how to connect Dedolight Ledzilla to my EX1 battery?
 

Hi there,
I need a good portable light... I like the look of the Dedolight Ledzilla, but I can't see how to power it. I asked someone at the company, and they wrote back to say that you can buy a battery shoe "so you may power it directly from the EX-1 batteries". But I handle my batteries all the time, and I don't see any way that it could connect to anything (other than the Sony EX-1 itself).
Can anyone enlighten me?
thanks,
Malcolm

Just found this video, showing how the battery attaches to the light:

YouTube - Dedolight Ledzilla Test with XF305

Looks very nice...
Malcolm

EX1 batteries from Swit and Switronics have a D-tap port. Dedo sells an accessory for the LEDZilla to power the light from a D-tap battery (DLOBML-AB-L). AFAIK, the sled you are looking at (DLOBML-BS) is not for the EX1 Sony BP batteries but Sony NP batteries.

Thanks Les, I appreciate this. I wonder if I'm better off with the NP batteries and the sled meant for them.
I'll do some more googling.
Regards,
Malcolm

UPDATE:

I received my LEDzilla and 22" d-tap cable. It's a nice piece of kit. I notice in the paperwork that there are more accessories than what's in the online PDF from the Dedolight website. According to the paper flyer that came with the light, ther IS a sled for Sony BP-U batteries. It's part number DLOBML-BSU. Sorry for the mis-information.

O.K., I see the sled for the Sony battery, thanks.
In a YouTube video, they've got the light+battery unit attached to a light stand (see screen-grab):

I'd like to attach this light/battery unit to the top of my Sony EX-1, for shooting at night (I shoot alone, by the way), hand-held, moving around a lot.
Do you think attaching this to the 'shoe' attachement on top of the Sony would make for a very ungainly, hard-to-balance load? Has anyone tried it?
thanks,
Malcolm

I haven't actually tried it but anything you can do to reduce the weight at the top of the camera is a plus.
Get yourself one of the 3rd party batteries with a D-Tap, you will be glad you did. I run the Comer 1800 off the big PL-U95 battery via D-Tap and that arrangement works very well.

I second Bob on this.

Malcolm, buy a couple of those long batteries, and the Comer light. Also, buy the "small" shoulder pad (along with the base plate) from Olof, you can also order the Hoodman loupe for EX1 from him.

With the big battery at the back, the rig will seat comfortably supported on your shoulder - with your eye against the Hoodman lope and your left hand supporting the lens hood as 2 additional support points. Very comfortable and steady.

Also, your left hand fingers are still free to operate the lens controls (your right hand is of course holding the camera in a regular way, operating the zoom rocker and start/stop button).

Recommended for handheld shooting.

Piotr

thank you Bob and Piotr for your advice. If you don't mind, could you now tell me how to find the PL-U95 battery that has the D-Tap feature? I've tried googling, and I can find the battery all right, but there's no mention of this D-Tap feature.
As I understand it, this battery, with the D-Tap, would allow me to connect the Comer 1800 directly to the PL-U95, which would be on the back of my EX-1, powering both the camera and the light. Is that right?
Regards,
Malcolm

Malcom, be aware the Comer light temperature is 4500K which is neither daylight or indoor so you are putting on filters when you want either of those (reducing output) and you only get the full output when you are in a mixed lighting scenario. I see a 15% reduction in my LEDzilla when I put on the CTO filter to get tungsten.

As far as batteries for the EX, take a look at the page below. they have good prices and they hang out on DVInfo helping out with various things related to batteries and chargers. They carry a Switronix EX-L96 as well as the SWIT S-8U62 which is smaller and less capacity. I prefer the smaller ones (8U62) for size/weight and I have had excellent support from SWIT.
Batteries 7.2V and 14.4V : Dolgin Engineering, Camera Power Solutions

Thanks Les. I now have that page, with the Swit 8U62 battery (that has a D-Tap power jack), bookmarked.
So if I get a light (and it seems to me that the fact that the Ledzilla is daylight by default has to be a point in its favour) and this battery, would this battery click onto the back of my EX-1, and power both the camera and the light at the same time?

I understand that I would also need a cable (from Ledzilla to D-Tap jack): I found the DLOBML-AB-L you mentioned in an earlier post on a B&H page, but it says this cable is to connect the "Ledzilla DLOBML to Anton Bauer". My guess is that it would work with any battery with a D-Tap connector, but I've learned to ask about this kind of thing so I don't end up with something that doesn't work.

Bob and Piotr, can I ask you why you prefer the Comer light?
In case it matters, I'm envisioning using whatever light I get mostly outdoors, at dusk, or in the dark if I need to shoot then (as I had to a while ago).

Best Regards,
Malcolm

Malcolm,

You can get the Comer light from the LAColorShop or MxM Express (of these two dealers I'm aware of).

As to the light temperature being 4500K, I never find it objectionable when shooting with day light. In warm light environment, you can always engage the 3200K amber filter that this lamp has.

HTH

Piotr

I have LEDzilla, EX1R running off of the 8u62 but I don't know how long it will run both. The EX-96 is roughly another 30 watt hours of power but larger. The LEDzilla consumes 8w and the EX-1 15w (I think). I don't know what the Comer draws.

Both of those batteries snap into the EX-1 but the EX-1 power is supplied via a cable built-in to the battery. Research it on DVinfo...you'll see.

If you only use one light in the dark, then the 4500K color of the Comer won't matter. You can white balance to it. Other cameras will also have to balance to it. Soon as you add other lights tho.....

Shooting run and gun solo in the dark...sounds creepy.

Checking in again with another question: I've been reading a bit about the bigger, longer-lasting batteries that people are recommending for any of these on-board lights. From what I gather, the battery (via D-Tap) connects to the camera via the DC input on the back.
But if the D-Tap in the battery is being used like this, then how does the light (whether the Comer or Ledzilla or Lowel Blender) connect to the battery?
By the way (the web sites don't always make this clear), do each of the above three lights attach to the battery via D-Tap?
Thanks again,
Malcolm

The batteries do not connect to the camera via the D-Tap. THey have a short cable that plugs into the EX DC input. THere's also a D-tap for the light or whatever.