More portable camera lights
 

I am in the market for a portable head to be used with my coming Sony Z1.

Application would be as eye/obie light and fill light.

Things can be quite crazy in that market, going from around $50 to more than $700. So it's not easy to find what you need.

I am thinking something around 50w would be fine. More than that would require heavier batteries to carry around, which I do not want to.

Two categories still persist: incandescent and LED. For the first type I could single out a Bescor type that comes with and without dimmer:

http://www.bescor.com/catalog.php?page=15

Looks reasonably priced ($180) and seems to provide a lot. My doubt is if the dimmer will not generate an RFI field that will affect video and audio. Probably not if Bescor made things right.

For the LED lights things get harder. To get a decent product you have to spend more than $300, which I find a bit too much. I wonder when will someone come by (and that WILL happen) and sell a 50W LED equivalent light head for around $100.

In the meantime we can always DIY, and this LED project certainly looks interesting:

http://www.instructables.com/id/ET8H...67AB/?ALLSTEPS

The way to hold it all in order to clip to the camera still looks difficult, so maybe someone can come up with a suggestion.

The good thing with LEDs is that you can use the same camera batteries and light head heat is nil.

I have been very happy with my pag lite 6.

OK. Can you tell me in what might it improve on the Bescor, considering the PAG costs quite a bit more? The mirror and cooling, perhaps?

Carlos, I've never had the Bescor. I was just saying, I am happy with the pag. The thing is built very well. I got the kit from B&H so it came with a diffusor cover etc. I am finding that having an on camera light in this wedding biz, is essential.

Yes, I know what you mean. Several of these lower priced things you have to handle them and look carefully, and that you can only do it at the shop.

A camera light is certainly essential at wedding shoots. A diffusor will make a very soft light out of it, completely shadow-less.

They charge what the market will bear.
 

I doubt it. When I look at a group of service providers who get paid $350 to $700+ a day for their services, I would price my product based on the number of days they have to work it off! One days worth of work for an on-camera light (@ $700) doesn't seem too far fetched, IMHO.

Well, that's one way to put it. But I don't think many manufacturers will make that kind of reasoning. Many will think on how many pieces they will sell, not how much those service providers will make off it.

They won't take long to realize that quantity sold may be more an issue for LED lighting units.

It's happening in the portable audio recorders market, where until recently you had to pay thousands for a CF based PCM recorder, and now you can get one for less than $500... and they will get lower.