actual assignments to gather user feedback for improvements if needed and asap after final draft/component sourcing is finalized .
My designs are either 2, 2.5 or 3 inch wide that will go directly on top of camera shoe. Large led units made by other mfrs. can be mounted by a kind of C shape flash bracket that screws on the bottom of the camera or attaches onto the camera shoulder bracket very similar to this.
Make sure the unit sits directly above the center of the camera to avoid shadows when a wall is located behind the subject.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Jones-Flash-Bra...Accessories&hash=item1e62baf960#ht_500wt_1156
 
So in that case, is it better to just put the 312 on the main hot shoe and keep the videomic on the side via a straight bar on the bottom of the camera?

Figuring out how to mount both pieces of the equipment is kind of frustrating. The cool-lux is just slightly too small.

Actually, it looks like the Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 might be just the ticket. :/
 
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That's the kind of problem videographers have when they use a long shotgun mic. that extends beyond the lens and using an on-board light. The solution , really the only one is to position/slide back the mic so that the light beam will not interfere, or if that is not possible, position the light higher up from the shoe by an inch or two. Bescor SA-1 should do. Other than that, a shorter/smaller mic.
 
Gotcha. Would this setup be okay:

GH2 (20mm 1.7) with Rode Videomic on hotshoe, and the 312A on stroboframe with it's two inch tall tripod to shoe swivel mount? Or would I run into problems the LED will be quite a bit higher than the mic, but I'm still somewhat worried.
 
That is why Zacuto exists. Any serious videographer will consider a rig similar to those for placing accessories , but also more importantly to have a 3 point stable platform to steady and hold comfortably the entire setup. Trust me, once you have a rig, you will wonder how you did without. Problem is that they are really very expensive. so look for the lowerpriced/affordable ones. Check out B&H and perhaps you can see something like this one and do a little mod work yourself.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/752663-REG/Opteka_OPTCSX1_Video_Shoulder_Support_System.html

Now all you need is an angle bracket to add to that so it screws on the bottom somewhere and a cold shoe on top of that for the light or mic. B&H may have just that, if not there is always eBay under camera bracket/support/extentions/ and even our good buddies of Stroboframe can surely have a c or L bar.
 
Do you recommend the Bescor over the Stroboframe Quick Flip 350? I figured if I needed to, I could attach my monopod to the Stroboframe, put the monopod over my shoulder., and hold onto the side (see attached). Or just mount it onto a tripod.

I figured that or an IndiSquare would be the best way to go right now, but I'd still have to get the mounting gear for the IndiSquare.
 

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It still will be a 2 point support set-up. A 3 point support would require both hands on the camera/grip and the third point being the shoulder support, that was why I recommended the Opteka bracket. Super stable, comfortable, much less fatigue. Stroboframe is nice and there are cheaper alternatives ( opteka web site ). You can always put the mic on a straight bar coming from the bottom of he bracket and running horizontal to the right ( as seen from rear of cam) like this one : http://opteka.com/optekafb-1000straightmetalflashbracketforcompactdigitalandfilmcameras.aspx
There are many ways to skin a cat, we are trying to do it as efficiently and cheaply as possible.
 
That looks great (the Opteka + bar bracket), but can it easily be mounted onto and removed from a tripod? I'll be doing most shooting in a static configuration.
 
Shouldn't be a problem. Just need a quick release set-up from Manfrotto or similar. 2 piece thingy. The female part is permanently fixed on the tripod/monopod and the male part under the bracket. Click on-click off. No screwing around.
 
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