I have been shooting video professionally for several years now, In that time i have had the chance to use many different On-Camera lights. Here is my opinion on the lights that i have used over the past few years.

The first light that i was using is the Pagelight C6 with the 50W bulb, The C6 has a 3200K color temperature with a non-dimmable on/off switch. It comes with a 6 Cell battery back that produces 6V of power, and charges in about 12 hours using a plug-in wall transformer. With a full charge and using the 50W bulb the C6 battery will last about 45 - 90 minutes of continuous use. The built in barn doors have a Diffuser and CTB with solid side doors. When using the built in diffuser the light is soft but you do lose some light output, Using the CTB produces a 5600k output and with no filters the light is bright and hard.

The next light that i added to my list of gear was the Frezzi Micro-Sun Gun with the 35W bulb, The Micro-Sun has a 3200K color temperature with a fully dimmable rotary switch. We paired it with a VB series 12v battery pack and charges in 8 - 12 hours using the included wall transfomer. On a full charge the VB will last about 60 - 120 minutes of continuous use. The battery pack comes a carry bag that you can put on your belt or use the included shoulder strap, the VB has a four pin XLR power tap and can be used with a wide verity of other accessories using the same connector. Barn doors and Soft Boxes are available for purchase, but are not included with the basic light kit.

So now that i have been using two lights that have big battery packs and short running time i decided it was time to try a LED powered light, After some research i found VidLed. I ended up buying the Deluxe version with the a built in battery, The VidLed is a all in one light with no external parts or attachments needed for use, The light is fully dimmable and has a separate on/off push button switch at full brightness it uses 4W of power. With the VidLed on at full power the battery will last about 90 - 120 minutes of continuous use and the charge time is about 80 minutes using the supplied charger. The color temperature is 8000k so its a little on the blue side, So they include a full set of gels to correct this issue though from experience the light loss is to much under certain lighting conditions. The light pattern is a 40 degree beam and can cause some hot spots.

This week at the PMA 2008 convention in Las Vegas we meetup with LitePanels to take a look at there new Micro line of lights that are powered by four AA batteries and are available for $299.

While we where there i got to play with there MiniPlus light this light is bigger then the Micro and is better suited for Prosumer and Pro applications. After talking to the LitePanel Representative for a bit i started setting up my camera to film the interview, We put a MiniPlus on so i could see how good it works and try it out. After the interview he said that we could take the light for a few hours and try it out. With only a few hours left in the day we quickly went to a few booths to shoot some more videos using the MiniPlus. One of the first things i noticed is i set the camera to a 5600k preset and the colors where spot on not blue like the VidLed was.The MicroPlus has a 50 degree flood pattern and produces a very soft light, and comes with a full set of precut gels that just slip in on the light.

Depending on what kit you get you can power the MiniPlus many different ways, We used the battery pack that snaps on the back of the light and will power the light for about 120 - 180 minutes of continuous use, and charge in a few hours using the included adapter.

Let me say that it was very hard to give the LitePanel MiniPlus back at the end of the day, I have never used a on camera light that is so easy to work with and produces such a nice light. I will be adding one to my list of gear very soon!