On camera lights for GH1

Vitaliy Kiselev

Vitaliy Kiselev

Carbonite Member
Any thoughts abou this one?

LEDlightJ.jpg




http://cgi.ebay.com/Camcorder-Camer...624?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ceffe91f0


I didn't find any reviews.


Next best candidate is DHV-Z96.

But I want to be as portable as possible.
Plus Z96 uses very cheap small leds that make some cast.
CRI on this small solution seems to be better.
 
I have the pro 160 LED ebay light that takes Sony batteries. Add a CTO and voila. But this is smaller.....
 
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I have the HDV-Z96 and i think it's really good for the price, much better than the CN-160 in my opinion. Build quality is rugged feeling and compact yet useful (some portable lights are too small, this one is just right). Z96 light spread is very even, even without the diffuser, with no apparent hotspotting using the 14mm focal length of the GH1 kit lens. It does have the slight green cast that most of these cheaper LED lights have, but not as bad as others; I taped a 1/8 minus-green gel to the light for better daylight balance. It uses ubiquitous Sony Infolithium batteries which can last for hours on a single charge. Plus, you can attach several Z-96 lights together using the included mounting bracket to make one bigger, brighter lighting unit.

Here's what it looks like mounted atop the GH1 - fits rather nicely I think.


IMG_6054.jpg
 
Yeah Z96 is best candidate from all this small panels.
I went for this small light instead.
We'll see how it turns out.
 
Yeah the Z96 from what i have seen throws a nicer light, ie no green tinge. Considering picking one up too.

ah just read htinal's post, so id does still cast a green tinge...hmm, second thoughts now. does the green gel help?
 
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I'm coming in from the HMC150 camp where the Comer 1800 is very popular. How would this work with the GH1? Too big?
 
i have a comer 1800, its too top heavy, very awkward to handle. throws great light but just not nice to work with mounted on camera. the 900 might be a better option if it's significantly lighter.
 
Comer is really heavy and uses very old leds. Temperature seems to be too warm also.

Btw, same light as mine is available in 800lm version with three temperature variants (two leds are 3200k in this case).
 
MR Fanny said:
Yeah the Z96 from what i have seen throws a nicer light, ie no green tinge. Considering picking one up too.

ah just read htinal's post, so id does still cast a green tinge...hmm, second thoughts now. does the green gel help?
Click to expand...


The green cast is very minimal, but still needs a 1/8 minus green (pale magenta) to bring closer to daylight. I think most LED lights in its class need some kind of minus green color correction filter. Once filtered, the light quality is very pleasant.
 
3Tigers said:
Have a link to a seller for the HDV-Z96?
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I bought mine from LA COLOR SHOP located in Los Angeles, CA. Shipping was fast and the price was the best from any of the U.S. dealers I looked at. You can also get it very cheap on eBay (search HDV-Z96 on eBay), but most of those sellers are overseas (i.e. Hong Kong) so might take longer to deliver.
 
htinla said:
I have the HDV-Z96 and i think it's really good for the price...
Click to expand...
Just tested this LED array and using Adobe Camera Raw on an sRGB photo from the GH1, I'd estimate its color temperature as 6200K. This is a bit bluish, but definitely preferable to the greenish cast of most "white" LED's.
 
everybody listen up,
get the hdv-z96!!! you just can't beat the price for the amount of light it puts out, the small size, the battery/DC power options, the hotshoe-1/4" tilt connector, the easy-to-use magnetic gels. nothing even comes close at that price! get 1. heck get 2! and never look back.

if you want to spend more than $100, then you'll need to spend at least $300 to get anything that is actually better. but those won't be as lightweight or practical on-camera.

case closed.
:)
 
averan said:
everybody listen up,
get the hdv-z96!!! you just can't beat the price for the amount of light it puts out, the small size, the battery/DC power options, the hotshoe-1/4" tilt connector, the easy-to-use magnetic gels. nothing even comes close at that price! get 1. heck get 2! and never look back.

if you want to spend more than $100, then you'll need to spend at least $300 to get anything that is actually better. but those won't be as lightweight or practical on-camera.

case closed.
:)
Click to expand...

Ditto.
 
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