LED video lights

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Previously the only LED Ring light available on eBay and Amazon was the 352 LED Ring light (as seen here). The 352 is a very bright light with good diffusion, but only dims down to about 40-50 percent. Basically, it's always pretty bright so it could be offensive when used directly towards a subject in low lighting - i.e. Weddings.

352-LED-ring-light352 LED Ring Lighting
find-price-button PRO 352 LED Studio Video Ring Light

Now the Falcon Eyes 240 LED ring light is available on eBay. Of course a bit cheaper than the 352 with it's smaller size, but it does come with a few extra items the 352 doesn't have. First off the 240 looks like it has a better mounting bracket. I threw the 352 bracket away, it was pretty useless. It also looks like a much better form factor and casing than the 352. The 240 also comes with a tungsten colored filter, a battery pack which can be powered with (12) AA batteries OR (2) Sony NP-F750 camcorder batteries, and a travel bag.

240 LED battery pack240 led ring light240 ring light led bag

I know this light has been around for a while, but this is the first time i've seen it on eBay. I can't seem to locate any reviews to see how well it dims down. If you've got some information on this light leave some comments. You can find the new 240 LED ring light available here.

Falconeyes 240 LED Ring light240 LED Video light
find-price-button FalconEyes 240 LED Ring Continuous Video Light

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(Old video review above) Looks like Polaroid got a hold of the 312 LED Video lights. That's a good thing, because they seem to have negotiated prices much much lower. There is a more expensive v2.0 out which has an updated case and better plastic diffusion panel, but that will run you at least $60 dollars more. We're still using the old versions that haven't failed us yet, and the new low price makes it worth adding to any arsenal.

The 312 is one of our most favorite on-camera LED lights with it's big panel for better diffusion and color adjustable feature to help blend in with ambient lighting. It comes with two Sony NPF style batteries, Sony style battery charger, mini ball head, and it's own traveling case. The light can be powered off one battery, but can house two for longer run times. There's also a DC input if you want to power the batteries from a wall or external battery pack (like my Tekkeon).


LED light Test from WideOpenCamera

Here's a tip. Some of these Sony batteries that power the 312 run only at 7V. The DC input can accept 14V. We're finding we can get slightly more light output when using the DC input at 14V.

These lights normally average prices around $165 and if you find them cheaper make sure to check what parts they come with. Some sellers try to sell them cheaper but don't offer batteries, charger, ball head, case, etc. Now that Polaroid has them, the price has dropped. On eBay Polaroid is selling them for $140 dollars, but right now it's going for just $119 via Amazon (click here).

312-LED-Video-Light312-LED-Kit
find-price-button Polaroid 312 LED Video Light Kit - Dimmable Color Temp Adjustable

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Here's an interesting find from reader impoze. [Thanks impoze] It's an Aputure 160 LED video light + Sony NPF-970 battery on sale right now for under $19 bucks. The LED light alone is usually over $30 dollars. As pointed out, it's almost cheaper than buying a Sony battery alone. Of course, there's no charger, but you can find many generic chargers for under $6 bucks.

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find-price-buttonSony NPF Battery Charger

You can find the combo deal for this Aputure 160 LED light + Sony NPF-970 battery on sale right now + free Economy Shipping on eBay following the link (click here).

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find-price-button Aputure Amaran 160 LED Video Light + Sony Sony NP-F970

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meking-LED_battery-Powermeking-led-power-box

Meking has some new inexpensive LED video light panels, and from the listing it states it can be switched to power through 110V or 220V. It's dimmable with barn doors, and if you've got the juice, you can go portable with the available port for 24V DC. Starting at around $230 dollars, these seem to be fairly new stuff on the cheaper side, and does not resemble the typical 600, 900, or 1200 LED panels i'm using. Typically on Amazon the 600 LED light panel i'm using can run about $350 dollars (see it here on Amazon). As pointed out by Adam, if you're looking for the same 600s i'm using, there's a few good deals on eBay where you can get (2) 600 LED Video Light Panels + Light Stands for about $518
2-600-led-lights(click here).

Not quite sure what's mounted to the back of the Meking LED units, but I don't think it's a battery. They say they have a 15% sale for another three days, but could all be marketing. Find more info on these LED video lights at the Meking store (click here).

meking-500-led600-meking-led-video-light900-led-video-light-meking1000-meking-led-video-light1200-meking-led-video-light
find-price-button Meking Pro 500 600 900 1000 1200 LED Video Light Panels

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2000 LED V-Mount BatteryCamtree 2000 LED video Light kit

Mike writes in and asks if anyone has any feedback on a couple of Camtree 2000 LED video light panels. The lights can be powered optionally through a set of V-Mount batteries, are dimmable, and come with a few of colored gels. I don't know anyone who uses any of the Camtree stuff, so I can't really speak to the accuracy of color, build quality, or light output. Maybe you guys can chime in.

Camtree 2000-LED-Video-Light-Dimmable2000 LED video Light
find-price-button Camtree 2000 LED Video Lighting Dimmable V-Mount Battery Compatible

These look like (2) 1000 LED panels sandwiched into one housing. Personally I don't know if that's a good thing if you're trying to travel and pack down small. It's almost the same as buying two separate 1000 LED lights and mount them to one stand. If it were up to me, i'd stick with getting two 900 LED light panels which can also be powered via V-Mount batteries and can pack up easier. I've pretty much abused a few sets of the lights and only experienced one broken power cord. I guess the wiring inside the cable must have broke, but for the 600 and 900 panels, it's just a basic 14V DC (laptop type) power cord. Very common to find on eBay.

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find-price-button 600 Led Light Weight Studio Photo Light Dimmable Video Photography Lighting Sony V mount Battery adapter 14.8V DC 110V-230V

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find-price-button 900 LED Dimmable Photography Video Camera DSLR 5400K/3200K Lighting Light Panel Sony V Mount battery Adapter INCLUDED 14V OUTPUT 110V-230V

They do have a 1200 LED light panel version, but unlike the 600 and 900 it requires 24V. This doesn't make it compatible with V-Mount or any average battery power. I like the option, so I stuck to several 600 and 900 LED panels. The 600 and 900 LED panels are also a bit smaller making them easier to pack in common sized luggage when traveling. All of the lights still work great, so I can safely recommend these over other lights in it's price range.


1200-LED-Video-Panel
find-price-button 1200 LED Dimmable Video Light Panel Still Photography Studio Portrait Lighting 24V DC, 110V-230V

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500 LED light XLR adapter 12V batteryXLR battery 500 LED Light

I still get questions about affordable LED light panels, and these 500 LEDs are still a good option. The only problem is that the cheaper versions were never offered with a battery power solution, so they can be used off-the-grid on location. That's a huge part most people consider when shopping for LED lighting. Some of these 500 LED light panels (above) use an XLR DC power adapter that connects to AC (wall outlet). So it is very possible to run them from a battery, but the trick is finding the correct XLR DC power adapter cable.

If you didn't catch it in one of the comments, Derek shared that the Jag35 XLR cable is indeed a good fit. He was able to power through the XLR using a simple Canon LP-E6 battery (for about 30 minutes). Of course once you have the proper cable, there's no reason you couldn't use a coupler + Tekkeon Battery pack to give you much longer portable run time. Much like the Tekkeon + Coupler setup I used to power a camera. Just make sure that your LED light has the XLR input as seen in the back (above).


Jag35-XLR-Cable
find-price-button Jag35 XLR Power Adapter cable

These lights were once very popular, but haven't been since the release of the newer 600/900/1200 LED panels, so you'll often find these older 500s on auction with low starting and no reserve pricing (click here).

500 LED light XLR adapter 12V battery
find-price-button 500 LED Dimmable Video Light Panels

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1200_led21200_led6

Duane assembles a 1200 LED Light panel made from the super cheap flexible LED strips found in an earlier article (here). This is the first build out of two he'll be using to throw some light onto the backdrop, and he mentions he's pretty happy with his build and results. 4 different switches in the assembly allow for different light output settings by turning a portion of the light on or off. He's added a 12V converter, but the LED lights themselves only require 12V, so it's possible to modify a setup like this and go mobile.

1200_led11200_led4

If you're looking to assembling your own LED light using these LED strips, you can find a bit more information (here). A few more details about the items used in Duane's DIY LED light build used below. [Thanks Duane]

- x4 5m Led strips (1200 leds)
- x4 switches that allows me to switch 25% of the lights on at a time.
- x1 100 watt 12v power supply
- x1 florescent light housing from Lowe's (gutted)
- x1 light stand (already had)
- x2 conduit brackets to brace into the stand
All for under $100 bucks (just under)

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The good folks over at EVSOnline gives you a peek at Cineroid's L2C-3K LED Video light. Instead of providing two different LEDs which normally cuts your output in half, they decided to provide options for swapping out ALL of the LEDs. Of course this means you can't dial in mixed temperatures. It definitely looks like a good light, but if you want the variable temp options, be ready to throw down over $500 bucks. Three different packages, available via B&H (click here).

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find-price-button Cineroid L2C-3K DayLight / Tungsten On-Camera LED Video Light

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508-led-video-light-front

Looking for a large off camera LED light panel? One of the advantages of LED lights is the ability to run on battery power, but a majority of large panels run only off of V-Mount batteries. A single V-Mount battery could run well over $150 dollars + the price of a charging station. That's a very expensive additional cost for the convenience of powering off the grid. Then maybe you'd be interested in the upcoming 508 LED video light. A light that Herbert seems to have his hands on first. [Thanks for the pics Herbert].

508-led-video-lightback-508-led

Here's where the new 508 LED video light becomes interesting. Using the same body as the popular 312 LED light, the new 508 can still be powered by those super inexpensive Sony Style Batteries. Generic versions of these batteries run under $7.00 dollars. Of course because it's using the body of the 312, the new 508 can still accept an external DC input if you wanted to run it off of something like my Tekkeon battery pack.

Now as excited as I am about the new larger LED panel that's being powered off of cheap Sony style batteries, there's two things i'm fairly concerned about - Power output and Price. Is this large panel just more bulbs with the same power output? If so, then the price should be under $320 dollars because any person could just as easily grab two 312 LED video light panels and place them side by side, adding up to a 624 LED light source. Not to mention it would be easier to store away too once you break it down to two pieces. Hmm..sounds like an interesting test we need to tackle.

508-led-video-light
find-price-button 508 LED Video Light Panel