Equipment Reviews

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LED-straight-on-test

I can't believe how much talk is going on just on LED lighting. In any case, just to throw in more confusion, here's a quick snapshot of what I'm going to put together as my own test. For this, i've hired a Jedi Master. Aside from the 500 LED video light panel, these smaller LED lights aren't typically used for 3 point lighting setups (although I believe they can work for small setups). The 500 LED is in there as my baseline of light quality since it's become so popular and you'll get to see how much these tiny lights compete to the larger level.

So my test will just be flat on, lighting at about eye level, with the subject about 2ft. from a backdrop. This is typically what you would do if you're mounting these small lights to the hot shoe of your camera. This will be a basic test just to see what the diffusion is like from a subject and the differences in color temperature. Unfortunately i'm guessing my subject may have a slightly green tint (sshh..he's quite sensitive about this matter), you'll be able to tell from the white backdrop. Anyways, it's a one man show in here, so i'll try to get this going...

Also not shown in the image, I might throw in the 183 LED light into the mix. By the way, I haven't had time to blog it, but i'm also throwing in the 352 LED Ring Light (second from left). Not much has been said about this light on the Internet, it's quite expensive, but it should be an exciting test to throw in to compare what a ring light can really do.

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Half of you may have already seen Vimeo member Frank Glencairn's cheap LED Shootout video (Above), but for those who are still asking questions, this might be a good jumping off point. Frank runs through the CN-126 LED, Z96, and Yongnuo's 135 & 160 LED light. As a baseline for a good lighting example he throws in the LitePanels Micro into the bunch, but this is far from a cheap LED Video light.

Obvious pros and cons for each light, one being that none of the tungsten filters that were provided actually worked well as real balanced tungsten color. Since the Yongnuo's don't provide this, I guess that doesn't make it such a deal breaker. You'll have to work with proper gels regardless of the light you decide on. The video was done with an HVX200 so keep in mind that DSLR's may achieve better results with a bit of an ISO push. In any case, enjoy the video examples above on brightness, spotting, and diffusion. [Thanks Frank]

To save you a bit of reading, here's Frank's Verdict (from blog)

I´m a bit undecided. The NG 126 and the Litepanels Micro look outdated, compared to the newer lights. The Z96 has the best daylight balance and the nicest overall light, but the YONGNUO 160 is much more powerful. The YONGNUO 135 is somewhere in between them. Non of the provided Tungsten filters is usable IMHO with the exception of the one from Litepanels Micro. I use normal gels instead. Tricky lids, useless barndoors, mounting options, that are not exactly what you want on a professional set, are no deal breakers, but I hope they will be improved in the future. Some guys asked me to watchout for flicker. I had no flicker at all, unless the batteries getting weak, than they start to flicker.

If I have to choose one (and until I need a real strong light), I think I would go with the Z96, because of the superb light quality and it has a dimming wheel instead of that buttons.

- Frank Glencairn

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Vimeo member Carl throws up a demo video with the Canon T2i on Hague MMC video stabilizer. Something i've shown a while so nothing new there. Jump on over to 2:18 in the video and you find out how Carl balances the GoPro and iPhone properly. I've always said if your camera is too light for the stabilizer, you need to add weight to the top. Carl achieves this by adding a small Manfrotto tripod which works well for weight and adds the function of a quick release adapter. Now that the GoPro has an LCD BacPac, we could start seeing more GoPro Flying. Watch out Tiffen Smoothee, the cheaper Hague MMC with some small mods can easily balance a Flip, GoPro, iPhone and more...[Thanks Carl]


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find-price-button Hague Mini-Motion Cam Video Stabilizer

Now Carl does an excellent job with the Hague MMC, but i've used this stabilizer before and there's other (better and cheaper) options. The Hague is higher priced than the IndieHardware which I reviewed against the Hague MMC not so long ago. You can definitely save a few clams if you considered the IndieHardware over the Hague for your lightweight cameras.


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find-price-button IndieHardware Camera Stabilizer

If you're really interested in flying a GoPro, you should also check out another version of these type of stabilizers from Lensse. Probably just as good if not better than the rest with a price that sits in between. There's also a smaller version offered by Lensse dedicated to small Cell Phones (iPhones) or PDA's. Right now Lensse is trying to grab some marketshare and some items are being auctioned off starting at .99 cents. These small stabilizers already designed to work with an iPhone without any further modification, just might be good enough for the GoPro too. A deal hard to pass up..

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find-price-button Lensse i-Steady Camera Stabilizers

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find-price-button Ikan Production Slate 9 x 11

About time I had my own Dry Erase slate a.k.a Clapper a.k.a ClapBoard. I ordered this 9 x 11 dry erase slate from Amazon mainly because I had a gift card and shipping was free at the time. This one feels like it has some magnets on the top so as the clapper gets closer it actually snaps in place. Feels like a wooden top and the slate area is a thick acrylic. I personally think it also looks better than the other cheaper ones. If looks is of no concern, cheaper ones like the Pearstone go for about half the price of this Ikan over at B&H.

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find-price-button Pearstone Dry Erase Slate

Cheapest of all the ones i've found is the very generic White 9 x 11 Director's Clapboard via Amazon (below).

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find-price-button White Directors Clapboard 9 x 11

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What do you think about ikan's new 4 Bulb LED location light? It's a different take on LED lighting than traditional panels. Pretty clever to be able to swap bulbs not just for color temperature but also for beam angle. The ID-400 comes complete with remote, lighting unit and light stand adapter and one set of tungsten flood bulbs. The bulbs are interchangeable and can be changed easily in the field. Other bulbs including daylight, spot, daylight flood and tungsten spot are sold separately. Can also be powered through optional Battery mount.


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visit-button ID 400 4-Lamp LED Light

It doesn't stop there. The bulbs can also be used with Ikan's new ILED-ONE. A custom hot shoe mounted LED bulb housing that allows you to replace the bulb from Daylight to Tungsten and beam angles from 40 to 60. Power pack is sold according to battery type you'll be using from Sony, Canon, and Panasonic.


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visit-button ikan iLED ONE Deluxe Kit on camera video light

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YouTube member kellyhuffaker throws up a nice (and totally amusing) review of the budget crane I purchased a while back. I've used it only a few times, but didn't get around to sharing much. I like the idea of using the panning bearing (in this video) over a Fluid Head since it saves on cash. You'd need a very large head to support this kind of weight like a Manfrotto 501 or larger. Great job on this video, the tips, and the comedy. [Thanks Kelly]

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find-price-button Affordable DSLR Video Crane

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What is a Teleprompter? In some situations, it could be a life saver. Especially when you're renting a location and time is limited. Teleprompters are extremely useful tools when you're working with a host or anyone that needs to read off lines while looking directly into the camera's lens. Most green screen shows like Tosh.0 or Talk Soup have these types of tools. Many ENG reporters are setup with prompters too. You might think that placing a sheet of paper close to the camera's lens would be just as effective, but try it and you'll see that little bit of offset is very noticeable. If you've ever had to wait on a host to memorize lines or had problems nailing a speech, you need to start looking into Teleprompters.

Teleprompters use a reflective angled mirror to display text from a screen while the camera is positioned behind this angled glass. The camera does not see the reflection and looks pretty much normal shooting through the beam splitter. To optimize the reflection, the entire rear panel needs to be covered and prevent any light from hitting the back of the angled reflector.

Here's a DIY teleprompter from Tompter.com. This version I have uses a bent sheet of heavy acrylic with a special tint film to act as the beam splitter. The one i'm showing is an unfinished version of the 'Tompter' and was sent to me to show me how effective this DIY setup is. The finished versions which can be purchased normally includes: Monitor, Stand, Acrylic Mirror & Bag assembly, and 10' VGA cable. That's pretty much everything you need to start shooting except for a laptop. All for not a bad deal (considering you get a monitor too). You can check out some other Teleprompters here at B&H. Free teleprompting software can be downloaded from various websites, all this information is at Tompter.com.

Acrylic itself may have many cons, mainly because it's not as scratch proof as glass and can collect dust. There are advantages to using acrylic though, and even the super high end Teleprompters which run thousands, sometimes provide the option of acrylic over glass for durability. If you're shooting in a war zone, acrylic might be the better type of material to carry around. The special beam splitting tint film on this Tompter is very effective even when the lights in the studio are on. Even when two 1000 watt lights are aimed at it's direction the text was still very readable. I did not notice any color shifts or much loss in exposure. Now the one I have here is an Acrylic based Prompter, but if you need Glass there's also a higher end Glass beam splitter available from Tompter too. By the way Tom is pretty open about making these and is working on a DIY video to share. If you have questions about making your own, you can contact Tom at for more information about Tompter below.

I'm going to finish this version up with a light stand mount and put this thing to use! To keep my iPad from falling out, I figure i'll just add some velcro to the back of this iPad Hard Shell Case.

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find-price-button DIY Teleprompter Kit w/ LCD Screen, Stand, Prompter - Tompter

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If you've been experimenting with Flash photography, you might start to gain interest in light modifiers. With different types of modifiers you can shape the light and target exactly where you want it to be. I know some guys who carry between 4-8 speedlite flashes (or more) when on assignment. My favorite modifiers for small speedlites are honeycomb grids or snoots. These create a somewhat spotlight effect perfect for hair, rim lighting, or background seperation.

If you're running around at an event, the most common modifier is the large diffuser. So that you aren't casting harsh shadows, you'll need a Stofen, Light Sphere, or Globe. Here's a great kit for a great price and even comes with a set of colored diffusing panels. We often use colored Gels over speedlites, but these colored diffusers seem to work in the same way allowing you to add different colors to the background without having to change out the whole roll. The video seems outdated with the $100 dollar price tag, as they can be found much cheaper now.

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find-price-button Flash Kit Softbox, Colored diffusers, Snoot, Grid, Globe, Barndoors, and more

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glidecam-dolly-skater (9 of 18)

These are two of the most popular and smallest DSLR stabilizers. I'm not going to say one is better than the other when it comes down to the actual video footage. End results between these two micro flyers would be the same once you have them fine tuned and balanced. The main differences to consider between these two is cost, quality of build, time to balance, and handling.

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First no surprise here, the Flycam Nano can come in about three times cheaper than the Glidecam HD1000. The Flycam Nano comes in a bit smaller than the Glidecam but this also means it won't handle as much weight. If you want to stick to the smallest flyer but are concerned you might be pushing the limits too much, then the HD1000 might be the safer bet. The Flycam being the smaller stabilizer can pack down smaller for traveling. Of course the Flycam Nano can easily handle a 7D + Tokina 11-16mm (and then some), which is about the average weight needed for most entry level flyers. The Flycam might be a better choice for smaller cameras like the Sony SLT-A55 or Panasonic GH2.

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The Flycam build quality isn't as polished as the Glidecam. Cheaper materials, painted metal instead of anodized plating, lack of fine tuning knobs, tiny handle, and non-professional looking weights. That's what helps keep the cost down. The Glidecam is far superior in build quality, but fancy plating alone doesn't make it a better flyer.

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The Glidecam handle is much larger and more comfortable to grip. The Glidecam handle is the same width as it's larger HD2000 and HD4000 siblings making it possible to use the HD1000 with a full Vest. The Flycam has a much smaller and shorter handle designed to be used with an optional Flycam Arm Brace.

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The Glidecam HD series stabilizers also have fine tune knobs. The fine tuning knobs allows micro movements of the stage making exact placement of the camera much easier and faster to the center of balance. This is a great feature for anyone who seems to change out lenses, cameras, or accessories that require the entire stabilizer to be rebalanced. If you're pretty much set with the camera + lens combination for flying, a Flycam Nano with a quick release adapter should do the trick. No need to rebalance.

Here's a sample video with the Glidecam HD1000: http://cheesycam.com/glidecam-hd1000-dslr-video-stabilizer-demonstration/

Here's a sample with the Flycam Nano: http://cheesycam.com/flycam-nano-stabilizer-abused-with-7d-tokina/

2011-01-26 11.18.522011-01-26 11.19.06

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find-price-button Glidecam HD1000 Video Camera Stabilizer

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find-price-button Flycam Nano Video Camera Stabilizer