on camera light

Thomas Smet

Thomas Smet

Veteran
Ok we all know the HMC40 needs light. I am about to purchase an on camera light to use with my new HMC40 and was wondering what other people were using. I am planning on getting a pro led 126 or pro led 160 light which has a massive amount of light output. I know of the color issues with these lights and have the means at work to make my own color filter for the light to help fix this issue.

Outside of this light however I have looked into a lot of other lights. A dimmer is very important. I currently have an old Bescor 50 watt light that runs for 2 hours off of a huge 18 pound battery belt. I don't really feel like using it anymore.

Anybody have any other suggestions of lights they have used with the HMC40 itself?
 
I would get a large panel light that delivers 1) a lot of light, and 2) over a large area. What you are describing sounds like what would work.

I haven't had too many issues with color; the newer LED light panels are pretty good, though you can fit a warming filter (which it looks like you get with the 160, at least). That can be handy to have if you are getting too "cool" a signal.

Big question here... are you wanting a light panel to mount on the camera or a separate tripod/stand mounted light panel (or panels)? Obviously the the ones you are looking are more geared to camera mounting, though I think you could use them in some limited fashion as a standalone mounted light. Like the camera mounted mic, camera mounted lights only have limited utility.

I like LED lights simply because they are light weight, are cool, last long with batteries, and can be flexibly configured.
 
I just ordered the Bescor 60w led light, it has a dimmer, couple filters, battery and charger.

It's a cheap one but I wanted led bulbs and the other models I looked are 25-35w and/or use sony type batteries, there's another Bescor with 5 of the same bulbs than the 60w, it's 150w and they have a few kits available.

Mine's scheduled to deliver on wednesday so we'll see..

here's the link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/672247-REG/Bescor_LED60K_LED_60K_60W_LED_Compact.html
 
Thanks guys. I just ordered the Pro LED 160 light. This thing has a massive amount of light output and it has a dimmer. It should offer a bit more flexibility. This this is known to have color that is way off when you use the supplied 3200 filter. Of course you can white balance to correct but then other 3200 lights in a room can be off. Hopefully I will be able to make my own 3200 filter to add to this light to compensate for the color. I will also let everybody know how well the light works once I get it.

I'm really surprised not to see any videos online of the HMC40 with a light. I have seen a lot of videos but none with a light.
 
I've used a Comer 900 and a Comer 1800 on my HMC-40. I used the Comer 900 during the interview I taped with Burt Reynolds - see my earlier post to get a link to that video.

Comer 900 doesn't have a dimmer but it does have switchable 4500K or 3200K by using the supplied filter. The Comer 1800 does have a dimmer and filter and is about the size of a large flash unit. I use the 1800 when I'm videotaping in large halls or auditoriums.
 
I really considered the Comer 1800 but I am a bit on a budget right now. I think that will be the direction I go next year. The Comer 1800 is a top notch light.

The Pro LED 160 I just bought is $89.00 which is a steal for the amount of light it puts out. The build quality is pretty bad so I may be lucky to get a year out of it anyway.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Thanks guys. I just ordered the Pro LED 160 light. This thing has a massive amount of light output and it has a dimmer. It should offer a bit more flexibility. This this is known to have color that is way off when you use the supplied 3200 filter. Of course you can white balance to correct but then other 3200 lights in a room can be off. Hopefully I will be able to make my own 3200 filter to add to this light to compensate for the color. I will also let everybody know how well the light works once I get it.

I'm really surprised not to see any videos online of the HMC40 with a light. I have seen a lot of videos but none with a light.
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You actually may be surprised how many of our videos we have posted used lights. Part of the success of using lights is that you may not notice it. Most of my indoor interviews have lighting and I often use lighting in daylight as fill lighting to reduce the harsh contrast (shadows). You can really tell the difference when I'm not using lighting or am using marginal ambient lighting. Good lighting can also often make the white balance easier to adjust and maintain.
 
Bic Parker said:
You actually may be surprised how many of our videos we have posted used lights. Part of the success of using lights is that you may not notice it. Most of my indoor interviews have lighting and I often use lighting in daylight as fill lighting to reduce the harsh contrast (shadows). You can really tell the difference when I'm not using lighting or am using marginal ambient lighting. Good lighting can also often make the white balance easier to adjust and maintain.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I used to shoot with 2/3" SONY DVCAM systems and even then we always used lights. Lights do so much more to enhance the image then just add brightness. It is one of the main reasons why I decided to buy a HMC40 (that and the fact that I am on a budget right now) Hopefully this new light will help out my new cam.

Thanks again everybody for your help.
 
Fljournalist said:
I've used a Comer 900 and a Comer 1800 on my HMC-40. I used the Comer 900 during the interview I taped with Burt Reynolds - see my earlier post to get a link to that video.
Click to expand...

I am doing my research before buying the HMC40 and came across your video:

1) It's very "white", and cold.... (Burt looks already dead...)
2) There's also no depth of fled.

Question: Is this what I should expect of the HMC40?

Thanks
 
Well, I wouldn't dismiss the HMC-40 on the basis of one video. I'm sure you've done a search for sample videos, I did too before buying the videocamera.

And I don't know what kind of equipment you are using to view my video, but I can assure you that on my monitor, it looks nothing like how you describe.
 
xavpil said:
I am doing my research before buying the HMC40 and came across your video:

1) It's very "white", and cold.... (Burt looks already dead...)
2) There's also no depth of fled.

Question: Is this what I should expect of the HMC40?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The HMC40 under enough light will look just as good as a camera costing 4x as much and sometimes even better. It can hold it's own against pretty much any video camera out there as long as you have enough light.
 
My Bescor 60w led light has arrived!

I played a bit with it, sure it's not the best light out there but I think it can deliver enough power for my needs.. for now..

if someone's interested I could shoot some samples..
 
Just got my Pro 160 LED light in the mail as well. Boy does this thing put out some light. It actually hurts your eyes at full blast. The diffusion filter works very well but as reported the 3200 filter is total junk. We will be making a new one at work which should help out a lot. I don't have my camera with me at work so I cannot check it out but we tried on our giant stage at work and the light went pretty far. I would it still had some decent output a good 15 to 20 feet away from where I was standing. I will give it a proper test with HMC40 tomorrow since I will be shooting a going away video for our editor. I decided to shoot it on my HMC40 to try it out and test out the new light as well. Some of our employs including myself may get a bit crude in the video so I don't think I will post it but I may post a few small samples.

Other points to note about the Pro LED 160 light.

1. This thing is heavier then the HMC40. Good thing I ordered a should and chest brace for my camera which should be here tomorrow. This camera is now going to be very heavy to hold.

2. It is cheaply built although isn't as fragile as I thought it would be. I have not tried the mount yet since I don't have my camera here but I think it is solid enough. I think there may be a way to enhance the mount at a later point with a metal one to make it a bit more robust.

3. The lighting guys at work are very impressed with the light. The use a lot of expensive LED light rigs for live stage events and they thought this little sucker puts out an impressive amount of light. They agree the 3200 filter in total junk and the moment we put it on even without a camera we could tell it was destined for the trash. Unless you want to shoot a radioactive disaster type movie I would not suggest using the 3200 filter. Of course if it is your only light in a room a white balance should help.
 
Thomas,
Thanks for the update! I am using a Glidecam a lot for almost all of my handheld shots these days and your comment made me wonder if it would work well to under mount the light on a steadicam mount like that (as part of the base of the mount where the counter weights are). This is often done with things like 7" LED monitors. I guess my only concern would be if it projected too many upward shadows.

Does it spread the light out pretty well in the HMC40's field of view?

Thanks again for the report.
 
I just used the Pro 160 LED on my first two shoots with my new HMC40 and I can say the light works very well for the price.

1. Light spread is very good. The light comes with two filters one a white diffusion and the other a horrific attempt at a 3200 filter. The light has more of a spot effect on it's own but the diffusion filter helps spread the light more evenly through the view of the HMC40.

2. Color temperature is an issue right now until I can make a new 3200 filter. I shot a student art exhibit in the gallery at the college I teach at and it had a wide range of lighting color. The areas with a lot of indoor 3200 light was an issue because the Pro LED light tended to make parts turn a bit blue. It worked out well enough but it is something I need to fix before my first paid shoot.

3. The mount on my light to attach to the camera is a bit loose. I don't know if it is just a bad bolt with mine or if it is a common problem. I discovered after my shoot that a good pliers will tighten it enough. At some point I need to make a new metal based mount to fix this issue.

4. Battery life. Well it is hard to say. I plopped in some used batteries at work and used them for a couple of hours off and on and they are still working. Of course I didn't use the light the entire time and it wasn't always at full blast so I do not yet know what the battery life is like with 6 AA batteries. I would say for sure it is well over an hour and maybe closer to 2 hours. One day when I have free time (which may be never) I may run the light at full load to see how long it runs. I think I will just make sure I carry a large pack of AA batteries with me on a shoot. I also do not yet have any of the SONY or Panasonic rechargeable batteries that work with this light. It is my understanding they last very long and eventually I'm sure I will get a few of those instead of using AA batteries.

5. HMC40. Coming from a background of my old Canon XL1 and using cameras such as a SONY DSR-500 DVCAM and Sony F900 it is going to take me awhile to get used to this little camera. I had issues every now and then with the iris and white balance. I'm sure with a few runs I will get the hang of it but it will take a bit of practice. I have a hard time right now remembering where the controls are on the front of the camera since the LCD screen blocks them. Since this thing is so light I have a hard time panning slower for 24p material. I'm so used to the weight of the camera working as a guide.
 
Hi there.. I am also looking to buy an on-camera light for my HMC40, and have been looking at the pro 160.. My concern, of course, is the "garbage" 3200 filter. Could you give a little advice on how I could build one myself? Thanks in advance!

Nick
 
I still have not found a solution to the 3200 color filter. I found some gel at work that works pretty well but it is very flimsy and doesn't diffuse very well. Of course I can add it to the front of the diffusion filter but it kills a bit more of the light which the HMC40 needs as much of as possible. We have been pretty busy at work doing live events but hopefully some of the guys in the studio can help me out with this problem soon.
 
Two possible recommendations?

Two possible recommendations?

I recommend one of these:

LITEPANELS_MICRO_FRT.jpg

LitePanels- LPMicro: http://tapeworkstexas.com/litepanels_lp_micro.html

Or if you are more on a budget, then this one is great too:
ledprox6_script.jpg

Luxmen LEDPro X6: http://tapeworkstexas.com/ledpro_x6.html

There aren't many places you can get the Luxmen LEDPro X6 but TapeWorks Texas has them in stock and ready to ship.
I can vouch for the retailer personally as I live in NY and I got my HMC40 from them as well as my XLR adapter, Rode NTG-1 mic w/ WS6 Windshield, XLR cables, LEDPro X6 on-cam LED light, Libec LS-22M tripod, extended battery, and various other accessories. They are licensed sellers of everything they sell (NEVER any grey market merchandise) and have basically everything you could want and they DON'T kill you on shipping! My contact there is Brad Parler and here is his direct contact information (if you ever order from them, tell Brad that Vinny Del Vecchio reffered you).:
Brad Parler
TapeWorks Texas Sales
E-Mail: TapeWorksBrad@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 713-688-3597 direct
Toll Free: 866-827-3489 toll free
Website: http://www.TapeWorksTexas.com
 
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