what portable (battery powered) leds for my needs?

C

crammond

Active member
Most of my business (one man band) comes from short 2-4min videos that are 99% meant for internet use (youtube, facebook, websites). It's either a 2 person dialog (for example a short review video about a new gadget/mobile phone/etc ) or a single person talking to the camera about a certain topic or product. It is filmed either inside or outside, half of the time I see the location for the first time right before we need to shoot it.

I usually get only 15-20 minutes from the time of arrival to the end of shooting so there isn't really much time for setting up equipement before I need to start shooting. A cam is the safe came that gets everything that needs to be shoot and is locked down on a tripod and I use B cam to get some more different angles of the scene.

I've been mostly using natural light thus far but would like to buy 1-2 led lights as I think that they can help me and my videos to look better. Considering that some times I need to shoot on location I'd like some lights that are battery powered.

I'm looking at the Aputure HR672S as they seem powerful enough and still really portable. I think I could get by with 1 for 1 person stuff and 2 if I have 2 person dialog. Any other suggestions (different lights, more lights,...?). Budget is up to ~700 USD.
 
While I have no experience with the mentioned lights, I have played with similar lights which use smaller batteries like the above mentioned light. In my findings, the batteries didn't last as long as I would have liked. Using an LED light which uses either IDX or AB mount batteries tends to run a lot longer time. The down side, is that IDX or AB batteries and charger are far more expensive, and would need to be factored into your budget.

Good Luck!

Dave
 
I picked up a Duracell Powerpac 600 for about $150-$160. It powered 2 - 500w LEDs for over 5 hours with its meter still reading fully charged. It is about the same weight as a small car battery, has a built in inverter for 120v ac, a couple of 120v wall plugs, a 12v cigar lighter plug and comes with jumper leads. . . and a wall wart for charging. It will drive power tools, etc. I'm very happy with it for a location power source.
 
So I've just brought a litepanel astra 1x1, I'm looking at the price of the V-lock plate as well as a battery with a charger, the minimum cost will be £300+

So, I've come up with a DIY solution,

12v 110amp leisure battery deep cycle
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0039TEDVQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1MI474ZFJ1AC
300watt pure sine wave inverter
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A19HFARMUSLDNJ
12v 10 amp charger
http://www.amazon.co.uk/121000LEISU...94828&sr=8-2&keywords=leisure+battery+charger

Then using this calculator to figure out the amp draw:
http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/volts-watts-amps-converter

According to my rough calculations of it drawing 9.16 amps at full power per hour, so it should give me 10 hours of use easily

This setup only costs around £213.97, and should provide more power than any v-lock battery could.

Has any one had experience with this at all? Am I completely wrong?

Also might an idea to add a surge protector:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-BSV1...otector/dp/B00OLTJSZY/ref=dp_ob_title_kitchen
 
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That might work fine - but why not just get a ready-made solution (like the Duracell, etc). You're going to have to, I dunno, bolt all that stuff to a piece of plywood or something. If you have paying clients, get something that looks decent and works out of the box, and spend all that DIY time making stuff that isn't available on the market (just my .02)...
 
Michael Carter said:
That might work fine - but why not just get a ready-made solution (like the Duracell, etc). You're going to have to, I dunno, bolt all that stuff to a piece of plywood or something. If you have paying clients, get something that looks decent and works out of the box, and spend all that DIY time making stuff that isn't available on the market (just my .02)...
Click to expand...


I would love tobuy the Duracell, but it's not available in the UK.
 
Most LEDs run at about 12v so why would you want to step up to 240 and then back down again.

More bits - more money.. and a lot of wasted energy.

I have a leisure batt that with a bit of wiring I got working direct onto leds.

I house the lesure batt in an 'accubox' http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/ac...tvI-iIdH6MVtODlxPlS_TXEc7dGjegkajWRoC-9_w_wcB

Overall that set up is still a beast to move and for most situations I would really suggest going down the Vlock route.

S
 
As for the lights - the Aputure 672 is exactly what you're looking for at that price. Nothing can touch it really. I have 5 of their lights and I have messed with others in the past, but I won't again.
They charge the batteries when you plug them in. They run for hours on a pair of decent Sony NP970 or 770 batteries. They weight almost nothing. The carry bags are perfect. Dimmable. Everything you'd want in a light panel AT THIS PRICE.
I love mine and I use them on pretty much every shoot.

For this type of tool, and at this price point, they win.
 
Look at the Bescor bricks for power. They have many models and sizes including lead acid, ni-cad, and li-ion. Most can be had with a cigarette lighter plug and a 4 pin XLR. Most come in some kind of fabric bag. Fairly inexpensive. My only gripe is they tend to be slow to charge.

Grant
 
the icelights look nice but they are not bright at all. the flapjacks look the most portable if you can get really close to the subject and dont need a ton of light. If you need a lot of light and something portable, the aputure 672 lightstorm is the way to go!
 
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