No AC/DC lights?

D

dvxusr

Active member
Ive been looking around for an on camera ac/dc light (for situations where theres no time or place for a proper lighting setup), but it seems that you can never have it all. I wanted a battery powered light that has the 'option' of AC if that was needed for whatever reason. It seems that you can only have DC with a dimmer, barndoors, daylight filter (PAG, bescor 645 etc) or an AC/DC one with no dimmer and no built in filter (ex. bescor 65). Is there a portable light out there that has it all or is it impractical to have AC with a dimmer, I assumed it would be possible as long as you were able to change from dc to ac bulb, but then again im a lighting newb...thanks in advance
 
One option is to use a DC light, and then use an external adapter to provide the 12V DC from AC when it's available.

- Mikko
 
So I could get a pag c6 or bescor 645 dc kit and they make an adapter that accepts the xlr or lighter plug? Or the external adapter would plug right into the light? I mean its not like camcorders where the light would work off ac by having it plugged into the charger which is plugged into the wall right? I know about power inverters to power ac items off a car battery but this is new to me, can anyone point me in the direction of such an adapter?
Thanks
 
dvxusr said:
So I could get a pag c6 or bescor 645 dc kit and they make an adapter that accepts the xlr or lighter plug? Or the external adapter would plug right into the light? I mean its not like camcorders where the light would work off ac by having it plugged into the charger which is plugged into the wall right? I know about power inverters to power ac items off a car battery but this is new to me, can anyone point me in the direction of such an adapter?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Just so you kow the PAG C6 light uses a PAGLOC connection not cigarette or xlr plug for conversion.
 
ok lets try this way, would it be easier to find an existing ac to dc adapter for lighter, xlr, or pagloc plug? (so theres no need to cut wires)
 
dvxusr, if you think of powering a 12V light from a wall outlet, you need a DC Power supply (not an "adapter"), which is typically sold in electronics stores. The reason they are not generally used for this, is you need a fairly powerfull supply. Say you use a 100W dc light, you need a 100W power supply. This would be 5-10 times more than your camera adapter puts out. It would be bigger, heavier and costlier. If you get one, you will have to ask somebody to wire its output with a 4 pin XLR or cig. socket, which is easy.
Many years ago I saw a DC/AC light. One would have to switch the bulb (12V/120VAC) every time you switch power between 12V and 120VAC which is not very practical...
HTH
 
thanks, now im starting to get it...i know, ac/dc lights like you mention are easy to find, ex. bescor VS-65, comes with both a 50w dc bulb and a 100w ac bulb and adapter, they are meant to give as much light as bulb can provide and only in bulb increments, but never come with a dimmer option. you extend the ac plug when you want to go dc by plugging in an extension with a lighter plug that hooks up to a battery. so now all id need to power something like a 30w dc light would be a dc power supply like those you can find to run your walkie talkie etc except it has to be 12v and 30w right? i mean all im doing is changing the source of the power the light intensity will stay the same, its not like id have to switch from 20w to 100w to get the same effect, id just stick with the abovementioned light but id like the dimmer + built in daylight filter
 
dvxusr, yes, you got it. The thing is 120VAC and low volts DC are very different animals, from electrical point of view, it is hard to make a device that can use either or and be fully functional. AC dimmer works differently from the DC dimmer. Power levels are usually much higher with AC, also to make a device safe for AC it needs to have certain insulation qualities that are not needed with low voltage DC.
 
alright thanks guys, looks like i found a video light power supply that actually has 60w top output at 12v and a fem XLR connector so i should be all set for any of the 50w bescor lights like the 645 with my dimmer, barn doors, filter, battery pack, and cheap bulbs :)
 
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