Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I got mine today !!! Tested its brightness ... my conclusion? Run - not walk to your nearest Litepanels distributor and grab one off his hands ... for its size and weight, the brightness certainly surprises me. It gonna be superglued to my HVX202 from now onwards :-).

Hi, could you tell us more about your Litepanels LP-Micro? What are theirthe pros and cons?
Thanks

Can you tell me if it is possible to decrease or increase the power of the light, please?

Pros - it weighs next to nothing. Especially when you put the Energizer e2 Lithium AA inside. It is very bright at full power from such a small thing. Angle of coverage is about 75 degrees (estimated). You can vary the power from full all the way to zero - in fact, the same button acts as a off/on switch as well. Using normal Alkalines - I get about 1.5 hours at full power. If I use e2 Lithium batteries, I get about 7 hours at full power. If I use less than full power, battery life goes up.

Cons - well, hard to find one so far. The filter holder does not have a catch to lock the filter in place - so, one has to be careful when lifting the holder upwards.

My unit has a loose battery clip - when you insert a battery, the battery pushes the clip downwards. I fixed it by applying a drop of superglue. No problems after that.

It is not meant as a wide area fill light - and should not be thought of one. Because it is so light - leaving it mounted on the hotshoe on my HVX202 is indeed possible. Then whenever you want a light for close fill in, it is there.

Very very interesting reply. I will buy it as soon as possible.
Could you tell me if it is possible to use rechargeable batteries?
In your opinion is Litepanels LP-Microor better than a halogen light for getting better image quality of flesh-coloured (complexion)?
thanks

Do you know a online shop where I have to buy it?

Halogen light is yellow - unless you have a diachronic filter. It is also very hot and drinks a lot of battery power. This LP-micro is very cool - in fact, after running it for 2 hours, the heat is barely felt.

The LED light is white (6000K) - about there. I think if you do a colour calibration on your camera using a white card with the LED light as the primary source, you will get nice colours on your skin tone. It is a cool light - not warm - which is the characteristics of halogen.

I am afraid you can't use NiMH rechargeable batteries because the voltage is too low. This unit requires a minimum of 5V to operate. Most NiMH batteries operate at about 1.2V to 1.3V per cell. It takes 4 batteries ... therefore, you get 4.8V to 5.2V in total. Really, on the borderline.

If you really want rechargeables, you can use 12V input from an external battery - but, that defeats the purpose of carrying the LP-Micro in the first place.

The unit accepts 5V to 12V DC.

Online store - go to www.zgc.com. Ask for Christina. She gives me excellent service. And also ZGC is one of the sponsors for this website too.

Tingsern,

Do you have an output rating on your light?

I looked at their website and could not get a wattage output comparison. Is it like a 50w, 75w ect...

Also, is there an effective way to get it to match indoor lighting (3200k)?

Thanks

Two questions please:

I think in the night a warmer light ceeates a better ambience, therefore a halogen light wins. Do I make a mistake?

I don't understand "The unit accepts 5V to 12V DC". Could I use 12 volts external batteries too?

thanks for your advice

I don't have any ratings at all - but I would think it is around about 10 watts equivalent. As I said - it is not a wide area fill light - and should not be thought of one. For short range (up to 5m) it is adequate.

If you want to reset the colour balance to 3200K, you can use filters - the unit comes with 2 of them - one of them is meant to drop the colour temperature to 3200K - but the light output will be cut. The other one is a diffuser.

The next best rating I can give you will be this ... using my light meter,

ASA 100, 1/125second, the aperature is f/1.4 at 2 feet from the light.
Measured colour temperature = 5310K.

The supplied colour conversion filter is a bit too much - I measured it at 2740K. You can get Kodak Watten filters for more accurate conversion.

Yes - at night ... use a halogen light - creates a warmer feeling. It depends on what you are trying to do. I intend to use this light for fill-in during the day - to avoid the harsh shadows.

The LP-micro can be powered by either 4 AA batteries (internal) or a standard 2 pole male plug which is connected to a DC source with ratings from 5V to 12V. If you exceed 12V, you can potentially burn the unit out. Less than 5V - the unit won't work.

http://www.s131567196.onlinehome.us/products/micro.asp

This is the manufacturers website info on the micro. It is pretty self explainatory.

It looks like a nice oiece of gear which by the way you can purchase a power cord to go with an AB power tap or cig adapter. B&H has the power cords but they do not list the light yet.

Don

If you are thinking of using the AB's Power Tap with a Dionics 90 or equivalent LiON battery - DON'T DO THAT !!! The voltage from a Dionics battery is 14.4V nominal - not 12V. You will blow the LP-Micro that way.

This is directly from the mfg data sheet and I would have to believe the mfg wouldn't offer the cable nor indicate that the light would be able to use the battery if it would harm the light.

"Not Power Hungry
Litepanels Micro produces 1.5 hours of continuous output from just 4 AA batteries (it's three times more efficient than a conventional tungsten camera light). What's more, it's virtually heat-free so it's easy to handle. And the system can be run off of either standard or rechargeable batteries. Power can optionally be supplied through a convenient 4-14V input jack located on the back of the unit."


Don

Very interesting ... mine says ... 5V to 12V - now I wonder who is right and who is wrong ....

I did test it out with 4 x NiMH batteries - rated at 1.2V each ... it didn't work. The voltage of 4 NiMH batteries = 4.8V to 5.2V (which is borderline). I did try using NiMH - the light did not work.

Therefore I am inclined to believe that 5V to 12V is more accurate than the one in the mfg data sheet - which might not be updated since the product is produced.

Here's a little video where you can see me holding the Micro on a Canon HV20. It kind of gives you an idea as to the real-world output. http://www.vimeo.com/463187

We're also a site sponsor and have a shipment arriving Jan 31 and a second shipment arriving Feb 4.

Use the coupon code "dvinfo" to drop the price 5%.
http://www.dvcreators.net/litepanels-lp-micro/

Guy,

Can you take a look at the sticker behind the light (underneath the external power socket) ... does it says 5V to 12V .... or 4V to 14V?

Thanks.

TingSern Wong,

Mine was a pre-production model, so I'm not sure if this is actually what is shipping, however, in the video I linked to above if you view it full screen at 0:02:50 it says "5-12V"

I'll pull one from inventory tomorrow when I get into the office and see if the shipping units are any different.

I preordered one through Todd at DVestore. he's very helpful. I'm very excited to get this to play with :)

This data is important ... apparently, the website on Litepanels says the light can work with 4V to 14V. I am doubting that very much ... my Litepanel says 5V to 12V ... and I have tested it using NiMH batteries - it didn't work. That implies it is really 5V to 12V.

And that really excludes the use of PowerTap from AB's Dionics 90 (or equivalent) batteries - because the power is 14.4V nominal, not 12V.

DO NOT EXCEED 12V's - one unit is already toast from "experimenting".
The true spec is what is indicated on the unit itself "5V to 12V"

Litepanels will be changing the marketing materials on the web site to reflect the correct specs.

Taky - thanks for your order! I didn't know you were on DVinfo - I'll have Todd get you another 5% off - cool :)

hey Guy, thanks for the 5% discount. It is certainly appreciated. I pulled the trigger last week for a Merlin with Todd too. Todd is very helpful. You should give him a raise too. ...hahah :)

Me too, could I get 5% discount?
thanks

Sure 5% off for everyone on everything! :)

Very Important
 

The specifications on the website is WRONG. It is really 5V to 12V. Do NOT plug the AB's battery Powertab directly into the lite - it will blow the unit.

OK I went strictly by the mfg info. My bad, but man, that's dumb. A light like that could be a GREAT piece of gear if it would power off a 14v battery.

Oh well, it 's not going to stop me from getting one anyway.

Don

Don,

Litepanels will be changing the mfg's info to read 5V to 12V. But, it is so light - when you put in the e2 Lithium AA - weighs next to nothing. Why carry a brick (AB Dionics) next to it? Ha ha ha.

there are times using a full size camera with ABs that running off the cam battery is very convienient. I do that with my AB light and it's great but as you say the weight is next to nothing and if I have to change batteries every hour and a half it's no big deal so I think I'll be ordering it today or tomorrow.

Thanks
Don

1.5 hours runtime is for Alkaline batteries.
7 hours runtime when you use Energizer Lithium AA batteries.

Hi, in a different forum some people tells about Litepanels LP-Micro color tamperature. They tell it is a loathsomeness. When they use it, the image quality is bad.
I report what I have just read:

"If its a little icy-blue, then I think these are ordinary LEDs that
are only "close" to 5600K. What this means to me is that I can rig my
own with whats available over here by cannibalizing a bunch of
China-made flashlights. At 2USD for a whole bunch, its superior value.
What stopped me from doing this before was my insistence on finding a
bunch of LEDs that measure at exactly 5600 - probably doesn't exist."

Is there here a guy who is using it with satisfaction?
thanks

I measured mine to be 5310K. I am not sure what others are complaining about - but, I used mine for fill-in outdoors - it is fine.

Tom's Hardware has done a review...

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/...nd_camcorders/

I am pretty disappointed at the article. You call that a review? They didn't even bother to measure the colour temperature accurately. I did ...

At full power - 5310K

At half power - 5180K

Still within bounds of the "standard" 5600K - daylight ...

I didn't say it was a good review. ;)

How can I fix the diffusion warming filter included?
 

Hi, I have just get the Litepanels LP-Micro and I have a orblem. I cannot use the
diffusion warming filter included because it always fall to the ground: I don't know how I could fix it. Any suggestions please?
thanks

the attached filter holder has little tabs that hold the filters in place. You need to kind of thread it in from the top behind the tabs. Should hold just fine.
IF for some reason those tabs arn't there (they're small) you could use a piece of gaff tape to hold the filter on place OR return the light and have them send you a new one.

Don

Yes but if I raise the small windos, the filter falls to the ground.
Is it normal?

It would never be normal. They should have design the filter holder better. oh well, consider they already screw up the battery compartment. How likely is that.

THe diffusion filter is way too soft to stand on it's own. If you will use it on all the time, you might consider just taping it there.

Ok, I agree with you but I'd like to know if every Litepanels LP-Micro has this problem or if it is mine only.
thanks

Mine has a mulfunction battery compartment that it pops out the battery on it's own. Already got a replacement.