Uses for COB Light?

F

firehawk

Veteran
I ordered my first COB light, a Godox VL300 LED Video Light on sale, and diffuser that attaches

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1513248-REG/godox_vl300_video_led_light.html

Since I normally use panal lights such as Astra 6Xs, I was curious about uses for such as light. Sometimes I might be shooting talent in a room backlit with windows. Or in a vehicle showroom where I need to throw a lot of light. Is such a light useful for those scenarios? Seems useful for getting a lot of soft light on full body shots of talent too.
Still looking for battery options. Are a pair of 147Wh batteries sufficient for short shoots? The big ones get expensive fast.
?
 
firehawk said:
I ordered my first COB light, a Godox VL300 LED Video Light on sale, and diffuser that attaches

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1513248-REG/godox_vl300_video_led_light.html

Since I normally use panal lights such as Astra 6Xs, I was curious about uses for such as light. Sometimes I might be shooting talent in a room backlit with windows. Or in a vehicle showroom where I need to throw a lot of light. Is such a light useful for those scenarios? Seems useful for getting a lot of soft light on full body shots of talent too.
Still looking for battery options. Are a pair of 147Wh batteries sufficient for short shoots? The big ones get expensive fast.
?
Click to expand...

Which diffuser/softbox did you buy with it? I have three of these lights as well as two VL150s and I bought half a dozen parabolic softboxe in three different sizes.
You can always bounce the VL300 off the ceiling or off of a 6x6 or 8x8 or through it too. The VL300 is a great light, especially for the modest cost. I liked my first one
so much, I bought two more of them the next month.

I don't use batteries on bigger COB lights, they always die at the exact most inconvenient moment. Mains power only for me.
Unless you are shooting outside or away from AC, batteries are for lazy people. Sure, they're a bit easier
but on many lights, they don't operate at full output off of batteries ( I dont know if the VL300 is one of these because I don't
use batteries on the VL300) and you always have to make sure all of your batteries are charged. The VL300 probably doesn't
last very long off of batteries either as it's fairly powerful. Do you really need batteries for your shoots or are you just wanting to
be lazy and not run a stinger?
 
Thank you Puredrifting

I have
Angler BoomBox Octagonal Softbox with Bowens Mount (48")
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1378956-REG/angler_bb_48db_boom_box_48_bowens.html

Angler Fabric Grid for 48" BoomBox Softbox
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1379007-REG/angler_bb_g48_48_grid_f_boom.html

I want to use batteries for quick ease of use and partly for lazy reasons, and also because sometimes I'm out in the field away from AC power but I do not have sufficient batteries yet. I also need a battery for my Luxli Timpani (12 amp draw) so that is another reason I'm looking at batteries
 
IVe a godox 200.

Basically used for shooting through diffusion or bounced of a white wall or polyboard.

Battereies.. I think above 100w lights are hard for batteries Vlock are not really designed for that..

Consider floor batteries (hawkwoods Xbox, some arri) or even car/caravan leasure batts ?
 
I think for certain lights, batteries make sense. I have two of the Kamerar Brightcasts that are flexible 12" x 12" SMD bi-color panels.
They are really handy for shooting car interiors, or in places where there is no AC. They aren't super high output but often
enough to enhance existing lighting nicely. Perfect documentary interview run & gun type panels. One takes V-Mount and one
takes Sony NPF. Either can run for hours on one battery.

But a powerful, high current draw COB like the VL300 with dual huge, heavy V-Mounts, I don't see the point in many cases. The OPs Timpani,
that one makes sense with batteries, it can probably get some decent run times. I have a Cello and it's obviously a battery
powered light although everytime we deploy it as a hair light, the batteries always die at the worst possible time in the middle
of a take. I guess I am a traditionalist and prefer shore power unless there is none but YMMV.
 
Lazy might be a little hard but I agree with the general sentiment. If you have access to ac then use it. Don't try to kid yourself, batteries to power these lights aren't cheap roughly $800-1,600 and these batteries might only last a few years. Not only are they expensive they're a pain to manage, maintain, and charge.

As for using mono lights in scenarios you describe where you're competing with other light sources, well that's called the real world and it's not easy. Based on the circumstances, budget, and what your willing to live with will determine the best approach. One approach is to remove as much diffusion as you can to increase your output to compete with the sun. If you're using diffusion then you'll be running these lights close to 100% and batteries aren't going to cut it for long.
 
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I liked the Health and Safety comment. A trip hazard compared to a fire hazard? I think it would be interesting to seriously compare these. Aircraft crashing is rare, but the risk of fire is taken extremely seriously, because the potential is usually death. Fire means poisonous fumes, plus heat, and of course the fire itself. The risk of accidental short circuiting sufficient that the risk of batteries inside equipment is low, but to separately packed and insecure packs, potentially high. Trip hazards are usually minor hazards, trips, slips and sprains category. Fire, fumes and burning is much higher - so in a risk assessment, cables could actually be safer than li-ion battery packs. Of course, the people in charge of H&S often wouldn't;t be able to complete and effective risk assessment if one fell off the shelf and banged them on the head................ just saying.
 
Batteries/battery powered lights are like everything else: Double Edged Sword. It gives us options and abilities to lets us do things we couldn’t do ‘back in the day’, but it’s one more thing to have to worry about and manage and as Dan said, a lot of times it’s going to be a compromise on output vs using a fixture plugged into AC. If you see someone using battery powered lights, it’s usually for some other reason than they need a lot of punch.

With the exception of my Astera’s, the only time I’ll usually use a battery on a light, is because we don’t have access to AC. And with that being said, a lot of my LED’s come with battery plates already or I’ve elected to purchase and install them when optional. Because I like having options. Besides my Hives, I think the only other lights I’ve chosen not to get battery plates for, that can be battery powered, are my 2x1 Gemini’s, because I can’t really ever see using those in a situation where battery power is the only option.
 
Re: Safety. It’s funny, because that’s the second time I’ve seen that brought up in about as many days, from our friends across the pond. I wonder if it’s just a difference in “priorities” here in the US, because you don’t hear it brought up THAT often and way too often you see things done in kind of the cowboy/maverick way, just to save time and money. But I have had to break it down to the client before and tell them if we did X, we had to have the certain person they didn’t want to pay for, because of safety, or because of safety lack of people to safely manage those issues, it’s why we couldn’t do something.
 
The joy is.. no mains in BBC Television Centre if you dont have BBC kit.

Im also hitting 115v building sites here in the UK.
 
Run&Gun said:
Re: Safety. It’s funny, because that’s the second time I’ve seen that brought up in about as many days, from our friends across the pond. I wonder if it’s just a difference in “priorities” here in the US, because you don’t hear it brought up THAT often and way too often you see things done in kind of the cowboy/maverick way, just to save time and money. But I have had to break it down to the client before and tell them if we did X, we had to have the certain person they didn’t want to pay for, because of safety, or because of safety lack of people to safely manage those issues, it’s why we couldn’t do something.
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You nailed it. I have found that in the UK, rules, regulations are taken very seriously, such as having to buy a license to use wireless mics. The times I've done production in the UK, it's just a whole different vibe than here. Here, being a former union DP, Health and Safety
are generally reactive, whereas in the UK, it's proactive. When production crew have been killed here, the powers that be slowly scratch their heads and think, "Hmm, maybe we shouldn't let our wage slaves work an 18 hour shoot and be back on set with a 4 hour turnaround."
 
I think most UK regs are not pointed at crew.. building sites and the like are regulated for thier own workers, on site cleaners, delivery people and the like.. a low common denomenator.
 
morgan_moore said:
I think most UK regs are not pointed at crew.. building sites and the like are regulated for thier own workers, on site cleaners, delivery people and the like.. a low common denomenator.
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Well, there is the "Electricity at Work Regulations 1989" to consider. Many places I go require PAT (Portable Appliance Test) certificates for all electrical kit that get plugged in. And most need it to be no less than one year since the test. Ridiculous, I know, but another good reason for using battery whenever I can.
 
Run&Gun said:
Re: Safety. It’s funny, because that’s the second time I’ve seen that brought up in about as many days, from our friends across the pond. I wonder if it’s just a difference in “priorities” here in the US, because you don’t hear it brought up THAT often and way too often you see things done in kind of the cowboy/maverick way, just to save time and money. But I have had to break it down to the client before and tell them if we did X, we had to have the certain person they didn’t want to pay for, because of safety, or because of safety lack of people to safely manage those issues, it’s why we couldn’t do something.
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It depends who your clients are. If you're shooting at BP, HSE is hyper important and they apply the same rules in their offices as they do on their rigs - they have protocols for everything from how you walk on the stairs and carry your coffee to how you park your car let alone how you handle equipment or run a safe set. If you're working at the Head Office of an international bank they don't take to kindly to having their electrical circuits blown out by a faulty light so again, PAT certificates, building induction etc are commonplace. That said, over the years I've worked with lots of US crew who had exemplary HSE skills and plenty of UK crew who have no idea what they are doing.

Oh, and for those that don't know, HSE is Health and Safety Executive (it's the people who make our rules).
 
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morgan_moore said:
A PAT tester and roll of stickers are aquirable.
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You would have to be some next level numpty to risk walking into the Head Office of Barclays, HSBC or BP without bona fide PAT certificates, but yeah, I take your point and I'd be a liar if it hadn't at least crossed my mind!
 
Interesting, I did several shoots at Glaxo House outside of London and there was literally no HSE/PAT requirement about anything we did. But that was inside Glaxo's own little world there.
 
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The Health and Safety package I have to produce for my theatre productions often has more pages than the script. Sadly, every year people get injured, som with life changing injuries, which oddly, are worse than dying, in financial terms. The worst examples are people who do the PAT testing as money making opportunities which make me really angry. Like charging per test, then a piece of kit with a detachable mains cable gets tested and then they test the cable - two tests, when if they tested the appliance AND the cable, and it passed - both would be OK. I've had people test equipment in theatres with the quite common 15A lighting connectors - chop them off as dangerous because they do not have a fuse. They don't have a fuse by design! People who cannot tell the difference between Class II appliances and Class I. The fail an appliance for not having an earth, or not having continuity between the earth pin and the case, when they don't have one for a purpose.

Tests and risk assessments carried out by idiots mean absolutely zero. If you go into Terry Wogan House - BBC Radio 2, they all have volume limited headphones for safety. What use is an open back pair of Sennheiser headphones with somebody playing the piano. I noted one pair of these with what looked like the cable from a pair of in-ears poking out the ear cup. Surely not the engineer using his own earphones UNDER the BBC ones because the Beebs safety procedure was totally useless in a noisy room?

Latest safety process (well, at least before Covid) was acoustic screens between noisy band members. Spurred on by the London court case where a musician had hearing damage from being in front of the brass, and it's spread as far as Australia, who have people and dosage meters calculating when people in the orchestra need days off because, like a nuclear power station, their commutative exposure limit was reached.

It's not silly, it is factual. It's absolutely inconvenient and expensive, but we cannot damage each other. Us Brits have quite tough laws for damage. Google Regina v Brown Fireman for some shocking activities. What you can do to other people, even with their permission is very limited in England. Actually - don't Google it if you are fragile as it could impact your mental health.
 
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