Area 58 or Nila LEDS?

wtv

Well-known member
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has the BBS Lighting Area 58 light and if so what are their thoughts.

I am trying to decide between it and the Nila Varsa.

Thanks.
 

Tv Shooter

Well-known member
I have a Nila Zaila kit, and it's fast becoming my go to lighting kit. They have pretty strong lights, and I can use them with a camera battery as power when needed. They're very well built. You have to change the focus with lenses, but it's petty quick.

There is a slight green spike, and Nila makes a minus green panel, which lives in my lights. But when I have them diffused, either in a Chimera or with a silk....man they look great. I use them even in daylight as a fill, and for interviews as the key. They fly in via boom well also.

Overall I am happy with them and may add a Varsa as well very soon.
 

Tv Shooter

Well-known member
I should add that I've used the Zailas on several Today Show live shots. I made some AB plates and hang them on the stand, so they can power off a battery....and they last a long while.
 
For those of you that have used the Zailas on live shots how do they do on outside live shots. I am looking at possibaly picking up a varsa but am still not sold on the price point especially if I can get two of the Zailas at the same price. As always if anybody thinks anything else could be a contender please feel free to chime in the input will be appreciated.
 

JTFC

Active member
Thought I would chime in on Nile LED's.

I have two Boxers and Varsa lights. Be forewarned that in cold temps, these light will literally freeze up on you. I had my lights outside in 20 degree temps and they would not turn on. If I Placed the light outside from a warm car, it would light up, but after say 30 minutes in the cold, I could not adjust the light output. I was frozen at 100%, or 75%, what ever output level I had been using.

I spoke with Nila about this problem, and, once I sent my lights to their service center, they acknowledged there was a problem, I purchased these new in 2014. Apparently they made a change with the mother board, used some type of different components that are affected by cold temps.

Nila is aware of the problem, but as of today, they still do not have a work around.
 
Thought I would chime in on Nile LED's.

I have two Boxers and Varsa lights. Be forewarned that in cold temps, these light will literally freeze up on you. I had my lights outside in 20 degree temps and they would not turn on. If I Placed the light outside from a warm car, it would light up, but after say 30 minutes in the cold, I could not adjust the light output. I was frozen at 100%, or 75%, what ever output level I had been using.

I spoke with Nila about this problem, and, once I sent my lights to their service center, they acknowledged there was a problem, I purchased these new in 2014. Apparently they made a change with the mother board, used some type of different components that are affected by cold temps.

Nila is aware of the problem, but as of today, they still do not have a work around.

:( that sucks not something I expect to run into much here in tx but I will be aware. At least they sound like they strike initially so it seems workable more or less.

Did they go back to normal after warming up?

Also have you had any problems at higher temps... say 30/40/50 degrees etc.

Bought mine last year too so I'm probably in the same boat.
 

JTFC

Active member
If the lights are off and have been left out in the cold, they will not strike. The blue window on the back will light up, but that's it. No LED read out or control. Just a blue window panel.

I warmed them up in my car and after 15 minutes of blasting the heat, they worked as you would expect...until they got cold, then you lose the ability to increase/decrease intensity.

I used these last week in temps around 30 and had the same issue. So anything under 35 and you may have the same issue. I've used them in summer temps and had no problems.
 

satpimp

Well-known member
We have Varsa and Zaila models in our fleet. Great lights. Hugely versatile, Robust powerful and easy. Under 35 degrees is a different sort of crisis her in Florida so we haven't run into that specific problem.

I am not familiar with the BBS light, sorry.

The JAB Hurricane is the best light I demoed, ever. To me as revolutionary as the old Bron-Kobold waterproof set that served me for years. Both fantastic lights of the moment, A bit much for most of our local rumblin bumblin stumblin. I do wish we had gotten the AAdyntech JAB... at least for the Sat Truck :)
 

dazapper

Well-known member
Just heard from Nila and they've remedied the cold-air issue with a software upgrade though they say some model numbers may have to be shipped to them for the upgrade. It's good to know that they were aware of the issue and didn't ignore it but rather got to work on a fix. Just hope the true test doesn't fail six months from now in the throes of a big blizzard!
 
Just heard from Nila and they've remedied the cold-air issue with a software upgrade though they say some model numbers may have to be shipped to them for the upgrade. It's good to know that they were aware of the issue and didn't ignore it but rather got to work on a fix. Just hope the true test doesn't fail six months from now in the throes of a big blizzard!
Thats great to hear did they say anything about how to go about the update. I would sorely hate to have to ship mine back.
 
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