Frezzolini Lights
 

Does anyone have any advice about these lights and their battery packs? I believe the battery packs are lead acid cells. Lets say Im using a 50W Frezzolini light system using their battery pack which is a lead acid cell battery. Frezzolini 93516 FB-125-12P Battery Pack. How long can I run this light continuously? What will happen to the battery pack if I run it continuously? Will it heat up? Will it burn? How many of these battery packs do I need on a wedding.
I heard some videographers have multiple batteries and will run each for minimum amount of time because they don't want the battery pack to burn up, is this true.
I have a wedding coming up and I need a light for my camera. However I do not want to run out of power either. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hey Tom...

I believe 2.5 hours is the right answer (mathematically speaking)...

I've never seen a battery measured in watt hours, normally it's amp hours (AH)... If you were to run a 50w light on a battery that has a 125w capacity (50/125)... it should go for 2.5 hours
To be safe I converted 125WH into Amp hours using ohms law. W/E (125/12) =10.4amp hours. A 50W bulb pulls 4.16 amps on a 12v system... 4.16/10.4 = Still equals 2.5

All that being said. I use 2 7.5amp hour batteries in parallel (15amp hours). I've never seen them go dead at a reception... But if I had to guess I would say that they only last for 2 to 2.5 hours. Thats with a 50W bulb....

Someone might know better then me and hopefully they'll be around soon to school me up :-)

Steve

Order the Comer 900 or 1800 light and get two Sony 770 batteries and you'll be fine. No battery packs to lug around and the light is amazing for the $$ spent.

Hi Tom,

Over the last 14 years I have owned a Frezzi Mini, Frezzi Micro, NRG Varalux, Switronix Torch 50, Sony LED and finally, the Comer 1800. The Comer 1800 is my choice.

The Frezzi's and NRG are nice lights, but the battery packs are heavy and expensive. The Comer 1800 has a dimmer and will run all night on a single 970 Sony battery, or even an off brand battery. Here's the link. http://lacolorshop.com/products/item.asp?id=cm1800

Hi Mark,

I'm interested in knowing how better it is the comer 1800 against the sony LED.. cause I have the sony and kinda resisting the idea of forking another 500 bucks for something that looks very similar... but if its a lot brighter, then I'd probably take the plunge..

Thanks Mark... much appreciated.

Santo

Hi Santo,

The Comer 1800 is much better than the Sony LED. A lot has to do with what light you are currently using and comparing the Sony LED light to. I have loved using the NRG Varalux with a 60% diffusion grid because it gives a really nice soft light and when I need to kick it up and throw the light 15-20 feet, it could do the job. the negative to the NRG is wearing the battery belt.

The Sony LED light was no match for the NRG Varalux. The Sony LED is not much good beyond 10 or so feet. The Comer 1800 is good even beyond 10 feet.

In our last episode of Von Real we covered off camera lighting. We plan on covering on camera lighting in a future episode, but that episode will probably air next month. I have not found an online comparison with the Sony and Comer, but if anyone knows of one, please post it.

How does the NRG compared to Lowel idLight with dimmer??

Sorry with all the question :P

I think I'm getting a comer now

Santo

Hi Santo,

I have not compared the Lowel ID Light to the NRG Varalux. Last summer I shot a wedding with a photographer who had an assistant that used the Lowel ID Light, but I really didn't pay that much attention to it. It seems like it might have been a little bigger than the NRG, but that's about all that I remember about it.

I am picky about my lighting, and while the Sony LED was an unacceptable replacement to the NRG, the Comer 1800 is a great replacement, and I can't ephasize enough how nice it is to be powered by a relatively little Sony battery instead of a battery belt or battery pack like the Lowel. The Comer will also run a lot longer on a single battery than the other two systems.

Thank you so much Mark.

Much much appreciated..

:)

No one seems to want to answer your question.

The Frezzi lights are very good units and will take a pounding. I have the dimmable micro-fill and the dimmable mini-fill. I prefer the dimmable mini-fill with the FNV 50W, 55 degree flood bulb. Mine came from B&H with Bescor batteries. The batteries last longer than you would expect and it depends on dimmer setting. I can easily get a full hour of use. I turn the light on and off as needed of course, so this hour spans a whole evening of wedding reception shooting. So usually a single battery lasts an entire reception.

For any important event, you need backup equipment so when a bulb goes out or you drop something, you can carry on. This also allows you to change batteries when you notice any dimming of the light. As these lights are bright, you always turn them off immediately when not in use. And they get very hot too. I have never had a battery issue yet, except for dropping them, which tries to yank the light off the camera, but thankfully these lights are tough.

Lots of people like the Comer lights, they must be pretty good. But if you are going to go LED, do it right and just get the Zylight Z-90. It's incredible how people tend to go cheap on such an important part of the equipment as lighting.

Edit: I forgot to add that I usually keep the battery clipped to my belt. Lots of people seem to prefer a light with the battery on it, but Im used to carrying a battery. There are also lots of under camera light battery options, or you can fix a battery to the tripod for interviews when you want to move around.