The new series of Phottix LED lights are small, affordable LED lights for small crews – and here I mean freelancer videographers working on their own. Small LED lights are easy to transport, easy to work with and offer powerful controllable light for different projects, both in video and photography.
Although the name may sound familiar to some, these are not the same type as the Phottix V-Led Video Light also used for DV or DSLR filmmaking. The V-Led model (se photo below), has three ultra-bright LEDs and features side wings to control light spread as well as a diffuser and white balance adjustment panel. The light can be attached to a standard hot shoe connection. The V-Led Video Light uses widely available NP-F550, NP-F750 or NP-F960 batteries and is sold with battery and battery charger included.
The new VLEDs are different, following the small footprint and rectangular shape of many of these video lights. There are three models available VLED 168, VLED 198 and VLED 260 – the number representing the number of LEDs in each VLED. All offer stepless brightness adjustment, battery adapters, and orange and white diffusion panels. As noted above, the LEDs can be combined vertically or horizontally to create larger LED banks.
Six AA batteries are used to make the VLEDs work, but the Phottix light has adapters that allow the use of different batteries: Canon LP-E6, Nikon EN-EL15, Panasonic CGR-D16S, Sony NP-FH70, NP-FM55H, NP-F550. It can be an interesting option for some and a way to get extra energy if your AAs fail during a job. Just remember to bring the adapter with you… and enough camera batteries.
In terms of power, the VLED 168 model offers an output of 1050 Lumens, with 1250 Lumens for the VLED 198 and 1600 Lumens for the VLED 260. The Phottix VLEDs are already available, with a price of $55 per unit.