The Best On-Camera LED Light

Just checked out the specs for the "variable temperature" iled 312. Has anyone noticed the distance of the rated output is at 50 Centimetres ? why 50 centimetres and not 25 centimetres or the proverbial 1 meter ( approx 3ft.) as most leds are measured ? I wish they can get their act together ( mfrs.) and have a universal standard of measurements or compare the output to units we can all relate to like tungsten bulb watt equivalents. Now 50 centimetres is around 20 inches. Right, I do most of my video work videotaping lizards in terrariums at that distance. Let me figure this one out in roundish figures. 6580 lux at 50 cm according to the inverse square light theory of distance vs brightness, we get 6580/4 at 100cm of 1645 lux. So it is 1645 lux at 1 meter. Roughly equivalent to a 100 watt filament incandescent kitchen light bulb at the same distance of 1 meter. That wasn't too hard to figure out. Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
On-camera led lights that have over 1800 lumens are already being produced. As a matter of fact I use one myself ( custom made) that has 2700 lux at 3 feet and the beam angle is 70 degrees wide and on top of that is a beautiful neutral white of 4200K so a little white balance at the camera is needed when swinging to warm and cool. It also has a dimmer to control the awesome output. The icing on the cake is that it consumes less than 25W and operates from 7.2 to 18 VDC. I videotape a lot of weddings and by far this light delivers the goods when it comes down to throw distances of over 25 feet. I could have ordered one with 4200 lux but at a beam angle of 45 degrees, but I shoot wide angle a lot and I don't want light falloff at the edges of the frame. The technology is there, leds now have the ability to produce over 1000 lumens each at 10 watt and 120 degree beam angle in all directions.
 
The ebay 312 LED unit doesn't list what's included in the purchase. One photo leads me to believe that there are several things included, but it's hard to see if they include batteries or just battery adapters, and is that a charger or an AC adapter (or both)? I get the same feeling shopping some of the ebay electronics sellers that I do when I think about buying something from Adorama -- a sinking feeling that maybe I shouldn't do business with them unless I'm very sure it's a good deal.
 
Thinking of picking up a Rotolight for possible music video/audition video work. It really seems like a great value. Also looking at the Kreis90, but there doesn't seem to be much info out there on it.
 
I noticed also in many led on-camera lights that they accept input voltages starting from 9 volts DC and some are from 12 volts DC. Now there are many powering options that also include that the SAME 7.2 volt that powers the camera ALSO has power tap plug that can power the LED light as well. Most prosumer camcorders have that type of battery (SONY PANASONIC) so it would be worth consideration that before purchasing a led light to just look at the input voltage range. A led light that accepts a minimum DC voltage of 10 volts certainly will not work with those 7.2V batteries, as a colleague of mine sadly discovered when he purchased a panel led light at $700 only to find out that he had to invest another $900 for a 14.4 Volt brick battery and the charger for it because the minimum led light voltage was 10. That's like going back to the middle ages of having to tether a wire and brick all over again. Swit US have batteries that are made for SONY and PANA 7.2V with the led powering plug built in, I don't know about the Canon type but perhaps it will become available for those cameras also. I use my Sony HDR-AX2000 camera and my 2400 lux led light from the same internally mounted battery and I get a minimum runtime of 2 hours at full brightness, more than enough for a wedding reception.
Voltage operating range should be a consideration and ideally should be in the range from 7.2 to 18 Volts , this way it can be used with consumer, prosumer and pro ENG type cameras as well.
 
I do weddings. I need to interview guests... and there're many run and gun situation during the day. Off camera lights give the result. But on-camera lights give me the flexibility. and able to light up the scene instantly.
 
slondon said:
Would someone mind telling me why you would ever use an on camera light besides news-gathering?
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How about:
Freedom of movement without having to schlep around light stands so that somebody can trip and fall and sue you, especially if you videotape social occasions where the the almighty maitre D's don't allow any stands, tripods, or any other supplemental lighting to ruin the "mood" of the coal bin light level of "their" turf.
 
We are our own critics when it comes to evaluating work. Sure we all want that theatrical look, perfect lighting, the right ratio to highlight and shadows, a teeny bit more exposure here and a teeny bit more fill there. It's like we are all looking for the same thing. Perfection. And why not ?. The road to achieving it is never ending , challenging and fun at the same time. Every assignment brings in new obstacles, workarounds, solutions, possible frustrations and above all, the Murphy's Law effect. It is because of these obstacles and workarounds that make us find solutions to the given challenge. I never learn anything from an easy shoot.
Someone once told me " give the customer JUST what they want and nothing more". That may hold true for turnkey mentality of do lots of them, take the money and run. Kind of easy shoot. A no brainer. Do we,as creative perfectionists and artists really want that? I didn't think so either. We want to impress the client, to get more leads from them, and above all to make them happy.
They are happy, we get more work, we make more money and...WE are happy !!. Now what does all this have to do with on-camera lighting you may ask ? Well, a long while back during a wedding shoot when cameras were not very good at low light levels, I was the photographer working with a videographer who wanted excellent lighting in a dark reception. He had 2 halogen 1000W units mounted high on tripods (12ft,) and duct taped the legs to the floor. The lighting was spectacular, the dance floor was all lit up, and also exhibited beautiful hairlighting like a studio shoot. Then came the time for the train dance when almost everyone made a long line to go around the tables, dance floor, out the reception door, around the lobby and back again like a long snake. Well at one point someone just fell to the floor head first and the next thing I saw was the light unit toppling down onto an empty (thank God) table with a large floral arrangement in a water filled vase. The person tripped on the tripos legs, dislodged the duct tape and off balanced the unit. Luckily no charges were filed as the person who fell was not seriously hurt but just shaken up a bit. What if that person would have fallen to the edge of a table and broke it's neck? So, in our quest for perfection, there must be a fine line to draw as how far do we go.
Common sense tells us it just ain't worth it. especially when there are so many things that can go wrong. Remember Murphy.
An on-camera light is way safer in wedding venues and eliminates the possibility of mishaps. Sometimes we must sacrifice a little of excellence for the sake of safety. The bride would have been just as happy with her video without the supplemental lighting, as long as she looks good in her dress.
 
I looked at that light on ebay listing. It looks like a Comer but it has a color temperature of 6300K. That would be WAY too cool to be used indoor. Then, the bottom condense lens is blue color. Not sure how it works. It was still using the plastic shoe adapter.
 
Norman99 said:
We are our own critics when it comes to evaluating work. Sure we all want that theatrical look, perfect lighting, the right ratio to highlight and shadows, a teeny bit more exposure here and a teeny bit more fill there. It's like we are all looking for the same thing. Perfection. And why not ?. The road to achieving it is never ending , challenging and fun at the same time. Every assignment brings in new obstacles, workarounds, solutions, possible frustrations and above all, the Murphy's Law effect. It is because of these obstacles and workarounds that make us find solutions to the given challenge. I never learn anything from an easy shoot.
Someone once told me " give the customer JUST what they want and nothing more". That may hold true for turnkey mentality of do lots of them, take the money and run. Kind of easy shoot. A no brainer. Do we,as creative perfectionists and artists really want that? I didn't think so either. We want to impress the client, to get more leads from them, and above all to make them happy.
They are happy, we get more work, we make more money and...WE are happy !!. Now what does all this have to do with on-camera lighting you may ask ? Well, a long while back during a wedding shoot when cameras were not very good at low light levels, I was the photographer working with a videographer who wanted excellent lighting in a dark reception. He had 2 halogen 1000W units mounted high on tripods (12ft,) and duct taped the legs to the floor. The lighting was spectacular, the dance floor was all lit up, and also exhibited beautiful hairlighting like a studio shoot. Then came the time for the train dance when almost everyone made a long line to go around the tables, dance floor, out the reception door, around the lobby and back again like a long snake. Well at one point someone just fell to the floor head first and the next thing I saw was the light unit toppling down onto an empty (thank God) table with a large floral arrangement in a water filled vase. The person tripped on the tripos legs, dislodged the duct tape and off balanced the unit. Luckily no charges were filed as the person who fell was not seriously hurt but just shaken up a bit. What if that person would have fallen to the edge of a table and broke it's neck? So, in our quest for perfection, there must be a fine line to draw as how far do we go.
Common sense tells us it just ain't worth it. especially when there are so many things that can go wrong. Remember Murphy.
An on-camera light is way safer in wedding venues and eliminates the possibility of mishaps. Sometimes we must sacrifice a little of excellence for the sake of safety. The bride would have been just as happy with her video without the supplemental lighting, as long as she looks good in her dress.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I shouldn't have commented.
 
soo many options to choose from. I've never owned any lighting equipment but i'm looking to try a few cheap on-camera led lights... From my light research, it seems that hdv-z96 is quite popular and Youngnuo led lights are getting up there as well.

Another one I found recently, is this $30 led ring... looks very interesting. I'm tempted to try this out.
http://paulcooklin.com/blog/2010/10/mad-scientist-discovers-fun-cheap-led-ring-light-whoa/
http://www.amazon.com/Macro-Flash-L...-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969
 
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