Which light for the XL1? Canon VL-10i or the VL20? Or?

[Norman Woo]

Hi folks

I'm looking at purchasing a video light that goes on top of the Canon XL1. I'm debating between the Canon VL-10i or the VL20. How bright are these lights? I'm going to be shooting an engagement party this coming weekend.

Comments from anyone using these lights would be appreciated.

What about other brands?

Later this summer, I'm going to be getting the Lowel I-lights which are a bit more expensive.

Thanks

[Chris Hurd]

The VL10i is a 10-watt light and the VL20 is a 20-watt light. Either should be enough for what you want to do. The nice thing about these Canon lights is that they take the same BP-series batteries as the cameras, but they are fairly cheap pieces of consumer gear. If you want a pro light, check out the Frezzi Mini-fill with a built-in dimmer or the NRG Varilux, also with a built-in dimmer.

[CarterTG]

I bought the VL-20 and used it for my Canon L2. No complaints about the light. It served me well.

I don't think you're realizing that the VL-20 is designed to take the battery meant for the Hi-8 Canon L1/L2/A1 (BP-7xx?). Your XL-1's BP-9xx battery's not going to fit. The batteries used during the Canon L1/L2 reign was goofy. The stock supplied battery is a thin slab... this pack will not fit into the VL-20 either. I used an aftermarket NiMH pack from Energizer with good results. However if this Energizer pack was used on the L1/L2, it would require readjusting the hand strap.

The XL-1 required Canon to come out with the VL-10i. Any of the BP-9xx family of batteries will fit it... which is a major convenience factor, IMO.

One odd thing to note between the VL-20 and VL-10i: The VL-10i has a quirky ½ second lag when the power switch is toggled on... the first half-second the bulb looks like it's getting half the power, then pops into full brightness... sort of like how a luxury car's HID lights turn on. The VL-20 doesn't do that, it just turns on at full brightness the moment the switch is toggled.

Without running any formal tests, brightness seem to be about the same with both lights. I'm just guessing outloud that they're using some capacitor-circuit trick (ergo the initial delay) to get the 10-watt VL-10i bulb to put out just as much light as the predecessor VL-20.

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks for the clarification about these lights!

;-)

[Norman Woo]

Thanks folks

I went down to my local Canon dealer at lunch to purchase the VL-10i when I noticed that the specs only indicated battery going up BP927 only (giving approx. 100 minutes of power to the light).

My XL-1 (purchased in March of 2001) came with the BP930 battery. I also purchased 2 BP945s. Do you know if these will also work on the VL-10i?

Thanks

[Chris Hurd]

Yup... any BP 900-series battery (915 through 945) will work with the VL10i.