Never heard of the Solar fan problems before - and my new Solar is on its way - argh....
I was tired of using my Zylight Z90 that works great in daylight but when you fade it down, at 3200k, it suddenly turns green at about 50-75% -

I just ordered my SOLA ENG 3 yesterday morning.
Wish you would have posted a day earlier Steve. :-)
Steve, have you corresponded with Lite Panels about the problem?

I must be lucky, I have never heard the fan at all.

I will listen carefully today.

Well guys, I bought these to use in place of Arri 300w fresnels; so, if you are as well, you will need many more pieces including a light stand adapter (I'm getting 2 from Dedo) and either more batteries with D tap or a Frezzolini D-tap to AC adapter for $180 each which I also ordered. The other issue is there are only 2 barndoors rather than the standard 4 on the Arri's, which makes controlling light a bit more difficult. Looking back, I don't know if I made the right decision. For those interested, I will make a recording of their fans and a quick comparison of the Sola and Dedo LEDzilla.

I just listened, and my fan is so quiet I had not noticed it earlier, yes it is there but barley perceptible.

It would not effect a shotgun mic on the camera. Possible it could affect the built-ins but my zoom motors are way louder on my EXcams. If yours are noisier I would contact LitePanels.

Sounds nice - I'll get back with a report, when I get mine !

I've never experienced the green issue before, probably because I rarely dim my Z-90 that much. I will say however, that the Z90 is a dream to work with in the mixed lighting environment I live with in this school. I often have diffuse daylight and florescent temperatures of 4200 K. I do a white balance on the EX3, read what the EX3 says it sees and then dial in the Z90 to the same temperature. I get beautiful light that illuminates and defines but doesn't "show" and a sparkle in the talent's eyes. I know the Z90 is very expensive when compared to the new crop of LEDs, but it is great as my main camera light.

I checked my 'good' Sola and the fan isn't as loud as I remembered but it just seems silly to put a fan inside an on-camera light as it will certainly go bad eventually.

Would you rather cook your circuit board, or have the "auto over temp" cut the light while shooting?

I have lots of electronic equipment with fans, it is extremely rare that the fans fail, if they do have them replaced.

Shoirtly after I got it - it was sent back for a update that should resolve the difference in colour temprature when dimming. As I remember, I was satisfied with it afterwards. But now it is unusable in indoor light unless I make a white balance in the dimmed light.
We have tried the Litepanel LED with variable colourtemp. - It was meant to work as light for sportkommentators in different stadiums with different light temprature. Our conclusion was that the lamp was not following the same mix of the treee coulours, when dimming - as when puting 1/4 and 1/2 CRT on a daylight lamp or blue on a tungsten lamp. It was useless for us.

Maybe Z90 works better when not using the fix indoor colour buttom on the back and just turn down colourtemp manually...
I will try that.

Bo

After having used a SolaENG 3, Arri and Dedo Fresnel, my wishlist for an LED fresnel is this: shoe/5/8 mountable; 4 leaf barndoor, easy angle adjustment, a friggin AC power adapter plus ability to use D tap, an Arri or Dedo fresnel lens - thats all I can think of now. My main use is on light stands in place of Arri's and Dedo's. I can sort of get this list with the Sola but I needed to spend another $210 for each light ($180 AC power & $20 Dedo Shoe to 5/8). The Sola's lens is somewhat soft and no where near an Arri :( but I get extreme portability which is more important at the moment. If anyone has seen the demo on Abel Cine's site of 3 fresnels, the Sola is like the entry level (Lowel maybe?) with Arri in 2nd and Dedo as the best for hard edges.

I have a couple of led worklights. Could I use a suitable gel to create a tungsten filter like the HDV Z96 has?

Most small on camera lights like the Frezzi lights only have 2 barn doors.

For more control I just carry some black light control foil. It takes up no room at all and can easily be shaped to any task, even a snoot very quickly, just make sure you leave some room for air to circulate around the lens for cooling. You can use the foil with or without the barn doors, it also is great as a quick french flag.

Got my Solar today !
I like the light - there is a lot of light !!! and the posibilities but although it seems to be very well build - the backplate with the dimmer is only mounted in one side and this could easily break off if you are scraching against someting - The barndors could be difficult to unmount and mount again in a hurry, if you would have to change the filter or gel.

The mount for the light make it possible to lower the light and thats great -now it exactly fits in my camera drawer

There is a little noise from the fan but I am usually using the camera light in noisy suroundings so it will do..

Does anyone know if the EX1R and SolaENG 3 combo can run off a single SWIT 8u62 battery?

That is pushing close to 50w so that battery wouldn't last long. The better option would be the Switronix 90whr battery for the EX1.

Yeah, as much as the Sola ENG is perfect from a lighting, weight and ergonomics, the higher output costs more power than I can budget for it. Any thoughts on something down on the list from the Sola that takes less power?

How do you like LEDzilla? I've read all the reviews and it looks good for my needs (run and gun, even spread, outdoor fill, Indoor key, dimmable, easy color change, barn doors, fresnel).

I only see sleds for the 7.2v Sony and Panny batteries. Are you aware of a sled for the Sony BP batteries?

Do I assume correctly that the LEDzilla comes with no cable or sled and you add the power option you want?

Man that LEDzilla looks SWEET! Me want...

Yes, you are correct - there is NO power source included with the LEDzilla. Also, the 'Swit' power cable from Dedo is not for ANY Swit battery I have ever seen, and this is the cable that I ordered for my Swit batteries. Thus, I had to order a different cable - the A-B cable with D-tap; so, I have not been able to use my Dedo yet :(

Have you seen the review in the Photon forum of the Dedo? This review sold me on it.

From what I have seen so far, this light is rather lite and balances very well with my Zacuto rig and EX3. For weight & balance purposes, I chose not to use their battery plate. Take a look at their PDF for accessories: http://www.dedolight.com/www/assets/...edzilla_EU.pdf

The LEDzilla accessories seem to be a gyp. The tube attachment was like 270.00 - for a plastic tube... 500.00 or so seems reasonable for a sweet light, but hundreds more for a wee soft box, Chinese lantern, or tube is just wrong IMO. Still, me want...

Yes, those reviews are helpful and I found the PDF on the Dedo site. That's when I realized there are no power options in the base kit. For EX mounting, do you recommend the 22" or the 8.6" AB cable with the D-TAP? I would think the 8.6" would not reach the EX shoe or permit the Ledzilla articulating arm to move much.

For anyone who purchased a SOLA ENG from an online vendor, how long did you have to wait from the time you placed your order until it arrived?
I ordered one from B&H two weeks ago. They say to expect 2-4 weeks. I am curious if it will take the full four weeks?

Using an 8U62 SWIT battery, I ran the EX1R with LCD on and recording for 3 hours with the LEDzilla on full blast the whole time. YMMV

I finally received the Dedo D-tap cable and used the light tonight for 30 mins and then switched to my SolaENG for greater reach. For just the light and power cable, the SolaENG is actually cheaper because the Dedo does not include any power source and the cheapest power adapter is about $50 not including the battery (Sony or Panny). The Sola is so much more powerful but has a stupid fan that can easily go bad as I learned from the 2nd unit I bought and I am still waiting for a new unit to arrive. Also, the fan on my 'good' Sola occasionally makes sounds for a few seconds when first turning on.

On the Dedo, I really do not like the lack of the two 'joints' solidly tightening. No matter what I do, I can still move each joint which makes it very tough to adjust the light's angle when the camera is on my shoulder because I adjust one joint and the other moves.

Other thoughts: the dimmer on the Dedo works great and it has a scale for spot to flood.

However, the Sola doesn't dim til about 50% turned and then quickly dims down and its lowest setting is roughly equal to the Dedo (I'd like it to dim a little lower). There is no scale for spot to flood so its difficult to know how far to go either way and at full flood, its dial rubs against the dimmer dial and can move the dimmer dial just enough to turn it off. The Sola's full spot is about 90% fully turned and starts going away from spot when turned 100% - I really don't like this. The Sola's dimmer turns the light off at 100% dimming which I also do not like. There is also no scale for the Sola's dimmer so I occasionally turn the light off when going back to full power. I think that the lack of any scale can be fixed by making marks so I can see them when I am shooting with my shoulder rig.

Build quality: the Dedo wins hands down.

Off-camera use: the SolaENG 3 easily wins but isn't a great replacement for an Arri 300w fresnel if you need excellent control and shaping of the light. The Sola only has 2 barndoors, somewhat limited angle adjustment and its lens is no where near the quality of an Arri. BUT, I can shoot anywhere with the 2 Sola's and the Dedo (great 3 light battery-powered kit) which, ultimately, is why I changed my order from the Arri's to the Sola's.

Full Flood Coverage Area: this is another reason I prefer the Sola. From 12-15 feet, I was able to light a standing 2 person interview (think of a reporter asking a person questions in the field).

On a side note: another reason I prefer the SolaENG is that it helps to balance my EX3 with Zacuto shoulder rig, nanoFlash, wireless receivers and Swit v-mount battery.