Finally built my video light

[videoman]

Hello, and thanks everyone for helping me build my video light. It was a lot of work and I couldn't have done it without you fellas. I went with neutral cree MC-E's ( 4 of them inside) with 2 sharks of 3A each and a stereo 20K dimmer. All cementing was with ceramic adhesive, light was torture tested for 24 hour straight at full blast,diffuser was custom Lexan 3mm with a proprietary frosting spray that disperses evenly at 110 degree horizontal. Draws less than 4A from the battery and gives me well over an hour and 20 min.at full pop (Sony NP-F970). It really leaves other video lights in the dark. I would love to post photos but it says that I cannot post attachments.Thanks again.

 

[coolperl]

Sounds very interesting :popcorn:

If you cannot make attachements, put your photos on imageshack, tinypic ...or other website that's hosting pictures and paste links here :thumbsup:

 

[videoman]

Rear photo

http://s731.photobucket.com/albums/ww314/lensgenius/?action=view&current=2.jpg

 

[videoman]

And, the front view, only 2.75 inched wide

http://s731.photobucket.com/albums/ww314/lensgenius/?action=view&current=1-1.jpg

 

[John_Galt]

That's pretty cool looking. Why did you choose to go with neutral MC-E's, instead of , say, high CRI Nichia's? Aside from output, I mean.

Beamshots if possible? Inside, outside, dark, semi-gloom, etc.

 

[videoman]

I chose the 4500K neutral because they require little or no color correcting gels to match up with skin tone. The manual white balance is much better when you have to only swing a little in either direction ( 3300K to 5200K) as opposed to a 3K swing. Also when I have to run and gun with little or no time for a white balance, I know that at 4500K it will usually be dead on for facial color rendition.I really do not carry any gels or scrims for diffusion as I can gradually dim the light without any color shift. Everyone who saw this light wants one. Compared with units out there, this one leaves them all in the dark as far as smoothness and eveness of illumination and the sheer output.

 

[videoman]

Other photos during the making

Ready to be cemented and soldered
http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww314/lensgenius/c-x4-4500.jpg

 

[Crenshaw]

24hours on full blast?!
:eek:

Thats a LOT of heat. And it can handle it? good job on the design!

Crenshaw

 

[videoman]

Yes it is very hot just after the first 45 minutes and then it stays at a constant temperature. A usual wedding reception scenario does not really go over 4 hours, and at that the light is really not used for more than 2 hours with dimming here and there.I will be very happy to have beam angles and real reflective meter readings off a matt surface white wall soon.The horizontal angle exceeds the angle of coverage of supplied video camera lenses at the widest setting. I would guess the angle is between 90 and 110 degrees before it starts to vignette. In real usage, the full brightness setting would only be used for those long shots that are no more than 10 minutes in duration. I am in the process of having a fresnel snap-on screen designed to decrease the angle to be more of a spot when needed. My goal is to have a 100 ft ( about 30 metres) throw with the same luminosity as at 20 feet. Also I have a model using either 2 or 4 leds that can accept a clip-on-back Sony L series Li-ions. Check my next post for pic.

 

[videoman]

Sony NPF-970 series L battery should last just over an hour if dimmed to 70% with all leds on. Current draw from battery lead to unit is just over 4A


http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww314/lensgenius/6.jpg

 

[BeachBoy]

is it direct drive or you have a driver in there? if yes what is it?

 

[sygyzy]

He is using Shark Drivers as indicated in the OP.

This is a really cool light videoman. It looks completely professional and you obviously know your stuff. Congrats on a job well done.

 

[jeffosborne]

Very good job, videoman! Looks wonderful. The battery holder back is a great feature. All of the LED lights I have built for photography have cords attached, to plug into my belt-mounted battery packs.

I see that the LEDs are mounted a fair way back from the front of the unit. Does that give a fairly narrow beam vertically?

And I wonder what you used for the diffuser. I have a love-hate relationship with my diffusers.

I tip my hat to your wonderful lamp!

Please provide some beam shots!

Cheers,
Jeff O.

 

[videoman]

Hi Jeff, I cannot make these fast enough, I am myself a videographer for well over 30 years and 2500 weddings later. I saw what is out there, I found nothing I liked, either in output, build quality, convenience. I decided that now was the time to make my own.Leds are at the point now to make this happen. The diffusion panel is LEXAN ( virtually unbreakable, was stronger than plexiglass). The back of the lexan has a combination of 2 separate spray on finishes, both applied in different amounts. The horizontal spread angle is about 110 degrees and the vertical is about 60. After those limits, it starts to vignette. A HD 16X9 video at the widest setting from supplied lens on pro or consumer grade cameras will not exceed that unless you put one of them fisheye adapters that can also film your feet. I gotta say that this a powerful unit, the 4 led model is awesome. I will be having actual tests on you tube soon. Thanks

 

[videoman]

Beam angle test

I have taken a photo of the beam at half output of the 2 led model. The unit was tilted slightly up to read the 12 inch ruler taped to the white wall and that is why it is slightly darker at the bottom. The unit is exactly 12 inches from the wall and I measures the horizontal angle to be well over 90 degrees before any noticeable vignetting.

http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww314/lensgenius/beamtest12in.jpg