On Camera Lights

[Jonathan]

I am in the market to get rid of my Lowell I-Light and battery packs and belts that go along with it. I want something that is soft, dimmable, and draws less watts.

I currently use a 50watt bulb with the glass diffuser attached on top of my DSR500. This gives me a nice soft unobtrusive light useable upto say 10 feet. I like to gather as much of the background light as possible in dark environments where I can't setup other lights. I shoot usually at 3-6db wide open-2.8.

I have looked at the various LED lights (Another production company in town has the flood Litepanels but they seemed to dim), and I am not to crazy about Anton Bauer lights.

I am looking at maybe trying one of the other LED lights or Frezzi's 35 watt Microfill. I want to have a light that can plug into my powertap connector and that has a low enough draw to run off the largest V-Mount Lithium-ion batteries.

[Run&Gun]

I prefer Frezzi's. I have used them ever since I had my A/B Ultralight broken (way too easily) during my first year freelancing. They make a regular and dimmable version and they can be ordered with almost any power connector imaginable on them. I would go with the mini fill as opposed to the micro fill. Frezzi's are built like tanks and will last you a lifetime of shooting with just a little care.

[pre-set]

I gotta vote Anton. I've used Frezzi's but I didn't care for them - they all seemed to spin around on thier mounts too easily.

[Trybe One]

I prefer the other camera mans lights.....

[2gigch1]

Second Pre-Set; I preferred Frezzi's dimmable toplight until I was given an AB HMI toplight to complement the regular AB light for my camera. They swap out real fast and with the use of a diffuser and a piece of mylar I have a lot of lighting options that take me less than 10 seconds to set up...

[Max Girth]

Litepanel. I don't think I would judge the light you saw somebody else use, because they may have had it at 30%, or 60%, or whatever.

That's what Litepanels are about...giving the right amount of fill so you can expose for your background. I find I rarely use mine at 100%.

[ISDV]

I'm also using an Anton Bauer Ultralight2. Never had any problems with it. On one quick change head I have mounted the diffuser and dichroic filter. On another head the softbox from AB. This softbox is much better than the weak design from the Chimera lightbank.

[Run&Gun]

Pre-Set, a little trick I use so my Frezzi won't spin on the stud, a thin strip of gaffe tape around the top channel. It lets the thumb screw bite so it won't slip. But to each his own. Everyone has there preferences when it comes to gear, just like some people like Ford and some like Chevy...

[The Daywood]

Any one using that Zylite the B-Rollers demoed at NAB?

It was the light that had switchable color temp, was dimmable, and would also light in any color in the spectrum...

[Tippster]

Our dimmable Frezzis started causing hum in our Panny 610's when actually dimmed. We swapped out the dimmers for toggles, which pretty much crapped the need for a dimmable toplight. We are now all back to the AB setup, and witht he forward-mounting bracket that's available. I like it - lower profile too if you need to truck around with the light head on the camera.

[Matt Box]

Tipp, I once had the same problem with frezzie dimmers and hum on DVCPRO's. Supposedly frezzie knows about it and can install an upgraded circuit to the the dimmer that removes the hum. They did it to mine and it worked..... But I never did like their lights and went back to my AB.

On the AB lights reputation for durability.... The first few generations on the UL had a poorly designed hinge where the light connects to the body. I broke a bunch of the lights and they did indeed suck. AB redesigned the joint and I have yet to have a problem with the new unit they sent me. It has been going strong for years now.

BTW has anyone seen the LED bulb that someone is selling on EBAY for the AB? looks interesting.

[Run&Gun]

That was one of the problems I had with my Ultralight, the hinge became very loose and the head would bounce and flop around. No aiming it. Then the base got broken... I gave it to a friend and he fabricated a base out of aluminum and it still using it today, about 8 years later.

[dinosaur]

I used to use the Frezzi mini fill many years ago and switched to the ultralight. I've even bought an UltraDAYlight HMI head for it, which I've found a lot of use for. The only problem I've had with the Ultralight is the "wheel" on the bottom portion tends to loosen up over time and the set screw doesn't bite the post. I've modified mine with a couple of very small tie-wraps to keep the wheel from turning once the shoe is tightly screwed into the camera 1/4-20 hole in the camera handle.

[Flaca Productions]

I have a zylight and its pretty good. I find that the 3200 and 5600 presets tint a little green, so I just stored more accurate 3200 and 5600k settings in the two user-configurable positions.

Dimmable, decent throw (not enough for the dead-body-across-the-road at 2am kind of bright, but I don't do that kind of stuff anymore...) Infinate color adjustment, solid build, nicely thought out.

Down side: a bit expensive.